Second Krithia: The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli

Gallipoli is the defining battlefield in Australian history and identity, yet the taleof the Second Battle of Krithia has existed largely in the shadows of the bigger Gallipoli story. It is, however, one of the most poignant and tragic tales of World War I, now brought to light by bestselling military historian Mat McLachlan.

In May 1915, British units were trying to capture the village of Krithia in the Helles Sector on the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula. On 6 May, Australian and New Zealand units were sent from the Anzac Sector to reinforce the British and, on 8 May, the Anzac troops took part in a bloody battle near Krithia. Advancing across a featureless plain in broad daylight, with no idea where the Turkish defenders were, the Anzacs came under a hail of machine-gun and rifle fire. Even though the Australians managed to advance, they got nowhere near the village and dug in well short of their objective. The New Zealanders on their left fared no better, and by the end of the day more than 1800 Anzac troops had been killed or wounded.

The story of this battle of Krithia is one of bravery and sacrifice, supported by lots of first-hand accounts and oral history. It features the stories of a number of Australians, New Zealanders and Turks, some who survived, some who didn’t. The battle wasn’t particularly strategically important, but that’s the whole story of Gallipoli - a century later we don’t remember grand victories or decisive battle strategy. We remember men doing their best under hellish conditions, small, private battles that were intensely personal to all who participated in them and blokes hanging on in situations when others wouldn’t. It’s a great Australian story that hasn’t been told - until now.

Mat McLachlan is one of Australia’s leading battlefield historians and media presenters in the history space. He is the author of Walking with the Anzacs and Gallipoli: The Battlefield Guide, and the founder of Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours, which sends thousands of Australians to visit battlefields around the world each year, including Cowra.

As a media presenter, Mat is a regular on TV and radio and in print. His Living History podcast reaches more than 5 million Australian history enthusiasts each week, and he produces the BattleWalks and Pete & Gary’s Military History podcasts. Mat also produces and presents history documentaries for various networks. He appears regularly as a history expert on all major Australian television and radio networks, and reaches over five million viewers on YouTube each year. He lives in Sydney with his wife and children.