The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial

The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial in the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey is a monument to the New Zealand soldiers who died in the Battle of Hill 60 and who have no known grave.

The Battle of Hill 60 was a successful attack by Commonwealth forces to capture this hill from Turkish forces in August 1915. It was one of the battles of the Commonwealth and French Gallipoli Campaign aimed at removing Turkey from World War I.

The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial is one of four New Zealand memorials at the Commonwealth Hill 60 Cemetery.

The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial history

The eight month campaign in Gallipoli was fought by Commonwealth and French forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front in France and Belgium, and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac. On 6 August, further landings were made at Suvla, just north of Anzac, and the climax of the campaign came in early August when simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts.

At the beginning of August 1915, Hill 60, which commanded the shoreward communications between the forces at Anzac and Suvla, was in Turkish hands.

On 22 August, it was attacked from Anzac by the Canterbury and Otago Mounted Rifles, followed later by the 18th Australian Infantry Battalion and supported on the flanks by other troops. It was partly captured and on 27-29 August, and the captured ground was extended by the 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th Australian Infantry Battalions, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, the 5th Connaught Rangers, and the 9th and 10th Australian Light Horse. The position was held until the evacuation in December.

The Hill 60 cemetery was created after those engagements and enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from Norfolk Trench Cemetery and from the battlefield. There are now 788 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery.

The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial is one of four memorials erected to commemorate New Zealand soldiers who died on the Gallipoli peninsula, whose graves are not known. This memorial relates to the actions at Hill 60. It bears more than 180 names.

The Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial today

The Memorial is situated within the Hill 60 Cemetery. The site is permanently open and may be visited at any time.

Getting to the Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial

The Anzac and Suvla cemeteries are first signposted from the left hand junction of the Eceabat Bigali road. From this junction you should travel into the main Anzac area. The Hill 60 cemetery can be found upon leaving the Anzac area and heading towards Sulva. The Hill 60 Memorial is situated in Hill 60 Cemetery which lies among the old trenches. It can be reached via an 800 metre track which requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle in wet weather.