World War 1 had a huge impact on the New Zealand soldiers severely especially the Gallipoli campaign, with New Zealand soldiers fighting courageously with all their might and enduring Gallipolis harsh environment for almost 9 months (ended 9th January 1916) the campaign ended in a failure with the enemy Turkish troops defeating the ANZACs. A significant moment which impacted the soldiers was the failed landing at ANZAC cove which was the cause 147 New Zealand soldiers lives. Unaware of their surroundings and surprised by the heavily armed Turks waiting for them above the shore lines, the ANZAC troops were shot at with no where to run but only to fight back the Turks and climb Gallipolis steep cliffs. The campaign was suppose to be an adventure for the New Zealand soldiers and a way to do their part for their country and for the crown. For some of the soldiers this was a way to travel the world and experience new things, but instead faced the realities of war, watching death around them and facing life threatening situations, the soldiers faced constant barrage of Turkish gunfire that wounded their comrades and themselves.
Physical Impacts
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A perfect example of how the Gallipoli campaign impacted New Zealand soldiers physically is Private Roderick Bethune who served in the Gallipoli campaign. Private Bethune Roderick was wounded in the lung region at 8th of June 1915 and later died of those wounds the following day. This was the case of many New Zealand soldiers many died of wounds just like Private Roderick Bethune others died of disease.
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Food and water was another impact that affected the ANZAC troops. With wells not lasting long during the campaign, water had to be shipped from other neighbouring countries close to the peninsula.Water was a struggle for the ANZACs only given 2.3 litres of water daily which was often drunk in a form of tea, and after to not let that excess water go to waste the ANZACs would use it for shaving.
‘One of the greatest difficulties here is the shortage of water…I had the first shave for a week and my face was coated with dust and grime I had got through all the recent fighting and trench digging. After I had finished the water in my mess tin it was muddy and I washed my face in that and then had my tea out of the same tin.” Lieutenant F.H. Semple Food though was some how different from the water struggles for the ANZACs having a primary diet of bully beef which was a form of canned meat (which was assumed to have high salt content), and army biscuits ( ANZAC biscuits) along with jam. Soldiers would often have to improvise with their food usually mixing water with vegetables which they rarely got. Some of the soldiers would often get scurvy, dysentery and night blindness because of their bad nutritional diet. “Bully beef and biscuits. You couldn’t eat your biscuit dry. It was like chewing rock. You’d break your teeth in the biscuits if you got stuck into them. You had to soak it. For pudding we used to have biscuit soaking in water and the jam all mixed up together. They issued you with a small tin of jam, perhaps four to a tin.” Russel Weir The ANZACs faced constant gunfire along with unhygienic living quarters, but they also had to endure Gallipolis harsh climate and the unforgiving landscape. Living in an unknown land and facing the harsh environment the ANZACs had to endure the severe heat which often would prevent soldiers to rest which created exhaustion and reduced soldiers resistance to diseases.. Some ANZACs had gotten use to the severe heat back home but it was the life threatening blizzards (November-January) that lead to soldiers freezing to death whilst others would have to get their toes or feet amputated because of frostbite. The ANZACs living quarters (trenches) was no different to the battlefield, the unsanitary conditions in their living quarters were life threatening. Filled with rats feeding themselves on dead soldiers bodies, soldiers would try to kill them with bullets or anything they had on them at that time. Lice was another ordeal the ANZACs had to face in their living quarters leading soldiers to keep their hair short as a protection from lice. Lice would often lead to severe pain for soldiers followed by high fever which was called trench fever. With rain dripping down into their trenches often drowning men and leaving the ANZACs living quarters all drenched and muddy some soldiers would get trench foot. Trench foot was caused by unsanitary and wet cold conditions is one of the causes. Trench foot was a major issue for soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign and also World War 1 mainly because of some cases of trench foot would often lead to amputations. |
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Mental impacts
With the ANZAC troops facing constant barrage of Turkish gunfire and the environment doing them no favours the mental impact on the soldiers were just as fatal. Soldiers facing constant dangers around them with an enemy overlooking them from above with heavy artillery and snipers looking down at them, fear was the only thing going on in a soldier's mind during those battles.
“I remember moving downhill in the dark. There was a bloke screaming somewhere, screaming terribly. He could have been a New Zealander. He could have been a Turk ... Scared? Sometimes you were too scared to be scared” Vic Nicholson At some points of the campaign soldiers would often be affected psychologically with soldiers having mental breakdowns caused by the horrors of war. Some soldiers would often go mad with fear and sometimes suffer with shellshock, a soldier with shellshock showed symptoms of tiredness, constant fear, lack of focus , headaches and other symptoms. Soldiers with shellshock showed no physical or visual wounds but instead was a psychological impact on the soldiers. This was a case of a soldier traumatized by war that was often caused by the enemies heavy artillery and gunfire, in some cases it was caused by the effect of slaughter and death in the most fearful way that one would become familiar with death. In fact shellshock was so severe in World War 1 that a soldier suffering with the trauma would need to leave the battlefield to recover taking many weeks even months. |
The video shows the symptoms of shell shock which some of the ANZAC soldiers had to face leading to days,months even years to recover from.
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