Why Gallipoli?
By the end of 1914 the first world war had almost reached a stalemate along the Western Front with Britain and France on one side of the trenches and Germany and the Ottoman empire on the other side. From France to the North Sea fighting had reached a stalemate. The allies wanted to break the deadlock and somehow attack the axis powers in another way. Britain's biggest ally; Russia also appealed for support as they needed more supplies and forces to aid them in attacking the Austria-Hungary empire. Britain needed a way to transport supplies and troops to the west of Europe and also gain an advantage over the axis powers. The only way to do that was to gain advantage of the Dardanelles (small strip of water in Turkey) which would give easy access to the Black Sea and therefore send supplies to Russia. The Dardanelles were of strategic importance to the British, not only to get access to the Black Sea but also to break through the straights and capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire; Constantinople which would effectively be a major loss to the Ottoman Empire and hopefully force them to surrender.
Planning Of the Invasion
Winston Churchill who was then the Lord of Admiralty, thought that launching naval attacks on the Dardanelles straight would be the perfect way to weaken the Ottoman Empire and would also not require many of the resources of the Royal British Navy fleet. On 19th February 1915, Britain launched a naval attack on the Dardanelles. The Ottoman defenses inside the straights were strong. British and French warships failed to clear the underwater mines and coastal batteries that the Ottoman's had laid out and as a result three of the British battleships were destroyed. The British and French hastily withdrew. Although the British didn't accept their defeat. The Allies then dispatched a ground force which would land on the Gallipoli Peninsula and capture the area west of the Narrows which from there the force would be able to destroy Ottoman defensive positions from both sided of the Straits. The British appealed to the New Zealand government to fulfill their duties as part of the British Empire and send soldiers to aid the British in capturing the Dardanelles. The New Zealand government along with the Australian government promptly responded to the British and sent around 8000 men to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) along with forces from France and India. The MEF was to be led by British Lieutenant-General Sir Ian Hamilton, who would be completely in charge. New Zealanders were happy to send troops to Gallipoli and were proud to represent the British Empire.