Motions

Gallipoli Centenary

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (11:29): I move:

That this house notes the centenary of the battles of Lone Pine and The Nek at Gallipoli, gratefully acknowledges the courage and heroism displayed by the forces involved and the significant deaths and injuries suffered by the gallant ANZACs—the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand—and the tenacity of the opposing Turkish forces.

There can be no greater honour than to represent the people of South Australia in any capacity and, even more so, to be part of the delegation to be present at the ceremony to commemorate the centenary of the battles of Lone Pine and The Nek. The August offensive of 1915, only a few months following the landings of 25 April, was a push planned to break the stalemate that had developed. With the Turkish forces dug in above them, the Allied forces began to realise that what had been hoped to be a quick operation had become bogged down.

Seated in readiness for the ceremony at Lone Pine with my colleagues the members for Taylor and Morphett and the Hon. Andrew McLachlan, and the delegation led by the Minister for Defence Industries and Veterans' Affairs, the Chair of the Veterans Advisory Council, Sir Eric Neal, and Lady Neal, Veterans SA director Rob Manton and Legacy representative Mr Alex Hibbard, the enormity of the deeds of the campaign we had come to honour became very real.

The serving forces of New Zealand combined with the Australians in these two battles, forging a legend rightly commemorated because of the importance of the enterprise and the high price the men paid for holding their new position. Seven Australians won a VC, with four going to a single battalion in just 24 hours. In all of this, the Turkish soldiers were tenacious and yet respectful of their opposing forces to the degree that great kindnesses were shown, and the now famous speech of Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk serves in perpetuity to show that the heroism and courage of all who fought and died will always be held dear.

So much had happened there. So many lives had ended or were changed forever. So many of South Australia's finest went to their death courageously with their mates in defence of the Empire. I will not talk about the strategies or tactics, as many others have already done so in more detail than I could hope to present.

I commend to the house the book Fallen Saints. Authored by Mr Robert Kearney, himself a veteran, it tells the stories of the 180 students from St Peter's College who gave their lives while serving in the Great War of 1914 to 1919, of which the Gallipoli campaign was just the beginning. Robert is now championing the Virtual Memorial project through the RSL of South Australia, with the research assistance of Mr Nicholas Egan. I am confident we will soon have a record of every South Australian man who enlisted.

One such man was Charles Adam Matters, brother of Muriel Matters. Born in Port Augusta, Charles was living in Perth when he enlisted and, because of illness, he eventually embarked from Melbourne and thus his links to South Australia were lost in history. His nieces and nephew—Jocelyn, Adrienne, Lynette, Elaine and Keith—and their families were thrilled to know that their uncle's name on the Lone Pine memorial had been visited for the first time.

Another local man or, more properly, boy soldier was Tea Tree Gully native bugler Ira Smart whose remains, while identified at one stage, are now buried as 'believed to be the remains of' because such was the enormity of the task of burying the fallen that, years after the conflicts, no-one was really certain who lies where despite the best and marvellous efforts of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

I was able to bring home the first photo of Ira's grave for the archives of the City of Tea Tree Gully Library and local historian Mr David Brooks who, along with many staff and volunteers, held a really moving event—the Field of Remembrance in May this year, soon after ANZAC Day, attended by Mayor Kevin Knight and many councillors, residents and students from nearby schools.

The delegation to Lone Pine was also able to attend the Bringing Their Spirits Home ceremony, something of great significance for the families of the Indigenous soldiers who fought, often unrecognised, with their comrades in the armies for love of country. Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and VC winners Keith Payne, Mark Donaldson and Daniel Keighran lent their combined considerable presence to the proceedings which were also attended by the family of Corporal Cameron Baird, VC.

