Gallipoli: Soldiers return 'tempered by a sadness'

New Zealanders in Gallipoli. Photo / George Novak

Today marks 100 years since the first large group of wounded Kiwi soldiers from Gallipoli arrived home, when the ship Willochra docked at Glasgow Wharf in Wellington.

"The exuberance of ... the welcome yesterday to sick and wounded soldiers who were passengers ... was tempered by a sadness which could not be shaken off," a journalist reported at the time.

"The people cheered those men who were able to hobble to the motor cars provided for them, but when the sick men on stretchers were carried past ,,, the cheering broke off suddenly, and in the absolute silence which followed, women sobbed openly, and men's faces hardened in the effort of self-control."

The wounded or sick men were greeted in a large-scale welcoming ceremony as Wellington city closed for a half-day holiday.

Crowds flocked to the piers and the route the men took to the town hall was also crammed, as public sentiment about the return of "the heroes of the Dardanelles" reached fever pitch.

Some of the men returning home to towns in the North Island did so aboard a special "Red Cross Train" and they too were greeted by cheering masses from Paekakariki to Frankton.

Soldiers were gifted cigarettes, chocolates, fruit, flowers and steaming cups of tea and coffee to combat the heavy frost, as well as cakes and sandwiches.

"The Willochra welcomes set the bar for later ship loads of men," said historian Imelda Bargas.

"Particularly enthusiastic welcomes were extended to men who returned on the Willochra, the country's hospital ships Maheno and Marama and where there was anything particularly interesting about an arrival ... by comparison individuals and small groups arriving home received little fanfare."

• On 8 August, the Chunuk Bair offensive, Gallipoli, will be commemorated at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington. A ceremony will also take place at Chunuk Bair on the same day.