With the Gallipoli centenary approaching, the nation should remember the words of our last Anzac Alec Campbell, who pleaded on his death bed: ''For god's sake, don't glorify Gallipoli - it was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten''.

As his biographer, these last words from Campbell - the last surviving soldier from all nations fighting there, who only died 10 years ago - have been haunting me, as escalating commercial pressures threaten to turn the centenary into a Big Day Out. The prospect of a memorial service packed with excitable fans instead of mourners would have upset not only Campbell, but also the last 10 Anzacs I interviewed in the 1990s.

Poignant message: Alec Campbell.

Already, the Gallipoli 2015 Dawn Service is the place to be and it will be standing room only - for those who can get a ticket. At the moment, nobody can because the gate has been locked by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and Turkish authorities. Worried by a possible stampede towards the little beach, they have created a ballot system restricting entry for this date with history.

This ballot will allow 8000 lucky Australians along with 2000 New Zealanders to attend - perhaps a historically appropriate number at approximately one guest for every Anzac killed.