Gelibolu pensinsula - Turkey
We headed out before dawn and by 7.30am the day was already hot. We drove the short distance from the village of Kocadere, where we are staying at The Gallipoli Houses, to Anzac Cove. It's a beautiful drive, past fields and farmers, poppies and pine trees, and we arrive at the coast where the water is flat and calm. All of a sudden the landscape rears up again and we have arrived at Anzac Cove. The first time my breath caught that day was standing at the 'landing site' and turning around to see 'the Sphinx' high above us. This eroded rocky outcrop really does resemble a carved Sphinx, and after years of seeing it depicted in paintings and described in books, to see it with our own eyes was a moment we will always remember.
The beach at Anzac Cove is long and sweeping, but the sandy shore is now just a narrow strip - in 1915 the sand was 25m wide. Years of erosion, and the road that has been built, means that it is now not really a cove at all. Behind the cove rises the infamous cliffs and ridges.
We headed to Shell Green Cemetery, up a winding unsealed track, named Artillery Road by the allies because it was used to ferry artillery guns and supplies to the front. Australian engineers used an artillery gun to flatten the surface of the track, and there is a story that describes, just before the evacuation in December 1915, Australian soldiers played a game of cricket on the flat hilltop. I hope they did.
Further up Artillery Road we travelled to Lone Pine Cemetery. It's large, wide and open and built right on top of Turkish frontline trenches. The impressive monument bears the names of Australian and New Zealand soldiers, including that of James Martin - aged just 14 years.
Next we went to Johnston's Jolly where we saw remnant Turkish and allied trenches and remains of Turkish tunnels. After the disastrous attack of 19 May 1915, Australian and Turkish soldiers met in no-man's land here to bury the thousands of men who lay dead. Johnston's Jolly Cemetery has been build on this no-man's land, and many of the headstones say "believed to be buried here....."
Only one fallen soldier in this cemetery has been positively identified.
Next, to the small cemetery - the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery - named after the Australian 4th Battalion that fought in this area. We saw the grave of Col Henry MacLaurin, the commander of the Australian 1st Brigade, killed by a Turkish sniper on 27 April 1915.
On we went to Courtney and Steele's Post Cemetery, named after two Australian soldiers who established and held posts here on 26 and 27 April after the landing. The majority of soldiers buried here were from the 14th Battalion AIF.
Then to Quinn's Post Cemetery, named after Major Hugh Quinn who established this advanced post. The cemetery has been built over the top of more frontline trenches. During the battle, no-man's land between the allied and Turkish trenches was only meters wide, and for this reason it was considered one of the most difficult positions to hold - for both sides. This point also marks the furthermost point inland held by the allied forces in this sector - the ANZAC sector. From our vantage point here we can see a small ridge called "Dead Man's Ridge" which got its name following an attack on 3 May 1915. Bodies of British soldiers lay exposed on this ridge for eight months.
Just above Quinn's Post, high on the ridge, is the memorial to the Turkish 57th Regiment who were deployed here on 'landing day'. It is the largest Turkish memorial and the names of fallen Turkish soldiers were chosen randomly to appear on the plaques. Near the entry is a statue of the last known surviving Turkish veteran of the camaign - Huseyin Kacmaz who died in 1994, aged 102.
Until this point of our own tour of the area, we had passed very few other visitors. All morning we were the only ones in each area or cemetery. When we arrived at this Turkish memorial, and further on at Chanuk Bair, we were faced with hundreds of Turkish people, visiting and paying their respects to their fallen; and viewing the sights of their great war victory where their soldiers defeated the invaders.
Chanuk Bair was a critical position, and it is here that there is a statue of Kamal Ataturk. After the great battle of 9 and 10 August 1915, Ataturk's troops took the summit at Chanuk Bair and never lost it. Today, we counted over 40 Turkish tour buses visiting the site - hundreds and hundreds of Turkish visitors.
Of course, Australia and Turkey now have a relationship based on mutual respect, however that day I felt a strange and unexpected feeling that I was visiting the sights of the 'invaders'. Until I visited Gallipoli, I had never thought about it in that way.
We visited Scrubby Knoll, Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Plugges Plateau Cemetery, and then we headed back down to the coast to the Anzac Cove monolith, just beside the Ari Burnu cemetery. Here we read the inscription of Ataturk's famous words of succour;
Standing in front of the memorial, reading those words, took my breath again that day.
We headed out before dawn and by 7.30am the day was already hot. We drove the short distance from the village of Kocadere, where we are staying at The Gallipoli Houses, to Anzac Cove. It's a beautiful drive, past fields and farmers, poppies and pine trees, and we arrive at the coast where the water is flat and calm. All of a sudden the landscape rears up again and we have arrived at Anzac Cove. The first time my breath caught that day was standing at the 'landing site' and turning around to see 'the Sphinx' high above us. This eroded rocky outcrop really does resemble a carved Sphinx, and after years of seeing it depicted in paintings and described in books, to see it with our own eyes was a moment we will always remember.
The beach at Anzac Cove is long and sweeping, but the sandy shore is now just a narrow strip - in 1915 the sand was 25m wide. Years of erosion, and the road that has been built, means that it is now not really a cove at all. Behind the cove rises the infamous cliffs and ridges.
