OTTAWA, NEWFOUNDLAND, TODAY – Mr. Stéphane Ouellette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merchant Navy Commemorative Theme Project (MNCTP), and the Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, observed ANZAC Day. This was to honour the men and women of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (then The Newfoundland Regiment), who fought in The Gallipoli Campaign during World War One.

It was on April 25, 1915, when Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey as part of an Anglo-French operation to open the Dardanelles Strait to the allied navies. Meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders, the operation was not successful, resulting in heavy casualties.

The only North American regiment involved in the campaign, the Newfoundland Regiment’s introduction to war came with their arrival in Gallipoli in September 1915. It was here that the Regiment, like their ANZAC comrades, would suffer their first losses.

After months of trench warfare, the decision was made to withdraw from the Peninsula. In December 1915, the Newfoundland Regiment was part of the last rearguard to leave Sulva Bay.

From their first battle experience in Gallipoli, both ANZAC and Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldiers would continue to serve their countries proudly throughout the First World War.

The Gallipoli campaign was a costly failure for the Allies, with an estimated 27,000 French and 115,000 British and dominion troops (Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Newfoundland) killed or wounded.