Parliament hosts commemoration of the battle of Chunuk Bair

On 9 August members of the territorial forces gathered at Parliament to commemorate the battle on the hill of Chunuk Bair at Gallipoli from 8 to 10 August 1915. Some 90 percent of the Wellington battalion, which took the hill and was led by Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, were killed or wounded during the desperate battle. Malone was himself killed.

Officers from the 5th Wellington West Coast and Taranaki battalion and the 7th Wellington Hawke’s Bay battalion attended the commemoration. They viewed the painting The Battle of Chunuk Bair.

The oil on canvas was painted by former Defence artist Ion Brown. It was gifted to New Zealand by Lieutenant General Sir John Mace on 8 August 1990 as part of the Sesquicentennial and to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle. After touring New Zealand it became part of the Parliamentary Collection. It hangs in the first floor main foyer of Parliament House, alongside a memorial plaque to Lieutenant Colonel Malone.