Day 3: Gallivanting in Gallipoli 

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The Campaign to Visit Gallipoli

 

Mike and Bone rose to a brilliant morning on the Bosporus and headed down to start their campaign, one of the major reasons for the trip to Turkey, The Gallipolis Campaign!

 

Mike and Bone toured all the major battlefield of World War I in Belgium and Northern France. The one battlefield they hadn't hit yet was Gallipoli!  The Hotel had set them up with TJ's Tours for 8:00 AM and they were done for a continental breakfast and a very awesome Turkish Coffee.

 

Turkish Coffee in Paradise, or the Dardanelles!!

Turkish Coffee has the consistency and color of 5 year old motor oil, especially when it drips in lumps!  Despite the look it is awesomely delicious and woke the Boys right up!

 

Mornin' on the Dardanelles

First Class is the best way to describe the Gallipoli Tour. The Boys hit the jackpot, TJ (Ilhami Gezici) it turned out was one of the most experienced Gallipoli group tour guides in the area and was recommended by Mike and Bone’s Hotel. TJ was just about born to guide these battlefields. In fact, his Turkish name says it all. The direct translation would be: Ilhami – inspirational Gezici ­ wanderer / traveler. He has been guiding the Gallipoli sites for over since 1990. He grew up a local boy who studied High School in Eceabat, TJs love of the battlefields grew from the enthusiasm of his history teacher who would walk his students around the cemeteries and tell the stories handed down from the Turkish soldiers from the area. TJ himself, was lucky enough to talk to some of these Turkish WWI survivors in his childhood years.

 

The Tour Guides Tour Guide: TJ!!!

He in fact advised L.A. Carlyon on his epic 660-page tome Gallipoli. This book help craft this Mike and Bone adventure, and TJ advised on it, talk about a Tour Guide!!  He picked Mike and Bone up and drove down to the bottom of the Dardellenes Peninsular where they started their morning tour of the many battlefields, memorials, and cemeteries of the Gallipoli Campaign

 

An Gallipoli Overview Awesome Start At Anzac Cove!

At the entrance to the National Park TJ gave Mike and Bone an overview of the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. The British launched the Gallipoli campaign for the purpose of gaining control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits; capturing Constantinople; and opening a Black Sea supply route to their ally Russia.

The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).

The campaign is often considered to be the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness; 25 April, the anniversary of the landings, is known as ANZAC Day, the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in the two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day (Armistice Day).  TJ organizes tours for Aussies and New Zealanders every April to celebrate lost family members from the Campaign.

Back to the Campaign, when the Brit's landed, a lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, along with a fierce Turkish resistance, hampered the success of the invasion. By mid-October, Allied forces had suffered heavy casualties and had made little headway from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915 and was completed early the following January. TJ took the Boys this morning to all the major sites in chronological order.

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An Awesome Start At Anzac Cove!

 

The Tour started in Anzac Cove (Turkish: Anzak Koyu) which is a small cove near the bottom of the Gallipoli peninsula. It is the site of the Gallipoli Campaign’s British landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on 25 April 1915. The cove is only 2,000 feet long, bounded by the headlands of Arıburnu to the north and Little Arıburnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south. Following the landing at Anzac Cove, the beach became the main base for the Australian and New Zealand troops for the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.

The first objective for soldiers coming ashore in enemy-held territory was to establish a beachhead, that is a safe section of beach protected from enemy attack where supplies and extra troops could be safely brought ashore.

 

TJ told the Boys that Anzac Cove was always within a mile of the front-line, well within the range of Turkish artillery though spurs from the high ground of Plugge's Plateau, which rose above Arıburnu, provided some protection. General William Birdwood, commander of Anzac, made his headquarters in a gully overlooking the cove, as did the commanders of the New Zealand and Australian Division and the Australian 1st Division. It was on 29 April that General Birdwood recommended that the original landing site between the two headlands be known as "Anzac Cove" and that the surrounding, hitherto nameless, area occupied by his corps be known as "Anzac".

 

As the Boys gazed at the azure blue water TJ shared that the beach itself became an enormous supply dump and two field hospitals were established, one at either end. Four floating jetties were quickly constructed for the landing of stores, later replaced in July by a permanent structure known as "Watson's Pier". The volume of stores quickly overflowed onto the adjacent beaches; firstly onto "Brighton Beach" to the south of the cove and later onto North Beach beyond Arıburnu. Three wireless radio stations were established on the beach to maintain contact with the fleet.

