Dana 25. travnja 1915, osam mjeseci nakon početka Prvog svjetskog rata, saveznički vojnici iskrcali su se na obalama poluotoka Gallipolje .Bio je to teritorij Turske koja je u to vrijeme bila njemački saveznik . Saveznički vojnici su poslani tamo, kao dio plana za otvaranje tjesnaca Dardaneli kojim bi saveznička flota mogla zaprijetiti tadašnjem Carigradu kao glavnom gradu Osmanlijskog carstva,te prisiliti turke na predaju. Savezničke snage naišle su tada na neočekivano jak otpor turaka, a obje strane su u ovom sukobu pretrpjele velike gubitke ljudskih života.



Kampanja na Galipolju je međutim skupo koštala saveznike, koji su nakon devet mjeseci napustili poluotok i evakuirali svoje preživjele vojnike. Gotovo trećina pripadnika ANZAC korpusa koji su sudjelovali bili su ubijeni.I čini se da su svi ti mladi životi bili izgubljeni uzalud, jer ova loše provedena kampanja nije imala značajan utjecaj na ishod rata.



Kada je australski redatelj Peter Weir, planirao svoj sljedeći film nakon završetka Piknika na Hanging Rocku (1975), želio je priču koja će biti smještena u Francuskoj,te koja će prikazati velike bitke 1916-1917 .Prijatelj mu je predložio da snimi film o napadu savezničkih snaga Australije i Novog Zelanda (ANZAC) na turski poluotok Galipolje. Weir je 1976 godine otputovao u Istanbul . Nakon što je proveo dva dana u penjanju na brda i lutanju po rovovima gdje su se australci borili, Weira je pogodilo ono što je pronašao: gumbe, staro kožno remenje i druge predmete koje su prije juriša ostavili pripadnici ANZAC-a. On je odlučio tada i tamo da će doista napraviti film o Galipolju, govoreći: "Osjećao sam se kao da stvarno dodirujem povijest."



Njegova izvorna ideja je bila ispričati sveobuhvatnu priču od regrutacija 1914 godine, do povlačenja savezničkih snaga s Galipolja pred kraj 1915, ali nakon nekoliko nacrta, bio je nezadovoljan rezultatima. Umjesto toga, odlučio je napisati priču o dva prijatelja i njihovom putu u rat.Rezultat je izvanredan anti-ratni film Gallipolje (1981).

...........Pogledavši ga ponovno sa vremenskim odmakom od nekih desetak godina,nakon posljednje scene ostao sam glupo buljiti u ekran.......valjda sam očekivao drugačiji kraj.Opet iznova šokiran glupošću ljudi i svih ratova koji su ikad vođeni.Preporučujem vam film.....zbog odličnog i meni dragog redatelja.....izvrsnih glumaca.....Jarreove glazbe....i zbog jednog dijaloga tamo negdje na polovici filma.....

Camel Driver: Kamo idete?
Archy: U Perth
Camel Driver: Tražite posao?
Archy: Ne,idem u rat.
Camel Driver: Koji rat?
Archy: Rat protiv Njemačke.
Camel Driver: Poznavao sam jednom davno jednog nijemca. Kako je počeo?
Archy: Ne znam točno, ali nijemci su krivi.
Camel Driver: Australci se već bore?
Archy: U Turskoj.
Camel Driver: Turskoj? Kako to?
Archy: Zbog toga jer je Turska njemački saveznik.
Camel Driver: Ne vidim kakve to veze ima s nama.
Archy: Ako ih ne zaustavimo tamo,mogli bi završiti ovdje.
Camel Driver: (nakon pomnog promatranja pustinjskog krajolika) Tu će biti dobrodošli.

IZVOR:http://www.lewrockwell.com/gee/gee9.html
http://www.anzac.govt.nz/significance/index.html

THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA

Eric Bogle

When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli

It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat, we were all blown to hell
He nearly blew us back home to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again

Oh those that were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying

Oh no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn
Those weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

.......kako je to MacGowan otpjevao