On April 25, 1915, the Australian troops, together with troops from New Zealand, Britain and France, landed at what came to be called ANZAC Cove. They aimed to assist a British naval operation to force the Dardanelles Strait and capture the Turkish capital, Constantinople.

Attempts to break the Turkish lines failed. The campaign lasted until December when the troops were successfully evacuated.

Selected published works

The National Library holds an extensive collection of the books published about the Gallipoli campaign since 1915.

• Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918
  • The first 2 volumes are devoted to the Gallipoli campaign:
    • Vol. 1 The story of ANZAC from the outbreak of war to the end of the first phase of the Gallipoli campaign, May 4, 1915
    • Vol. 2 The story of ANZAC from 4 May, 1915, to the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula
• Gallipoli one long grave by Kit Denton is a well illustrated work with many photographs.
• Gallipoli by Les Carlyon is a recent popular history of the campaign.
• Gallipoli an Australian encylopedia of the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign by Ronald J Austin is on open access in the Main Reading Room Reference collection at RF 940.426 A937.

Published personal narratives are also held. In the catalogue search by the following subject heading:

• World War, 1914-1918 - Campaigns - Turkey - Gallipoli Peninsula - Personal narratives, Australian

The following keywords can also be used:

• 'gallipoli personal narratives'
• 'gallipoli diary'

Map, manuscript and pictorial material

In addition to the published material on Gallipoli, the Library also holds unpublished material in map, manuscript, and pictorial form.

In the catalogue type the keyword 'gallipoli' and using the options to the right of the search results, limit the search to the required format, for example 'map'.

Keywords can also be used, for example:

• 'gallipoli manuscript'
• 'anzac cove photograph'

Battlefield guides

The following guides provide useful information about the Gallipoli battlefield:

• Gallipoli: the battlefield guide by Mat McLachlan
• Gallipoli: a battlefield guide by Phil Taylor and Pam Cupper

Related websites

Gallipoli and the Anzacs

An educational website with wide ranging content related to Gallipoli from the Department of Veterans's Affairs.

Dawn of the legend

An online exhibition from the Australian War Memorial which 'tells the story of the Australians who landed at Gallipoli, and of the creation of the ANZAC legend'.

Online exhibitions

Despatches from Gallipoli is an exhibition held at the National Library in 2006 which dealt with the experiences of four Australian journalists, Charles Bean, Keith Murdoch, Phillip Schuler and Charles Smith, who went to Gallipoli in 1915.

Origins of the ANZAC acronym

It is difficult to say who first coined the acronym ANZAC. The Australian War Memorial provides useful information on the history and use of the term in its Encyclopedia.

Case study