Gallipoli 1915 bell

Gallipoli 1915 bell

• Height  914 mm
• Width  1130 mm
• Weight  865 kg
• Note  F#

As soon as the opportunity for groups to fund particular bells was advertised in May 1926, the residents of various Wellington and Hutt Valley suburbs undertook to raise money for individual bells. The Lyall Bay Progressive Association quickly formed a committee to raise money for a ‘Lyall Bay Bell’, and the money required was collected by August, including £9 given by the students and teachers of Lyall Bay School. Likewise, in Hataitai, a special cards afternoon, a ‘carillon dance’ at Hataitai School, and a special street day were held to collect money for a bell donated by their suburb.

However, the available bells were over-subscribed – within the first week there were 77 applications for the 49 bells. Because priority was given to family members who wished to buy bells in memory of fallen family members, the suburbs were asked to combine to buy a more expensive bell. The bell ultimately funded by Lyall Bay, Brooklyn, Mornington, Vogeltown and Hataitai is named after the Gallipoli campaign. The anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 is marked on Anzac Day every year in New Zealand and Australia. By the time the campaign ended in December of that year and the troops were evacuated, more than 130,000 men had died, including 2779 New Zealanders.

In the 1930s and 1940s the 'Gallipoli' bell was sounded as part of special recitals to mark anniversaries of battles in which New Zealand played a particular part, such as the Battle of Hill 60, the last action fought by New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign.