Gallipoli Dead from Western Australia 
Every FamilyHistoryWA Interest Group member and all other volunteers and contributors should be very proud of being able to publish the results of the Gallipoli Dead from Western Australia Project.
This was a collaborative project led by PLC Archivist and FHWA member Shannon Lovelady involving private and departmental contributors, research volunteers, all of whom helped to gather the data; one brilliant web master who presented it, and members of an international medical panel who assessed medical files forensically and helped assess a soldier’s eligibility.
Because everyone involved was so dedicated, this project was successfully achieved well ahead of the centenary of the Anzac Landing. We now know 1023** West Australian soldiers died as a result of their service at Gallipoli, a campaign that began with the Anzac Landing of 25 April 1915 and ended with the final evacuation on 20 December 1915, after the campaign’s futility was realised.
See further notes, explanations and acknowledgements below the table.
Notes:
** The project is complete but will not be closed, as those who fought for other Forces are still accepted for examination by submission. Similarly, for those deemed ineligible due to lack of any ties to WA, I am happy to be presented with proof and if necessary, re-examine their eligibility.
Making Sense of the Results
The parameters of the project were that each one of these men must have:
• been born or enlisted in WA; or
• lived in WA for some time; and
• died from wounds received or illness contracted at Gallipoli between 25 April 1915 and 31 August 1921 (the official Commonwealth War Graves Commission end date for consideration as war dead).
Casualties by Battalion/Regiment
The largest casualties were suffered by the 11th Battalion, followed by the 16th Battalion, the 10th Light Horse Regiment and 28th and 12th Battalions, all those raised wholly or partly in WA.
But the soldiers in the Gallipoli Dead from Western Australia project came from a wide range of units raised all over Australia. The State(s) in which each unit was raised is in brackets. Casualties per unit, in order of magnitude, correspond as below.
| Regiment / Battalion | Deaths |
| 11th Battalion (WA) | 350 |
| 16th Battalion (WA and SA) | 320 |
| 10th Light Horse Regiment (WA) | 161 |
| 12th Battalion (Tas, WA, SA) | 54 |
| 28th Battalion (WA) | 52 |
| Australian Field Artillery Brigade | 16 |
| Australian Army Medical Corps | 9 |
| Australian Engineers | 9 |
| 1st Battalion (NSW) | 5 |
| 3rd Battalion (NSW) | 5 |
| 4th Battalion (NSW) | 4 |
| 6th Battalion (Vic) | 4 |
| 7th Battalion (Vic) | 4 |
| 2nd Battalion (NSW) | 4 |
| 10th Battalion (SA) | 3 |
| 14th Battalion (Vic) | 3 |
| 15th Battalion (Qld and Tas) | 3 |
| 5th Battalion (Vic) | 2 |
| 8th Battalion (Vic) | 2 |
| 13th Battalion (NSW) | 2 |
| 26th Battalion (Qld) | 2 |
| 9th Light Horse Regiment (SA, NSW and Vic) | 2 |
| Royal Marines | 2 |
| Australian Army Service Corps | 1 |
| 9th Battalion (Qld) | 1 |
| 18th Battalion (NSW) | 1 |
| 24th Battalion (Vic) | 1 |
| 7th Light Horse Regiment (NSW) | 1 |
1915 Deaths per Month
After the landing on 25 April, an official tally was not taken until 2 May, so many who actually died at the landing have an official date of death of 2 May. Bloody Angle, which decimated the 16th Battalion, was also on 2 May.
Most deaths occurred in August during battles of the Second Offensive, including the taking of Leane’s Trench on the night of 31 July/1 August and the suicidal dawn charge of the 10th Light Horse Regiment at the Nek on 7 August. But it wasn’t just battles in which these West Australians died. Shelling, machine gun and rifle fire was almost continual and lethal Turkish snipers took a heavy toll. Nowhere was safe, not even in your dugout, having a break, or while using the latrine.
1915 deaths per month, and 1916-1921 deaths:
| Month/1915 | Number of Deaths |
| April | 168 |
| May | 283 |
| June | 60 |
| July | 40 |
| August | 346 |
| September | 45 |
| October | 27 |
| November | 25 |
| December | 11 |
| 1916-1921 | 18 |
| Total | 1023 |
Age breakdown (age on enlistment)
Going on the age given on enlistment, the youngest soldier was 17 and the oldest, 47. The average age of eligible Gallipoli Dead from Western Australia soldiers is 26. A lot of lying was going on in the upper and lower ranges, however. Many in the younger and older ranges were even younger or older than they admitted.
Ages, and how many of each:
| Age | Number of deaths |
| 17 | 1 |
| 18 | 20 |
| 19 | 53 |
| 20 | 67 |
| 21 | 90 |
| 22 | 101 |
| 23 | 74 |
| 24 | 66 |
| 25 | 74 |
| 26 | 60 |
| 27 | 62 |
| 28 | 40 |
| 29 | 41 |
| 30 | 42 |
| 31 | 28 |
| 32 | 36 |
| 33 | 24 |
| 34 | 35 |
| 35 | 20 |
| 36 | 18 |
| 37 | 13 |
| 38 | 11 |
| 39 | 14 |
| 40 | 6 |
| 41 | 3 |
| 42 | 6 |
| 43 | 7 |
| 44 | 9 |
| 45 | 2 |
| 46 | 0 |
| 47 | 1 |
| Total | 1024 |
Acknowledgements
Project Leader:
Shannon Lovelady
Researchers:
FHWA volunteers - Jan Addison, Reg Bonney, Thelma Chilton, Marilyn Dimond, Barbara Hughes, Shannon Lovelady, Marg Mansfield, Mike Murray, Bev Russell, Edwina Shooter, Lesley Silvester, Graeme Sisson.
Other volunteers - Kate Akerman, Sue Barker, Robert Bloore, Linda Christie, Claire Greer, Kerry Hogan, Bernice Holbrook, Lynne Mannolini, Terry Mill, Andrew Pittaway, Sandra Playle, Sheila Robinson, Tim Sheehan, Mary Sutton, Eloise Verlaque, Lea White, Shelley Yeo, Anne Young.
Contributors:
Lee-Ann Atkinson; Marjorie Bly, NAA; Andrew Bowman, Carnamah Hist Soc; Neil Bradley; Cynthia Brock; Brenton Brooks; Neville Browning; Daria Burnett; Lorraine Clarke; Bill Edgar, Hale School; James Fleming, CWGC; Ian Gill; Dr Neville Green AM; Bernice Holbrook; Faithe Jones, Gravesecrets; Chris Loudon; Peta Madalena, Scotch College; Lynne Mannolini; Mal Murray, The Gallipoli Association (Ireland); Mike Murray; Stephanie Neille, Aquinas College; Kim Phillips, Spirits of Gallipoli; Andrew Pittaway, City of Fremantle; Sandra Playle; Ken Stewart; Elle Verlaque; Rosemary Waller, Guildford Grammar School; Marcia Watson; Harry Weston, Hale School; Anne Young.
Forensic Medical Panel:
Margaret Benness, BAppSc
Dr Sally Cook, MBBS, FRACGP
Dr Leigh J Coombs, FANZCA FFICANZCA, Anaesthetist
Elizabeth Keating, BS, RDMS, RDCS, RVT
Dr Katy Langdon, MBBS, FRACP, MRCP (UK), DTM & H, FAFRM
Clair Stanley, BAppSc