Both Fabian and I stumbled across Anzac Cove on our way to Cesme, Turkey. We weren’t looking for it until Fabian saw that we would pass through the Gallipoli Peninsular and across the Dardanelles Straits by ferry to Canakkale, where we planned to rest up for a couple of days.
We took a slight detour to visit Anzac Cove and spent a couple of hours touring the site. It was the reading at this first monument that started our emotional journey through this site. These words where written by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the field Marshall leading the Turkish troops during the Gallipoli campaign and who in 1923 became the first President of the Republic of Turkey. From there we walked through one of the memorial resting places (there are several). This one is Ari Burnu where only a small representation of Australian, New Zealand and some British men died and were buried. The site is beautifully kept. To say we were a a bit overcome with the immensity of this whole unexpected experience would be an under statement. We felt an overpowering sadness and desolation.
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 here in this country of ours… You the mothers who send their sons from far away countries, wipe away 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.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 1934 (First President of the republic of Turkey)
A Little of the history:
In 1915 a British Cabinet minister, Winston Churchill, stated that a good army of 50,000 men and sea power would end the Turkish menace.
In February 1915 the bombardment of Turkish defences at the straits of the Dardanelles ( Bogazi) began. The British wanted to break through to Istanbul (Constantinople) and force Turkey, Germany’s ally, out of the war. This strategy was designed to enable Britain and France to supply their ally, Russia, through Turkish waters and open a southern front against Austria-Hungary.
Any way it failed and a plan was then developed to invade the Gallipoli Peninsula to overcome the Turk Defences and allow the British Navy through the Dardanelles. An Army, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, comprised mainly of British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and French solders was assembled in Egypt and on Greek Islands close to Gallipoli. British troops were made to make the main landing at Cape Helles. Shorty before the British landing, a combined Australian and New Zealand force (ANZACS) was to land further north.
If you have seen the movie you will know most of what happens next. The Turks put up unexpected resistance and only a few small detachments broke through. The majority of the ANZAC forces were pinned down and ordered to dig in. The trench fighting ran on for some eleven months and it wasn’t til December that same year that the allied forces (some 90,000 of them) were ordered to withdraw.
The allied forces suffered severely on Gallipoli. More than twenty one thousand British, ten thousand French, eight thousand seven hundred Australians, two thousand seven hundred New Zealanders, thirteen hundred and fifty Indians and forty nine Newfoundlanders were killed. On top of that allied wounded totaled over ninety seven thousand. These deaths weren’t just through the fighting, it also included lack of proper food and medical support. The solders lived on tined bully beef, hard biscuits, jam and tea. The heat and cold also took its toll. Thousands were evacuated suffering from frostbite, dysentery, diarrhea and enteric fever.
(The statistics where taken from the history plaques at the ANZAC Cove Memorial.)
Gallipoli Turkish Forces Memorial
Close by to ANZAC Gove is the Turks own war memorial. We did take a short tour of the site.
The British had expected the Gallipoli operation to conclude quickly and that the Turkish army would be no match for their solders. Instead they met a determined and resourceful opponent. On Gallipoli men on both sides showed bravery and endurance. After the Turkish counter attack in May 1915 in which the Turks suffered so severely, the Australian and New Zealand solders began to regard the Turkish solders with great respect
Turkish authorities have put their casualties between 250,000 and 300,000, of whom 87,000 died.
🙏🏼 AMEN
