Michael Coble Western Civ 1110 Cody Carlson Gallipoli Gallipoli starts out as a coming of age story set

in Western Australia in 1915. It focuses on two young men both of whom are competitive sprinters in prewar Australia. The main protagonist is Archy Hamilton played by Mark Lee, an underage kid who runs off to join the army to seek adventure after a sprinting competition. Frank Dunne played by Mel Gibson is a friend and competitor of Archies who ends up losing all his money betting on himself in a race against Archy and decides to join the army with Archy as a way to cover his losses. The film is just shy of two hours long with the War only being the last half hour or so. The meat of the story takes place as Archie and Frank set off on a cross country trek to Perth to join the Army after Archie is rejected for being under age. I did find the first hour of this film a little boring, lots of character building, and back story set up that felt a little unneeded. Once the boys reach Perth and enlist they are split up as Archy joins the light horse while Frank being unable to ride a horse is rejected and ends up joining the infantry. They are both shipped out independently of each other to Eygpt for training in preparation for the beach landing planned for ANZAC Cove. In Eygpt Archy and Frank are reunited in the middle of a training exercise between the infantry and the light horse. Archy and Frank begin to carry on

together in Eygpt where Archy manages to get Frank transferred into the Light Horse just before they ship out for Gallipoli. Upon reaching the Gallipolian coast in late 1915 the pair are met with a sight of barbed wire, lights and artillery shells as they land on the ANZAC controlled cove. Once the pair have reached the front they spend lots of time waiting around in the trenches, frollicking naked in the surf and learning the in's and out's of trench life. The horror of trench warfare is the highlight of the movie nearing the end a direct assault on the Turkish positions is ordered after a prolonged artillery barrage clears out the trenches, however as in real life miscommunication and incompetency plagued this campaign and the shelling stops early and the Turks retake their fortified positions and the ANZAC troops are ordered to assault the Turks despite the fact it is going to be sheer murder for the ANZAC forces. Multiple waves of soldiers are ordered over the wall to charge the Turkish lines however none of the waves make it further than half a dozen feet from their trench before being cut to pieces by the Turkish defenders. Frank is sent as a runner to Command to get confirmation of the attack orders in between the second and third wave of attackers, Archy meanwhile is waiting to go over the wall in the third wave of attackers. Frank gets word from Command to halt the attack but returned to the trench seconds too late and the third wave is ordered over the wall, and they, like the previous waves are butchered in a colossal waste of life that defined the "War to End all Wars" especially the Gallipoli Campaign.

The last scene of the movie takes place here as Archy is sprinting towards the Turkish lines in the third wave and is shot through the chest and it pauses as he is thrown back as the bullet enters and exits his body. End scene, credits roll. The film was accurate as far as the Australian experience during the Gallipoli Campaign, not much was shown or mentioned of the British experience though it does portray the British with a callous, snobby and holier than thou attitude towards the Australians. This was reinforced during the attack scene when British officers order wave after wave of young Australians to their deaths despite the pleas of the Australian officers. The Gallipoli Campaign was an utter failure, the worse failure of the War in fact. The Allies lost over 200,000 men in this campaign and the Turks lost over 300,000 men with over 100,000 dead between the two sides. Currently in class were are talking about the evolution of Europe from Medieval to Feudal to Nation States while the Aristocracy tries to maintain their place on top of the social and political pecking order. The First World War was the culmination of Aristocratic Europe and the last dying vestiges of Feudal Europe. After the end of the Great War, Europe changes drastically, old Empires and Monarchies alike ended with this war, newer systems of government take shape in Germany and the Middle East and the old world starts becoming the new world. Most of Europe as well as the world in 1915 was still living off of the land like they had been for thousands of years but with some better technology and modern

conveniences. This was a time where war was still shrouded in a veil of Glory and honor where old rich men with big mustaches thump their chests and talk about glory but the reality shattered the illusion and the sheer number of dead and wounded brought the war home in a very real manner. This was a turning point in the history of war where the older Napoleonic styles were completely outdated but were still in the forefront of the minds of the masters and commanders which resulted in millions of dead men and a stagnant field of death between the multiple factions with no way for either side to gain an advantage.

Sources

BBC history http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/battle_gallipoli.shtml Eyewitness history http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/gallipoli.htm PBS.org http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist_wilson_04_gallipoli.html