The Gallipoli peninsula lies in Turkey, forming one land side of the Dardanelles Straits, a historic waterway that links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. The Peninsular is only 10 miles at the widest point, and is about 45 miles long. Cape Helles lies at the southernmost tip. The terrain is inhospitable: it is a rocky, scrub-covered area with little water. The hills are steep-sided and are cut into deep gulleys and ravines.

Among the hills which lie along the spine of the Peninsular, there are many peaks and valleys. The most important heights are the summits of Achi Baba (709 feet), which overlooks all of Cape Helles; and Sari Bair (971 feet) from which can be seen ANZAC beach and the Asian side of the Straits.

At the southernmost (Aegean) tip are a number of small sandy beaches, and there are some small stretches of beach on the Western side too. There are no such beaches on eastern (Straits) side. To the North-West is a flat area surrounding a salt lake.

There are no towns on the peninsula (although today holiday houses are being built around the coast). There are a number of small settlements, of which Krithia in the south and Bulair in the north are the most important.

British and French forces landed on the Gallipoli peninsula, and French on the other side of the Dardanelles Straits, on 25th April 1915. On the 8th January 1916 these forces completed an evacuation, having gained little in strategic terms even having been greatly reinforced. There were moments of near-breakthrough which may have led to great strategic success, but it was not to be. It has proven to be very difficult to determine the losses of both sides in this most appalling and costly theatre: perhaps the most realistic estimates are that the Turkish army suffered 300,000 casualties (including the many sick) and the Allies, 265,000. The consequent effect of diverting troops and supplies sorely needed on the Western Front, particularly for the assault at Loos, is impossible to quantify.

Conditions on Gallipoli defy description. The terrain and close fighting did not allow for the dead to be buried. Flies and other vermin flourished in the heat, which caused epidemic sickness. In October 1915, winter storms caused much damage and human hardship, and in December, a great blizzard - followed by cataclysmic thaw - caused casualties of 10% (15,000 men) throughout the British contingent, and no doubt something similar on the Turkish side.

Of the 213,000 British casualties on Gallipoli, 145,000 were due to sickness; chief causes being dysentery, diarrhoea, and enteric fever.