Please watch the Relive video: httpshttps://www.relive.cc/view/v36A38pQ1Gv
We had the luxury of staying at our exceptional hotel again last night so that we could ride a loop around the Galipoli peninsula, actually we did it twice with help of a historian. We went 108km (66.6 mi), 3,433 ft. And today we donned our team kits. And yes, they are pink!…and navy blue.
A magnificent loop ride today as we headed south, through Turkish Pines and stunning pink Judas trees winding our way on perfect surfaced roads all the way to the southern most tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula – Cape Hellas.
With so much to see this was a ride with many stops for monuments and views. We then headed back north along the Dardanelles and came to the busy port of Eceabat. Here we pulled into the back streets to sit down for an amazing lunch at the seaside.
One of the highlights was the Lone Pine memorial and cemetery
Lone Pine was an action that featured one of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign. The attack was planned as a diversion for the Australian and New Zealand units that were to breakout from the Anzac perimeter by capturing the heights of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971. At 5.30 pm on 6 August 1915, the Australian artillery barrage lifted and from concealed trenches in no man’s land the 1st Australian Brigade charged towards the Turkish trenches. The troops paused on reaching the Turkish trenches, finding that many were covered by timber roofs. Some fired, bombed and bayoneted from above, some found their way inside and others ran on past to the open communications and support trenches behind. Others advanced as far as “the Cup” which was where Turkish support units were located and from where the Turks counter-attacked. By nightfall, most of the enemy front line was in Australian hands and outposts had been established in former Turkish communication trenches. The Australian Engineers dug a safe passage across no man’s land so that reinforcements could enter the captured positions without being exposed to Turkish fire.
Having captured the Turkish trenches, the Australians now tried to hold what they had taken while the Turks desperately and determinedly tried to throw the Australians out. From nightfall on 6 August until the night of 9 August a fierce battle ensued underground in the complex maze of Turkish tunnels. The Australians succeeded in drawing the whole of the immediate Turkish reserve. Six Australian battalions suffered nearly 2,300 killed and wounded at Lone Pine. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest number ever awarded to an Australian division for one action.
Lone Pine Cemetery is the location of the Memorial to the Missing in the Anzac area of Gallipoli and is situated on the ground captured by the Australians during the battle. It commemorates 4,224 Australians who have no known grave. There are 652 Australians buried at Lone Pine cemetery.
The Turkish memorial to both fallen Turkish and Allied forces and a huge statue of Mustafa Ataturk, the hero of the Galipoli campaign.
Trenches used by Anzac troops, close enough to the Turkish trenches that chocolate and cigarettes were tossed back and forth. Some called it the Gentlemen’s war; temporary truces would be called and both sides would help each other bury their dead, then go back to the trenches to try and kill each other again!
