The 29th Division served on the Gallipoli peninsula for the duration of the ill-fated campaign. It made the first landings in April of 1915 and was among the last to leave in January of 1916. The division suffered through the worst of the fighting at Cape Helles before being moved to fight on the Suvla front as well.
On the morning of April 25, 1915 the Battle of Gallipoli began when battalions from the division's 86th and 87th Brigades landed at five beaches around Cape Helles at the tip of the peninsula. Three of the landings faced little or no opposition but were not exploited. The two main landings, at V and W Beaches on either side of the cape, met with fierce Turkish resistance and the landing battalions were decimated.
The original objectives of the first day of the campaign had been the village of Krithia and the nearby hill of Achi Baba. The first concerted attempt to capture these was made by the division three days after the landings on April 28. In this First Battle of Krithia an advance up the peninsula was made but the division was halted short of its objective and suffered around 3,000 casualties. The attack was resumed on May 6 with the launch of the Second Battle of Krithia. On this occasion the 88th Brigade attacked along Fig Tree Spur and, after two days of fighting without significant progress, it was relieved by the New Zealand Infantry Brigade.
The division finally saw successful fighting at Helles during the Battle of Gully Ravine on June 28 when the 86th Brigade managed to advance along Gully Spur. As a prelude to the launch of the August Offensive, a "diversion" was carried out at Helles on August 6 to prevent the Turks withdrawing troops. In what became known as the Battle of Krithia Vineyard, the 88th Brigade made another costly and futile attack along the exposed Krithia Spur.
At Suvla, the Battle of Scimitar Hill on August 21 was the final push of the failed August Offensive. The 29th Division had been moved from Helles to Suvla to participate. The 87th Brigade was briefly able to capture the summit of the hill but was soon forced to retreat.
The division was evacuated from Gallipoli and January 2, 1916 and moved to Egypt before being sent to France in March.
Formation
The division comprised three infantry brigades which at various times contained the following battalions:
