| Lone Pine was a
strategically important plateau in the southern part of
Anzac which was briefly in the hands of Australian forces
following the landings on 25 April. It became a Turkish
strong point from May to July, when it was known by them as
'Kanli Sirt' (Bloody Ridge). The Australians pushed mines
towards the plateau from the end of May to the beginning of
August and on the afternoon of 6 August, after mine
explosions and bombardment from land and sea, the position
was stormed by the 1st Australian Brigade. By 10 August, the
Turkish counter-attacks had failed and the position was
consolidated. It was held by the 1st Australian Division
until 12 September, and then by the 2nd, until the
evacuation of the peninsula in December.
Cemetery
Lone Pine Cemetery stands on the
plateau at the top of Victoria Gully, and is located on the
road from Gaba Tepe to Chunuk Blair.
The original small battle cemetery was
enlarged after the Armistice when scattered graves were
brought in from the neighbourhood, and from Brown's Dip
North and South Cemeteries, which were behind the Australian
trenches of April-August 1915. Special memorials
commemorate 183 soldiers (all but one of them Australian,
most of whom died in August), who were known or believed to
have been buried in Lone Pine Cemetery, or in the cemeteries
at Brown's Dip.
Memorial
The Lone Pine Memorial is at the east
end of Lone Pine Cemetery, which stands on the plateau at
the top of Victoria Gully, and is located on the road from
Gaba Tepe to Chunuk Bair.
The Lone Pine Memorial stands on the
site of the fiercest fighting at Lone Pine and overlooks the
whole front line of May 1915. It commemorates more than
4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died in the
Anzac area - the New Zealanders prior to the fighting in
August 1915 - whose graves are not known. Others named on
the memorial died at sea and were buried in Gallipoli
waters. The memorial stands in Lone Pine Cemetery. |