 

While the cove was relatively sheltered from shellfire from across the peninsula, the Chanak forts, as well as the Turkish battleships Turgut Reis and Barbaros Hayreddin anchored in the Dardanelles, shelled the waters off the cove and it was partially exposed to view from Gaba Tepe to the south and completely open to view from Nibrunesi Point at the southern tip of Suvla Bay to the north. Nibrunesi Point was under the guns of the Royal Navy so was never used to fire on Anzac, however the well-concealed Turkish battery at Gaba Tepe, known as "Beachy Bill", was a constant menace. Next TJ took Mike and Bone to the where many, many, many of the Brits landed but never moved forward, the Ariburnu Cemetery.

 

A Touching Tribute to his British Foes from Ataturk at the Ariburnu Cemetery

One of many challenges the Anzacs had on this beach was there were Turkish batteries on the hills above that provided a continuous barrage when they landed and significant challenges during their stay. Most of the British dead are buried where they fell, never really getting use to being on Turkish soil.

 

One Heckuva of a Climb under fire

After leaving Ariburnu, TJ drove the Boys into the highlands where it was easy to see that the ground favored the Turks. It is so much easier to shoot down than up!

 

The Battle for Lone Pine

 

 Lone Pine was an action that featured one of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign. The attack was planned as a diversion for the Australian and New Zealand units that were to breakout from the Anzac perimeter by capturing the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. At 5.30 pm on 6 August 1915, the Australian artillery barrage lifted and from concealed trenches in no man’s land the 1st Australian Brigade charged towards the Turkish trenches. The troops paused on reaching the Turkish trenches, finding that many were covered by timber roofs. Some fired, bombed and bayoneted from above, some found their way inside and others ran on past to the open communications and support trenches behind. Others advanced as far as "the Cup" which was where Turkish support units were located and from where the Turks counter-attacked. By nightfall, most of the enemy front line was in Australian hands and outposts had been established in former Turkish communication trenches. The Australian Engineers dug a safe passage across no man’s land so that reinforcements could enter the captured positions without being exposed to Turkish fire.

Having captured the Turkish trenches, the Australians now tried to hold what they had taken while the Turks desperately and determinedly tried to throw the Australians out. From nightfall on 6 August until the night of 9 August a fierce battle ensued underground in the complex maze of Turkish tunnels. The Australians succeeded in drawing the whole of the immediate Turkish reserve. Six Australian battalions suffered nearly 2,300 killed and wounded at Lone Pine. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest number ever awarded to an Australian division for one action.

 

Lone Pine Cemetery is the location of the Memorial to the Missing in the Anzac area of Gallipoli and is situated on the ground captured by the Australians during the battle. It commemorates 4,224 Australians who have no known grave. There are 652 Australians buried at Lone Pine cemetery.  The next story TJ shared was astonishing.

 

The Grave of the Youngest Brit

James Charles Martin (3 January 1901 – 25 October 1915) was the youngest Australian known to have died in World War I. He was only 14 years and nine months old when he succumbed to typhoid during the Gallipoli He was one of 20 Australian soldiers under the age of 18 in the War. Mike and Bone have had 6 times more living than this lad! Next, they checked out a very cool memorial.

 

A True Story: A Turkish Soldier crossing the line to bring a ANZAC to aid

TJ has spent a lot of time going back and forth from Turkey to Australia he gets it. He shared that despite the fierce campaign and casualties there has been a mutual respect between the Turks and the Anzacs back to the battles. There is a touching statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Anzac soldier in his arms - a Turkish soldier displaying extraordinary kindness toward a defeated and disabled enemy. It really happened during the Battle of Lone Pine. Afterward TJ wrapped up this story, they headed up to the furthest in-roads the Anzacs made which was Chunik Bair.

 

Checking out Chunik Bair

The Battle of Chunuk Bair (Turkish: Conk Bayırı Muharebesi) was a World War I battle fought between the Ottoman defenders and troops of the British Empire over control of the peak in August 1915. The capture of Chunuk Bair, (Turkish: Çanak Bayır Basin Slope, now Conk Bayırı), the secondary peak of the Sari Bair range, was one of the two objectives of the Battle of Sari Bair.

British units that reached the summit of Chunuk Bair early on 8 August 1915 to engage the Turks were the Wellington Battalion of the New Zealand and Australian Division, 7th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, and 8th Battalion, Welch Regiment, both of the 13th (Western) Division. The troops were reinforced in the afternoon by two squads of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, also part of the New Zealand and Australian Division. The first troops on the summit were severely depleted by Ottoman return fire and were relieved at 10:30 pm on 8 August by the Otago Battalion (NZ), and the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, New Zealand and Australian Division. The New Zealand troops were relieved by 8:00 pm on 9 August by the 6th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, and 5th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, who were massacred and driven off the summit in the early morning of 10 August, by an Ottoman counter-attack led by Mustafa Kemal.

