(John Wesley Cobb, Gallipoli Capaign, 1915, and all round legend)
If you know the Gallipoli story, skip to the next paragraph, otherwise read on! The Dardanelles is a body of water on the Turkish coast, formerly the Ottoman Empire. The Turks were aligned with Germany during WW1. Eight months into WW1, the Allied forces, which included Russia, were hoping to secure the channel in order to get a few Russian navy boats down the Dardanelles to help with the war effort. After a few Allied boats were sunk by mines, it was decided by British commanders that a land-based offensive was needed, with the intention to get all the way to Constantinople. The Gallipoli Peninsular was the site where thousands of ANZAC (Aussie and Kiwi) troops landed at dawn on 25 April, 1915. The men attempted to scale the steep cliffs, while being hammered by Turkish gun fire. There were heavy casualties. Reinforcements were sent again and again, from both sides. It was a bloody battle. In short, the campaign raged for eight long months, with massive casualty rates. New Zealand lost 2 779 brave souls, and 130 842 people perished in total. After such a heavy toll, the Allied troops snuck out over consecutive nights. The evacuation happened right under the noses of Turkish troops, but the ANZAC boys had staged it to look like nothing was going on. In fact, from our perspective, the evacuation was the only successful dimension of the Gallipoli Campaign. Gallipoli had a resounding effect on the development of nationhood for New Zealand, Australia, as well as Turkey. Today these countries are at peace, and honour the fallen each year at Gallipoli. ANZAC day is commemorated each year to give tribute to all those who have sacrificed for New Zealand. Sombering numbers of the deaths from all countries involved are shown below (curtesy of Te Papa).
I had a great great uncle who landed at Gallipoli. John Wesley Cobb (pictured above) would have seen the cliffs and the prized hill tops as he approached the shore. He would have felt both adrenaline and anxiousness as he jumped over the side of the boat and into the cold waters, lapping at that foreign land. He would have followed his comrades onto the sandy shore, looked up, heard gunfire, and taken a deep breath. I'm sure his family would have been in his mind as he did his duty.
100 years ago today (April 27), John was shot in the thigh by Turkish snipers as he ascended Walker's Ridge. He was evacuated to Cairo, where he spent the next four months recovering. The day of his release he had the above portrait taken. He had is own uniform cut off him by medical staff, and needed to borrow a uniform for the photo. The only one he could find was an Aussie guys uniform, and hence the photo! Below is a photo of Walker's Ridge, no wonder those boys had bullets reigning down on them from the Turks above.
Wellington held an amazing street parade, including Sir Peter Jackson and his amazing collection of WW1 vehicles, various military units in full uniform, some noisy bagpipers, and a numerous assortment of Wellingtonians lining the streets.
Red-tissue poppies floated through the air, reminding me of the sheer numbers of people that the war affected. Brave men, faithfully doing their duty. Courageous wives and girlfriends who said goodbye to their darlings, and kept the farms running while their hearts were on the other side of the world. Children who missed cuddles with their daddies and uncles. Parents who hoped for the best for their sons, and ached for peace. Poppies covered Wellington streets in rememberance.
Te Papa Museum is currently home to a stunning exhibition called The Scale of our War. Large scale, extremely life-like scenes from WW1 are depicted alongside the stories of specific soldiers and a nurse. Realistic large-scaled models of personnel, artefacts and multimedia 3D maps tell the story of ordinary New Zealanders, along the timeline of WW1. Weta Workshop and museum curators have combined efforts to create this absolutely stunning reminder of the humanness of WW1. It's worth a special trip to Welly, just for this.
The stories depicted are raw, emotion-inducing and personal. The models would be 3ish meters high, and extremely life like. I sneakily copped a feel of the skin of one of the soldiers, it was like cold silicon. Life-like, even to the hairs on their skin, and emotion in their eyes. Incredible artistry, and moving stories. If you like facts, you'll find them too.
Ataturk's amazing message to ANZAC families always gets me in tears. What a guy. And what comfort those words must have been to mothers and wives of the fallen men on the other side of the globe. The Te Papa Museum exhibition is on for the duration of the four years of WW1. Please go to see it, you will be astounded.
While we were in Te Papa, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck. Because of technology under the building we were fine, but our thoughts are with our friends in Nepal who also suffered a large earthquake the next day, and lost so much. Kia kaha beautiful friends.
Another way that Wellington has marked the 100 years of ANZAC is a Peter Jackson exhibition in the Carillion. 'Walking through' the war year by year, the changes in technology and mood of the WW1 effort can be understood. Starting off in a Belgian village, a recruitment office, moving on to trenches, artillery, scale models, re-coloured photographs, and battle scenes, you follow a soldier through his journey of the war.
The Wellington ANZAC Dawn Service was incredible. Over 20 000 people stood side by side in the newly created Pukeahu War Memorial Park to remember. Alongside thousands of Kiwis around the country, we remembered the price of peace. We remembered our family stories. We remembered how important it is to strive for peace between us.
The most poignant image was of a soldier guarding the tomb of the Unknown New Zealand Warrior. Another tear inducing image below.
The interior of the National War Memorial was packed with poppy-bearing men, women and children saying silent prayers of thanks.
The names of New Zealand men and women lost in battle are encased in these official books. It is a tragedy the books are so big.
Wellington finished its Dawn Service with a collective cup of tea and ANZAC biscuit under the newly completed Arras Tunnel. It was the biggest morning tea we've been part of, Wellington sure is definately the hospo capital of NZ!
"We lived, saw dawn, felt sunset glow..." We remember them.
If you'd like to read an incredible blog about family heroes, click on Kris' blog called ...
http://www.theyserved.blogspot.co.nz
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