Friday September 17

A trip to Turkey would not be complete without a visit to Gallipoli.

We left by boat ferry early in the morning to travel the few km from Cannakale to Gallipoli. I can't tell you how moving it was to stand on the hill above Anzac Cove and look down on that beautifully clear water and white sand. It was a scene of such peace yet the scene of terrible and unnecessary horror.

Even more moving was to walk into the small cemetery nearby where a hundred or so Australians are buried. To see graves of young men of 17 or 18, or men who are named as only sons left us in tears and lost for words.





The cemetery was small only because most of the fallen were left where they were, not to be buried until after the war when Commonwealth forces joined with the Turkish government to build the cemeteries as memorials. Most of the 8,500 Australians(!) who died there in just a few months are named as either buried in umnmarked graves or simply lost. The list at Lone Pine is extensive.












We were also reminded that the loss was on both sides as we visited the Turkish cemetery where no-one had a date of birth, just the year of birth and the town they came from. The curent Lone Pine was grown from a seed brought from Australia, possibly form the tree in Wattle Park that was grown from a seed brought back after 1915.

There we saw a statue to the gallant Turkish soldiers, led by Kamal Ataturk, who held off the British & Anzac forces until reinforcements arrived. There was also the statue of a 110 year old Turkish Veteran who visited the cemetery with his great great great granddaughter on the 85th anniversay of the Gallipoli campaign. 

There are  many stories told of the kindness shown by both Anzac and Turkish soldiers to those on the other side. One of the most moving stories is depicted in the statue here. During one of the ceasefires called to bring injured soldiers back to be cared for, an Australian soldier was left far from the Aussie trenches. A Turkish soldier tied his white T-shirt to his rifle and went out to pick up the injured man and carried hm across the battle ground to the Australian Trench. There were other stories involving sharing of magazines and tobacco that I can tell you when I get back.