The British August Offensive at Anzac Cove and Suvla was an attempt to try to break the stalemate that the Gallipoli Campaign had become. The capture of Chunuk Bair was the only success for the Allies of the campaign but it was fleeting as the position proved untenable. The Ottomans recaptured the peak for good a few days later.

 

The Turkish Cemetery at Chunik Bair

TJ paid special attention to the only Turkish Cemetery especially the 57th Ottoman Infantry Monument.

 

The Poignant Monument to 57th Ottoman Infantry Regiment 

The 57th Infantry Regiment Memorial is a Turkish war memorial commemorating the men of the Turkish 57th Infantry Regiment who died during the Battle of Chunuk Bair.

There is a largely symbolic cemetery containing the names of many servicemen randomly selected to be inscribed on headstones or plaques on the walls. The complex contains a three-story tower, the cemetery, a memorial panel, an outdoor mosque and a large statue of a Turkish soldier. According to a sign at the site, the names of 1,817 soldiers who lost their lives there, including 25 officers, have been identified.

The memorial was constructed in 1992 on top of a position called the Chessboard. In 1994 a statue of the last Turkish Gallipoli survivor, Hüseyin Kaçmaz, and his granddaughter, were added following his death. Mike and Bone marveled at the names of the Turks that died defending this position.

 

 

Mike and Bone on Top of Chunik Bair

 

"Atta Turk, That Ataturk !!!" Kemal Mustafa at Gallipoli

Mike and Bone learned from TJ that one of the major reasons the Turks defeated the Anzacs at Chunuk Bair was none other than the future leader of the Modern Turkish Republic Kemal Mustafa Ataturk, The German Marshal Otto Liman von Sanders was assigned to defend the Dardanelles in command of the Fifth Army. Mustafa Kemal was given the task of organizing and commanding the 19th Division attached to the Fifth Army. On 8 January 1915, the British War Council launched an operation "to bombard and take the Gallipoli peninsula with Istanbul as its objective".

 

British naval attacks, however, failed to break through the Dardanelles Strait and the British decided to support their fleet with a land attack. The land campaign took place between 25 April 1915, and 9 January 1916. With his division stationed in Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal found himself at the center of the Allies' attempts to force their way onto the peninsula.

On 25 April 1915, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) forces were to move inland after landing their troops at Anzac Cove, but were soon met with a Turkish counterattack, commanded by Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal engaged the enemy forces on the hills, held them and retook the high ground. Largely due to him and his command, the ANZAC forces were contained, and could not attain their objectives.XXX Before the encounter between the two forces, Mustafa Kemal told his troops:

 I don’t order you to fight, I order you to die. In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places.

— Mustafa Kemal

By nightfall the ANZACs had suffered 2,000 casualties and were fighting to remain on the beach. For the following two weeks the Allies failed to advance and lost one third of their force. Because he had successfully held off the Allied forces at Chunuk Bair, Mustafa Kemal was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the early stages of the land campaign. The second stage of the Gallipoli campaign, which began on 6 August, placed Mustafa Kemal approximately 330 yards away from the firing line. He was also the Turkish commander assigned to many of the major battles throughout the Gallipoli campaign, such as the Battle of Chunuk Bair, Battle of Scimitar Hill and the Battle of Sari Bair.  It was not surprising to Mike and Bone why Kemal Mustafa became Ataturk!

 

Mike and Bone at the top of Chunik Bair, the furthest British Advance

 

 The Graves of an ANZACS Squad

At Chunik Bair Mike and Bone were able to see how close the ANZAC's trenches were to the Turk's lines, really no more that 30 yards! So the carnage of bodies everywhere during the battle became so obvious.

At this point, the tour of the Battlefields were over and TJ took the Boys to his Hostel for a delicious Turkish Lunch of Shish Kebab (which the Boys had at least once a day during their time in Turkey!)

As Mike and Bone enjoyed their lunch, TJ bid the Boys adieu, he was off to meet with the Turkish Secretary of State!  TJ did give Mike and Bone a parting gift, a trip to one of the Fortresses on the Gallipolis Campaign that fought the British to a standstill! 