By remembering, through such events as the centenary of the Dardanelles Cenotaph, held here in Adelaide on Sunday 6 September at the almost forgotten simple cross memorial now standing near the corner of West Terrace and South Terrace, the sacrifices of serving personnel and their loved ones who stayed behind, present generations are reminded of the importance of peace. This simple monument will soon be part of the new Anzac Centenary Memorial Garden Walk—a project that will link sites of significance from North Terrace to the Torrens Parade Ground. Our observances of the battles of Lone Pine and The Nek will be something that generations will speak of in the future, and I commend the motion to the house.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:34): I rise to support this motion from the member for Florey. Can I just say that it was a privilege to be a representative of the people of South Australia at the centenary of Lone Pine on the Gallipoli peninsula a few weeks ago. The opportunity to do this as a member of parliament is something that we get occasionally, and I would encourage every member to take up this opportunity to represent the people of South Australia. It was very disappointing that the South Australian parliamentary delegation was the only parliamentary delegation that was at the Lone Pine ceremony.

The Gallipoli campaign, as we all know, was a disastrous campaign. One hundred years ago yesterday, Keith Murdoch's letter was written to then prime minister Andrew Fisher. I will just quickly quote from Keith Murdoch's letter. He said:

It is undoubtedly one of the most terrible chapters in our history. Your fears have been justified. I have not military knowledge to be able to say whether the enterprise ever had a chance of succeeding…

Nearly 9,000 Australians died, nearly 3,000 New Zealanders died and over 21,000 British soldiers died. There is an estimate that 10,000 French soldiers died, yet we had the privilege of visiting the French cemetery, where there were four ossuaries. These ossuaries were a compound where bones were collected from soldiers. In each of those ossuaries, there were an estimated 3,000 sets of bones, so there were 12,000 just in those ossuaries. There were also around another 500 graves. So, I think the figure of 10,000 French soldiers who died is quite wrong. There were nearly 1,500 soldiers from India and 49 from Newfoundland. A total of nearly 45,000 Australian allies died on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The need to never, ever forget, and to always remember is something that we as members of parliament emphasise at every ceremony we go to to remember our veterans. I do so at every ANZAC Day and every other ceremony I have the privilege of going to as the shadow minister for veterans' affairs. This opportunity was unique. I hope that members of parliament will consider talking to the members who went to Gallipoli about their experiences, look at the photographs and see what our troops were up against. It was a very moving experience for all of us and one that will last my lifetime.

I would be happy to talk to people and various groups about the experience we had, and to show them pictures of where we went, to try and get them to understand the issues that our soldiers were facing. The gallantry and courage that was shown is just typical of the young men and women in our military forces. They were all men then, apart from the nurses that were there.

The trip with Sir Eric and Lady Neal was an extra bonus. For me, as a veterinary surgeon, I was pleased we had a young lad who was a veterinary student there, Alex Hibbins. Alex was representing Legacy in South Australia. Alex's father, I understand, was in the Air Force and had died. Alex was able to participate in the services with us. I know that, speaking to Alex, it was a very moving experience and one which will last his lifetime. I am sure he will be out there speaking, not only to Legacy, but to other groups about the experience.

There is a need, as I said, to continue to remember and to never forget. I think we as members of parliament should consider sending a delegation over to the event at the Western Front next year. I am looking forward to talking to the new Minister for Veterans' Affairs about what the federal government will be doing this time. I hope we are not the only parliamentary representation there.

I thank the good constituents of Morphett for having me as their representative to go on these sorts of experiences and represent the people of South Australia in a completely bipartisan way. It was a wonderful experience to be there as members of the parliament—not as members of a party—and to undertake the whole experience and bring that experience back to our constituents.

I understand there are no survivors of this campaign left anywhere in the world. There are continuing battles and warfare going on in the world today, and the injuries and mental health of our soldiers is something that we need to be aware of in this place. This trip helps cement that attitude, not only with me, but I know with all the other members, including the Hon. Andrew McLachlan from the other place, who came with myself, the member for Taylor and the member for Florey.

It was an absolutely unforgettable experience. I encourage members to take the opportunity to visit the other Western Front sites next year and, as we all do, take every possible opportunity to remember our veterans.

Ms VLAHOS (Taylor) (11:39): I wish to speak today about my involvement in the recent 100-year celebrations of the battle for Lone Pine. Earlier this year, in my role as an MP, I was at Virginia Primary School where they dedicated an ANZAC Day centenary mosaic to peace and also paid recognition to the people from the local community who had gone to World War I. One of the names that is memorialised on that mosaic that the children created was a gentleman called James John Sheedy.

