Turkey - Gallipoli

Every Australian and New Zealander should have the opportunity to do what we did today - travel to the WWI battlefields of Gallipoli.  Here we embarked upon the sites of fierce fighting which are now hauntingly beautiful, with their wooded landscapes dotted with understated memorials to the war dead.

On 25th April 2015, some 16 000 Australians and New Zealanders together with British, French and Indian troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula only to be bombarded by Ottoman resistance for the next 10 1/2 months.

Look at the steep cliffs that they come up against with the Ottoman firing down on them!

Our first stop was at the cove where the ANZACs landed, not where they were supposed to, and were under constant fire from the Ottoman soldiers.  The 600m cove soon became named ANZAC cove where thousands of ANZACs lost their lives.

A

Lone Pine Australian War Memorial and cemetery was dedicated to the many Australians who fought valiantly in this area.

Chunuk Bair was where the Wellingtonians took the ridge virtually unopposed but it was difficult to defend and the Ottomans put up a fierce fight with 424 New Zealanders losing their lives.  Below is a photo of the track (bit more like a road now) they used to transport supplies and weapons up to the soldiers who were fighting up there.  

And here is one of the wells they used to bring water up for both Allies and the Ottoman soldiers.

The Nek is the area where a minor battle took place on 7th August 1915.  It is a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula so was easily defended by the Turks.  We were told a story that the Ottoman were yelling at the Australians to stop coming up but they kept going for a courageous yet futile attack. Many lost their lives.  Another memorial marks the place.

There are many fortified trenches still clearly visible amongst the scrub near this cemetery.  Roughly 3 feet deep, the system of trenches provided much needed cover for troops as they desperately fought the enemy.  The pic doesn't show the trenches very well but they are still quite visible.

Here is an example of a NZ soldier's grave, one of the lucky ones that was identified and buried.

As much as we hear about the ANZACs side of the story about this terrible time, the guide was able to share some stories from the Ottoman side such as this soldier who carried an injured ANZAC back to his battalion then hurried back to his own, uninjured.

Below is a memorial to one of the Ottoman heroes of the time, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli.  His famous quote is "I don't order you to attack, I order you to die.  In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places."  

 

The Gallipoli campaign became the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Mustafa went on to became the first President of Turkey.

Even thought it was an Ottoman victory at Gallipoli, the 25th April is remembered by not just the ANZACs but the Turkish people as well.  Lest we forget!

To get to our hotel for the night, we had a fun crossing over the Dardanelles Strait on a ferry.  A somber but absolutely fabulous day that we will not forget!