Tom Iredale and Mike Crane, on behalf of the Gallipoli Association, held a presentation on the Gallipoli Campaign to an audience of 60 boys and girls of St. Mary’s College, Liverpool on 26 February 2024. The session was designed with 14-year-old students in mind and included:

• a short film about the landings on 25 April 1915
• a brief overview of the campaign
• descriptions of the conditions endured by the soldiers, together with the stories of young soldiers who were killed in the campaign
• a re-enactment of a battlefield commemoration with student participation – using the whistle that Captain Sutcliffe used in the Third Battle of Krithia
• a Q and A session with prizes for the best questions – which encouraged a flood of interesting questions from the students
• viewing and handling a collection of weapons and artifacts from the First World War – this proved extremely popular with the students, many of whom stayed on during breaktime.

We presented the college library with copies of; Klaus Wolf’s GA sponsored book Victory at Gallipoli, all three Alec Riley volumes; Egypt Diary 1914-1915, Gallipoli Diary 1915, and Netley Diary 1915-1916, and also a copy of Little Gully Publishing’s latest book Lost Endeavour.

Finally, the students were each presented with a 24-page full colour booklet, giving more details and maps of the campaign, expanding what they had already heard during the presentations. They were also given information about Association projects and the benefits to the school in taking out membership.

We would like to thank Mr Niall Rothnie, Head of History and OC Combined Cadet Force (CCF) for handling all the arrangements at the College. School website: St. Mary's College (stmarys.ac)

For those not familiar with the CCF in British schools, please click this link: Combined Cadet Force

Photos: TP Iredale