Many of my colleagues have spoken about what we did on our trip, but one of the most moving things that I did during that time was to walk along the beach at Anzac Cove and take a vial of sand from Semaphore beach that two local RSL members had given to me to remember one of their family members who had traversed that small beach, which is smaller than the carpet between these two benches in the chamber. The geography and the topography and the sheer brutality of that campaign is laid bare when you go to these sites from Helles Point to Suvla Bay, and it was a privilege to be there and lay this sand on behalf of that family. Their family member got out of that campaign, mercifully, but then went on to fight in another battle, unlike James John Sheedy who actually died in the battle for Lone Pine.

On the afternoon that we went to the final commemoration of our trip after traversing all the cemeteries along the way, and understanding the depth and ferocity, depravation and courage that was witnessed on that peninsula, we sat there with our guides and thought of it being a hot and dusty August day, and to think of what they had gone through on that day with that battle, and the time they had been there, was truly remarkable.

James John Sheedy arrived and was killed pretty much as soon as he got onto the peninsula. He was one of the first early enrollees when World War I commenced, and his mother was the local postmistress at Virginia. James was well known. He was about 35 years old and was educated at the Virginia public school, which is why his name is on the memorial. He was involved in the local cricket and footy clubs, which are institutions that are still vibrant in Virginia today, and was a member of the Two Wells Light Horse. When World War I broke out he volunteered, and was in the famous 10^th Battalion.

James was a very popular man. When he died, his mother, who was the postmistress, would have been one of the first to receive the notice from the government via the postbox. In the proceeding years the death notices came out, the pension notices came out, the plaques to remember the fallen came out, and the final things that happened later. Unfortunately, she was not there at the seventh-year mark to see it as she had passed on. However, every time someone in the district received a letter notifying them that their next of kin had died, she was the person who carried that letter out to those families, and that shows the depth of scarring of those people who died in that community. So many towns like that around Australia are marked by the battle of Gallipoli.

Prior to us visiting this peninsula, I knew of Kemal Ataturk but I did not understand how pivotal Gallipoli was in the nationhood of Australia and our cultural identity, but also to the Turkish. Kemal Ataturk became the leader of modern Turkey, and his vision of things was forged around the time that they came together and rose up to fight off the westerners who were trying to take over the peninsula at the time during World War I to make sure the Dardanelles were free for the traffic of supplies. For both of our countries to have such a pivotal time in our nationhood is an interesting twinning of identity, and it was interesting to unpack that.

One of the other things the member for Morphett also spoke about is the tragic circumstances around the French involvement in this campaign. France was under attack, and the people who lie in those ossuaries are largely African-French colonial brigades because the French people were defending their own border and they mustered their colonial forces. You never see any pictures of black African soldiers fighting for the French brigade, and that is the sad part of our history: 12,000-odd people lie there, and it is something that we have never discussed in our ANZAC history in Australia. We never see that imagery.

It was a deeply moving time and something I will never forget—I agree with the member for Morphett. It was a true privilege to be there on behalf of Virginia, the Two Wells RSL and the many other RSLs in my area that I will be going back and speaking to. I will never forget the story of the postmistress and the Sheedys from Virginia. Lest we forget.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:45): I would like to commend motion by the member for Florey that this house notes the centenary of the battles of Lone Pine and The Nek at Gallipoli, gratefully acknowledges the courage and heroism displayed by the forces involved and the significant deaths and injuries suffered by the gallant ANZACs—the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand—and the tenacity of the opposing Turkish forces.

In relation to the overall number of losses, at Gallipoli about 9,000 Australian lives were lost and 3,000 New Zealand soldiers were lost and, as the member for Morphett stated, almost 45,000 allied forces. The number for the Turkish forces, from memory, was around double that, at least 90,000, and probably more. We have to remember that the Turkish forces were fighting for their homeland and were very keen to lay their lives on the line for that cause.

