The Farm Cemetery

The Farm Cemetery; (652 burials) takes its name from a shepherd's stone hut which stood on the western slope of Chunuk Bair. It is reached along a steep footpath which runs from the fire break that starts south of Chunuk Bair Cemetery.

Location Information

Between Baby 700 and Chunuk Bair there is a steep right hand path 540 metres long, which leads to this cemetery. It is 13.7 km's from the Eceabat - Bigali junction in the Anzac area.

Visiting Information

The Cemetery is permanently open and may be visited at any time.

Historical Information

The eight month campaign in Gallipoli was fought by Commonwealth and French forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front in France and Belgium, and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea.

The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac. On 6 August, further landings were made at Suvla, just north of Anzac, and the climax of the campaign came in early August when simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts.

The Farm was a stone shepherd's hut on the western slopes of Chunuk Bair, known to the Turks as 'Aghyl' (sheepfold), which was passed by the troops who held Chunuk Bair on 6-10 August. On 8 August, it was occupied by the 10th Gurkhas, part of the 9th Royal Warwicks, and the Maoris. The 6th East Lancashire Regiment, the 10th Hants and the 6th Royal Irish Rifles reached it next day. The 5th Connaught Rangers came up on 10 August, but the same morning, in consequence of the Turkish attack which cleared Chunuk Bair, the line was withdrawn.

The cemetery was made after the Armistice by gathering in graves scattered around the Farm and from the slopes of Chunuk Bair and Hill Q.

There are now 652 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Special memorials commemorate seven soldiers believed to be buried among them. 645 burials are unidentified.