Impact on the soldiers ?
Even though the Anzac's defeated the Turks at the battle of Gallipoli , the New Zealand soldiers had a great impact as it was a thrilling experience and a number of lives were lost. Our soldiers fought for us, our future generations, our country and also the future for our country. Many soldiers lost their lives and many lived with severe injuries or conditions. After saying goodbye to their loved ones, the soldiers faced other numerous difficulties for 8 months at war. Weather conditions, basic supplements, shortage of food, medical treatments, diseases and proper clothing were some of the essential issues at that time. Going to war was like gambling, either blood and victory or blood and defeat. Our soldiers gave a 100% performance at war and the results were shown by our victory. The shortage of water lead to many issues at the battlefield such as lack of cleanliness and skin diseases. The decomposing of bodies was a major issue and soldiers had to live with the smell of rotten dead bodies too. There were also lack of food supplements and space, the soldiers depended on British Army ration biscuits which was rarely available at times. The toilets got filled up very fast and body lice was another problem, diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and enteric fever like typhoid were common. This website has detailed information on the soldiers lifestyle and difficulties http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/the-gallipoli-campaign/conditions
Soldiers who returned back to New Zealand wounded were given special care and attention as stated in this evidence.
They were given opportunities to get helped by the government hospitals and convalescent homes were offered.
They were given opportunities to get helped by the government hospitals and convalescent homes were offered.
New Zealand lost 2721 soldiers at the end of the war, which is clearly shown in the evidence on the left. Along with New Zealander, other countries such as Australia, Britain, France and Turkey lost numerous soldiers stated as well.
Soldiers were volunteered to go to war and they were well trained before the war. Our soldiers left their family to go to the war, which means that while they were at war there was a high chance that there were no men back home to look after/ protect their family and home. It could have been so hard for them to focus on the war while they were thousand acres away from home. The letters were the only way they could be connected to their loved ones, however they didn't always get the time to write back and some didn't get the time to read their letters but our soldiers managed to keep in touch.
George Bollinger was among those soldiers who wrote dairies to showcase their journey and sufferings at the war, Below are some of the important parts reflecting to the actual situation at the war that Bollinger had mentioned in his dairy.
George Bollinger was among those soldiers who wrote dairies to showcase their journey and sufferings at the war, Below are some of the important parts reflecting to the actual situation at the war that Bollinger had mentioned in his dairy.
''Sunday 25th April : Our men are very calm, and some are even lying about reading and taking no notice of the bombardment. Boom, boom, boom. It never ceases. What batteries could reply to these 15 inch mouths of destruction.
Monday 26th April 3.15 am. We are in a gully immediately behind the firing line and will be called in to relieve at any moment. Two New Zealand battalions were in last night and got cut about. In landing as many as 49 were killed in one boat and a whole regiment was practically wiped out. As we sit here the ambulance are passing with wounded on the stretchers. 5.00 pm. We climbed heights to take our place in reserve, to firing line. We are right in the fire zone and saw some awful sights.
Tuesday 27th April At 10.00 am we were marched north along the beach, and as we got under heights we met crowds of wounded coming down. Oh how callous one gets. On we rushed against a rain of bullets and our men began to drop over, before they fired a shot. We started to get mixed and were everywhere amongst the Australians. Our men were dropping in hundreds.
Wednesday 28th April We were relieved about 8 o'clock. Mostly our nerves were gone. We retired back and tried to rest: our casualties were very heavy. We manned the trenches again at 6 o'clock. No sleep and nothing to eat, just a craving for drink, and the wounded always empty our bottles. The Turkish trenches are now on a ridge about 200 yards away. Our warships are shelling them, but unfortunately have also accounted for a number of our casualties.''
Bollinger's dairy showcases the reality of the war and how the soldiers were so anxious about the next step a head. The soldiers fought for the nation,their family, us and the future.
This video is about the New Zealand Soldiers (their song)