In the words of my favourite Scotsman Billy Connolly, our tour of Gallipoli was most windswept and very interesting.  Having left Pete and Ilze to their own devices in Istanbul, we were luxuriating in our huge hotel room in Eceabat with a panoramic view over the Dardanelles.  We think this came about because Ian’s lunch (which we’d pre-requested to be gf) was less than adequate and he complained.  Result: special meals and the best room in the hotel.  As it turns out we think we were the only occupants.  After our dinner of fresh fish with rice and tomatoes – simple but delicious – we strolled along the waterfront and discovered the new “Respect for History Park”.  The Turkish government has only in the last 5-10 years started constructing monuments on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in response to the growing number of Australian visitors.  It is great that they can tell their story because of course for them it was a significant victory and after all they were defending their home soil.  So we learned about their heroes as well.  The average Australian’s view of the Gallipoli campaign is very narrow, and to really understand what happened, you need to know about the British action, and the Turkish.  The park was very well done with a dramatic statue and some models.

Next morning we joined a small group of 6 to tour the southern, or Helles section of the peninsula.  We saw the Turkish gun positions a little further down the coast, which were partly responsible for sinking 6 battleships before the land campaign started.  The British should have known then that this was a lost cause, but they were desperate to open a route via the Bosphorus to the Black Sea and Russia.  We also learned about the Turkish hero Corporal Seyit, who single handedly lifted 270 kg shells and allowed the guns to continue firing after a lifting mechanism failed.  He is depicted in statues everywhere and features heavily in souvenir shops.

Corporal Seyit, Turkey’s war hero, lifting a 270 kg shell to load into a gun

Next we visited a French cemetery where the graves were quite different from the Commonwealth War Graves one, just a simple cross and a small plaque.  After that we saw a Turkish cemetery, completely different again and very beautiful and symbolic with its windswept pine trees.

Turkish war memorial

Turkish graves

Then we saw S, V and W beaches where landings were made by the British, with terrible loss of life.  We stopped at the British cemetery and memorial, then called in at a small private museum.  Among other things it had a display of false teeth found on the battlefield! Bizarre.

False teeth from the Gallipoli battlefield

After lunch it was on to the ANZAC component of the tour.  We had a glorious morning but we could see dark clouds rolling in and before long it was pouring rain.  So it was quick dashes out of the bus at the various points of interest – John Simpson’s grave, Anzac Cove (which is tiny), the cemetery at Shrapnel Valley, then Lone Pine.  Luckily at that point there was a break in the weather and we were able to get out of the bus for a while without drowning!  Ian found a relative, Isaac Webster, on the memorial wall.  He was related to the Raffertys (who we looked at in France) by marriage.  The cemetery is much smaller than I thought but in a lovely hilltop setting.  We finished with the New Zealand memorial, which has stunning views over the whole peninsula (on a good day), and the Turkish memorial.  All in all it was a fascinating day and our tour guide was really good (although he did perpetrate some of the popular myths).

Ian finds another relative on the memorial wall at Lone Pine, the Australian cemetery

The rain got heavier and heavier and we faced a long bus ride back to Istanbul.  The driver was very careful and took it slowly, which we were happy about after seeing two accidents.  Sheets of water lay across the road, and we were treated to a spectacular lightning show that lasted for hours.  It was very dramatic, and lasted until we reached the outskirts of Istanbul.  We arrived back around 11pm and fell into bed.