As the soft light of dawn begins to drift across the sky, I turn and look up at the silhouette of the steep cliffs at my back. As they’re slowly lit, I feel tears begin to well.
It’s ANZAC Day 2002, my husband and I have recently embarked on our year long round-the-world trip. My Kiwi husband is deeply patriotic and visiting Gallipoli, in Turkey, on ANZAC day was on his travel bucket list. I’ve never been that passionate about Australian War history so I was surprised by the emotions that stirred as I looked at the cliffs from the beach where the ANZAC Day landing took place.
I was taught the basic facts about ANZAC Day as a child. On the 25th April 1915, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed on the beach at Gallipoli, at dawn. The intent was to make a bold attack on the Ottoman Turkish troops but what eventuated was a massive loss of life. The ANZAC’s expected to land in open terrain and instead found themselves on a beach at the base of steep cliffs covered only in scrubby bushes. As I stood on the beach during the dawn service, my school history lessons took on a whole new meaning.
A steep walk up a dirt path leads you from the beach to Lone Pine, the Australian Memorial site and cemetery. The battle for Lone Pine took place over four days in August 1915, and although the Australian Troops eventually won the battle, they lost more than 2000 men. The battle for Lone Pine was in fact a diversionary attack, the true objective being to secure the crucial high point of the peninsular in the battle for Chunuk Bair.
New Zealand troops led the battle for Chunuk Bair, suffering a huge loss of life, and although they secured the high point for two days, Turkish troops were able to lodge a forceful counter-attack to reclaim the ground. Chunuk Bair is now the official New Zealand Memorial site and cemetery. There are 632 graves in the cemetery with only 10 of them identified. The memorial commemorates 856 New Zealanders who have no known graves. The walk between the two memorial sites offers the chance to reflect on the sacrifices made by those young men.
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