Day eighteen - 19 August 2009, Gallipoli

St Nick was Turkish...early festive atmosphere on the truck

Meg and Rhiannon cruising on the truck balcony. One is extremely proud of her hair.

still quite a way to go then....

Gallipoli

Little big John trying out the trenches

One of Australian Cemetery's, buried where they fell

Suvla Bay

I go with JC and Hughie to collect truck at the secure parking via taxi. The driver doesn’t believe in lanes - I later discover that road rules are merely suggestions in most of Asia - and his only indicator is his horn. When Hughie and I try to put seatbelts on, which are hidden under the seats, we are told not to by the driver. This is taken as an insult to his masculinity I believe, or at least his driving skills. I must admit, he is very good at getting through narrow spaces. However, he doesn’t seem to take into much account the fact that the narrow spaces are caused by cars wanting to go in different directions to him.

We go to Gallipoli today, site of the famous WW1 battle commemorated by Australians and New Zealanders on ANZAC day. It is a beautiful area of vast open hills and views for miles around looking down to Suvla Bay. Alas, it's also savage and deadly if you are trying to fight up the hills using trench warfare tactics. We get a history lesson in ‘Turklish’ from a guide, which nobody understands. However, I can say that, during the Gallipoli campaign, about 45,000 allied troops were killed and more than twice that were wounded. The Turks came out victorious despite losing 87,000 during the campaign and another 164,000 wounded. The number of casualties suffered in these First World War campaigns never seems to be less than unimaginable, but having visited a number of battle sites in the past, I can understand somewhat how it happens. At Vimy Ridge in France for instance, they have left some of the land around the Canadian memorial in the condition it was after the battle there. Even with erosion over the years, the area consists only of shell holes. There is no flat ground.

Actually, the UK suffered worse than Australia & NZ in terms of numbers killed at Gallipoli, with over 21,000 dead, but I suppose if you compare that to 30,000 dead in one day at the Somme, this doesn't represent the lowest point of British military history.

We are told by a number of people that have been here during ANZAC day that a fair few of the Australians who come seem to be here for the party, without much regard for the significance of the site. Gaz, who has been here for ANZAC day, says he met one who didn’t even know what ANZAC stood for....