The First Landings (April 25, 1915)

Before dawn, the first boats scraped the stones at Anzac Cove, while farther south men surged toward Cape Helles—V Beach and W Beach—under rifle fire and bursting shells. Confusion, steep gullies, and tangled wire turned minutes into hours. Along that narrow rim of sand, amid smoke and shouted orders, Christian chaplains went in with the troops, refusing to remain behind when the need was in the surf.

Chaplains Under Fire

Their work was plain and holy. They prayed over the frightened and the dying, read Scripture close to ears already fading, and moved among shattered bodies to bind wounds and carry stretchers when bearers fell. With no doctor able to reach many positions, chaplains often stayed beside a man until his last breath—speaking of mercy, repentance, and the sure hope of Christ. The words of Psalm 23 were not poetry there, but lifeline: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Names Remembered

Some chaplains became known across the ranks for steady courage. The Royal Navy’s Rev. Theodore Bayley Hardy, later awarded the Victoria Cross, was remembered for repeated rescues and calm ministry under fire during the Gallipoli operations. Among the Anzacs, figures such as the New Zealand chaplain William “Fighting Mac” McKenzie were spoken of with affection for being where bullets flew and where souls trembled, bringing firmness without hardness and tenderness without sentimentality.

Legacy of Comfort

When the firing eased, their labor did not. They helped bury the dead, marked makeshift graves, and wrote to mothers and wives with careful honesty—grief softened by hope. Their example still teaches that courage is not only in taking ground, but in giving oneself for others. God’s promise remains: “Do not fear, for I am with you… I will strengthen you and help you” (Isaiah 41:10). In Gallipoli’s darkness, His comfort came through hands that served and words that did not lie.