An Post launches commemorative Gallipoli stamps

An Post have launched two commemorative stamps to mark the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated Gallipoli landings.

Of the 15,000 Irishmen who fought for the British Army during the attempted invasion of Turkish territory during the first World War, almost a third died. They were part of a disastrous Dardanelles campaign which claimed over 100,000 lives on both sides by the time of the Allied retreat in early 1916.

The 68c stamp depicts an Irish soldier hoisting a decoy helmet over the top of a trench using his rifle, while the €1 stamp carries an image of the SS River Clyde which carried 2,000 of the 70,000-strong Allied invasion force.

A special envelope showing Royal Munster Fusiliers staff sergeant William Cosgrove, who received a Victoria Cross for bravery during the beach landings- was also launched on Thursday.

The commemorative releases were unveiled by the cast of Pals, a production currently running at Collins Barracks which tells the tale of a young group of rugby-playing friends who were trained at the Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks) in Dublin before going to face the horrors of Gallipoli.

The Recovered Voices: Stories of the Irish at War 1914-1915 exhibition is currently on display in Collins Barracks.

It examines the role of almost 70,000 Irishmen who served in the British Army during the formative stages of the Great War in 1914 and 1915, and explores the social, political and economic reasons for their decision to go to war.