Norman's Blog: Gallipoli April 1915

Gallipoli

After breakfast, we piled into a minibus with with local guide and we were driven from Eceabat on the east coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula to the Gallipoli landing sites on the west coast. Before we reached there, we stopped at the Cannakkali Epic Promotion Centre, a museum.

The entrance portico to the modern museum.

Inside are maps of the area with lines indictating where the front line was at various dates and arrows showing moments of advance by either side and a new front line. \plus many mannequins to show different uniforms.

There were several realistic dioramas showing scenes from the battle plus caes showing arms, swords, medals, rations handed out and medical equipment.

SOme exhibits were ouside in the grounds such as this biplane...

...or this gun barrel.

Our first stop on the landing beaches was at the Beach Cemetery. My local regiment fought in Gallipoli, the Royal Sussex Fusiliers. I looked for any gravestones but found none.

The main memorial overlooking the graves and the beach.

The most famous internee was John Simpson Kirkpartirck who served as J Simpson in the AUstralian Medical Corps. He is famous as a film was made about him. He was known as the Donkey Man which is the title of the film. He role was to rescue injured soldiers from the field and get them to a dressing station.

He was only 22 and had spent only22 days in Gallipoli. He is attributed to have rescued over 300 wounded sldiers from the front lines, carrying them down the hill from the front lines to the dressing stations and hospitals down by the beach, using his donkey to carry the wounded.

He donkey and he were killed by enemy fire. The donkey received a medal for his bravery. Simpson was an illegal immigrant and although he had showed great bravery, not being citizen meant that he could not receive an award.

The next stop was at the ANZAC Cove Cemertery to view more lines of graves and a memorial. From the northern end of the cemertery, there are views down to ANZAC Cove, the gentle curving beach along the shore of the bay protected by steep sandy cliffs. The landings had been planned to take place at Brighton Beacha few kilometres to the south, a wide flat beach with pine trees today inlan but then covered in bushes with little protection and had been switched.

The sign outside the cemetery.

The view across ANZAC Cove with its narrow beach protected by cliffs.

Just alittle further along the beach was Shrapnel Valley. This gully led up to the ridge and the front line. It was the main route for tropps and suolies up to the front line and for returning injured soldiers.Since it was such an important route, it was frequently shelled by the Turks.

We stopped again at An Burnu Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemertery. It was better known at the time as the area was overlooked ay a pinnacle or rock that reminded the soldiers of their time spent in Egypt before being diverted from their intended destination on the Western Front to make an assault on Gallipoli.

The Sphinx.

We drove through the Comemorative site to fins somewhere to turn around. The site hosts the memorial vigil and early morning commorations around the world on ANZAC Day. Te site was busy with hundreds of workmen and technicans preparing for the commemorative activities less than a week away.

This a ststue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded captain. The story was that a captain had been injured and was crying out for attention. But no help was coming. A Turkisk soldier took off his underwear and used it as a white flag. The shooting stopped. He climbed out of the trench and picked up the wounded soldier and carried him bck to the Alllied Lines. He returned to his own lines and the firing started again.

It was often thought to be just a story as there was no documentary evidence. Then on one ANZAC day, a visitor said that the captain was his grandfather. He produced the diary of the events which proved it to be true. The captain was Herbert Sutcliffe who later went on to be Governor General of New SOuth wales.

The identity of the Turkisj soldier remains unknown.

We reached the top of the ridge where there is a monument with the names of all the ANZAC soldiers who fell in battle at Lone Pine Ridge. It was named as such as there was a single pine tree growing there. ALthough much of the area is now covered with pine trees. at the time, it was largely scrubland.

The lone pine. This is not the original tree but it is a sibling. The original died was damaged by fire and died. The Turkish government had sent pine cones from the original tree to both AUstralia and New Zealand for them to plant at various memorial sites. A soldier had lso picked up a pine cone and had taken it home to plant his own pine tree.

When the original tree died, there was enough descendents of the original pine tree to plant seed and to replace the original.

Our guide TJ standing next to the nouth of a tunnel near the front lines on top of Lone Pine Ridge. The tunnels stretched back 50 yards to the top of Shrapnel Valley.

Sone of the original trenches along the ridge.

A reproduction of a tunnel built by the ANZACs to burrow under the Turkish trenches and explode a mine to destroy the trenches before an attack.

Behind the Turkisk frontlines is a Turkish cemetery and memorial. There is a statue of a Turkish soldier but the sculptor made a mistake. He is holding a British made Lee Enfield rifle.

The entrance to the urkish cemertery and the memorial beyond the gate.

Just inside and to the left is a bronze statue. It is the oldest survivor of the Gallipoli campaign with his great grand daughter. He died at the age of 110 years in 1994.

We stopped at the Nek. This was the scene of fierce fighting. The Australians were to attack the Turkish trenches as a diversionary attack to assist the New Zealanders attack Cannuk Bair. The trenches were only metres apart, the length of two tennis courts.

The artillery bombardment stopped several minutes before the attack was due to start. The Turks had plenty of time to set p their machine guns. All four waves of assaults were mown down. Only one soldier made it to the Turkis lines.