Gallipoli - A Right of Passage

We flew Istanbul to Canakkale on 26 May Cannakkale is a small fishing village across the Dardenelles from the Gallipoli Peninsular –  which we got to via a short ferry trip.

Like a lot New Zealanders when it comes to knowledge of NZ History, I would tend to know more about what happened at Gallipoli than any single passage of our short history.

So it was rather special to spend half a day on a guided tour of the main Anzac sites – Brighton beach ( where the British Navy was supposed to land us ) / Anzac Cove ( where the Aussies landed ) / North Beach ( where NZ landed ) / Shrapnel Alley and the various memorials.

It was a beautiful sunny, calm day with the birds singing + it was very hard to imagine the carnage and destruction that took place

The most poignant moment for me was a simple memorial in Anzac Cove with the writings of Mustafa Ataturk in 1934 after he’d become the Turkish President – “ Those heros that shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnies and the Memets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You the mothers who sent your sons, wipe away your tears, Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well”

R

Brighton Beach




ANZAC Cove



North Beach

Lone Pine

Chunuk Bair