The Gallipoli Association held its 11th annual conference on 5 September at the RAF Club, 128 Piccadilly, London, under the theme “Contours of Conflict: Gallipoli on Land, Under the Sea and in the Air”. The day opened for the 65 attendees with Steve Moore leading the commemoration “For the Fallen”, followed by Robin Thorne’s welcome address. Robin paid tribute to outgoing chairman Brigadier James Stopford for ten years of distinguished leadership and welcomed Stephen Chambers as the Association’s new chairman.

Robin Thorne with Conference Welcome Address (Photos: Tom Iredale & Warren Smith)

Robin also praised the trustees and volunteers whose work sustains the Association’s purpose: remembering, studying and honouring all those who took part in the Gallipoli campaign, whichever side they served on. He closed by thanking the RAF Club for its hospitality and organisation.

Francis Dickinson chaired the morning session and fielded questions for both speakers.

Andrew Choong Presenting (Photo: Warren Smith)

The conference programme reflected the breadth of the Gallipoli story. Andrew Choong opened the speaker sessions with an examination of Royal Navy submarine operations in the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara, beginning with Lieutenant Norman Holbrook’s successful attack on the Ottoman warship Messudieh in December 1914. His paper placed the celebrated exploits of commanders such as Stoker, Boyle and Nasmith within the wider strategic and technological challenges of submarine warfare.

Stephen Snelling Presenting (Photo: Tom Iredale)

Stephen Snelling followed with a lively portrait of Bob Millar, described as Gallipoli’s own comic-strip superhero. The story of the Australian submarine AE2 provided a neat link with Andrew’s paper, before Stephen traced Millar’s adventures from the V Beach landings to Sari Bair and the evacuation. In doing so, he showed how Millar’s story bridged fact and fiction, bringing renewed attention to an overlooked figure whose exploits captured the imagination.

After the lunch break, Margaret Carter introduced the next two speakers and chaired the question-and-answer session that followed.

Lucy Betteridge-Dyson Presenting (Photo: Warren Smith)

Turning attention from machines to animals, Lucy Betteridge-Dyson showed how mules and donkeys formed an essential part of the campaign’s logistics. Her talk highlighted their work in carrying ammunition, water and wounded men across ground that defeated motor transport, and considered the role of the Army Veterinary Corps and volunteer mule handlers in keeping these indispensable animals in service.

Peter Hart and Warren Smith Presenting (Photo: Tom Iredale)

Peter Hart and Warren Smith then delivered a lively double act on the republication of Letters from Gallipoli, Patrick Maitland Campbell’s 1916 account of the Ayrshire Yeomanry. Their session explained how the new edition, expanded through further research and additional accounts, restores an important and scarce source to modern readers, with Peter adding energy in his own inimitable way.

Rob Fleming Presenting (Photo: Warren Smith)

What better venue for a talk about air power than the RAF Club? The day concluded with Tom Iredale introducing Rob Fleming, who offered a wider view of aircraft roles beyond the Western Front. His talk traced the rapid development of aviation during the First World War and considered its employment in the Dardanelles, Sinai, Palestine and Mesopotamia, where distance and mobility gave aircraft increasing operational significance.

Stephen Chambers Wrapping Up the Conference (Photo: Warren Smith)

Closing the conference, Chairman Stephen Chambers thanked the speakers for their talks and the guests for their contributions to the day’s discussions. Taken together, the presentations offered a rich and varied picture of the Gallipoli campaign by land, sea and air. The conference successfully combined commemoration with fresh scholarship, and provided members and guests with a thoughtful reminder of the Association’s continuing commitment to remembrance, study and honour.