And the band played Waltzing Matilda

GALLIPOLI was one of the greatest military failures of all time - and a nation-defining moment for Australia and New Zealand.

Devised by First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, and others within the British government, its intention was to break the horrific stalemate on the Western Front by launching a second line of attack against Germany's ally, the Ottoman Empire.

Instead, the eight-month campaign contrived to be fought in even worse conditions than Flanders as the allies lost heavily and the corpses piled up to rot on the beach.

Altogether, over 100,000 on both sides were killed. The Turkish, while strategically victorious, lost 56,643 lives, the British lost 34,072, and the French lost 9,798.

But Australia (8,709 deaths) and New Zealand (2,721 deaths) were disproportionally affected.

And so, while the British especially mourn losses at the Somme and the French do likewise with regards to Verdun, Australians and New Zealanders will never forget Gallipoli.

Now, in much the same way as 11 November allows for reflection in this country, Aussies and Kiwis commemorate the loss of servicemen from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on 25 April.

It is a public holiday in both countries known as ANZAC Day - and this year's memorial service was particularly poignant given it marked 100 years since the fateful battle began.

Rewinding back to 1915, the assault on the appropriately-named Cape Helles went wrong pretty much straightaway.

The allied troops were ill-prepared whereas the Turks had primed themselves well, having fully anticipated the invasion.

The hellish scene is described by Scottish-born, Australian-based folk singer Eric Bogle in his song, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

Most notably covered by the Pogues on their 1985 album Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Shane MacGowan spits out the lyrics in bitterness and disgust at the apparent cheapness of human life.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

Shock was indeed the overriding emotion in Australia and New Zealand as the two emerging nation states suffered a baptism of fire.

In Britain too, Gallipoli had major after-effects, not least on Churchill who was forced out of government.

The ruling Liberals were forced into coalition with the Conservatives and, soon after the war, lost power altogether, being consigned into opposition until the current coalition was formed in 2010.

Churchill, meanwhile, recovered his reputation a little by serving in the trenches of the Western Front. He would, of course, recover it fully 20 years later.

For the thousands of dead at Gallipoli, however, there was no time to recover.

World War One was less than a year old - but, with the fateful Race to the Sea and the subsequent failure of Gallipoli, it had already cost too many lives.

The concept of a Lost Generation had become a reality. RIP.