The battle that made a deeper impression on the New Zealand psyche than any other began in the early hours of April 25, 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at a place now known as Anzac Cove, north of Gaba Tepe on the Gallipoli peninsula.
The objectives of the Anzacs - and their British and French allies landing further along the coast - were to knock Germany's ally Turkey out of World War I and, by capturing the Dardenelles, gain access to Russia.
It was a bloody campaign, the high point of which came in August when the Wellington Battalion, under Colonel William Malone took a hill called Chunuk Bair in fierce fighting.
But they could not hold their position against a Turkish counter-attack. Malone was killed and Corporal Cyril Bassett, a signaller, was awarded the VC for conspicuous gallantry in laying a telephone line in daylight and under continuous heavy fire.
The New Zealander of the Year award for 1915 goes to all the men who fought at Gallipoli until they were withdrawn in December.
