Canakkale

Before we get down to the hardcore of why we are here (which is very serious and historically important) I feel a short foray into the joys of travelling is in order.

Canakkale is a relaxed type of place. There are cafes, bars and restaurants. In true Truran fashion lets talk bars`.

Sestra Pub - in the street behind `sea side`. Its a bar!! It serves alcoholic beverages as well as coffee and cay. Feeling full of cold, we fancied a couple of spirits. After only one `training session` our bar man had our order perfect! A double JB with the same amount of water and NO ice. A double Turkish cin (gin), ice, lemon and tonic water. Thereafter, a nod and our drinks were delivered perfectly. What more do you want? What more can I say? A fabulous bar, great barman, nice music, good people watching! Visit this bar.

Assos bar - great view of the fishing harbour. Great music. Lovely staff. The snacks kept coming. The wifi was perfect. The food was good. There are great photos and posters of the Beatles, Donovan, Louis Armstrong on the walls. Its all very relaxed. The cats are friendly, esecially when the cheese comes out. Sitting here writing this and a lady sitting at a neighbouring table gave us a plate of the local delicacy (muscles on pilaf rice - delicious), just being friendly!! Check this place out, its fabulous. Locals are so nice. Love it! :-)

There is also a rather fabulous fish restaurant called Yalova. Seemed a good place to have dinner on our first night. Our waiter takes us to see the fish. This is quite usual in Turkey, you will be taken to see what's in the kitchen and to make your choice. The display is lovely, spanking fresh fish, smelling of the sea. Bread and olives are as usual on the table. We choose beetroot and apple salad, optopus salad, clams in garlic, BBQ prawns (speciality of the area.), sea ears (Deniz Kulagi in Turkish) which are like elongated limpets (a bit chewy, taste like BBQ chicken, not fishy at all), then a lovely sea bream. You pay by the kilo, so it is a bit hard to figure out what you are spending. But it was a delicious start to our 2nd Canakkale experience. Fish is very important in Canakkale, the Dardenelle and Bosphorus straits are rich with migrating fish, so its a good thing to eat here.

The hotel; Grand Ece Hotel. Its ok. Great location right in the centre of town. The promised wifi is only available in the reception area which is VERY annoying. Breakfast is good. The room is clean. Its just a bit rundown. Not helped by curtains that barely cover the huge window facing the dining room of a restaurant opposite. Just needs some money spent on it to make it truly `Grand` again.

So, why are we here? Galipolli. The sight of a hugely bloody battle where a lot of lives were lost. Also known as the battle of the Dardenelles. The Dardanelle strait joins the Marmara sea to the Aegean sea. From the Marmara sea you can access the Black sea via the Bosphuros strait at Istanbul. So the Allies thought that by gaining control of this important seaway, they would knock Turkey out of WW1, and gain Istanbul, and get a sea route from Russia to Europe under their control. Easy then! What they didn't expect was the refusal of the Turkish soldiers to give up this land. Mustafa Kemel told his soldiers `I do not expect you to invade, I expect you to die here`. He wasn't looking to gain ground, just keep what is Turkish. 

It was not Britains finest hour. Perhaps this is why it is not widely taught in history lessons at school. It was a catalogue of errors. Some quite horrendous clumsy blunders, which resulted in Winston Churchill having to resign as first lord of the admiralty, and Britains first sea lord admiral John Fisher resigned too.

Example; On `Johnsons Jolly` the allied soldiers and the Turkish soldiers were in trenches only 40 metres apart on a hill top plateau. The Allied artiliary were commanded to bombard the Turkish lines and then at a given time, they would stop firing and the allied troops would exit their trenches and finish off the Turkish soldiers who would be cowering in their trenches. It could have been a good plan if they had synchronized their watches! The artiliary bombardment stopped, and for 7 long minutes the allied sat and waited. Meanwhile the Turkish soldiers loaded their weapons and regrouped. When the allies finally got out of the trenches they were met with bullets.

Another example; The ANZACS (Australian and New Zealand troops) were going to be sent ashore in landing craft to Brighton beach,. Bighton beach is a nice wide level beach with fairly flat land behind it. Easy. Except they didn't account for the current which took them a kilometre further along the coast. The landing craft grounded on a sand bar, the troops piled out and a lot drowned when they found themselves out of their depth. The beach they landed on was narrow with cliffs behind it, and on the hills behind the cliffs Turkish snipers had a perfect view.

The allies did secure Helles on the southern tip of the peninsula, and Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast (Later renamed ANZAC cove in honour of those poor souls who faught so valiantly there). A stalemate. So the Allies made a surprise invasion at Sulva Bay with diversionary action in Helles and Gaba Tepe. This, again, could have worked but the Allies spent so much time faffing about not making any decisions, the Turkish troops had time to reinforce their defences.

Result:

250,000 Allied casualties

46,000 Allied dead

250,000 Turkish casualties

65,000 Turkish dead

This campaign was a major battle with many knock on effects. It is a key start to the Australian and New Zealanders becoming independant from British rule.

So, what is it like now? The memorials and graves are beautifully kept by a team of Turkish gardeners and groundsmen. All nationalities are treated with the same great respect. 

Ataturks speech;

`Those heros who shed their blood and lost their lives at Galipolli. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well`.

To see the battlefields and get the best information you really need to be on a specialist tour. We had a special interest to visit Helles (The British memorial, as there is a Truran there - more about him later.) There are a lot of tours specialising in the ANZAC sites, not so many on the British. So, we took a private tour in the morning to the Helles sight, followed by lunch at Maydos restaurant (fabulous grilled Blue fish), and then a tour to see the ANZAC and Turkish sights in the afternoon. Luckily for us, no one else was on the afternoon tour so we basically had the tour to ourselves. Hurrah! So, if you are lucky enough to come to Canakkale, head for the Anzac hotel and the tour desk. Best tour guide ever. A man with an encyclopedic memory for dates and numbers. Passionate about his subject. Name is Abdurrahim Boz from Hassle Free Travel.

William John Truran. Born 1858, died 13th August 1915 at Galipolli.

His army number is prefixed with SS (modern day would be a quarter master). With the 18th Labour Coy, Army service corp. He was on the MT (troop ship) Royal Edward, heading for the Greek island of Lemnos, which was a staging station and military hospital for the Allies. The ship was torpedoed by the German UB14 under the command of Oberleutnant Heino Von Heimburg, and sank in 3 minutes with the loss of 866 lives. Williams body, like many others, was not found, so his grave is probably in the ship, which is a war grave. But he is commemorated on plaque 236. Not sure where William sits in the family tree, more research required. I know he was born in St Agnes and lived in Red Ruth, Devon.

There is a good Naval Museum in Canakkale housed in the old fortifications. The mine laying boat is also moored up there and is well worth a visit.

Another reason to visit Canakkale is to see the ancient ruin of Troy. Sadly we ran out of time, so will have to come back AGAIN. Ha ha.

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