When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914
there was never any doubt which way Australia would go. As a
dominion she was automatically and legally committed; but in any
case Australian sentiment was overwhelmingly pro-British, and
Andrew Fisher spoke for the whole country when he promised to
support her "to our last man and our last shilling."
Australia's first acts of war were to destroy German wireless
stations at Rabaul, Yap and New Guinea, and to occupy German New
Guinea and nearby islands including New Britain, New Ireland and
Bouganville. Resistance was weak and casualties were few.
Meanwhile Brigadier-General W.T. Bridges had begun organising a
volunteer army for overseas service, to be known as the
Australian Imperial Force and now famous in history simply as
A.I.F. The response exceeded all his hopes and in three months a
complete first division of 20,000 men had been enlisted and
partly trained and was ready to embark. It was joined by two
brigades from New Zealand, and on 1 November the combined
contingent sailed from Albany, W.A. in thirty-eight transports,
escorted by the Australian light cruisers Sydney and Melbourne
and a British and a Japanese cruiser. Its destination was
England, via Suez. Nine days later a wireless station at Cocos
Is. in the Indian Island, signalled that it was being attacked
by a German cruiser, Emden. HMAS Sydney left the convoy and in a
classic running battle, disabled the enemy ship and ran her
aground. Owing to a change of plan, the troops were disembarked
at Alexandria to complete their war-training in Egypt. Here they
were joined by a second mixed contingent and united as the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) with General W.R.
Birdwood in overall command.
As a part of Allied strategy it was decided, early in 1915, to
attack Turkey through the Dardenelles and so provide a safe
sea-link with Russia. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston
Churchill, was sure the British Navy could force a way through
the narrow passage but the attempt was defeated with heavy loss.
The operation then became a military one against a forewarned
and powerful enemy. On 25th April 1915 Anzac, British and French
troops stormed ashore on the peninsula of Gallipoli against
fierce opposition from five Turkish Divisions. After a day of
chaotic, heroic and bloody fighting the ANZACS had established a
precarious foothold at what became known as ANZAC Cove and
during the next two days they held on grimly against continuous
and savage counter-attacks. Then both sides paused to lick their
wounds and the ANZACS dug in. During the next few months weeks
of stalemate were interspersed with days of bitter fighting,
with appalling casualties on both sides. From the start it was
apparent that the campaign must fail - indeed many thought it
should never have been launched - and in December evacuation of
the peninsula was ordered. This was carried out with such skill
that the enemy was completely deceived and by 8 January the last
Allied troops had left Turkish soil. In this futile holocaust of
eight months Australian casualties had totalled 8,587 dead and
19,367 wounded; but from defeat the ANZACS had emerged as
probably the best assault troops in history. One thing they
never lost was their sardonic sense of humour and as they
returned to Europe, battle-shocked and weary they sang:
