Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk and the founder of the Turkish Republic, was a relatively junior Ottoman commander when the Allies landed in 1915. His decisions at Gallipoli would help shape the campaign and his own future.
For Turkish visitors his presence is felt everywhere on the peninsula, and his words are quoted on memorials that honour the dead of every nation.
The decisive first day
On 25 April 1915, recognising the danger as ANZAC troops pushed toward the heights, Mustafa Kemal acted on his own initiative to rush reserves, including the 57th Regiment, to hold the high ground.
His famous order, that he was not ordering his men to attack but to die, has become legendary. The line held, and the Allies never gained the heights.
From Chunuk Bair to a nation
In August he again played a decisive role, leading the counter-attack that drove New Zealand troops off Chunuk Bair. His reputation as a commander was made on these ridges.
The campaign launched him onto a path that would lead, after the war, to the founding of modern Turkey. His later words honouring the ANZAC dead are among the most quoted on the peninsula.
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