After training near Cairo, Australian troops departed for the Gallipoli Peninsula, landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and established a tenuous foothold on the steep slopes above the beach.

Douglas Diggers were in the conflict from the very earliest – those in the 9th Battalion were part of the covering force for the ANZAC landing. The 9th was heavily involved in establishing the front line of the Anzac beachhead. Those in the 15th Battalion landed at Anzac Cove late in the afternoon of April 25. Those in the 2nd and 5th Light Horse arrived in May (without their horses) and the 11th Light Horse arrived in June.

Attempts to break through in August included the attacks at Lone Pine, Hill 971 and Hill 60. The 15th Battalion suffered heavy losses in the unsuccessful attack on Hill 971 on 8 August, with four Diggers from Douglas, Thomas Chambers, George Chimes, Edward Denslowe and Arthur Hodgkinson, killed that day. Henry Waygood died in the 15th’s failed attempt to take Hill 60 on 27 August. The 19th Battalion joined the Hill 60 attack and then defended Pope’s Hill until the withdrawal. Douglas Diggers in the 25th and 26th Battalions fought in Gallipoli from September 1915 until the evacuation on 19-20 December.