The Battle of Lone Pine was one of the most recognised as being partly a success, I guess, in World War I. There were several Victoria Crosses, one during that battle which raged for several days. There were some great acts of heroism, including one soldier who kept throwing bombs back that had come over from the Turkish lines. It shows how close people were. In fact, in the Battle of The Nek, the lines were only 27 metres apart and, because of the lack of synchronisation of watches, the artillery stopped seven minutes in advance of the attack.

The first wave of men went over the top and were butchered, and the same thing happened with second wave. However, there were not as many casualties with the third wave because men were going over the top and searching for cover as they went because they could sense the suicide and the futility of the assault. And because of confusion in the trench and soldiers not being able to find commanding officers, and that sort of thing, quite a few men in the fourth wave went over and lost their lives as well. Overall, World War I showed some terrible losses of men. I think it just goes to show that we come from the Middle Ages style of warfare, where people were basically face-to-face. Here were men going over the top, up against machine guns on either side.

I have not had the privilege to visit Gallipoli, and I hope I will at some time in the future, but I have certainly had the opportunity to visit the battlefields of the Western Front, and that was very sobering. I spent four days there in late 2010; it is an amazing place. Certainly from every position I visited, whether it was Passchendaele or Messines, Ypres and around the Somme, it looked like our trenches and our men were always downhill of the enemy. There were some courageous acts in charging uphill, and this was certainly the case at Gallipoli. What happened there is a terrible tragedy.

I note the letter that came back from Keith Murdoch, which certainly changed the face of the Gallipoli campaign. I suppose the one success was the withdrawal. We noted on the most recent Gallipoli teledrama the tenacity of the Australians and other forces in getting off the beach, so to speak, and back to their ships without one casualty, using devices such as water dripping into jam tins hanging from the triggers of 303s so that the Turks thought people were still in the trenches firing at them.

We must never forget the sacrifice of our Diggers, and there were far too many sacrificed in World War I. I was very fortunate to have a great uncle come home from the war. He was serving on the Western Front and got shot through the nose sideways; he was walking between two other troops. He was fortunate enough to be repatriated back to England and, by the time he was ready to go back to service, the war was over. We must never forget the gallant feats.

I visited many sites on the Western Front like Villers-Bretonneux and others and, as I said, it is a sobering thought. You look at the many graves—3,500 war graves just on the Western Front. I also visited a German cemetery on the Western Front where there were single graves, but also there were four communal graves with 3,000 soldiers in each, so there were 12,000 men buried there. I say that because there has been a lot of discussion—and I know I am digressing a little—about what happened at Fromelles with the allied soldiers, the Aussies and New Zealanders and British soldiers, who were buried in a communal grave. But from some of the history I have researched on that, the efficiency—and that is probably the wrong word but it was what the Germans used, and they used it with their own people, and I am not suggesting it is right. I commend the people of the war graves units who have found our soldiers and put them in the new cemetery at Fromelles which is a beautiful spot for them to rest in peace.

There is a lot of futility in war. I suppose if you have to have war, it is good in a way that things are a lot better managed and I guess there are a lot better communications and that kind of thing. As we know, it is the centenary of World War I. It was a long time ago and communications were not the same. I commend the motion. Lest we forget.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (11:52): I commend you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for bringing this matter to the house. I commend the contribution of the member for Hammond and others because the Battle of Lone Pine was the last Allied offensive of the Gallipoli campaign designed to break the stalemate that had occurred on the Gallipoli peninsula since the landings of 25 April. The Lone Pine offensive from 6 to 10 August saw some of the most brutal fighting of the campaign. Having recently visited the site as the Minister for Veterans, it was extremely sobering as a soldier to look at that terrain and ask myself, what on earth were they thinking?

It was difficult to fathom the courage displayed by the Australian Imperial Force who launched this Lone Pine attack in the late afternoon against formidably entrenched Turkish positions, leading to four days of intense hand-to-hand fighting. The 9^th Light Horse Regiment, raised in South Australia, was in reserve for the Lone Pine offensive tasked with providing supporting fire at The Nek. The regiment lost its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Albert Miell, from Crystal Brook at The Nek. His final burial place is unknown.

