Battle of Gallipoli centenary marked with services

The Battle of Gallipoli was first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during World War One

Events are due to take place to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign - one of the bloodiest of World War One.

Prince Charles and Prince Harry will be among those attending services at the site of the battle at Cape Helles on the Turkish peninsula later.

Leaders from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey will also attend the events.

About 141,000 died in the campaign, including 10,000 Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) soldiers.

The series of events - to mark the 100th anniversary of the landings - will begin with a Commonwealth and Irish commemoration.

Relatives of Anzac soldiers who died at Gallipoli are among those who will attend remembrance events

What was Gallipoli?

The Gallipoli campaign

1915-16

• 350,000 British troops, 35,000 died 
• 79,000 French troops, 10,000 died 
• 74,000 Anzac troops, 10,000 died 
• 400,000 Turkish troops, 86,000 died 

Source: Prof Carl Bridge, King’s College London

Getty Images

• The Allies and Germany had reached a stalemate on the Western Front just months into World War One
• Britain and France thought they could help Russia on the Eastern Front by defeating Germany's Turkish allies - the Ottoman Empire
• After a failed naval attack, the Allies tried to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) via the Gallipoli Peninsula by land assault
• British, French and their dominions' troops - including soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, India and Newfoundland - took part
• They faced months of shelling, sniper fire and dysentery, before abandoning the campaign 
• 55,000 Allied troops died for no material gain, although the Turkish Army was tied down for eight months 
• 86,000 Turkish troops died. Commander Mustafa Kemal survived and went on to found modern Turkey

As well as 55,000 Allied troops, an estimated 86,000 Turkish soldiers were killed at Gallipoli

The New Zealand Navy's HMNZS Te Kaha is among warships that have travelled to Gallipoli for the commemorations

Warships from Allied nations will fire a salute in honour of the sailors who died. 

Prince Charles and Prince Harry will lay wreaths, before meeting descendants of veterans who fought at Gallipoli on board the Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Bulwark.

There will also be an international ceremony organised by Turkey and a service to mark France's participation in the battle.

The events will commemorate the World War 1 campaign when allied forces landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in modern-day western Turkey - then part of the Ottoman Empire - in April 1915.

However, the invasion failed, with the Allied forces unable to advance more than a few kilometres inland.

A bloody stalemate ensued which lasted until Allied troops evacuated the peninsula eight months later in January 1916.

At the scene

The scene at "Lancashire Landing", Cape Helles, just before the evacuation of British troops from Gallipoli in 1916

Mark Lowen, BBC News, Gallipoli

The monuments have been cleaned, the veterans are ready and thousands of tourists have arrived to commemorate one of the most infamous campaigns of the Great War - when Allied forces launched their ultimately failed invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula.

Services will be held at the cemeteries and beaches where troops landed in 1915. 

Prince Charles and Prince Harry are representing the Commonwealth, with around 20 world leaders attending, most notably the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand. 

For those two countries, Gallipoli remains perhaps the most important event in their modern history: the first time their troops, known as Anzacs, fought a major military campaign as independent nations. 

Their national spirit was born on the beaches of Gallipoli.

And another country saw its national consciousness emerge here: Turkey. A brilliant commander at Gallipoli emerged, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, later known simply as Ataturk, the founding father of the modern Turkey that rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

Events will continue on Saturday with services to mark Anzac Day, which is widely marked in Australia and New Zealand.

The centenary is expected to be the largest ever commemoration of the battle, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Prince Charles leading the ceremonies.

Thousands of Australians, New Zealanders and Turks are also expected to make the journey to Gallipoli for the anniversary, including relatives of those who fought and died at Gallipoli. There are no longer any surviving veterans of the campaign.

In London, The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is Patron of the Gallipoli Association, and Prince William will be joined by senior government and military figures to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.