On the way down Rhododendron Ridge

The day before our big night at Anzac dawned clear and sunny.  While there was still a cool breeze blowing, we were pleased to see a change in the weather.  The plan for the morning was to travel down south to Helles and visit site of some of the big battles in this area.  However, we hadn’t counted on the enthusiasm of Turkish authorities to close off roads due to memorial services at some of the sites.

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Simpson Prize students on the Cannakale Ferry

By Eleanor Lourey (Simpson Prize winner):

Being here for Anzac Day seems so much more important now that I have learnt so much about WWI and the Gallipoli campaign.  Seeing so many Australian graves makes the whole day more purposeful to remember and commemorate their lives.  Seeing what some of the relatives had written on the gravestones made it seem so much more real and made me think about their families they had left behind at home.

When I saw how large the set-up is for the Dawn Service made me realize how important the day is, not only for Australians but also for New Zealanders and Turks.  I am now looking forward to the Anzac Day services more than I was before, all because now I am here on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

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Anzac, the landing 1915 by George Lambert ART02873

For ninety four years the story of Gallipoli has galvanised Australians to remember, on ANZAC Day, those that have served, and continue to serve, in conflicts around the globe. The description by poet John Masefield in 1917 of the landing on Gallipoli creates an indelible backdrop to the fighting:

Those who wish to imagine the scene must think of any rough and steep coast known to them, picturing it as roadless, waterless, much broken with gullies, covered with scrub, sandy, loose, difficult to walk upon, and without more than two miles of accessible landing throughout its length…Then let them imagine the hills entrenched, the landing mined, the beaches tangled with barbed wire, ranged by Howitzers, and swept by machine guns…

(See rare movie footage of Anzac and Suvla here) 

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As we ready ourselves to commemorate ANZAC Day at the Australian War Memorial, we can gain a small insight what it was like at the Gallipoli landing. Personal diaries held by the Memorial describe what it was like landing at Gallipoli on Sunday, 25 April 1915 under the heavy fire of Turkish machine guns. Although the photos accompanying this blog post do not relate directly to the diary entries, they are able to illustrate the stories in a different way.

Sergeant Apcar de Vine of the 4th Battalion writes: “landed myself at … midday under a hot shrapnell [sic] fire, all landed safely…

Soldiers landing on ANZAC Cove A02462

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Grave of Major EC Oldham

A very pleasant drive down to the Gallipoli Peninsula through fields of bright yellow canola crops and pine forested mountains had us arriving at the Kum Hotel in time for lunch.  It was the first taste of the fabulous food and hospitality of this hotel, which is only 10 minutes drive from the Anzac area.  Our rooms are small, but comfortable, and once we had mastered the mysteries of plumbing, wrestled with our door locks and understood the purpose of the hole in the bathroom (ventilation) we all felt at home. read on

Simpson students and teachers in front of the Blue Mosque

Heading down to Gallipoli we had a chance to reflect on our introduction to Turkey from our two days in Istanbul.  The hotel in Taxim Square was a great location – busy, chaotic and full of life.  It’s a very cosmopolitan part of the city with thousands of people moving through the square and down Istiklal Street.

In this area are plenty of familiar brand-name shops you would see in Australia, but tucked away in little malls you find a huge range of Turkish products.  We sampled Turkish delight, nuts, dried fruit and tea.  Lauren checked out a busking group performing with an instrument called a Saz – lute shaped with three pairs of strings – and another musician on a small hand-drum.

Throughout the day is the call to prayer, broadcast from the many mosques around the city.  Some of us find the 5.30am call to prayer a very peaceful and gentle way to wake up, while others would rather keep sleeping.

In the old part of the city, one of the most amazing places to visit is the Basilica Cistern – an underground water storage with huge pillars and brick ceiling.  Lighting, music and a small amount of water on the bottom create a magical atmosphere.  The Blue Mosque has an incredible ambience inside, something that cant be captured in a photograph – definitely one of those places you have to experience in person.

At Topaki Palace we saw jewels, swords, thrones, daggers and other ornaments from the treasury, while in the holy relics section the display included a footprint of the Prophet Mohammed and parts of his beard.  In this area Muezzins (preachers) deliver a sermon from the Koran 24 hours a day.

The Simpson Prize is a competition for high school students from around Australia, with a winner from every state and territory getting the opportunity to travel to Turkey and attend the services on ANZAC Day at Gallipoli. The students this year are Varun Sundar (ACT), Lauren Tang (NSW), Madeleine Foote (TAS), Johanna Stott-Williams (SA), Megan Proutt (QLD), Nicholas Dyer (WA), Eleanor Lourey (VIC) and Erin Moriarty (NT).  The accompanying teachers are Sharon Mann and Peter Sharrett with myself, Andrew Gray, as tour guide and we have the wonderful Turkish guide Ozgur (or Fred) looking after our group.

We have just finished our first two days in Istanbul which has been a great introduction to Turkish history and culture.  The amazing Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern, as well as a very relaxing cruise on the Bosphorus.  We also ran the gauntlet of the shop-keepers in the Spice Market and haggled with the best of them.  The weather has been brilliant with warm sunny days, though the forecast is for a wet change.  We’ve got to know each other over the last few days and are having a great time together.

Tomorrow we head down to Gallipoli and will have our first visit to the battlefield areas. Each day we’ll try and get an entry in with some pics to relate our experiences.

The History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA), together with HTAA State affiliates, conduct this competition for year 9 and 10 students on behalf of the Australian Government. Read more about the Simpson Prize and this years winners.

Two pairs of flying boots in the Memorial's collection that could be converted to civilian shoes.

Among the items held at the Memorial that were issued to air crew serving in Europe, are two pairs of very interesting 1943 Pattern escape boots. The boots were designed so that an airman downed in Europe could remove a small concealed knife and cut off the top section of the boot to reveal a civilian looking shoe.

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The sponson on the left hand side of the Mark IV tank was removed last year for inclusion in the Memorial’s exhibition, “1918, Advancing to Victory”.

The tank was relocated to the Memorial’s Large Technology Workshop in order to safely remove the sponson.  This provided an excellent opportunity for Conservation to undertake a preservation treatment of the tank which would include a full repaint, back to it’s original colour scheme.

One of the major components of the treatment was the removal of the tracks.  The primary objective of this exercise was to ensure that the area underneath the tracks was stable and to search for additional evidence of the tank’s history.  The dirtiest and most time consuming aspect of this was going to be cleaning the tracks of almost 100 years worth of “gunk”.  This had never been done, so as you can imagine, there was a lot of grease, grime, rubbish, dirt from the showgrounds it had visited, and dust from years of being on display.

But, first things first.  Registration had to get the tank up on stands before we could pull the tracks off.

Mark IV Tank

More on this treatment to follow…

What do a concert pianist, an Indian bandmaster and an Australian militia bandmaster have in common? Each of these individuals composed a march that would eventually be adopted as the regimental march of an Australian Imperial Force infantry battalion during the First World War. Many were popular songs of the period.

The 23^rd Battalion March was composed during the First World War by Miss Una Bourne at the request of Mrs Doris Carter. Una Bourne was a concert pianist and composer who toured as an associate artist with Dame Nellie Melba during her Australian visits. Una remained in England during the war years and performed for hospitals and the Red Cross.

23rd Battalion March

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