Day 25 Friday 17 April 2015 Gallipoli

Arriving at Gallipoli we were lucky we were on the first ferry of the morning and the first bus to get to Beach Cemetery and I was the first to spot Simpson’s grave.  It was easy as there were several memorial items on or next to his grave. Apparently there was a NZ soldier who also bought wounded back using donkeys and it’s believed that the effort of both may have been ascribed to Simpson.  The appearance of Gallipoli was deceptive with all the vegetation intact when it would have looked like a moonscape.  Lone Pine Cemetery was a surprise, having so few graves, most were just names only a memorial wall.  Most bodies were never recovered and are located under the cemetery. We were given an adopt-a-digger to research and find and place a knitted poppy on their headstone.  Most of the casualties were not in the first wave but in the savage counter-attacks of the next three days.  The Ottoman forces were desperate to retake it and it was the severest fighting of the campaign. We walked along ANZAC Cove and it showed how small it was to try to supply 40 000 troops. The historians prepared us well and the cruise company had shuttle buses, historians at each point, enormous box lunches, free coffee, snacks and drinks at different points.  Shuttle buses all day. They also provided a barbeque lunch that was brilliant.  For all the criticism that some passengers have had, Gallipoli Cruise had done a flawless job today. On our return the current was too strong and we had to go to Chanakkale and be bussed back to the ship.