The perilous existence of an Australian soldier on the front line was aptly explained in a letter Lieutenant Colonel Miell wrote to his family, dated 8 June 1915, when he described surviving a bullet wound to his head and another instance when his dugout was bombed. He said:

A shell-case came crashing into my dugout last week. It struck the wall and rebounded and hit me on the calf of the leg, but did no harm at all. Tell the kiddies that every day my boys shot several Turkish snipers. We lost a few good men.

In another note from the Gallipoli Peninsula in August 1915, he wrote:

…at present every part of our position can be shelled any hour. As I scrawl these few lines in my dugout, overlooking the blue waters of the Mediterranean, a few shells are playfully shrieking overhead. Sometimes one plumps into a dugout. If it bursts, and the occupants are at home, some souls go out on the east wind.

Gallipoli holds particular significance for South Australians. Bravo and Charlie Companies of the 10^th Battalion, raised in South Australia, were part of the covering force for the landings and among the first ashore on 25 April 1915. More than 8,000 Australian soldiers died in the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.

As I mentioned, I was privileged to lead a bipartisan parliamentary and veteran delegation recently to the centenary commemorations of the Battle of Lone Pine with Sir Eric and Lady Neal; the member for Morphett; yourself, Madam Deputy Speaker; the member for Taylor; the Hon. Andrew McLachlan MLC in the other place; and a legatee, a wonderful young man and the head of the veterans agency. We were very pleased to attend at this site on behalf of the South Australian people and it was a very sobering experience indeed and, as I said, my first visit to the peninsula.

Standing at Anzac Cove where the initial landings occurred on 25 April, I was taken aback by the enormity of the task faced by Australians and New Zealanders that morning. As I toured the various battle sites that day, I could not help but admire the courage and tenacity of the Turkish defenders as well. The visit gave me an opportunity to reflect on some of the personal stories of soldiers in my own electorate.

Henry Dawson Tutt from Kingswood left his job as a woodworking machinist and went on to serve in the 10^th Battalion. He was killed in action and buried at Lone Pine Cemetery. His brother, Albert Tutt of the 48^th Battalion, died at Bullecourt two years later. Mitcham's Harold Mitchell, who was employed as a presser, enlisted at 23 years of age and was killed less than nine months later. Interestingly, one of these graves unusually did not have a Christian cross upon it and simply had the epitaph 'He gave his life for others'. This was unusual at the time where nearly all tombstones had the Christian cross and something slightly different on the epitaph, opening all sorts of questions. These two boys grew up in the same street, I noted, and would have known each other well.

Another young South Australian who was full of potential only to be killed in the bloody battle of Lone Pine was 21-year-old Corporal Cuthbert Glen Davison who was born in Mount Gambier and attended St Peter's College. A statement from witness Private Charles Lind said Corporal Davison was 'shot through the head during a bayonet charge at the edge of the Turkish trenches just before the taking of Lone Pine'. Following his death, the Mount Gambier newspaper published an article about his short life. It said 'he was a scholar, athlete, gentleman and soldier—and is the first native of Mount Gambier to forfeit his life in Britain's cause'.

There is also the remarkable story of 13-year-old Private Albert Francis Dunnicliff from Normanville. His father was killed in action on 6 August at Lone Pine and young Albert enlisted three weeks later, one week shy of his 14^th birthday. He is thought to have been one of the youngest soldiers to serve in the AIF. Not long after arriving in Egypt, he was shipped out to France. In December 1916, Albert wrote an application for discharge stating that his father and brother had been killed at Lone Pine and he could not stand the strain of the front in France for much longer. He also admitted to lying about his age. Albert returned to Australia on 12 April 1917 after 16 months of service.

The Lone Pine Memorial commemorates 3,268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the many hundreds more who were buried at sea after evacuation due to wounds or disease. The memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. More than 300 diggers were found in an area no bigger than three tennis courts.

Today we remember their families and communities, changed forever. We reflect on all in our community who endure the physical and psychological impact of war, and we take this moment to thank Australia's servicemen and servicewomen for their service and sacrifice in all wars, conflicts and peace operations to ensure the preservation of the way of life we enjoy today.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (11:58): I acknowledge the indulgence of members who have allowed this motion to be dealt with today and thank all members for their contribution.

Motion carried.