Eceabat Gallipoli Penninsular

Upon arrival in Eceabat, the main township on the Gallipoli Pennisular, one is aware of the 1915 campaign, and the pilgrimage of Australian and NZers to this place. Our hotel backpackers is called Crowded House, after the band and is filled with Australian memorabilia. Out in the streets in this small but busy town on the shore of the Dardanelles are statues of Ataturk the commander of the Turk forces, huge wall maps of the peninsular, a park with dioramas, photos and war relics. Gallipoli and tourism is their bread and butter however the whole campaign is portrayed with tact. Over 3 million Turks visit the peninsular each year.
Our tour guide started with the origins of the campaign and the defeat of the Allied forces ships in the Dardanelles on 18 March. 18 March is an important day, they have Universities called by the same name, streets, buildings and the date is celebrated. Over the hill we drive away from the Dardanelles to the Agean and Anzac Cove. The cove itself is made up of 4 smaller bays where the forces landed. North Beach, Anzac Cove, Ariiburnu and Hells Beach. Standing on the beach your eyes gaze up the steep hill side to the ridges 200 - 400 m high. Above that series of ridges is yet another series of ridges hidden behind the first and so on until you get to the to Chinick Bar the top advantage point. There is some vegetation on the hillside, more than there was in 1915. One pictures soldiers carrying 35lb packs, wet from scrambling through the water, clambering up the hillside.. From the shore you look across to Kopos the Greek Island from where the campaign was launched.
The Anzac area, Lone Pine and the war graves are carefully cared for and a special place. I am impressed with the way our guide tactfully portrayed the campaign and I am in awe of the fortitude of the young men on both sides who went to war for King and country, believing in t6heir efforts. Half of these men on both sides died, what a waste and a sacrifice.
One must also acknowledge the commandership and tact of Ataturk the commander of the Turk forces. Even with 160 men guarding Anzac Cove he managed to hold the Allies with tact and no ammunition to speak of. His famous speech is displayed a lot around on the peninsular. All the dead are sons of mothers and loved by the Turks
I am reliving the little I knew of the stories Grandfather Meikle told of his time on the peninsular. My Mum tells me he never made it up the hill until 1965. At Lone Pine the Australian main cemetary and acknowledgement of a fierce battle are the names of 400 Canterbury regimental soldiers who died.... my Grandfathers friends. As an inquiring learner I am also fascinated to learn and read more. This has been a special trip, a connection with my Grandfather, with my mother and just to be a Kiwi in a foreign land.
Yesterday I went on a snorkelling tour of Anzac Cove and snorkelled out over the Milo which was an Allied troop row boat. The fish, the water and the scenery beautiful. Ones eyes are drawn again to the hillside and the calamity of the campaign. I managed to find a bullet in the shallows. A lovely memory of my time here