This stamp issue is the second in a five-year series commemorating World War I and focuses on Gallipoli, a campaign that would in time be seen as crucial in shaping Australian national consciousness. The Gallipoli campaign falls into four phases: the landing, the Turkish counter-attack, the British offensive and the withdrawal. These events spanned from 25 April 1915 to 8 January 1916, and are represented on the stamps, along with field medicine.
In the early hours of 25 April 1915, ground forces landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in an effort to secure the Dardanelles. Anzac troops landed on the beach at what became known as Anzac Cove. Charles Bean, the Australian official correspondent, took the photograph shown in this stamp design. He photographed Divisional Headquarters staff coming ashore as he himself landed.
This stamp design shows Lance Corporal Albert Jacka of the 14th Battalion, who here represents the Turkish counter-attack phase of the campaign, which occurred in May 1915. Jacka became the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross during the war, a distinction gained for his bravery in recapturing a trench at Courtney’s Post taken by seven Turkish soldiers, five of whom he killed and two he wounded.
In this stamp design, Australian troops of the 1st Brigade are shown in Turkish trenches seized during the fighting at Lone Pine, carried out under the command of Brigadier General Harold ‘Hookey’ Walker. Lone Pine was taken on the afternoon of 6 August 1915, and was one of the diversionary attacks during the failed August offensive.
Englishman Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick of the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance represents field medicine at Gallipoli in this stamp design. He and his faithful donkey (possibly more than a single donkey) – variously known as Duffy, Abdul and Murphy – recovered many wounded soldiers from the frontline. Simpson was known at Gallipoli for his bravery and independence in rescuing the wounded. He was killed during service on 19 May, just three weeks after landing at Gallipoli.
Men of the 9th Battery, 3rd Artillery Brigade load an 18-pound field gun from their sandbagged position. They are firing on Turkish positions in the hours before their evacuation from Gallipoli on 19 December 1915.
School children from across Australia are invited to capture their individual reflections about those Australians who have sacrificed their lives for us in conflicts by writing their individual thoughts upon a Commemorative Cross.More information >