Staples for barbed wire entanglements : Lone Pine, Gallipoli

Four 'staples' to secure barbed wire entanglements to the ground. Each staple is made from a length of steel rod, bent in the shape of an arch. Both ends are pointed.

These four staples were found in front of the Australian trenches at Lone Pine in February 1919 by the Australian Historical Mission. The Mission, led by Official Historian C E W Bean, visited Gallipoli between February and March 1919 to collect items for the nation, to record the area through artworks and photographs, and to explore the battlefields to answer some of the 'riddles of Anzac' for the Australian official history of the war.

These staples were used during the latter part of the campaign, to secure the Australian barbed wire entanglements at Lone Pine. After the Australians captured part of the Turkish trench system at Lone Pine in August 1915, the Turkish and Australian trenches were close together. If the entanglements were not secured firmly to the ground, the Turks would cast grappling hooks into No Man's Land, and drag the Australian entanglements towards their own trenches in order to supplement their defences.