And here is a tribute to the men who stormed the heights that may be
found in the London _Times’_ account of the campaign:
“The most moving part in the Gallipoli story will ever be the splendid
feelings it called forth in the breasts of young Australians. To them
it was no ordinary adventure in warfare. These single-minded, loyal
youths had different conceptions of God. But every conception fitted
into the sublime conception that this work for their race and country
was God’s work. Upon the tissue of their natures, the warm affections,
the cleanliness and the liberty among which they had been brought up,
this fighting call in Gallipoli precipitated something that seemed to
them the highest thing possible. What they knew was that they wished to
go to Anzac, that they were prepared to die there, that the Australian
army had become for them a sacred institution. Their hearts were
touched by the death of comrades, their eyes took fire at the sight of
the distinctive Australian uniform. Gallipoli proved, if it did not in
itself go far to produce, a warmth and generosity in the Australian
character. The difficulty experienced by the commanders was not to get
men to this shell-torn place of hardship, but to keep them from it.
Half the members of the Light Horse Brigades and all the drivers of
artillery and ambulances had been left behind in Cairo or Alexandria,
to attend to the horses. But it was impossible to keep them there. They
decided amongst themselves who could be spared. Everyone wished to go,
those chosen were thought lucky. They boarded transports at Alexandria,
stowed away until the ships were at sea, and then reported themselves
to the officers commanding. One artillery brigade lost 39 of its men in
this manner. General Hamilton could never find it in his heart to send
back men who came with tears in their eyes and asked for nothing better
than to be given privates’ work in Anzac. There were cases in which
sergeants gladly forfeited stripes and pay for the chance. Men could
not bear to go back to their homes and say they had not done their
share at Anzac.”