Current Information:

Age-23

1 Kinsale Road, Peckham Rye

Alexandria (Chatby) Military & War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt

Gallipoli 1915

On 25 April, British, Australian and New Zealand forces landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. The plan was that these forces would soon defeat a demoralised Turkish army, knock Turkey out of the war, open up the Mediterranean to the Russian navy and threaten Austro-Hungary from the south. None of these things were achieved despite nine months of hard fighting in terrible conditions. It was an heroic failure.

By the middle of June 1915, there had been three attempts at Helles to capture the village of Krithia and the heights of Achi Baba beyond it and all three had failed at great cost in human life. Future plans now revolved around fresh divisions arriving from Britain but that was still six weeks off and in the meantime it was a matter of holding the line and through a series of small attacks and raids trying to undermine, often literally, the Turkish positions.

29th Division had landed at Cape Helles on 25th April and had been engaged in heavy fighting since then, suffering many casualties. Victor Bickle died of wounds on 27th June, 1915, having been Sent from Gallipoli to Egypt but there is no information as yet as to when he was wounded.