August the 6th marked the centenary of one of the shortest, and most brutal, battles on the Gallipoli Peninsular. In four horrific days, there were 2,300 Australian and over 6,000 Turkish casualties.

Niree Creed, the AIIA Director of Communications interviews Ashley Ekins, Head of Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial.

Ashley Ekins has worked as a military historian at the Memorial since 1990 and was appointed Head of the Military History Section in 2007. A graduate of the University of Adelaide (First Class Honours degree in history), he specialises in two areas of military history: the First World War and the Vietnam War. He has published widely on Australian military history and has delivered numerous research papers at international conferences as well as popular presentations to visitors and veterans organisations. Ashley is frequently consulted by the media and delivers interviews and commentary on military history issues for radio, television and the press, and he has appeared in a number of major documentary films. He has studied the Gallipoli campaign extensively, visiting Gallipoli on over twenty occasions to explore the battlefields with Turkish, Australian and British historians. Since 1996 he has led the Memorial’s annual battlefield tours to Gallipoli as tour leader and historical guide.

Interviewer: Niree Creed

Producers: Alexander Willox and Gayan Vithanage

Editor: Gayan Vithanage