Hagia Sophia from the roof top of our hostel on
Tuesday morning 6 am
"Mr Pringles" also known as Mr Schmidt
Lunch stop - day one of our Mediterranean Tour
Alex and her new Turkish ring from the bazar
Arzu, our guide and our "Big Purple" tour bus
August 1915 - WWI - the ANZACS at Gallipoli
the Commemoration site
grave of a 17 year old soldier.......
Anzac - Cove - the landing stop of the ANZACS
Lone Pine Hill - 3245 Australian are burried here.
The kids checking out the tunnels
Robin and Jordan in the trenches....
Class 12 at Suvla bay, where the second attack
of the Allied Forces took place.
We catch the ferry across the Dardanelles from the
Gallipoli Peninsula to Cannakale, the Asian main land
of Turkey.
“Gallipoli” by Jordan
Today we visited the Gallipoli peninsula, it was here 95 years ago that our ANZAC’s landed in ANZAC cove. We visited the site with a tour guide who was full of insights into this historical site. Even me with a special interest for the subject learnt a lot of new facts about what happened here. The information we were presented with, for me at least opened up a completely new perspective about the event, I never new much about what our adversary the Turk experienced in this place and how equally horrible and horrific their experiences were.
Our tour guide told us a story about a particular battle, where the Australian’s led a charge that ultimately ended in failure, many wounded and killed as was often the case. One Australian soldier was wounded and calling for help a few metres from the Turkish trench. A Turkish soldier heard his cries of pain and proceeded to put a pair of white underwear on the end of his bayonet and waved it above his trench. The Turkish soldier then left his rifle and lept out of his own trench, picked up the wounded soldier and carried him to his trench where the man was given medical attention.
Even though I studied the subject and heard many stories like this, it really came home to me like a slap in the face. War is actually hell.
We visited many grave sites of Australian and Turkish men alike, most not over the age of 23 on either side. It was heartbreaking to see such a large and pointless loss of life. There were many headstones that read “believed to be buried here” which meant they either couldn’t identify the body or they couldn’t find it on the battle field.
If you study Gallipoli, you will see pictures of most things, including the terrain the magnificent size of these colossal cliffs was absolutely staggering, almost completely vertical at the landing site. These young men had to carry large heavy guns and bayonets plus ammunition and equipment, with the Turks always having the higher ground and the advantage.
The only thing that was missing, was the man who made all the effort, and glued our epic journey over Europe together. The Gallipoli landings was something we studied with Bruce and to be here without him, is very disapointing. He would have really enjoyed the atmosphere, from the giant cliffs that humble any man, or the museum and of course the grave sites of our brave diggers.
The class and I really enjoyed our time here today but it would have been a lot better with our guardian present.
Regards
CHUCKLES
Today we visited the Gallipoli peninsula, it was here 95 years ago that our ANZAC’s landed in ANZAC cove. We visited the site with a tour guide who was full of insights into this historical site. Even me with a special interest for the subject learnt a lot of new facts about what happened here. The information we were presented with, for me at least opened up a completely new perspective about the event, I never new much about what our adversary the Turk experienced in this place and how equally horrible and horrific their experiences were.
Our tour guide told us a story about a particular battle, where the Australian’s led a charge that ultimately ended in failure, many wounded and killed as was often the case. One Australian soldier was wounded and calling for help a few metres from the Turkish trench. A Turkish soldier heard his cries of pain and proceeded to put a pair of white underwear on the end of his bayonet and waved it above his trench. The Turkish soldier then left his rifle and lept out of his own trench, picked up the wounded soldier and carried him to his trench where the man was given medical attention.
Even though I studied the subject and heard many stories like this, it really came home to me like a slap in the face. War is actually hell.
We visited many grave sites of Australian and Turkish men alike, most not over the age of 23 on either side. It was heartbreaking to see such a large and pointless loss of life. There were many headstones that read “believed to be buried here” which meant they either couldn’t identify the body or they couldn’t find it on the battle field.
If you study Gallipoli, you will see pictures of most things, including the terrain the magnificent size of these colossal cliffs was absolutely staggering, almost completely vertical at the landing site. These young men had to carry large heavy guns and bayonets plus ammunition and equipment, with the Turks always having the higher ground and the advantage.
The only thing that was missing, was the man who made all the effort, and glued our epic journey over Europe together. The Gallipoli landings was something we studied with Bruce and to be here without him, is very disapointing. He would have really enjoyed the atmosphere, from the giant cliffs that humble any man, or the museum and of course the grave sites of our brave diggers.
The class and I really enjoyed our time here today but it would have been a lot better with our guardian present.
Regards
CHUCKLES
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