"It Is Absolutely Wrong To Say That The Morale Of The Turk Is Gone"

And so it came to an end. After just four months the 5th Battalion left Gallipoli. Although it had not been there from its beginning, the Dardanelles campaign had cost the 5th Battalion many dead and missing and scores more wounded or ill of disease.
In military terms, the campaign may not have achieved much, but for the 5th Battalion, it was a training ground for the battles that were to come. They had arrived to be forced straight into battle, suffering their largest amount of casualties during the entire campaign. From here, they held the line around one of the most important positions in the peninsular; Hill 60, before finally being withdrawn to the island of Mudros on the 6/7th December 1915.
The Battalion lost its commander within a few days of landing, and many of its officers fell with wounds and disease. A few who came through unsaved, such has Lieutenant Hubert Wolton, were invalided to Malta with extreme heat exhaustion at the height of the campaign. The Battalions Padre and shown such gallantry as to win himself the Military Cross.
Walton's comments upon leaving the peninsular for a period of recuperation in Malta were prophetic "It is absolutely wrong to say that the morale of the Turk is gone. He is a fine fighter.. but our chaps are splendid. During the advance we went along cracking jokes as if we were on peace manoeuvres."
The Battalion would still be fighting the Turk in the months and years that were to follow. Sand would remain in their boots until the wars end, for they would remain in the Middle East until 1918.

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