 

Sari Kale, A Ottoman Fortress on the Coast

The Sari Kale Fortress is really where the Gallipoli Campaign started on that sunny, warm morning of March the 8th 1915, where the majestic line of 18 British and French old pre-dreadnought and newer "all big gun" dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers, all with black coal smoke billowing from their funnels, entered the narrows of Turkey's Eren Koy Bay on the Peninsula.  The battleships steamed in four alternating, mutually supporting British-French lines. They were attempting to force their way through the Dardanelles Strait to reopen its passage for Allied shipping and re-establish contact with their Russian allies in the nearby Black Sea. Lastly, it was hoped that these actions would be enough to knock Turkey's Ottoman Empire out of the war.  TJ sent one of his staff to drive then walk Mike and Bone through the Fortress and the Gun embankment that saved the Peninsula for the

 

At 11:00 in the morning, the Allied battle line opened fire on the Ottoman forts like Sari Kale along the shore.  The Ottoman Turkish forts returned fire with their own heavy guns, many of them modern German made Krupp coastal artillery and 6-inch mobile howitzers.  The Turks immediately began making telling hits upon the French battleships Gaulois, Agamemnon, Suffren, and the British battle cruiser Inflexible.XXX  A lively gun duel of artillery fire was kept up between the warships and the forts ashore. However, within two hours the fort's gun batteries largely fell silent for lack of artillery ammunition.  British Squadron Commander Rear Admiral John de Robeck ordered the damaged French line of warships to withdraw in favor of bringing up the second line of undamaged British and French battleships.  While the Ottoman fort's gunfire had largely fallen silent, the British and French Allies hadn't given enough thought towards the lines of minefields that had been improperly swept by their minesweepers before the day's attack began.

 

Mike and Bone, on top of Sari Kale

At 1:45, the French battleship Bouvet approached the Asian shoreline of the Straits. She hit a mine, exploded with a fitful roar and sank in less than a minute, taking 639 of her crew with her.  The disbelieving British thought the ship had either taken a Turkish shell to her ammunition magazine or been struck by a torpedo.  One minute she was there, the next she'd vanished. The British stoically continued the attack and their advance into the Narrows. 

At 4:00 PM the British battle cruiser Inflexible struck a mine in nearly the same location as the sunken Bouvet.  However, the newer Inflexible was successfully kept afloat after shipping 1,600 tons of seawater.  She was later deliberately run aground by her crew on a nearby island to keep her from sinking.  The British pre-dreadnought battleships Irresistible and Ocean soon struck mines that left them without power and sinking as their crews took to their life boats.  Admiral de Robeck then ordered a general withdrawal from the straits.  In just over five hours of fighting and at a cost of only 118 Turkish troops killed or wounded, they managed to sink three Allied battleships while badly damaging three others, as well as inflicting nearly a thousand casualties to the Allied sailors of the British-French Entente.

 

One Brave, Turk, Sacrificing his Testicles to load a 500 Pound Shell by himself!

While the British put a big hurt on Sari Kale, the Turks were able to beat off the British, most due to the work of only a few brave soldiers, in fact really only one dude that lifted loaded and fired a 500 pound shell !!!!

Mike and Bone visibly groaned, grabbed themselves and doubled over in sympathetic shock of lifting that much weight and planning to ever trying to produce a baby again!!

Mike and Bone in Awe and Horror at the Task and Sacrifice!!!

Time to Paaarte! (Fake Turkish for Party)

 

The walk around the Fortress and Gun Embankment took a couple of hours in a very hot desert sun, and Mike and Bone were baking. TJ's Tour Guide gave the Boys some waters on the ride back, but waters don't quench the thirst of Mike and Bone!!

 

There is really only one thing to quench or slake a thirst   .....

 

BEER!

 

Fortunately Mike and Bone's Hotel, had a pool, next to the Beach on the Ocean, and hadda bar!! Could be a better setting for a late Summer afternoon!!!!

 

The Boys jumped into their swimming gear, grabbed a few beers each and headed to the pool.

Unfortunately the wind whipping off of the Bosporus was so dang strong that the pool in the shade was about 60 degrees. So the Boys sauntered down to the Ocean where at least the water was warm, but the wind so strong that the sand was getting into their eyes.

 

Finally Mike and Bone retreated to a sunny outdoor Bar next to he Hotel that was shielded from the wind, in the sun and best of all had table service!! Soon the Hotel waiter knew to come out to the Boys every 15 20 minutes with fresh local beers and occasional appetizers which the Boys enjoyed till a little past 10:00 PM when the sun sank on the Bosporus, which by that time was 6 solid hours of beers, and was now time for the Boys to bid their adieu to their party evening !!!