We headed to Shell Green Cemetery, up a winding unsealed track, named Artillery Road by the allies because it was used to ferry artillery guns and supplies to the front. Australian engineers used an artillery gun to flatten the surface of the track, and there is a story that describes, just before the evacuation in December 1915, Australian soldiers played a game of cricket on the flat hilltop. I hope they did.
Further up Artillery Road we travelled to Lone Pine Cemetery. It's large, wide and open and built right on top of Turkish frontline trenches. The impressive monument bears the names of Australian and New Zealand soldiers, including that of James Martin - aged just 14 years.
Next we went to Johnston's Jolly where we saw remnant Turkish and allied trenches and remains of Turkish tunnels. After the disastrous attack of 19 May 1915, Australian and Turkish soldiers met in no-man's land here to bury the thousands of men who lay dead. Johnston's Jolly Cemetery has been build on this no-man's land, and many of the headstones say "believed to be buried here....."
Only one fallen soldier in this cemetery has been positively identified.
Next, to the small cemetery - the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery - named after the Australian 4th Battalion that fought in this area. We saw the grave of Col Henry MacLaurin, the commander of the Australian 1st Brigade, killed by a Turkish sniper on 27 April 1915.
On we went to Courtney and Steele's Post Cemetery, named after two Australian soldiers who established and held posts here on 26 and 27 April after the landing. The majority of soldiers buried here were from the 14th Battalion AIF.
Then to Quinn's Post Cemetery, named after Major Hugh Quinn who established this advanced post. The cemetery has been built over the top of more frontline trenches. During the battle, no-man's land between the allied and Turkish trenches was only meters wide, and for this reason it was considered one of the most difficult positions to hold - for both sides. This point also marks the furthermost point inland held by the allied forces in this sector - the ANZAC sector. From our vantage point here we can see a small ridge called "Dead Man's Ridge" which got its name following an attack on 3 May 1915. Bodies of British soldiers lay exposed on this ridge for eight months.
Just above Quinn's Post, high on the ridge, is the memorial to the Turkish 57th Regiment who were deployed here on 'landing day'. It is the largest Turkish memorial and the names of fallen Turkish soldiers were chosen randomly to appear on the plaques. Near the entry is a statue of the last known surviving Turkish veteran of the camaign - Huseyin Kacmaz who died in 1994, aged 102.
Until this point of our own tour of the area, we had passed very few other visitors. All morning we were the only ones in each area or cemetery. When we arrived at this Turkish memorial, and further on at Chanuk Bair, we were faced with hundreds of Turkish people, visiting and paying their respects to their fallen; and viewing the sights of their great war victory where their soldiers defeated the invaders.
Chanuk Bair was a critical position, and it is here that there is a statue of Kamal Ataturk. After the great battle of 9 and 10 August 1915, Ataturk's troops took the summit at Chanuk Bair and never lost it. Today, we counted over 40 Turkish tour buses visiting the site - hundreds and hundreds of Turkish visitors.
Of course, Australia and Turkey now have a relationship based on mutual respect, however that day I felt a strange and unexpected feeling that I was visiting the sights of the 'invaders'. Until I visited Gallipoli, I had never thought about it in that way.
We visited Scrubby Knoll, Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Plugges Plateau Cemetery, and then we headed back down to the coast to the Anzac Cove monolith, just beside the Ari Burnu cemetery. Here we read the inscription of Ataturk's famous words of succour;
Those heroes that shed their blood
and lost their lives…
You are now living in the soil of a friendly country.
You are now living in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers,
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.
Standing in front of the memorial, reading those words, took my breath again that day.
And we visited others.....Canterbury Cemetery, Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Hill 60 Cemetery, Green Hill Cemetery.....so many. So many dead.
The coast road then turns inland, so instead we took a narrow dirt track that hugs the coast and heads north around the peninsula. By now it was late afternoon, but still so very hot. We arrived at Suvla Bay, the site of a disastrous British amphibious landing. We parked Sophia, tip-toed across the scorching hot beach pebbles, and swam in the gloriously cool and crystal clear water before turning around and heading back to Kocedere.
The beauty of this landscape belies the hell of events 96 years ago and we agreed, it was indeed "too beautiful a place to die".
The beauty of this landscape belies the hell of events 96 years ago and we agreed, it was indeed "too beautiful a place to die".
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| Early morning Anzac Cove |
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| Anzac Cove |
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| The Sphinx |
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| Shell Green Cemetery |
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| Lone Pine Cemetery |
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| Turkish memorial to the 57th Regiment |
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| From The Nek Cemetery to Suvla Bay |
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| Crystal clear water, fine smooth pebbly beach at Suvla Bay |
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| We made friends with a Gelibolu goat herder - well, I think we did. |
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| We drove south to Cape Helles to the British memorial |
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| Sunset on the Dardenelles |
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| Simpson is buried at Beach Cemetery on Hell's Spit. |
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| We took a ferry from Kilitbanir (Eceabat) across the Dardenelles to Canakkale, for dinner. |
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| On the hill above Kilitbanir the Dur Yolcu memorial which has the Turkish words which mean: Traveller halt! The soil you tread once witnessed the end of an era. |
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| On the way home from Canakkale we had late night coffee at this very cool Turkish cafe right on the shores of the Dardenelles |
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