Remembering Gallipoli: ‘Their sacrifice made them our boys’

'Digger' C.A. was just 21 years old when he died on June 12, 1915, according to his tombstone, one of hundreds at the Commonwealth War Cemetery on the eastern Aegean island of Limnos, which represents a very important chapter of modern history, as the flags waving at its entrance testify.

The tranquil cemetery is the final resting place of 885 Commonwealth soldiers who fell here in World War I; among them are 98 Australians and 47 New Zealanders of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who took part in the Gallipoli Campaign. Because of its geographical position, Limnos played an important role in the campaign as an assembly, preparation and training location, but also as a hospital base for the thousands of Allied soldiers who took part in the audacious attempt to take control of the Ottoman straits by attempting to occupy the Gallipoli peninsula by sea - a plan that...