THE Prince of Wales and Prince Harry have met relatives of Gallipoli Campaign veterans — who 100 years ago were about to endure one of Britain’s worst military disasters.
They met them on the flight deck of the Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Bulwark in Turkey’s Dardanelles straits, the same crucial waters that the First World War Allies hoped to control.
Their visit comes as never-before-seen photographs showed the horror of the landing — many taken by the troops themselves.
A 1915 plot to knock the Ottomans out of the war and open a sea route to Russia was hampered by hopeless planning, hostile conditions and heroic defending. Eight bloody months later the operation was halted, having cost 58,000 Allied lives.
Some 87,000 Turks died defending their home soil. The amphibious assault started at dawn on April 25, 1915 as wave after wave of British and Irish, French, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops attacked heavily- defended beaches through barbed wire, and raced up cliffs through scrub.
Ben Goddard, 37, was there to honour his great-grandfather Private Alfred William Goddard, of 2nd Hampshire Regiment, who landed on V Beach on April 25, 1915.
He was hit on the elbow by shrapnel 11 days later but survived the hostilities and was discharged in 1918.
Mr Goddard, from Ropley, Hampshire, said: “So many men fought and did not come back. That should be remembered, whether the campaign was a disaster or not.
“I am really proud and honoured to have been chosen, representing the Hampshire Regiment, and be there for the people who did not come back.”
Historic images of Gallipoli landing through the eyes of the troops
These never-before-seen photos show the horror of the Gallipoli landings.
Historian Stephen Chambers painstakingly collected and preserved the poignant images.
Many were taken by the troops themselves — even in the heat of battle.
