<P> Since 1916 the anniversary of the landings on 25 April has been commemorated as Anzac Day, becoming one of the most important national celebrations in Australia and New Zealand . The anniversary is also commemorated in Turkey, the United Kingdom and Ireland . </P> <P> The Ottoman Turkish Empire entered the First World War on the side of the Central Powers on 31 October 1914 . The stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front convinced the British Imperial War Cabinet that an attack on the Central Powers elsewhere, particularly Turkey, could be the best way of winning the war . From February 1915 this took the form of naval operations aimed at forcing a passage through the Dardanelles, but after several setbacks it was decided that a land campaign was also necessary . To that end, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was formed under the command of General Ian Hamilton . Three amphibious landings were planned to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula, which would allow the navy to attack the Turkish capital Constantinople, in the hope that would convince the Turks to ask for an armistice . </P> <P> Lieutenant - General William Birdwood, commanding the inexperienced Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), comprising the Australian Division and two brigades of the New Zealand and Australian Division, was ordered to conduct an amphibious assault on the western side of the Gallipoli Peninsula . The New Zealand and Australian Division normally also had two mounted brigades assigned to it, but these had been left in Egypt, as it was believed there would be no requirement or opportunities to use mounted troops on the peninsula . To bring the division up to strength, Hamilton had tried unsuccessfully to get a brigade of Gurkhas attached to them . In total ANZAC strength was 30,638 men . </P> <P> The location chosen for the operation was between the headland of Gaba Tepe and the Fisherman's Hut, three miles (4.8 km) to the north . Landing at dawn after a naval gunfire bombardment, the first troops were to seize the lower crests and southern spurs of Hill 971 . The second wave would pass them to capture the spur of Hill 971, especially Mal Tepe . There they would be positioned to cut the enemy's lines of communications to the Kilid Bahr Plateau, thus preventing the Turks from bringing reinforcements from the north to the Kilid Bahr Plateau during the attack by the British 29th Division which would advance from a separate beachhead further south - west . The capture of Mal Tepe was "more vital and valuable than the capture of the Kilid Bahr Plateau itself ." </P>

Where were the anzacs supposed to land at gallipoli