Rupert Westmacott
British-born New Zealand soldier who served at Gallipoli and later recounted his wartime experiences to the BBC; remembered for his first‑hand eyewitness account of the Anzac landings and his wartime injury and recovery.
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Jan 9, 2026 • 11min
Battle of Gallipoli
It's 110 years since the end of the Battle of Gallipoli. It was one of the deadliest in World War One. Among the 40,000 dead was a large contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops who became known as the Anzacs. Soldier Rupert Westmacott was injured and shared his memories with the BBC. Professor of Australian history, Carl Bridge, spoke to Simon Watts in 2012.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.(Photo: Soldiers landing at Gallipoli. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
Jan 10, 2026 • 1h 1min
The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed
Isabel Allende, a renowned Chilean novelist, shares the inspiring journey behind her acclaimed debut, The House of the Spirits, touching on her childhood, her family's exile during the 1973 coup, and the novel's magical realism roots. Veteran Rupert Westmacott vividly recounts the horrors of the Gallipoli campaign, his harrowing injury, and the camaraderie of soldiers amidst chaos. The conversation also dives into the cultural impact of Tracey Emin's unmade bed as a piece of autobiographical art, sparking discussions about art's boundaries and societal reactions.
