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Lest We Forget |
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 Like
many other Australians and New Zealanders, Aaron Langmaid recently travelled
to Turkey to gain insight into the history of Gallipoli and what it means to
the thousands who make the annual pilgrimage each ANZAC day.
Few people come away from Gallipoli’s shores without a greater understanding
and deeper respect for what went on there.
Travellers who have attended services on the cragged coastline speak of an
overwhelming sense of companionship and pride. It’s something more and more
antipodeans can relate to as thousands travel to Turkey each year for ANZAC
Day services. Every year they stand in the pre-dawn light at ANZAC Cove to
remember a generation of soldiers whose sacrifices shaped the way we live
today.
Kiwi backpacker Nikki Hutchings said the Gallipoli legacy was etched into
the minds of everybody who visited the site.
“It’s something so many of us want to do,” the 25-year-old said. “We all
grew up learning about the campaign, the sacrifices that were made and the
enduring friendships which came about as a result of the battle. Almost
everybody has been to a dawn service at least once or twice but I don’t
think you can truly put it into perspective until you come to Turkey and see
it for yourself.”
She said the increasing trend for travellers to include ANZAC Day in their
plans showed the message behind the Remembrance Day was not losing its
relevance.
"Some of them teenagers, most others barely in their 20s - it was the same
generation of young people who today share the freedom to travel here and
see it all for themselves."
“I think you have to accept a certain element of change as the years
progress. As much as we come here to remember those who fell it is also a
chance for us to recognise those people involved in more recent campaigns.”
But as moving as a dawn service on the peninsular can be, it’s still hard to
imagine what it must have been like for soldiers arriving to fight almost
nine decades ago.
Nothing can really prepare you for the overwhelming sense of loss you feel
passing grave after grave of faceless soldiers who never made it home.
The plaques are inscribed with words barely capable of summing up the lives
of those killed; young men who came to Europe on the pretence of adventure
and had their lives blown away on the front line of a battle they should
never have been involved in.
Some of them teenagers, most others barely in their 20s - it was the same
generation of young people who today share the freedom to travel here and
see it all for themselves. Guide Kenan Potuk leads tours regularly through
the park and said services on the peninsular were still the strongest
indication of the bond shared between Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.
“At the dawn services each year, three nationalities all come together to
remember what went on here,” he said. “The distances between us or the
differences in the way we live aren’t important. It’s a moment when we stand
united to remember what happened here and also an opportunity to be proud
that we are still united as nations.”
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