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[Local lad Timothy Mostert, and his school friends, recently made a memorable visit to Europe. Highlights were visits to areas with famous ANZAC connections.
In
the last of our three part series, they write about their impressions
of the First World War battlefield of Gallipoli. The initial landings are commemorated by the date of our Anzac Day. Among the dead were 2721 young New Zealanders, about a quarter of those who had landed on the peninsula.]
Amongst our stops were Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and the museum (featuring the coolest shrapnel we have ever seen; bullets that had hit each other in mid flight and melted together).
Chunuk Bair seemed peaceful. From hearing tales on the bus of the battle for the hill that took place there 94 years ago, to seeing both the New Zealand and the Turkish Memorials standing proudly on top of the hill was moving.
We were able to experience first hand the impossible terrain that the Anzacs and the Turkish soldiers were fighting on, putting the stories and tales of battle in perspective for the boys. Also on the hill were some of the old trenches from the war, some reconstructed, others left as shallow mounds that could easily be mistaken for bumps in the hill.
Then it was off to North Beach (near Anzac Cove) along with the thousands of others gathered for the long night vigil. And it was a ...long...night. But in the words of the Master of Ceremonies, "Its going to get cold, I'm telling you now. But we're all in this together." Except for the VIPs that turned up just before dawn.
There were some definite and logged (on camera) man love moments that night, in the name of keeping warm. The boys, in their defense, would like to stress that it was "as cold as a baby in a feezer... then double it."
This is the part that gets hard to describe. Through the night, as it got progressively colder and darker, they showed moving video clips and documentaries highlighting the battles and the personal stories of Gallipoli.
Hours later, just before the dawn broke, a video was played naming a number of the dead Anzacs. This was followed by a part of the new Gallipoli Symphony. The large crowd then remained silent as dawn and the Dawn Service approached. The silence stretched on and on for over half an hour. An experience for so many people to be sitting for so long in such reflecting silence was a unique experience in the most powerful sense of the word.
Then came the dawn service, attended by dignitaries including our Governor General and the Duke of Kent. Still awaking from sleep, the boys, cold and tired, shared a memorable experience.
After the dawn service, we were able to defrost ourselves by hiking up to the summit of Chunuk Bair, passing the Australians halfway up at their Lone Pine. Awaiting the New Zealand service to begin at 12.30pm we relaxed on the lawn with many other kiwis. Whislt enjoying the sun (and being badly burnt by it) some of us were able to sleep of the night before in a strangely home like enviroment.
Then it was the NZ service, with a powerful speach by Annand Satayanand. After the service we had the last memorable experience of the (very very long) day... awaiting our bus.
An hour and a half later, thinking we must be the last bus of the camp, we drove away, getting a good view of the some 400 busses still remaining behind us completely still in the bus queue from hell. That drive home was the quietest of the trip. Every single person on the trip was dead asleep, inclunding, we suspect, the driver.
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