Lone Pine

Lone Pine

Lone pine was a strategically important plateau to the south of Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It was attacked by the Australians during the First World War between 6th and 10th of August 1915 while other forces battled for the peaks of the Sari Bair ridge at Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The Lone Pine battlefield, named for a solitary Turkish Pine that stood there at the beginning of the war, was situated about the centre of the eastern line of the ANZAC trenches.

One of the most famous attacks of the Gallipoli campaign, the Battle of Lone Pine, was originally intended as a diversion from attempts by Anzac units to force a breakout from the northern Anzac perimeter to capture the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. The main Turkish trench was taken within 20 minutes of the initial charge but this was the start of 4 days of intense hand-to-hand fighting. Casualties were heavy, 10,000 in total (7,000 Turkish, 3,000 Australian). Of these some 9,000 were fatalities.

History

Lone Pine Cemetery contains mostly Australian casualties. Within the cemetery stands the Lone Pine Memorial which records the names of all the Australian soldiers lost in the Anzac area between April and December 1915 and New Zealanders prior to the August offensive who have no known grave.

Lone Pine Cemetery Gallipoli