Gallipoli 104th Anniversary

[michaeldr]

Marking the anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings

 

Anzac or Gallipoli Day will be marked in many different ways around the world.

I will have to wait until Monday, 29^th April, before being able to attend the ceremony at Mnt Scopus CWGC Cemetery. The Australian embassy here have delayed marking this year's anniversary because the Passover holidays continues until this weekend, and Sunday also marks the Orthodox Easter.

 

On the peninsula in Turkey however, the ceremonies have already begun: see the 15 photographs in today's Hűrriyet Daily News here http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/photo-whirling-dervishes-mark-gallipoli-campaign-with-sema-142846#photo

[michaeldr]

More from the Hűrriyet Daily News on the marking of the anniversary

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/anzacs-mark-104th-year-of-gallipoli-battle-142908

[michaeldr]

Among the visitors currently on the peninsula are Mat McLachlan and Peter Hart.

Mat is producing a podcast after each day's walk in which he and Pete describe where they have been and what they have seen.

In their second episode today, Mat has edited in one of Pete's IWM recordings of a RMLI veteran describing events in the Anzac firing line in early May 1915.

Well worth listening to - https://radiopublic.com/living-history-with-mat-mclachlan-GMNmOQ

 

 

[michaeldr]

Another account of the Turkish ceremonies, this time from today's Daily Sabah - https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2019/04/25/grief-unity-at-104th-anniversary-of-world-war-i-gallipoli-campaign - which includes comments from the visiting British CGS who lost a great-grandfather at Suvla

 

EDIT to add correction to the story as published in the Turkish newspaper

The relative of the CGS who served and died at Gallipoli was his Gt-great-uncle (not his great-grandfather)

see https://twitter.com/ArmyCGS/status/1121297128972849153

and https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205387252

Edited 26 April , 2019 by michaeldr

[michaeldr]

Photographs of this mornings events at Anzac from the Hűrriyet Daily News

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/photo-thousands-gather-for-dawn-service-in-gallipoli-to-remember-fallen-anzacs-142922#photo-1

[michaeldr]

On 24/04/2019 at 14:11, michaeldr said:

Anzac or Gallipoli Day will be marked in many different ways around the world.

 

Part of the Haka performed at Chunuk Bair can be seen here 

 

[michaeldr]

On 24/04/2019 at 14:11, michaeldr said:

I will have to wait until Monday, 29^th April, before being able to attend the ceremony at Mnt Scopus CWGC Cemetery. The Australian embassy here have delayed marking this year's anniversary because the Passover holidays continues until this weekend, and Sunday also marks the Orthodox Easter

 

Here, the delayed Anzac Day commemoration took place yesterday and as can be seen from the tributes, it was well supported, despite the difficulties of access and parking due to the engineering work for a new branch of Jerusalem's light rail, or tram system. The cemetery's main gate, opposite the Australian Memorial is currently closed, as is the approach road where parking is usually allowed. As a temporary measure access is possible via the 'staff' entrance at the side and parking (for a fee) is possible within the grounds of the hospital next door.

[see the special notice here https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/71401/Jerusalem War Cemetery ]

The turn out was respectable, though perhaps not quite as many as has been seen in the past, and the embassy's arrangements coped well under the unusual circumstances.

While the postponed date may not have been approved of by all, I for one found it significant since my grandfather and his comrades in the Nelson Battalion of the Royal Naval Division landed at Z Beach on that very day 104 years ago to take part in the actions known as The Defence of Anzac.

 

[michaeldr]

More photographs from yesterday's ceremony are to be seen on the embassy's Facebook page above