Gallipoli

It's quite a drive from Istanbul to Gallipoli....five hours each way actually, most of which is traffic, bumper to bumper, for tens of kilometres, so we had to have a bit of an early start, in the dark, to this special day in our Battlefields Tour to avoid the jams on the bridges crossing the Bosphorous.

It was a private tour, just the four of us, a driver and a guide and it turned out to be, as for so many Australians, a bit of a pilgrimage. We certainly knew we were in another land as we headed south to the Dardenelles with the wailing sound of early morning call to prayer and the sight of dozens of minaret silhouettes piercing the pink, pre-dawn sky.

We picked up our guide, Boolant, in a little sea-side town right on the narrows of the Dardenelles and after an overview of what we're going to experience with a large scale model of the terrain and diorama depicting the battle, we headed off to the birthplace of ANZAC.

We visited Brighton Beach on Cape Helles where the British and French landed and then around to, not much further up the coast to ANZAC Cove. It really is quite small in real life and with pictures of the cove 100 years ago to compare, we could see just what a situation the ANZACS found themselves in. The original plan to land further down the coast where it was flatter seemed quite doable to the generals but whether it was the dark, the tides or unfmilarity, they landed under the cliffs and we all know how that ended up.

ANZAC Cove.They put a road through. In the 1930's that ruined the integrity of the actual beach but you can still see the "lay of the land."

They actually landed on three beaches and North Beach, just around the corner is the one they use for the ceremonies these days. It is quiet, peaceful, and in its own way, ruggedly beautiful....or maybe that is because of its significance to Australians.

We were reminded of the statesmanship of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who has been described as "the right man, in the right place at the right time" who successfully led the Turkish defenders in the battles and is credited with ensuring that the ANZACS never gained more than one kilometre of ground...and at a terrible cost....to both sides.

Very powerful words.

We visited Lone Pine, the scene of the bloodiest battle of the campaign for the Australians with three days of "hand to hand" fighting and thousands killed ....in a diversionary assault!

...and Johnson's Jolly where the original trenches still remain..so close they could talk to each  other

...and tunnel under each other's lines to set explosives and capture stragglers to interrogate.

....and we visited the Turkish memorial...to their 57th division which lost 1800 of 2000 men ad has never to this day been reformed out of respect for the terrible losses it suffered.

In all it has been an experience and a half....something I have dreamt of for over half a century...and it did not disappoint.

After 15 hours and over 850 kilometres...we were back in our hotel, tired....dog tired...but very pleased that we made the effort to visit a place that has forged a special bond between the Turkish and Australian peoples.   A bond that gets stronger each year...forged through a military disaster...I wonder what the ANZACS would make of that?