ROSALIND FRIDAY
Cricket on Shell Green
Acrylic on canvas
90 x 70cm
The Australian Lighthorsemen were pictured playing cricket at Gallipoli on one of the few
areas of level ground held by the Anzacs on the Turkish Peninsula, Shell Green.
In what was possibly the first match of Twenty20, the game was organized as a diversion
while preparations were being made to evacuate 105,000 men from the battlefield in
December 1915.
The area was under constant surveillance from higher Turkish positions, and the game was
eventually abandoned when players came under attack from shell fire.
This show of bravado, along with other diversions to convince the Turks that the full
complement of Anzacs were still in their trenches, allowed the Allies to slowly retreat with
minimal casualties. Certainly the best planned operation of the tragic eight month
campaign.
Today the area contains the Shell Green Cemetery, which includes the graves of 408
Australians. It’s a peaceful place today.
