2011 Spirit of ANZAC Prize Tour: Some local colour....

Day #5: Sunday, 17th April

Gallipoli: Cloudy, rain, approx 9 degrees....

A mixed bag of stuff today. We started out at the Turkish Memorial. We immediately noticed the difference with the Commonwealth War Graves: on the Turkish 'headstones', there are 18 names on each side of the panel; giving a total of 36 names per headstone. Most unlike the headstones with one name per digger and an epitaph.

My hand covering 4 names....

That's a lot of names....

It was quite chilling to see the number of names that were listed on so many graves....knowing that each of those headstones contained the names of 36 men who had died was surreal. The sad thing is that many of the ancestors of these Mehmets may never be able to find their relatives: Attaturk introduced surnames after the war, so many of the men are listed by their first names. How do you find someone only by their first name??

As well as the monument itself, there is a rose garden that commemorates their unknown soldiers. On a wet and chilly morning, the bare monument looked...well....sad. However, there was one bright aspect about the Turkish Memorial: it is one of the only (??) war memorials to have the opposing side depicted in friendship. On one of the bas reliefs, you can clearly see an Aussie digger shaking hands with a Turkish Mehmet and an Australian being helped along by a Turk. I guess it just goes to show the level of respect that existed between two enemies.

The Turkish Memorial with roses in the foreground to represent all the unknown soldiers....

Bas relief on the Memorial....

Seyyit makes an appearance again....

In the grounds of the memorial, there are a variety of different statues/memorials. Most obvious is the large statue of Attaturk that dominates one end of the memorial. Turks (and us Aussies) were clamouring to have their photo taken in front of their beloved leader. One of the things mentioned in our pre-tour briefing was that Attaturk is considered to be sacred. His image is printed on the Turkish Lira and it would be considered an unforgivable act if you were to drop money and then stand on it to stop it from flying away. Such is their love for this leader!!

Left to right: Tom, Hadley, Martin, Liz Sandbach (Gi Gi or older sister), Aisling (Ash), Rachel, Bridget and Liz Smart....

Another of the memorials signified the loss in World War I (the black base) and the Turkish victories on the Gallipoli Peninsula (the blue and the white). Next to the memorial was a list of the number of soldiers who had died from the different regions that made up the Ottoman Empire.

One of the least visited memorials on the Peninsula is the French Memorial. In fact we got lost on the way there! In contrast to all of the other memorials we have visited so far, it is quite stark: white washed walls and monument and black crosses with the fleur-de-lis on the end of them. Also, officers and separated from the non-commissioned officers; something the Commonwealth War Graves Commission did not do. All soldiers, regardless of their rank, where buried together with not priority being given to one rank over another. Not a place I would visit again.

View to the memorial...

Note the fleur-de-lis on the end of the crosses....

We needed an obligatory toilet/Turkish coffee stop and next to the places where we stopped was a statue of a Ataturk (which I just realised I have incorrectly been spelling as 'Attaturk'....oops!) with the inscription: "How lucky am I to be a Turk". These guys really know how to do patriotism!!

"How lucky am I to be a Turk"...

Turkish coffee rocks....!!!

One of the quirkier graves we visited was that of Doughty Wylie's. He is buried during war time and it is during the war that a woman visits his grave. Was it his wife? Or was it his lover? No-one knows, but it certainly makes for a good story!

The Helles Memorial at Cape Helles commemorates both the Gallipoli campaign and the 20,763 men who died and whose graves are unknown or were lost or buried at sea. It was near here at Krithia where the English troop ship 'River Clyde' was attacked and many men were killed. Accounts at the time talk of the sea being red 50 metres back from the shore. The 'River Clyde' foolishly tried to land in a bay where there were Turkish battlements on each side. A total slaughter ensued....

Cape Helles Memorial....

'V' Beach and where the 'River Clyde' was beached in the c-shaped section at the top of the photo....

Oh what a feeling at Krithia....

It was then off to Redoubt Cemetery. A redoubt is a fort or system used for defensive positions. However, it also means to dread or stand in awe of....both are applicable in this situation!!

Redoubt Cemetery....

Something along the lines of the crown of youth and integrity is now at peace....

A little touch of home....a grevillea bush in the cemetery....

We then visited Hill 60 (not the one from the movie....that comes later in France!) and Hill 10 at Suvla Bay. It was here the many Irish men died.

We then visited Bigali - the town where Ataturk camped during the campaign. On arrival, we were welcomed by the call to prayer. One of the fantastic things about being in a Muslim country is hearing the call at different times during the day. So far, I haven't been woken up in the morning by it. Back to Bigali....The story goes that he refused to stay in the house and insisted on staying in the grounds of the house. Here we were given a tour by the attendant who worked there. It was pretty interesting seeing as he didn't speak English and we didn't speak Turkish. However, we were lucky to have our local guide Farti (yep, it's said like it reads! :) ) to help us out. The guy was a bit of a nutter and took as on a walk around the town to one of the old-fashioned ovens where bread is still baked today. He then gave us huge handfuls of almonds and walnuts still in their shells. We had a drink of tea in the town square and entertained the locals with our hats, our language and the game of 'Super Ninja' that ensued in the square. As Bridget said, "This is the real Turkey I wanted to see!"