Australian soldiers stage a mock battle for photographic purposes prior to leaving Gallipoli, 18 December 1915. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial.
- The remaining 20,000 Australians and New Zealanders are successfully evacuated from the Anzac area of Gallipoli over the following two nights.
In their last weeks on the peninsula the Allies employ a variety of ruses to convince the Turks that they are still present in force. Random periods of silence are observed until the curious enemy ventures forth, only to be fired upon. Empty tents are left standing; rifles are rigged to fire spontaneously, activated by water dripping into a pan attached to the trigger. Ammunition dumps on the shore are mined and later detonated, creating huge explosions and fires.
The evacuation of ANZAC troops proves to be the most successful operation of the entire Gallipoli campaign. Australian casualties at Gallipoli numbered 26,111, with 8,141 killed. Other Allied casualties – killed and wounded – included: 7,571 New Zealanders, 120,000 British and 27,000 French.
At least 70 men from the Orange district fought at Gallipoli, 29 of whom died. They were:
Herbert Maurice Robertshaw
Eric Martin Solling
Charles Herbert Cane
Mathew Aloysius Stackpool
William Robert Clive Beasley
Oswald Cecil Jeffrey Baylis
Harold William Corkett
William Henry O’Bree
William Daniel McCarthy
Joseph McCullough
William John Goode
Henry George
William Arthur Whittle
Albert Edward Varcoe
Cecil Reginald John Lidster
Edgar Roy Stanford
George William Lawson Cooper
Bernard Patrick Dawson
Joseph George Thew
Henry George Eardley Rotton
Edric Albert Davies
John Michael Paul Woodbridge
Edwin Hercules Fardell
Henry Hodder
James Joseph Kelaher
Dennis Edward William Gaynor
Norman Ernest Davis
William Holland
Thomas Murphy
