Gallipoli

Headed to Gallipoli for a (huge) day trip from Istanbul. We were in two minds about whether or not we would go, but we were both glad that we did in the end. We hadn't done many organised tours, but the Gallipoli area is so large that it was necessary in order to cover it all, also our tour guide was really knowlegable which definitely made it worthwhile.

First stop was ANZAC Cove, where the ANZAC troops landed. It is the most peacefull little bay ever, the whole area is national park, so no building or anything like that, it is all pretty much as it was at the time of WWI.

ANZAC Cove from afar.

ANZAC Cove.




The tour took us up through different battle grounds and the front line where the troops faced off for months. The numbers of casualties and soldiers lost were terrible and to stand on the soil where it all took place was eerie and a little unsettling.

Allied trenches.


Collapsed trenches.

The Lone Pine Memorial was the sight of a particularly bloddy battle and is now where ANZAC day is held each year. The memorial has hundreds of grave stones of those lost in the battle and also those that were burried randomly in the field, recovered, and brought to this site. Walking through the graves, the most striking this is the age of all the soldiers on the headstones, most are around 18-23, many were under 18 and lied to get into the army, the youngest was only 14.


Lone Pine memorial.

The Turkish memorials are equally moving, huge numbers of lost soldiers, many of them much too young to be fighting to protect their country from an invading force. Reflecting on the cost of the war, the Turkish general and later president, Ataturk wrote a nice tribute to all the fallen that is now engraved into one of the stone memorials.

THOSE HEROES THAT SHED THEIR BLOOD
AND LOST THEIR LIVES... YOU ARE
NOW LYING IN THE SOIL OF A FRIENDLY
COUNTRY. THEREFORE REST IN PEACE.
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
JOHNNIES AND MEHMETS TO US
WHERE THEY LIE SIDE BY SIDE HERE IN
THIS COUNTRY OF OURS... YOU, THE
MOTHERS, WHO SENT THEIR SONS FROM
FARAWAY COUNTRIES WIPE AWAY YOUR
TEARS; YOUR SONS ARE NOW LYING IN
OUR BOSOM AND ARE IN PEACE. AFTER
HAVING LOST THEIR LIVES ON THIS LAND
THEY HAVE BECOME OUR SONS AS WELL.'

Mustafa Kemal, the WWI army general who led troops at Gallipoli and later became known as Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey.


ANZAC memorial with the Sphinx in the background.

The landscape is spectacular, this is the view from right up on the hill where the Ataturk statue is.

Gallipoli was a good experience, if only to clarify and remember what really happened on the day that we celebrate every year. It was a very beautiful but very sad place, for me the whole area had a sad feeling everywhere that we visited. The tour was really good, well run and heaps of info but, as expected, some over zealous Aussies with flags and stuff sort of brought the whole thing down a bit and made us feel a little embarassed. Regardless, it was a good experience.

Next stop, the South...