Gallipoli - Especially for the Family
- Mar 8, 2015
- 4 min read
This blog is about a family pilgrimage born over our kitchen table from time to time as my father shared his memories of the wars our family members were invloved in. The one story that became part of me was that of my great uncle Peter John McKay who was killed in the assault on Chunuk Bair (our Turkish guide pronounced "Bair" as "Buy-arr) on Gallipoli. He was born at Otama just north of Gore, and the MacKays are still on the farm. I am named Peter John after him. As Photo 1 shows he was very good friends with two other Southland men, most notably James Hargest. Hargest wrote a very moving tribute and account of Peter's death in a letter to his mother Jane which is still in the family, and was published in the Southland Times last ANZAC.
It took 5 hours to drive from Istanbul to Gallipoli (and back). On the way down we were the only ones in the van, although we picked up four others for the return journey.
Photo 2 - The Dardanelles, the narrow channel of water that gives access from the Agean Sea to the Black Sea up through the Marmara Sea and Bosphorus Strait through Istanbul. The capture and control of the Dardanelles was the first objective of the Gallipoli Campaign. Now days one ship every 15 minutes passes through 24/7.
Photo 3 - The weather was foul and the fowl were grounded. 50 knot plus bitter cold northerly wind, 5C without windchill, and rain squalls. The play on words comes from a conversation Helen had with our young Turkish guide whose English was good but he admitted having trouble with some of the complexities of our word usage. What really stumped him, and us when we thought about it, was the plural of sheep. One sheep, two sheep - how come not two sheeps he asked.
Photo 4 - The Brits called it Brighton Beach, the beach the ANZACS were supposed to land on. Significant factor, flat land and a valley leading to the objective across the peninsula, and on April 25 1915, about 160 Turks with 10 rounds each for their single shot rifles, and 15,000 ANZACS landing that day.
Photo 5 - Me at the northern end of ANZAC Cove, 3km south of Brighton Beach.
Photo 6 - ANZAC Cove as it was today, all 800m of it. Whether it was the current that pushed the first landing 3km off course or a last minute change of plan, this is where the Queenslanders first landed at 4.30am. Of course the retaining wall and controversial road weren't there in 1915, but you do get the idea of the beginning of the steep cliffs straight off the beach.
Video 1 - a look at it from the south end.
Photo 7 - North Beach. ANZAC Cove is around the little headland. North Beach is where the Wellington Regiment landed at 2pm followed by the Otago Regiment at 5pm, with Hargest, MacKay and McAlister. This where the big ANZAC commemorations are held each year.
Photo 8 - standing on North Beach looking inland to be confronted by the cliffs and "The Sphinx". That's the Turks up there!
Photos 9 & 10 - we drove up to Lone Pine where the Aussies died in their thousands as well as visited a number of Turkish memorials. We stopped at Johnston's Jolly which is a ridge a few hundred metres north of Lone Pine. The Queenslanders made it there on the first day but were stopped in their tracks by the Turks and in 8.5 months made no more progress. You can still see the trenches clearly and get in them. How close were they? Without any zoom on the camera Helen is in the Aussie trench and I am in the Turk trench looking across at each other across a two lane road. Even though it was blowing a gale we could talk to each other. The trenches where that close everywhere we went.
Photo 11 - At the Chunk Bair Memorial we looked for Uncle Peter's name but couldn't find it at first. He wasn't with the Otago Regiment names. We know he was killed on the way up in an assault up Bauchop's Ridge, also known as Rhododendron Ridge, when the Otago Regiment went to reinforce the Wellington Regiment commanded by Lt Col William Malone who had secured the top of Chunuck Bair on August 7. He has no marked grave but the guide told us that most were buried eventually in mass unmarked graves scattered across the batllefield. Our Gallipoli guide phoned his boss and asked him to do a search for Peter MacKay on the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission website. The first question. 2nd Lt Peter Mackay? Yes. Son of John and Jane? Yes. Follow me. Then we found the name mixed in with the very end of the Wellington names in its own section for NCO's.
Video 2 - a short commentary from Chunuk Bair showing the Rhododendron Ridge approach.
It has been a big day. Helen is asleep already beside me as I do this. In four hours we get up to catch our plane to Athens and then our connecting flight to the Greek Island of Kos. We already know we have an extra day there because of ferry complications before we make our final destination before we begin the journey home, the island of Patmos. If the internet is OK on the islands will continue the blog, otherwise this might be the last one for a while.
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