Turkey - Anzac Day at Galipoli

Anzac Day - after deciding to go, I ended up scoring a cheap deal down to Galipoli on a local bus. I headed out from the hostel at about 8pm the night before Dawn Service started, arrived down at Galipoli at about 9.30pm and already all the tour groups that I wasnt in love with were there, taking up all the lying down spots. So found a pozzie in the stands and knew Id be in for a long night sitting on a hard plastic chair all night. They expect anywhere between 5 and 20 thousand people each year, and expected this year to be small (there ended up being about 3.500 people) because so many flights were cancelled due to the volcano. During the night they showed a few short docos about the first world war, I watched as the time ticked by veeerrry slowly until 5am when the service started - it was about 5 degrees overnight so needless to say I didnt get much sleep whilst sitting on a chair with just about every item from my backpack on (I only really had clothes for 45 degree weather in India with me). The pre-service started with a traditional Maori welcome which sent shivers down my spine, then our Navy Band which did NOT send shivers down my spine .. they only did a few numbers thank god. Then a group of 4 older Maori women formally opened the Dawn Service at the time when the Anzacs first landed on Anzac Cove, at 4.30am .. I'm sure theres a word for this song, but they basically wailed for about 5 minutes, this spine chilling most mournful sound Ive ever heard, there were just a few words sung but it was in looong wailing tones, that brought tears to my eyes. Of course, the standard minutes silence and bugal were played and it was all quite emotional, to be sitting on the cliffs at Anzac Cove in Galipoli, where thousands of Aussies, Kiwis and Turks were killed nearly a hundred years ago. I felt so humbled that the Turkish had given up such a HUGE peice of land as an Anzac memorial sight, it is really beautifully maintained with gorgeous grass and flowers everywhere, and the amount of land that they have dedicated to us is really amazing. Its really humbling to think that they faught against each other, but every year hosts our memorials in such a respectful and united way. An example of this was so beautifully highlighted in Ataturk's message to the Mothers of the Anzacs who had died at Galipoli (Ive attached a picture of it, I hope you can read it). Ataturk was the leader of the Turkish Army and went on to become the first President of Turkey and founder of the Republic of Turkey .. he is absolutely still seen as a hero in Turkey, his picture is everywhere and his name is seen on banners and posters still today. He amazingly said in 1935 "I am convinced that the excerise of social and political rights by women is necessary for mankind's happiness and pride. You can rest assured that Turkish women as well as the World's women will work towards world peace and security" .. he was very progressive for men in that era. His letter to the Mother's of Australia and New Zealand was really touching.

I felt also realy honoured to be there on behalf of Grandad and Gramps, and have a new found respect for their time they spent in the War. I just simply cant imagine it.

After the Dawn Service, I headed up to Lone Pine, where the offical Australian Memorial is held. The first time Indigenous Australians were mentioned was here but a Grade 9 girl who won a prize for her research project on "people forgotten in the War". She did her story on Aboriginal people who were not allowed to enlist in the war (I dare say because at this point they were not counted as 'citizens of Australia' or counted in a census .. actually I do beleive that they were still classed under the Flora and Fauna Act), so many of them got false documents and forged their way to enlist and fight for THEIR COUNTRY. She found one man called Maynard who managed to enlist, and for her project she brought some Red Ochre from the cliffs near her house and brought them to Galipoli to rub on his name (theres a picture Ive attached of it) because she thought it might make him feel closer to his home country. I was moved to tears. The first time Indigenous people were mentioned (and there was A LOT about Maori contribution to the war) and it was by a 9th grade girl for her school project, who understood that for an Aboriginal person to not be buried on their land causes a restless wandering spirit ... good on you girl.

After the Austalian Memorial and the Attorney General gave her speach (picture attached of her receiving some stupid beanie from the Fanatics group), I signed the book for Grandad and Gramps (picture attached) and headed back to Eceabat.

The following day I felt like I didnt really get to see much of Galipoli or the sights that were central in the Anzac campaign, so I headed back down on a day tour with the hostel. I took some shots of the graves, there were many moving enscriptions on the stones, mostly ones from Mothers. Ive just taken some shots of the more freqently seen ones.

One of the things that really did impress and shock me was the proximity in which the Turkish and the Anzacs were fighting .. in some places there was a one way road in between them and they were throwing each other bits of supplies (cigarettes, beef jerky, bread etc) to try each other stocks .. I cant imagine how making that human connection felt in the context of killing each other. I was overwhelmed with the mental images of the war while I was walking around (there is still a lot of gun pellets and remanents of actual fighting littered around the place), seeing the trenches, hundres of K's of trenched dug by bare hands (a pic attached of one of the trenches and an underground bunker thing) .. was really hard to wrap my head around actually. To think that I was standing where more than 8000 Aussies, 22 000 British and about 3000 Kiwis died and where 86,000 Turks died ... yes ... EIGHTY SIX THOUSAND. The history is amazing and I didnt realise how much I didnt know about the first world war .. what happened at the Nec, at Lone Pine and that the whole fucking thing may have been avoided if the British had have kept their promise to the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and gave them their 2 battle ships that they had purchased from the British .. this simple deception made the Turks who were until that point neutral in the war, decide which side they would take .. the British or the Germans ... so they supported the Germans because the British had ripped them off.

They called this the last Gentleman's War .. a war where the two sides help feed each other, called 'time out' so that the other side could bury their dead .. it really is hard/impossible to imagine so much death in 40 degree heat, wearing wool uniforms and boots, covered in lice and bugs, starving, dehydrated and scared out of your mind .. not to mention that around you, thousands of bodies lie dead and decaying for days and weeks .. your friends, and sometimes your family. That hundreds and hundreds of people died of exposure and dysentry is really just horrible to imagine. Its just overwhelming and makes me sooo fucking angry that wars even happen. They are absolutely pathetic .. selfish ... abusive .. avoidable ... violent and unthinkable.

It was an honour to be there for you Grandad and Gramps .. and for Grandma and Nan who also faught in a different way in the War xxxx