Where Anzacs and Mehmets lie.

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Well, we did the trek out to Gallipoli last week and in terms of all I have seen and done on this trip, it was the most rewarding and moving experience and one that I would urge any kiwi, no matter how old, to do.
We started out in Istanbul last Sunday, what a pumping, seething, crazy city that is! Because it was Sunday and a beautiful day there was an insane amount of people out and about. Now, for some reason, Turkey has raised its boys to think it is ok to leer outright at girls, we got a lot of 'Baby, I remember you, you were in my dreams last night' and when we went to the Grand Bazaar I pretty much promised myself into marriage to get a discount on some ceramics. All in the name of good bartering though I say!
On the Monday we joined our tour, organised through Kamuka but run through a local company. Unfortunately, Contiki ruined us and we'll never be able to think a tour is as good as the Contiki one we did. So, my advice, if you are travelling through Greece or Turkey, don't go through Kamuka. But it all worked out in the end. We had a morning tour through Istanbul, we were able to go into the Blue Mosque, which is beautiful, so intricate and delicate yet it is this huge building and it really dominates the skyline. We went to some museum, however, as I am suffering from museum fatigue, and also because it was such a nice day we sat on the balcony overlooking the river. Istanbul is a lucky city in that it has natural beauty and I do think they have capitalised on it. It is also cool as it spans both Europe and Asia, so it is the only (or one of the few) cities to be on two continents. Because we were in a trousit trap I didn't really blink too much at paying 9YTL (about the same as $9NZ) for strawberries. I mean... strawbs!
From there we began the drive out to Gallipoli. Gallipoli is not actually the name of the peninsula, but there is a town nearby called Galibolu from which the Anzacs derived the name. Because of the hordes of aussies and kiwis descending on the area we ended up staying at some crazy hotel in the middle of nowhere, we think it was a town called Erickli, but who knows, the tour company didn't really understand what was going on either. But we were on a beach which was cool.
The day before Anzac day we did a big drive around the area, we went to Lone Pine, which is the memorial to the Aussies and then up to Chunuk Bair, the New Zealand memorial. I have to admit, I was very hazy on this part of our history, I had to keep reminding myself that this was WWI, not WWII, and so this really opened my eyes to what went on during this battle. Because of where Turkey, and this peninsula is situated, the move by the Anzacs to take over this part of the country would have been extremely beneficial to England. Unfortunately, the Anzacs failed to take Gallipoli, and it is the only battle that Turkey won.
Because of this, at Chunuk Bair there is also a huge memorial to Anaturk, the army guy who lead Turkey to victory and eventually became the leader of Turkey. For me it caused a huge conflict, as I acknowledge that Turkey winning this battle was great for them and all, and when you see the country you can understand why they tried so hard to defend it. But, I wanted our memorial to be just for us, not shared with this garish statue of the man who defeated us.
I didn't really know what to expect with the setup at Anzac Cove, I thought that it would be 20,000 people all jostling for space on the beach and grass trying to find a space to lie down, and not really being able to see the ceremony. But it is very different. It was extremely well run (well done Australian Army!) and if you were not able to get a seat on the grass then there were many seats in surrounding grandstands. There was only 8,000 people as well, so it was a lot smaller than I intially thought. There were two huge screens and we could see the area of the ceremony very easily. They make it impossible to sleep, as throughout the night there are interviews and documentaries being screened. At about 0430 they called for the beginning of the ceremony and we sat in silence for a few minutes. To sit there, with the wind blowing across the ocean and then hitting the huge cliffs behind us really bought it home for me. There were kiwis out there, my age, the age of my friends, in these boats who were ready to die for an England many of them had never seen. They didn't know why they were going to Gallipoli and they certainly didn't know what to expect. The beach has an eerie silence and it is then that you remember that you are sitting on a huge graveyard. So many of the thousands who died there were left in the sea, or where they lay.
The ceremony was good, I actually like the one in Auckland better, mostly because it didn't involve Winston Peters (I mean honestly, don't send him as a representative of our country!) and this ceremony had too much Turkey in it for me. I'm fiercely loyal and patriotic and I don't want to be reminded that Turkey won. But the good thing I will say about Turkey is that they allow all of us to come into their country each year and to remember our men that were left behind and they are polite and happy for us to be there. The Anzacs and the Mehmets were friends at the end of it all and I think that we owe the Turks a great deal of courtesy for the relationship between our two countries now.
After the ceremony we made the hike (its about 6km) up to Chunuk Bair for the NZ service. On the way up we passed about 3000 young Turkish kids all marching in a parade on the way from Chunuk Bair to their memorial service at one of the Turkish graveyards. It was overwhelming and intense. Because we hadn't slept and they were in such force I was intimidated by them, even though many of them were smiling and waving at us. They would chant things every now and then, and because we didn't know what they were saying it made me want to get up to Chunuk Bair really quickly.
Our ceremony was beautiful. Chunuk Bair was a key point for the kiwis, as they were asked to go and capture it from the Turks, it is the highest point in the surrounding area and offers a view out to the Dardenelles, the straight of water that would have been really important for the Anzacs to capture. The kiwis got Chunuk Bair and held it for two days before being overpowered and defeated by the Turks. We sat on the cemetery and thought about all those men who would have made the run up the hill, seen the Dardenelles and then died without succeeding. Such a waste.
You can still see the trenches and in some parts they are only about 10 metres apart, these guys could see the enemy, could talk to them and could see them when they killed them.
I want to write out the part of the ceremony on Chunuk Bair that summed up the whole day for me. For a country of 1 million people, to loose over 2,000 of them at Gallipoli was such a huge sacrifice for us and i'm pleased that we are given the opportunity to go to Gallipoli to pay our respects to these men. To let them know that they didn't die for nothing and that their actions have lead us to have what I consider the best country in the world, and the best life possible. We will remember them.

"We were thin, most of us, weak with dysentery and poor nutirtion... The track uphill was steep and hard going. We had just jumped from our trench and gone a little way, sixteen of us with two guns, when Turks spotted us and we met a hail of bullets. We made perfect targets. We couldn't run with the load we were carrying, guns, tripods, and all our boxes of ammunition. It was quite a deadly volley. Dust spurted up around our feet as the bullets struck the ground. I tried to lift my knees high to excape them. Men began falling around me. They just dropped, men I'd been living alongside, fighting alongside, for months; boys from my own town.

We had been a very close-knit little group, almost brothers. But we couldn't stop or sorrow for the fallen. Our orders were to go on, to the top of Chunuk Bair. More and more of us fell. I kept on uphill until I discovered myself altogether alone, the one survivor of the sixteen who started out. By some miracle I was the only one who got anywhere near the summit of Chunuk Bair. I never saw or heard of my comrades again; I don't even know what happened to their bodies.

... I have felt their loss very deeply for the rest of my life... Talking about Gallipoli, especially about Chunuk Bair, brings sorrow to my heard even as I talk to you now.

... I didn't weep physically ... I was not a weeping chap. I wept in my heart"

- Dan Curham, Wellington Battalion.

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Photos

Anzac Cove
The area after the ceremony

Chunuk Bair
Us girls in front of the memorial at Chunuk Bair.

Turks in full force!
Part of the parade that we met on our way up to Chunuk Bair

An impossible task
The cliffs above Anzac Cove

Good on you polyprops!
It was so cold, I can't imagine what it was like for those men that morning.