BURY'S mayor has led a poignant 100th anniversary civic visit to Gallipoli where the Lancashire Fusiliers famously won "six VCs before breakfast."

Cllr Michelle Wiseman, who represents Pilkington Park, and fellow civic leaders visited the Lancashire Landing cemetery to pay their respects to the fallen and, inparticular, to those who fought with the Fusiliers.

The mayor was accompanied by the mayoress, daughter Danielle, Bury Council leader Cllr Mike Connolly, Rector of Bury Rev Dr John Findon, Bury Council's recently retired chief executive Mike Kelly and Colonel Eric Davidson.

They first visited W Beach where British and commonwealth troops arrived at dawn on the April 25, 1915. Other servicemen who fought and died at Gallipoli included "Anzac" troops from Australia and New Zealand and the Zion Mule Corps comprising Jewish pioneers from the Holy Land who provided vital logistical support, ferrying food and ammunition from the landing craft to the front lines.

The successful capture of W Beach, however, came at a terrible price, with around 700 members of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, being killed or wounded on the first day.

As a consequence of the campaign, 88 Lancashire Fusiliers' officers and 1,728 soldiers of other ranks were killed and an estimated 6,000 wounded.

Apart from the six Victoria Crosses, other decorations awarded to the Lancashire Fusiliers included three Companion of the Bath, eight Distinguished Service Orders, 25 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 10 Military Crosses.

At the Lancashire Landing cemetery, the Bury delegation held a short service, and included the Mayor and Mayoress reading from the Psalms of David, in both English and the original Hebrew.

Poppies were left on the graves of the Lancashire Fusiliers’ Christian and Jewish soldiers and on the graves of the Zion Mule Corps.

Mayoress Danielle Wiseman said: “Looking out over the sea at W Beach, I imagined what the scene would have been 100 years ago and tried to capture the thoughts going through the boys’ minds. Visiting the Lancashire Landing cemetery I thought about all those mothers having to say goodbye to their sons knowing they were off to battle. It was as if history had come alive and I know what I saw and how I felt will stay with me forever.”

* As part of the Gallipoli centenary commemoration, a special exhibition has opened at Bury's Fusilier Museum, displaying the "six VCs before breakfast".

On Saturday, at 2.30pm at Bury Parish Church, there will be a Gallipoli 100 concert featuring The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland who will perform the world premiere of a new piece of music especially written by composer Martin Ellerby.

The weekend of events will finish on Sunday (April 26) with a commemorative church service at Bury Parish Church followed by a parade and march-past which will start just after 1pm.