Overview
Captain E P Cox landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915 and was wounded on Chunuk Bair. His diary is a revealing day-to-day account of four months of this historic campaign.
New Zealand took part in World War I as a member of the British Empire. This war is remembered as one of the most traumatic events in our history because of the sheer number of soldiers killed.
During the four years of the war, 124,211 men from a total New Zealand population of about one million volunteered for military service or were conscripted. Of these, 18,166 died and 41,217 were wounded.
The Gallipoli Peninsula, in Turkey, was the site of the first major action in which New Zealand soldiers fought. They were there as part of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (the ANZACs). Allied strategists hoped that the capture of the peninsula by their forces would end Turkish participation in the war and open up a secure supply route to Russia. The campaign lasted eight months and ended in failure for the Allies. Of the New Zealanders taking part, 2721 (about one in four) died.
Captain E P Cox of the Wellington Infantry Battalion was among those who landed on the peninsula on 25 April 1915. In his private diary, which he kept contrary to army regulations, he recorded events and his thoughts on the campaign until 5 August. This was three days before he was wounded in the ferocious fighting on the summit of Chunuk Bair, the highest point on the peninsula. During this battle, almost the entire battalion was wiped out.
Cox was lucky - he was sent back to New Zealand.
Two years later, when there was considerable interest in establishing a national war history collection, he donated his diary to the Museum.