THIS year is the centenary of one of the most infamous campaigns of the First World War, the Gallipoli Landings on the coast of Turkey by Allied Troops.

Penarth librarian MARCUS PAYNE submitted the following article after researching the campaign.

In April 1915 there was a disastrous landing by the Allies on the rocky, steep beaches of the Dardanelles.

Their ultimate target was Istanbul, whose capture, it was hoped, would knock an ally of the Germans out of the war, and help their Russian allies.

They met fierce resistance from the Turks and, combined with terrible conditions, military blunders and heavy loss of life, forced the Allies to evacuate within a year.

As in all the major campaigns of the first world war, a number of Penarth men served, and died in this campaign.

We focus on one of them this week, a man who survived the war.

That man was Private John Lot Thorn. He sent a letter to Councillor J.W. Jones in September 1915, vividly recalling his experiences of the Dardanelles, which was then printed in the Penarth Times.

Private Thorn, who lived in Hickman Road in Penarth, was a well-known local rugby player and schoolmaster.

Before the war he had been a Dinas Powis school headmaster. He also played for Dinas Powis R.F.C. and for Penarth R.F.C.

After the war he served with the latter club for a number of years, becoming Club Secretary, Treasurer, President, and Honorary Life Member before his death in 1968.

He was quite upfront about the dangers that he encountered in 1915, which "are some four-fold - direct fighting, stray bullets, shrapnel fire and snipers.

The first is the safest, the last the most nasty. The snipers abound and for the first few days reaped a fine harvest.

They use explosive bullets, little bits of lead that make a frightful mess if you happen to accidentally meet one."

He talked about the havoc that war creates.

"Dead bodies were lying around, wounded passing by, some unassisted, others on stretchers. Equipment, rifles, ammunition, periscopes, all more or less blood stained, lie in heaps all neglected."

Conditions were far from ideal, but Thorn tried to remain upbeat.

"For a week we were fed on bully beef and biscuits, but the rations are much better now. We have very little sleep; the trenches are not feather beds.

But still we are all very well and anxious to push on, and not in the least down-hearted, although it may be a long way to Penarth."

Thorn then surprisingly stated that "our position is much similar to the Cogan district."

He was clearly trying to place his situation in terms that his reader could relate to.

He went on to say that "having landed somewhere near the river we have pushed across the flat, up as far as a line from the brickyard (roughly where the leisure centre is today), school, railway bridge over Andrew Road.

The hill on Windsor Road, dock side is ours. Now we are to drive them over the hills around. Result, when the top is reached the Eastbrook Road will be commanded, and so supplies to Dinas Powis - otherwise Achi Baba - cut off."

He went on to describe the rough terrain. "The plain land is very low, mostly below sea level, and during the monsoon season is under water so we have to gain the hills before the rains set in."

Clearly the terrible experience remained etched in the memories of Penarth veterans for many years after, because a steep, rocky stretch of the cliffs to the north of Penarth Pier were referred to locally as the Dardanelles.

This was undoubtedly because they reminded people of those cliffs in Gallipoli.