Day 56 – 20th June. Istanbul->Gallipoli

Day 56 – 20th June. Istanbul->Gallipoli

Eked out our alarm until 5.30am after a great sleep, we were so tired that we crashed. The hotel staff we great and we were able to get breakfast an hour and a half before it usually opens. Were picked up and we were off.

A large contingency of Australians on the bus, 2nd were the Kiwi’s, then a couple of Americans and a Brit.
It was 5 hours up the peninsula to Gallipoli, past the Dardenelles and the guide put on a DVD about Gallipoli – told as a documentary with exerts from soldiers diaries. It showed the utter waste of human life during this campaign.

Had lunch at a restaurant on the waterfront, then swapped guides and up to the intended landing beach (Brighton beach) of the ANZAC forces – it is well known that they actually drifted in the dark to the next cove which had high banks and left the soldiers as sitting ducks for the snipers. I have included a photo of their actual landing beach.

The guide was great – a young Turk man who so poignantly got across the message that everyone lost out in this senseless 8 month long battle – 65,000 Turks and 22,000 Allied forces. But in reality the true number of casualties was closer to 500,000 as they didn’t count those who died once they left the area or those that died from other sickness. This included the diseases carried by the flies that plagued the soldiers – one writing that he would rather continue to fight the Turks than the flies any longer.

We have found Turkey to be ridden with flies also, they could drive you mad and we must have had at least 2 dozen with us on the bus today.
We spent 5 hours at Gallipoli and stopped at every memorial there and a stop to get out and walk in the actual trenches. I would have loved to have stayed there longer and have a dig for a button or shell casing, but as we were out in 40+C sun for so many hours, it was welcome to finally get going. Everyone was drooping from being out in the hot sun for so long – I had a chocolate bar I found in my bag that had turned to pure liquid!

There were many tales of the mutual respect shown by the soldiers on both sides as time wore on in the battle, their trenches were only 8 feet apart in some places. Here was a particular tale of an allied C.O. who was shot in the leg and was crying out for his troops to help him. No-one could get to him due to the sniper fire, when a white flag was seen to come out of the undergrowth. Then an unarmed Turkish soldier walked out of his trench over to the C.O. and gently picked him up and carried him over to the astonished allies, before returning to his own trench. I have included a photo of a statue that was erected in this Turkish mans honour.There is also a photo of Ataturk - the Turkish leader next to the NZ memorial at Chunuk Bair, this showed that at the end, we all stood side by side. I have also included a poem Ataturk wrote in 1934 upon reflection of the war. If you have time, click on the photo to blow it up and read the sentiments he wrote to the loved ones of those who died.

The whole campaign was a complete waste and the human sacrifice for such a small piece of land is hard to fathom now – there is one spot at Lone Pine where 6000 men from both sides, died in 2 days for a piece of land the size of 2 tennis courts.

The lone pine for which the area is named, was actually grown from one seed – an Australian soldier who was fighting there, witnessed his brother die so planted a pine tree where he had fallen. He then took a seed home to his mother to grow in memory. After the war, a pinecone from that tree was taken back to Lone Pine once the war commission heard of it and the tree that now stands there is a symbol of remembrance.
We were all standing in one of the cemeteries when eerily a F16 fighter jet flew over our heads, followed by two more in a V formation…. as someone said, you don’t see that everyday – usually just at the ANZAC ceremonies. You couldn’t help but imagine what just one of those planes could have done for the Allies at Gallipoli?

We were all very over heated and tired by this time, then I felt so guilty when I thought that I had just finished explaining to Danni about how these men were in hot, uncomfortable uniforms – and they had no choice to leave when it got hot or unbearable.

However, the other side of this is that here we are, almost 100 years later, travelling to the other side of the world to stand and honour these men –though we knew none of them personally. I think for that, those men would thank everyone for remembering.
A full on day here at Gallipoli, that we hope to repeat at the 2015 celebrations for the one hundred year commemoration.

We left the area and caught a small ferry over to Kannakale (Shurn-ark-lay) at 7.30pm. Our hotel is right on the waterfront which is nice and we dropped our bags and straight into the swimming pool to cool down. Then dinner and off to bed for a hopefully dreamless sleep after all the suffering we have heard of today. Don’t mean to sound morbid or dramatic but actually being here – even when you know the history and its details, is very sobering. It is hard to know where to put the feelings for so many men, suffering so badly – on both sides for something that achieved little at the time. Just remember them I guess?