Blog category - Battlefield Tours
Three days on the peninsula
23 April 2008 by Andrew Gray.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Simpson Prize Winners
Day 1
Stepping on two continents
It’s great to see that the concept of quiet Sunday morning traffic exists in other places around the world. Leaving Istanbul was quick and simple, even though we got an idea of just how big a city of 16 million people can be. A drive through green countryside was very pleasant, noting the complete lack of fences and many shepherds with sheep and goats. The boy from Kingaroy has seen plenty of tractors in his time in Australia, but out in the paddocks, not cruising down the road like they do here. read on
Memorial to the Bouvet
23 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours, Gallipoli
The first action by the Allies against the Ottomans began as a naval operation and occurred here on the Dardanelles. On the 18 March a large British and French fleet of 18 war ships advanced towards the Narrows, hoping to put the forts that defended the Dardanelles out of action, threaten Constantinople and open supply routes to Russia.The war operation began with preliminary bombardments of the Turkish forts in January and February 1915. The operation failed due to the impenetrable defences of this passage which included artillery and mines that were laid strategically in the narrows.
Stop Passerby
23 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli
On the journey from Istanbul to the Dardanelles the Battlefield tour noticed this striking memorial on the slopes of the Kilitbahir Plateau. In English it translates to:
Stop passerby
The ground you tread on, unawares,
Once witnessed the end of a generation.
Listen in this quiet earth
Beats the heart of a nation.
Istanbul not Constantinople
20 April 2008 by Andrew Gray.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Simpson Prize Winners
If we were sensible and thoughtful students, we would talk about the rich cultural experience we had today visiting the Blue Mosque, Topaki Palace, Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia. We would describe the centuries old Christian and Muslim history associated with these places, reflecting on the significant events and people that are part of Turkish history. read on
The Old City
19 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours, Gallipoli
The tour has been visiting some of the famous sites of the old city including the Hippodrome, Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. These grand and glorious monuments tell us much of Istanbul’s long history. This city is the former capital of three successive empires Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman.
Egyptian obelisk at the Hippodrome(photograph by Rob Hegarty); Museum of Haghia Sophia (photograph by Rod Stewart) & The Blue Mosque (photograph by Robyn van Dyk)
Simpson Prize has arrived
19 April 2008 by Andrew Gray.
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Battlefield Tours, Simpson Prize Winners
Merhaba – after a marathon plane flight we made it. Istanbul is awesome – huge, fast- paced, chaotic and full of people. A cruise on the Bosphorus was a great way to experience the city from the relative calm of our boat. We saw many palaces and mosques, and noted that nearly everything has a Turkish flag. Amazing houses right on the water, just like the OC but older and more expensive. We also cruised Istiklal St, just down from the hotel, and managed to avoid getting run over by trams, cars, bikes and pedestrians – quite an achievement. Of course there are lots of locals keen to sell you everything from watches to postcards, tissues to jewelry. But we resisted the temptation for any great splurge, to save ourselves for the Grand Bizarre visit later in the trip.
Dispatch from a Grandson
17 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli
It turns out that Rod Stewart, one of our fellow travellers on the tour, is also a fellow blogger. Rod’s grandfather Edward John Howells served at Gallipoli where he was evacuated injured. He later re-entered the war and served in the Palestine Campaign where he was awarded the Military Cross for “great determination, skill and coolness under fire.” Rod will be blogging about his experiences on the tour.
Before joining the battlefield tour Rod made a trip to Jordan and visited the site where his Grandfather, on the night of 21 March 1918, earned his Military Cross. The Jordan in 1918 was in high flood, halting the British forces who were unable to cross. Under heavy Turkish fire, Edward Howells with his men constructed the first bridge, a pontoon bridge, across the river. The bridge allowed the British forces to cross the river and attack the Turkish forces from the rear. One of the pontoons from this bridge is held in the Memorial’s collections.
The story is written in some detail in the Official History: H S Gullett, The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914-1918.
Istanbul was Constantinople
16 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli
Reaching Constantinople (present day Istanbul) was the objective of the Dardanelles campaign in 1915. An objective that failed. The battlefield tour, however, managed to arrive safely at Istanbul airport in high spirits and only slightly crumpled from the long flight. We checked into the Marmara hotel to ‘freshen up’ and in the afternoon we set off to cruise on the Bosphorus followed by a visit to the Egyptian Spice Market.
Istanbul straddles two continents, from the boat you can look one way and see Asia and the other Europe. This fortress is located at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus Strait on the Asian shore. It is part of the Istanbul city walls that date from the 5th Century and stretch seven kilometres from the sea of Mamara to the Golden Horn.
The journey
15 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli
Those of us travelling with the Memorial on the Gallipoli battlefield tour arrived in Istanbul today following a long journey from our various home ports. On a flight of over 22 hours it is inevitable that conversations would be struck and I met several Australians also travelling to Gallipoli. For the first leg of the trip I sat next to an Australian Vietnam war veteran. He was planning on touring the battlefields and to attend the Dawn Service at Gallipoli. Later after I had changed flights at Singapore international airport for the journey to Istanbul I sat next to a large group from the town of Robinvale, Victoria who were also briefly travelling to Gallipoli but were heading to their town’s sister city, Villers-Bretonneux, France to commemorate Anzac Day there.
Battlefield Tour 2008: The First Post
11 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli, Western Front
The Memorial’s annual battlefield tour commences this Sunday with several members of the Memorial preparing to set off for the trip. Ashley Ekins, Head of the Military History Section will lead our Gallipoli tour and Nick Fletcher, Senior Curator in Heraldry and Technology will lead the Western Front tour. We will be walking many of the historic battle sites and commemorating Anzac Day with the Dawn Service at Gallipoli and the Australian National Ceremony at Lone Pine. This year is the 90th anniversary of many major battles fought in 1918. The tour will visit Villers-Bretonneux for example, where on the 25 April 1918, a major battle was fought. This year is also the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day.
Ninety years on these battlefield sites still live on in our hearts and memories and those Australians who lost their lives there are not forgotten. I have two poppies to place on this tour one on behalf of an elderly relative the other for a friend.
Throughout the tour I hope to make regular posts about our progress. This is my first battlefield tour but not my first venture into blogging for the Memorial. As the assistant curator of the exhibition Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, I regularly posted articles and biographies for the exhibition blog. I will be taking my laptop and camera to Gallipoli and the Western Front and hope to post regular updates, photographs and stories from the tour. I am also hoping to post some small biographies for those on the tour who have a family history connection to the First World War.
