Saturday 22 September – The Dardanelles, and the Death of War.

An earlier start this morning; we were on the road at 8am for the four-hour drive to the Dardenelles, the body of water separating Europe from Asia at the confluence on the Aegean Sea, and our first destination Gallipoli.  We stopped en route for elevenses at ten, then a couple of hours later for a delicious lunch of Turkish moussaka at a roadside diner.  Our time at Gallipoli was just as moving as when we first visited eight years ago.  Our guide described the Gallipoli campaign as the “death of war”: two foes bent on destroying each other, one defending its homeland – to the death - and the other following orders issued from a distant land.  But regular acts of human kindness and humanity between the ANZAC and Turkish troops triumphed over this and, despite the enormous toll – half a million casualties over the course of this short campaign – there has grown the abiding friendship and respect between the combatant countries that has endured for more than a century.  War was defeated by humanity.

This was due in no small part to the Turkish Gallipoli commander – Mustafa Kemal (to be remembered as Ataturk – “Father of the Turks”) who, on the one hand told his men of the 57^th Brigade: “I do not order you to fight, I order you to die” in defence of their homeland.  And that they did, every one of them.  And after the war, when Ataturk overthrew the sultan and the dying Ottoman empire was put out of its misery, and then fought the war of independence and ejected the conquering British and their allies, he went on to found the Republic of Turkey which, despite being dominated by Muslims, is a secular country, not an Islamic country (and, according to our knowledgeable guide, will remain secular despite the wishes of some prominent Islamists).  In 1934 he spoke the immortal words which are now enshrined on a large memorial stone at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli:

“Those heroes that shed their blood, and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side. Here in this country of ours you, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well”.

We visited ANZAC Cove, viewed the reconstructed trenches - some just metres apart - where the ANZAC and Turkish soldiers lived and died, walked through Lone Pine Cemetery, where just one of the several hundred graves bears the bones of a soldier who has actually been identified, and wrote a message in the memorial book within the shrine.

Then back on the bus and down the hill to board the ferry to Cannakale – leaving Europe for Asia.  We had a short stop in the township to view the Wooden Horse of Troy – not the original but the one that was used in the Brad Pitt/Eric Bana film – and to allow Elizabeth to do a bit of heavy reading. Then to our accommodation for the night, a very grand hotel which tonight is hosting a wedding for about four hundred guests, which we reluctantly decided not to join – although we were assured that we would have been welcomed.  Instead we enjoyed an expansive and delicious buffet dinner then that’s it for tonight.