MILITARY HISTORY RECORDS PLAQUE
1990This plaque carries information concerning the previous six plaques [Numbered 97B-F].
On the reverse are numbers 1 to 6 which relate to the plaques 1 to 6. There is a small gold-coloured engraved rectangular label at the lower right-hand corner which reads [ Presented to / THE RETURNED SERVICES LEAGUE ARMADALE SUB-BRANCH / TO COMMEMORATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF GALLIPOLI / ANZAC DAY 1990.]
The now Returned & Services League (R.S.L.) was initially called the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (R.S.S.I.L.A.). It was formed nationally by World War 1 veterans in 1916 to provide support for veterans returned from military service. By 1919 or 1920 a sub-branch was formed in Armadale.
In 1990 the Armadale branch of the R.S.L donated a series of prints of paintings from the 1915 ANZAC campaign to the City of Armadale to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
This is a print of The Landing by George Lambert. The work depicts the troops scaling the cliffs of Gallipoli. The cliffs were notoriously tough to climb which became much more difficult when under fire from rifles and artillery. The artist George Lambert travelled to Gallipoli as a war artist in 1919 to draw sketches for the painting with it final work being completed in 1922. The original painting is currently held by the Australian War Memorial.
