Photographic certificate relating to the destruction of a Turkish Memorial on Anzac Beach, 1918

Grey printed cardboard bifid folder containing a black and white photograph of a white plaster and marble memorial set in its grounds, which were constructed by the Turkish Army at Gallipoli circa 1916-1918. The folder also contains a story about the monument in one half and a statement of authenticity from the manufacturers, Ryan & Mish, in the other half.

This certificate relates to a memorial erected by the Turkish Army near Ocean Beach some time between 1916 and 1918, to commemorate 'Driving the British Forces into the Sea' on the Gallipoli Peninsula in late 1915 and early 1916.

In December 1918, a regiment of the Australian Light Horse and a regiment of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles were sent to the Gallipoli battlefields from Egypt by the War Office. The party was distressed to find that the Turks had removed many grave markers from the earlier battles and had erected their own memorials (with at least two other Memroials that were located at The Nek and Lone Pine).

The Australians destroyed the central marble pillar of the Turkish memorial after taking the photograph that appears inside this folded certificate. The statement of authenticity indicates that the certificate originally accompanied a piece of white marble from the memorial but this is not with the certificate now.

The bulk of the damaged central pillar and rest of the memorial still existed in situ into early 1919 and was photographed under the direction of CEW Bean of the Australian Historical Mission to Gallipolli, but was subsequently destroyed.