He wears a slouch hat with the brim down, and shirt and trousers with the sleeves and legs shortened. Between his legs is a shell for an 18-pounder field gun. It is estimated the Australian military focres used around 500 18-pounders during the Great War.
The ammunition carrier wears a canvas jacket with deep tube pockets that allow him to carry several shells at a time. In the rugged terrain of the beachhead at Gallipoli held from April to December 1915, tasks that would normally have been carried out by pack animals were undertaken by men. We can imagine our ammunition carrier struggling with his load from the supply dump on the beach up the steep, winding dirt paths to a gun position on one of the few areas of level ground on the heights behind the Australian front lines.
On this day
1942 — Battle of MIDWAY began. This decisive victory by the US Navy over the Japanese Navy shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific and forced Japan to abandon plans to attack New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. Japanese losses were 4 aircraft carriers, 1 cruiser, 248 aircraft, and over 3,000 sailors. American losses were 1 aircraft carrier, 1 destroyer, 150 aircraft, and 307 men
1944 — 78 Squadron, RAAF, carried out the last major air combat by the RAAF in WW2, off BIAK Island, New Guinea. 10 enemy planes were shot down for the loss of one Australian plane and pilot
1969 — HMAS MELBOURNE collided with USS FRANK E EVANS in the South China Sea. EVANS was cut in half and 74 of her crew were killed