Australians’ Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War - Essay Writing - History Assignment Help

Assignment Task

How should we judge the performance of the Anzacs in the landings at Gallipoli? Analyse the primary sources and use them to provide evidence for your argument.   
During the landing at Gallipoli the Anzac soldiers did not demonstrate the qualities that have since become the Anzac legend. This essay will argue that, in contrast to the common portrayal of the brave and resourceful Anzac soldiers, the Anzacs were in fact disorientated, unorganised, and ultimately failed to achieve their military goal of quickly capturing the Peninsula. The majority of men were not apt fighters, and especially not ‘superior’ fighters, thus the landing should not be viewed as the Anzacs’ ‘baptism of fire’. Nonetheless, the responsibility for the campaign’s failure should also be carried by the British commanders who did not adequately prepare the Anzacs for the attack. Lastly, the Anzac soldiers did remarkably manage to maintain high spirits regardless of the large loss of life that occurred. 
The popular portrayal of the Anzacs is not an accurate representation of their performance during the landing at Gallipoli. A.B Facey’s recollections of the landing emphasise the Anzacs’ spirit of resourcefulness after losing most of their officers. Hence Facey claims the Anzacs improvised and the “men in the ranks...corporals and sergeants” managed to create a defensive line.1 However historians disagree with this account and instead contend that, upon landing, the soldiers disintegrated into small groups and no front line existed because the Anzacs were “much too confused for any regrouping.”2 Thus, Facey’s account of Gallipoli noticeably ignores the failures of the Anzacs. Instead, his recollections from the landing are polished stories that focus on Anzac heroism, such as the initiative shown by his battalion for discovering the Turkish soldiers hidden in nearby bushes, and their clever plan to distract and trap the snipers using “dummies.”3 He even discusses the most famous Anzac of all, “The Man with the Donkey.”4 It is clear that Facey, 66 years after the Gallipoli campaign, is primarily motivated by delivering the Australian public with Anzac stories they want to hear. Thus there is a distinct absence of any of the Anzacs’ failures and an obvious “focus of 
1 A.B. Facey, A Fortunate Life, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, 1981, p. 257. 2 John Laffin, Anzacs at War: The Story of Australia and New Zealand Battles, Abelard?Schuman, London, 1965, p. 39. 
3 Facey, A Fortunate Life, p. 259. 
4 Ibid., p. 260.
1 
particular incidents” that showcase the soldiers’ initiative and bravery.5 The actions by the majority of the Anzacs were significantly less courageous than Facey’s portrayal. 
The landing at Gallipoli was militarily unsuccessful. John Laffin contends that the Anzacs “achieved something great” during the landing by securing themselves a foothold on the Peninsula.6 However the landing should be seen as a failure because the overall military 
strategy had required the Peninsula to be “seized,” not simply for a foothold to be created.7 The first newspaper coverage skirted around this truth. The British war correspondent, Ellis Ashmead?Bartlett, avoided discussing that the Anzacs had been forced into retreat on the very day of landing. Ashmead?Bartlett emphasised how the Anzacs never “yielded a foot” when first counter?attacked, before briefly conceding that Australian lines were forced backwards when the enemy’s attack became “more vigorous.”8 Thus Ashmead?Bartlett underplayed the unheroic aspects of the landing in order to portray Gallipoli as a military triumph. The true nature of Turkey’s counter?attack paints the Anzacs in a far less gallant image. According to John Terraine, when Mustafa Kemal Pasha launched his counter?attack, the Anzacs actually outnumbered the Turkish forces “three to one.” 9 Yet, because the Anzacs were completely disorganised following the chaotic landing, the marginal Turkish army were able to push the Anzacs into retreat. Therefore the landing should not be romanticised or remembered as a military success for the Anzacs failed not only to take hold of the Peninsula, but even to completely hold onto what little foothold they had gained. 

This History Assignment has been solved by our History experts at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.

Be it a used or new solution, the quality of the work submitted by our assignment experts remains unhampered. You may continue to expect the same or even better quality with the used and new assignment solution files respectively. There’s one thing to be noticed that you could choose one between the two and acquire an HD either way. You could choose a new assignment solution file to get yourself an exclusive, plagiarism (with free Turnitin file), expert quality assignment or order an old solution file that was considered worthy of the highest distinction.