Chelsea Pensioners mark 100 years since Gallipoli
24th April 2015
The commemoration on ANZAC Day marks the 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, which saw over half a million casualties in 1915.
Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of Cambridge and senior government and military personnel were in attendance.
Several of the Chelsea Pensioners marching had family members who fought at Gallipoli.
Above, Chelsea Pensioners lining up in Whitehall ahead of the ceremony at the Cenotaph.
Chelsea Pensioner John Hellewell said: “My grandfather Charles Matthew Middleton, born 1883, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1901. In 1915 he was sent to Gallipoli, not at the front but at a hospital station receiving wounded troops. He must have seen many things, the terrible results of war. He never talked to me as a child about his experiences.
“The commemorations are important. It’s important not to forget our history. We should remember all these anniversaries, right back to the Seven Years War. You have to know history to know where you’re going.”
The Chelsea Pensioners also attended the 5am dawn service (below) at Wellington Arch, Hyde Park corner.
