Lice 'n' Latrines - New Zealanders at Gallipoli

Social Studies Online

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your students, and to fit the time available:

Starter Activities:

1. Ask students to draw a Mental map of their local area and mark on (and label) all the memorials - war memorials, Rolls of Honour, memorials in cemeteries - that they can think of. After they have done as much as they can on their own they could form pairs then small groups and share ideas. Go out into the field and visit some of the local memorials. Take a digital camera or a standard camera if no digital camera is available. Photographs can be scanned and converted to digital format.

   If there is a shortage of memorials in your local community try the New Zealand and the Great War site which has examples of different types of War Memorials from around New Zealand or War Memorials of First World War or from the NZHistory Net site.

   See also the New Zealand Historical Atlas page 78 (see Resources).

   Discuss what the memorials appear to have in common, perhaps using a modified version of 5Ws & an H, eg.

   • When were they put up?
   • Why were they put up?
   • Who is represented on the memorials?
   • Where are they located?
   • What is the purpose of these memorials?

2. Construct Word Puzzles or Wordsquares of terms that students will encounter in the course of the unit. It is important that students are familiar with the language of the topic, especially if they have limited prior knowledge of the content.

   If you don't have access to a suitable program for creating word puzzles (or crossword puzzles...) try Puzzlemaker.

   Terms could include: ANZAC, Johnny Turk, Allies, corpse, shrapnel, periscope, trench, maimed, bully beef, latrines, casualty, Armistice, strategic, bayonet, stench, sniper, patriotism, evacuation, Main Body, convalescence, peninsula.

3. Once the students have identified the words from the puzzle they could create a First and Second Definitions chart and begin a glossary of terms related to the study.

4. Play Eric Bogle's antiwar song And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. The Pogues have done a version, so has John McDermott (see Resources).

   Discuss the song - again use a modified version of 5Ws & an H:

   • Where did he sail to?
   • Why was he sent?
   • What happened at Suvla?
   • Who were the people involved?
   • How long did he stay alive?
   • What happened to him - and thousands of others?
   • When did it all happen?
   • Why did it happen?

CASE STUDY: GALLIPOLI AND THE ANZACS

1. What do the students already know about the Gallipoli Campaign and ANZAC Day? In small groups (3-4) students identify what they Know about Gallipoli; what they Think they know; and what they Don't know - a Simple KTD.

2. If students have only limited knowledge of the topic it may be appropriate to provide them with an overview of the campaign. A Picture Dictation is one tool that can be used to do this.

3. Show the last thirty minutes of Peter Weir's classic movie Gallipoli - from the landing at Anzac Cove until the final scene of the futile attack at The Nek (provide tissues).

   Gallipoli represents events on the peninsula with some degree of accuracy but dramatic license has been taken with the lead up to the charge of the lighthorse. Military historians consider the movie to be inaccurate so check out background information about the Lighthorse's attack on The Nek.

   Some suggestions for viewing Gallipoli the movie can be found in the English On-line Conflict and War unit.

4. Location, location, location
   Why did the Allies waste so many lives trying to implement Churchill's Plan to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula? What was so strategically significant about Gallipoli?

   Ask the students "What if... Churchill's naval campaign had succeeded and the Allies had broken through and captured Constantinople?"

5. Mini Inquiry: Places of significance on Gallipoli
   As a class or in smaller groups create a large wall map of the Gallipoli peninsula (leave space on the wall for the Visual Timeline - see below). Use a Base Map for enlarging to an appropriate size for the wall display space available.

   On the map of Gallipoli locate and label battle sites/strategic points (places of significance on Gallipoli): eg. *Chunuk Bair, *The Nek, *Lone Pine, *Anzac Cove, *Ari Burnu, *Quinn's Post, *Courtney's Post, *Hill 971, *Shrapnel Gully, Walkers Ridge, Russell's Top, Kritha, Pope's Hill, Apex, Plugge's Plateau, Monash Gully, Suvla, Sari Bair, Baby 700, Cape Helles, and others...

   Allocate one or more significant places on the map to pairs or small groups (3-4) of students.

   Note: Information about places marked with an * can be found on a series of Plaques located on Gallipoli.

   If appropriate go through the Inquiry Process with the students.

   The Research Cycle is another approach to inquiry that you might want to consider.

   Note: Ensure that the students have basic Internet search skills. Teach them explicitly - don't assume that they will pick it up somehow. Refer back to the Internet Tutorial.

6. Events at Gallipoli: A Visual Timeline
   A Visual Timeline is a powerful tool for showing chronology - and for involving a class in some collaborative learning. The completed Timeline will complement the map and help fix Gallipoli in both time and space for the students.

7. Perception Check: PEP - Places Events People
   We now have an overview of the Places and the Events related to the Gallipoli Campaign. But who were the People involved in, and affected by, the events on Gallipoli? As students watched the Gallipoli extract and collected information for the map and timeline they would have encountered some of the people involved - individuals and groups. Brainstorm all the people whom the students encountered as they worked on the map and timeline.

