Gallipoli

After and excellent and very cheap ($5 each) lunch we got back on the bike and explored the Gallipoli Peninsula. I won't write much because all Australians know the story of Gallipoli as it is an important part of the nation's history and much better people than I have written better words than I could ever produce.

Apart from the Aussie dimension, my grandfather George Madgett landed with the British troops at Cape Helles as a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps so I have a double interest.

Anzac Cove and Australian War Graves

Cape Helles where my grandfather probably landed

In the nine months of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign 21,200 British, 10,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders, 1,350 Indians, and 49 Newfoundlanders were killed, but the figure for the Turkish deaths was horrendous, over 87,000 of them died in one of the early battles alone, the Battle of Canakkale, which is the town we can see across the water from our hotel. For that reason it is also a very important historical event for the Turkish people. If they had lost Gallipoli the Allies would have gone on to take their capital Istanbul. Today, a weekday, Wednesday, there were 2 small minibuses of Aussies touring the peninsula and us on the bike, but at least 10 big coaches full of Turkish people visiting the historic sites in addition to several private cars.