Gallipoli, Turkey

Gallipoli Peninsula as seen from the Asian Continent shore of Çanakkale.

Gallipoli is a slender peninsula on the European continent’s shore of The Dardanelles.  The strategic Dardanelles are a narrow channel, less than a mile wide.  The channel connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara.  Istanbul, the Bosphorus and the Black Sea are located further east along this waterway.  A third of this peninsula is preserved as a national park and war memorials.   On the opposite Asian continent shore, lies the port town of Çanakkale, where we spent two nights in late April and the starting point of our Gallipoli tour.

Preferred landing beach of ANZAC Forces.

The First World War pitted England, Russia and France against a Kaiser ruled Germany and the Hapsburg ruled Austro-Hungarian Empire. What brought all these powers (most countries were ruled by monarchies-king, czar, emperor or sultan) into this war is a complicated matter.  Our guide assured us, the Ottoman Empire wished to remain neutral and rebuild from their recent wars.  The Gallipoli peninsula became a theater of what I consider secondary countries ( Turkish forces against forces made up of Aussies and Kiwis for the British) being pushed into combat with each other, at times in trenches just 10 meters apart.

Andrew at the actual landing cove.

The historical events that began in 1915 on April 25 on the beaches and rugged hills of this peninsula are remembered in Australia and New Zealand annually.  Trips to Gallipoli are considered a pilgrimage. ANZAC Day,( Australia New Zealand Army Corp), preparations were in progress as we toured with as many as five thousand Aussies and Kiwis anticipated for the 4:30am memorial service to honor all who served and who died in Australian and New Zealand forces. The ceremony does not celebrate a victory date but the beginning of this campaign.  On this date, Winston Churchill organized a naval assault on the straits as a way to eventually seize the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. 

ANZAC Cemetery.

Turkish Cemetery.

A tour of Gallipoli is a tour of cemeteries, Turkish, Aussie and Kiwi. (There are British cemeteries on the southern tip but lack of demand to see these means they are omitted from the tours.) During the nine month battle over 130, 000 men were killed. Two thirds of these were Turks. Interesting to me, some of the wounded were sent to Malta for medical treatment.  In a four day battle, on grounds the size of a soccer field, Lone Pine, over 7000 soldiers died.  Some dead were as young as 14 years old. In January of 1916, the Allied forces withdrew. This Turkish victory is commemorated on March 18, with 50,000 Turks visiting the peninsula on that day.

Looking north towards the less preferred beach where the Allied Forces did land.

A tour of Gallipoli is a tour of beaches, hills and trenches.  A tour where your mind tries to picture the scene with troops bringing boats ashore, gunshots blasting, bodies falling, and tries to imagine the smells of blood, gun powder and death. The Turkish defense was led by Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk, the first President of Turkey. Ataturk correctly determined where the Allied troops were to beach and disobeyed orders to meet them. The Allies rowed in 3 miles from their ships and were likely carried by the current northwards to the steep cliffs of Ariburnu  and not to the beach with gently rising cliffs.  Ataturk, led his 57^th Infantry Regiment into an outnumbered battle of fierce fighting giving the order,” I am not ordering you to attack, I am ordering you to die.  In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders will arrive to take our places."  And all did die except for Ataturk.

Touching statue that begs the question Why?

Despite the carnage, both sides displayed compassion and respect for their enemy.  White flags were raised for each side to collect their dead and wounded soldiers. There is a touching statue that portrays a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Kiwi back to his trench.  This occurred after one of these truces, when the soldier noticed a wound enemy that was overlooked close to him. After he had raised a solo white flag, he came out of the trench unarmed and carried the man back to his trench.  Once he returned, the fighting resumed.

Remnants of Allied trenches and across the road were the Turkish trenches.

Ataturk is quoted on one of the stone monuments, “To us there is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets…You, the mothers, who sent your sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom…After having lost their lives in this land, they have become our sons as well.” At the end of our visit to Turkey, we visited Ataturk’s death bed at the Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul.  He died at the age of 57 from liver disease, likely from drinking so much raki (rah-kuh).  It is a national drink with a 45% alcohol content, flavored with anise and made from raisins.  When presented to you, water is added to the clear drink and it turns a milky color.  I am sure the memories from war, the challenges of leading a nation and to do it with such cunning and grace took its toll on the diplomatic Ataturk.  

I am standing at the Nek where a Turkish machine gun leveled ANZAC troops faster then their British commanding officer could order them to rush out of the trench and attack.  The scene at the end of the movie Gallipoli, starring Mel Gibson portrays this site and this slaughter of soldiers. It was an unsettling place to be standing.