On the 25th of April, 98 years ago, Australian and New Zealand troops were sent to Turkey to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to ensure a route to Russia was opened up. It was on the beach where the ANZAC's first landed that we spent the night. From 8:00pm to Dawn, documentaries were shown to those that were awake. I only managed 2 hours of broken sleep... of which I am grateful. Due to my inability to sleep on plastic chairs, I was able to take in as much history and information as possible. What was noticeable from the start was the little I learnt about Gallipoli whilst at school, and what a travesty! I learnt about the Western Front in WWI, but Gallipoli barely got a mention. Maybe this was due to it being a 'failure', but hopefully I can provide you with stories that you can pass on to another and keep the spirit of this part of our history alive.
I was always under the impression that it was a blood shed when we landed on the beach. That was not the case. We were sent to the wrong beach and our soldiers were faced with cliffs that they had to immediately scale, but thankfully only a small army of Turkish soldiers were present. In fact, the Turkish wanted to retreat but were told "I am not asking you to fight, I am asking you to die!". The Turkish soldiers did just this and a larger army was sent in. After the third day of fighting, countless ANZAC's had died and they then asked to retreat. The ANZAC's were simply told "dig in boys". And dig in they did - for 8 long months!
Despite the daily bloodshed, it wasn't long before the ANZAC's and the Turkish soldiers began to see each other as people. They were both in the war for others; The ANZAC's were there to serve England, and the Turkish were defending their own land just because it happened to be the best route to Russia. The ANZAC's even started calling the Turkish soldiers 'Johnnie'. There are stories of Turkish soldiers throwing cigarettes in the ANZAC trenches at night and asking for milk in return. There is also a famous statue of a Turkish soldier carrying an ANZAC back to our trenches. In fact, both sides negotiated a ceasefire for the entire day of May 24 so they could each respectfully bury their dead.
But of course, this was a war and one of the bloodiest battles of WWI was to be had.
Before I get to that, I want to talk about the lead up to and the Dawn Service. Like I said earlier, there were a number of videos played throughout the night. A short film was played just before the service began called "The Telegram Man". It starred Gary Sweet and Jeff Thompson and it was an eye opener into life in a country town whilst our sons were at war. I urge you all to watch this. I tried to look for it on the net and I believe you can find it on iTunes. It was a great example of the impact WWI and WWII had on Australian towns.
The most powerful moment during the lead up to the Dawn Service wasn't a movie or documentary, but a piece of music and light show. In the lead up to the 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 2015, a different composer is chosen each year to put a piece of music together explaining what Gallipoli meant to them. In 2015 they will all be played. This year, the music was partnered with a light show. At 2:30am, the water lit up and the music began. It is very hard to explain to you what I heard and felt. With each dramatic change of the music, you followed the light show and you knew exactly what the composer was seeing. From the landing on the beach, to the fighting on the cliffs, the music was so intense and moving... I was in awe!
If you would like a list of documentaries that were shown, please let me know. I urge you all to watch at least one.
As the first rays started to appear, names of the ANZAC's that died in Gallipoli appeared on the screens and it really brought it home that the little piece of land that we were standing was so important and sacred. The Dawn service was unfortunately interrupted by a protester, but it still left an emotional memory that I will take with me. No future Dawn Service will ever be the same as it means so much more to me now.
After the Dawn Service we headed off on a 3.1km walk to Lone Pine. It was hot, I was hungry and I found that walk challenging. But each time I started to whinge, I tried to imagine what it was like for our soldiers. We passed a number of cemeteries on our way. Ages ranged from 18-40 and families had left lovely notes. The biggest cemetery was our next destination.
Lone Pine was where the Australian Service was held. This was the site of the biggest battle the Australian ANZAC's faced. Before the service started, Mark and I took some time to wander through the headstones. I am the first to admit that I did not know what happened at Lone Pine until now. As we wandered through the headstones we heard the story:
Whilst the New Zealand ANZAC's tried to capture a higher point, the Australian ANZAC's were to create a diversion at Lone Pine. When they arrived they found that the Turkish Soldiers had dug trenches over an area no bigger than a football field. These trenches were then covered. The Australian's had a decision to make. Do they retreat? Do they lift up a small patch of the 'roofing', point their guns and shoot? Or do they go into the trenches and fight? They chose to go in and fight. The trenches were small and they could not fit their guns, so it was three days of hand-to-hand, fight for your life brutality. It is estimated that over 7,000 men from both sides died and were left buried on that small bit of land that we were standing on. Whilst hearing this I had stopped at a headstone and looked down. What I saw was the youngest ANZAC soldier that I had seen; he was 16! To imagine the horrific fighting that would have taken place under our feet and knowing that there were children there... I was overcome with a heavy emotion that I had not experienced before. I felt so much respect and gratitude for the young men that defended their "God, King and Country".
Lone Pine would be the battle that battles in the Western Front would later be compared to due to the force and brutality the ANZAC's experienced. When the ANZAC's were sent to the Western Front to fight with the Allied Services, others would see their ANZAC badge and ask how the current battle compared.
The service itself was very emotional. Before the service started, current and ex-servicemen that were in the crowd were invited to stand up. They were given the loudest applause I had heard in a long time and it sent shivers down my spine. There were two WWII veterans who received the loudest applause of all. The service started with four Australian High School students who read out names, ages and family messages of numerous headstones on Lone Pine. I could not hold my tears in, in fact they have appeared again whilst writing this. Putting names to these soldiers is incredibly important. The headstones were of men that had died in the battle, however their bodies were not lying with them. As you can imagine, 7,000 men in such a small area would make it difficult to identify and place all the bodies. There is however one body that lines up with his headstone.
After the Lone Pine Service we hiked another 3.4km to where the New Zealand service was being held. We passed more cemeteries and a number of trenches that were still in tact. This hike was even harder than the first. Once we reached the peak and whilst we were waiting for our bus, it gave me time to reflect on everything that I had witnessed.
You may be wondering how and when the battle ended. After eight months, the ANZAC's decided that enough was enough and they organised their own retreat. At night, they would tie hessian bags to their feet so the Turkish soldiers would not hear them leave the trenches. Games of cricket on the beach were also used as diversion. It was estimated that thousands would die during the retreat....... Amazingly not one man died! It is thought that the Turkish soldiers had an idea that the ANZAC's were retreating and let them go, although there is no proof of this.
This battle also ensured that Turkey would become its own republic. General Ataturk who fought for Turkey at Gallipoli would become their President. In 1934, Ataturk wrote a tribute to the ANZAC's that were killed in Gallipoli in a true example of the ANZAC - Turkish bond:
"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 the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe 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."
I truly believe that if given the chance, you should all visit Gallipoli. If you cannot visit, I urge you to learn more about it.
I hope that I have conveyed the emotion that I hoped to get across. This was the hardest and most important post that I have written and please contact me if you want to know more.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn:
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Beautifully written Tez!
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