Gallipoli, Bury and the Lancashire Fusiliers

Date published: 12 March 2010

On the 25 April 1915, the 1st Battalion The Lancashire Fusiliers struggling through barbed wire and into a hail of deadly Turkish machine gun fire landed at Cape Helles the southernmost tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula in European Turkey. Against all odds and by sheer determination and raw courage, the Battalion gained a precarious foot hold on the peninsula and gained 6 Victoria Crosses in the process, the famous “6 VCs before breakfast”.

By early May, the Battalion had been joined by the 42nd East Lancashire Division comprising the Bury Territorial 1st/5th Battalion, the 1st/6th from Rochdale and the 1st/7th and 1st/8th from Salford and an attempt was made to advance inland to capture the strategically important high ground of Achi Baba.

In early August the 9 (Service) Battalion formed in Bury arrived and took part in the landings at Suvla Bay on the North West of the peninsula. Although the landings were successful, little progress inland was made.

Despite the fortitude and bravery displayed by all the British and Allied troops, the campaign was doomed to failure in the face of the resolute Turkish defence of their home land. Not only had the troops faced the ferocity of Turkish action but they had also suffered from disease, poor diet and as the winter of 1915 took hold, adverse weather conditions took their toll with many soldiers suffering the effect of frostbite. By December 1915, the decision had been made to evacuate the peninsula and by January 1916, the evacuation, ironically the most successful operation of the entire campaign, had been completed.

The Friends of the Fusilier Museum will be giving a presentation on at 2.00pm on Sunday 21 March 2010, the 95th anniversary of the campaign, in the Normandy Room of the Fusilier Museum in Moss Street, Bury. The event will explain the reasons for the campaign, the outcome and the aftermath with particular emphasis on the local Territorial Battalions and their contribution.

The £4 pound admission fee for the talk will include light refreshments and a visit to the Museum.

For further information, please contact the Museum on 0161 764 8950 or the Secretary to the Friends at fusfriendssec@hotmail.co.uk