   As a whole class or in small groups organise the information by creating a graphic organiser such as a Mind map or Structured Overview the drawing function of a word processing program such as Word.

8. At Home

   New Zealanders back home first heard news of the Gallipoli landings from Prime Minister William Massey on 29 April 1915. The first official lists of casualties were published on the 4 - 5 May. Newspaper front pages trumpeted news of "The Landing" - alongside long lists of New Zealand casualties.

   "Almost a generation of the best young men were wiped out, and throughout my life I have been conscious of this deprivation. In all walks of life many of those who would have been leaders were missing... Not only these men, but those who would have been their children are missing..." Sir Charles Robb.

   Go back to those War Memorials that you "collected" at the beginning of the unit. Who were these people? What was the impact of their deaths on the people they left behind?

   As a class or in small groups discuss the impact of the casualty rate at Gallipoli on the families and communities that the soldiers had left behind. A possible framework for discussion, using a modified 5Ws & an H could be:

   • Who were these young men who volunteered to fight for King and Country?
   • Why did they volunteer?
   • Where did they come from?
   • What were their roles in the community - work, sport, church...?
   • Who would fill these gaps?
   • How would their departure affect their families? the community they were leaving behind?

   Organise the class into groups and give each group one "At Home" scenario. They have ten minutes to create a snapshot of their scenario and organise themselves to present it to the class.

9. Remembering Gallipoli

   The first ANZAC Day commemorations were held in 1916. 2000 New Zealand and Australian troops marched through London to Westminster Abbey and services were held throughout both countries.

   Trace changes in New Zealanders' attitudes to ANZAC Day, decade by decade, by drawing a simple Timeline.

   ANZAC Day continues to be commemorated in both New Zealand and Australia.

   Compare ANZAC Day commemorations in New Zealand and Australia. Have half the class prepare a brief news report outlining ANZAC Day commemorations in New Zealand and the other half prepare a similar report for Australia. Organise the class into pairs and have them compare the two ANZAC Days.

   Identify symbols that represent ANZAC and Gallipoli for both nations and create a collage.

   More and more New Zealanders and Australians are making pilgrimages to Gallipoli and in recent years official services have been held at Anzac Cove and other memorials on Gallipoli.

   Gallipoli is obviously a significant place for Turks as well. After all they were defending their country against invaders and won a significant victory. The Ataturk Memorial acknowledges a special relationship between the "Mehmets" and the "Johnnies".

10. Social Decision Making

    The Issue:
    There have been demands that shops and businesses be allowed to open all day on ANZAC Day but there has been resistance from organisations such as the RSA (Returned Services Association). The government has asked for advice on this matter. What will you recommend?

11. Wrap up

    Finish off on a relatively cheerful note - make a batch of ANZAC biscuits!

    As you munch on this New Zealand icon discuss the proposition that ANZAC Day is really Australia's day and that 8 August, the date of the battle at Chunuk Bair, would be more appropriate as New Zealand's national day of remembrance.

• What have you learnt about researching historic events using the Internet as the major source of information?
• What would you do differently if you were to carry out similar research in the future? Why?
• What other important events in New Zealand's history have also contributed to shaping New Zealand's identity - how New Zealanders might see themselves?

RESOURCES

Print Resources

• Student Resources:

  Essay Competition - Winning Essays

  Lockyer, John. (1998) Lottie Gallipoli Nurse. Auckland, Reed.

  Pugsley, Christopher. (1995) ANZAC The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett.

  Pugsley, Chris & Lockyer, John. (1999) The Anzacs at Gallipoli. Auckland, Reed.

• General Reference

  McKinnon, Malcolm ed. (1997) New Zealand Historical Atlas: Ko Papatuanuku e Tokoto Nei. Auckland, David Bateman Ltd.

• Teacher Resources:

  James, Robert Rhodes. (1999) Gallipoli. London, Pimlico.

  Pugsley, Christopher. (1998) Gallipoli The New Zealand Story. Auckland, Reed.

  Pugsley, Christopher. (1995) Te Hokowhitu a Tu The Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War. Auckland, Reed.

  Pugsley, Christopher. (1998) Gallipoli The New Zealand Story. Auckland, Reed.

  Pugsley, Chris. (1996) Scars on the Heart. Auckland, David Bateman Ltd.

Electronic Resources

• Australia's Cultural Network - ANZAC Day

Other Resources

• Audio Resources:

  Shadbolt, Maurice. (1989) Voices of Gallipoli. Replay Radio.

  John McDermott Danny Boy EMI. (And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda).

• Kit:

  Kiwis and Diggers A Year to Remember. Queen Elizabeth II Army Museum (Waiouru) Education Service.

• Exhibitions:
  Queen Elizabeth II Army Museum Waiouru