Eerie peace of the dead

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TOUGH TURK: The story of a Turkish soldier who ventured into no-man's land to retrieve an injured Australian and return him to Anzac trenches is well known. This wonderful bronze statue is a tribute to that moment and signifies the respect both sides had for each other.

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POIGNANT PINE: A lone pine tree stands among the many headstones of the Australian Light Horse Brigade members who died in the battle at Lone Pine. The New Zealand memorial lists the New Zealanders who also died in this August incident.

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The history books document well the futility of the ill-fated 1915 Gallipoli war campaign in Turkey that cost so many New Zealand lives, but nothing brings the horror home more than a visit to the haunting site, writes BRENDA WEBB.

There's a tranquility about Anzac Cove that belies its ugly history. The sandy white beaches, crystal-clear turquoise water and ruggedly beautiful landscape seem at odds with the horrendous battle that took place here 94 years ago.

It's calm, clear and eerily quiet the morning we sail our yacht, Bandit, into Anzac Cove, and there are only a handful of people at the New Zealand memorial on the water's edge.

We have timed our visit to avoid Anzac Day, not wanting to be there along with thousands of others. On this May morning, we will have the place almost to ourselves.

As we look at the sheer cliffs and impenetrable gullies, the impossible task the Anzacs faced landing here is obvious.

With that thought swirling in our minds, we row ashore and immediately an oppressive sadness envelops us that is hard to shake off.

As a journalist for more than 30 years I've written my share of war stories, profiled veterans and been to many dawn ceremonies, but nothing quite prepared me for the feeling of immense sadness.

The waterfront cemeteries are filled with row upon row of headstones etched with the names of hundreds of young soldiers who died here. Reading the heart-rending inscriptions is a harrowing and emotional ordeal.

There are more than 30 cemeteries on the peninsula but many contain headstones that are symbolic only soldiers were often left where they fell.

In 1918 the British sent in a team to retrieve and bury bodies where possible, but not all of the Commonwealth soldiers were found or identified.

Some New Zealand and Australian soldiers are also buried on the nearby Greek island of Limnos, which has a huge natural harbour where the Allied fleet was based.

Visiting the Gallipoli battlefield had always been a goal and, after wintering Bandit in Marmaris in southern Turkey, we began sailing north in late April.

Our first stop on the Gallipoli Peninsula was Helles Point, just inside the Dardanelles, where a massive Turkish war memorial stands, visible for miles. It's a fantastic monument, built and paid for by the Turkish people.

The names of all 60,000 Turks who died during the Gallipoli campaign are etched on plaques in a cemetery nearby.

Just along the road is the French memorial, a moving site of black crosses, lavender and rosemary, while on Helles Point is the British memorial.

Tourists often overlook Helles Point but it is where the main offensives were launched to break through the Turkish lines to seize the Achi Baba hill. The site is well worth a visit.

From there, we sail to Anzac Cove, past the undulating and welcoming landscape of Kabatepe, where the Anzacs were meant to land. They were carried one nautical mile north by an uncharted current.

After exploring the Anzac Cove area, we return to Kabatepe to anchor and set about finding a taxi to see the rest of the vast Gallipoli site.

There isn't much in Kabatepe and no-one speaks English, but they all understand Anzac and taxi. A friendly Turk makes several phone calls for us and within 10 minutes a taxi arrives.

Lady luck is on our side. Our driver, Anil, speaks good English and is incredibly knowledgeable and happy to give an informative commentary.

First stop is Lone Pine and we share this sobering site with an Australian couple who are there to pay their respects to their grandfather.

Like us, they are choked up at the sight of so many headstones as well as thousands of names on plaques.

Anil gives us time to absorb the enormity of this terrible site where the Australian Light Horse Brigade was virtually wiped out in August 1915.

Then it's on to the trenches, many of which still remain, although not as deep or wide as they were, thanks to years of weather. The New Zealand trenches we visit are only five metres from the Turkish ones.

We stop at a statue of a Turk soldier carrying an Anzac and hear our guide's take on a story we have heard many times before. Anil's version has a Turk risking enemy gunfire to retrieve a badly wounded Australian soldier from no man's land and return him to the enemy trenches. The statue is a poignant and fitting memorial.

We drive on to Walker's Ridge, high above Anzac Cove, from where the Turks watched the Anzacs land and used sniper fire to pick them off.

It's shocking to think of those poor soldiers landing in such an exposed and impenetrable part of the coast.

It's in this cemetery we see the headstone of a 16-year-old Australian boy.

On the road to Chanuk Bair, we visit a Turkish memorial for 600 soldiers the then Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal (later Turkish leader Ataturk) sent to their deaths.

The soldiers had run out of ammunition but Kemal ordered them back to the front line with their bayonets, saying: "I am not ordering you to fight, I am ordering you to die."

Kemal knew he had reserves coming but had to delay the Anzac troops and did so by sacrificing his men.

Last on our list is Chanuk Bair, where Kemal took his place in the trenches alongside his men and fought until the bitter end, watching the Anzacs come up the gulleys along with the Sikhs and Gurkhas.

We take a long time to read the list of New Zealanders who died in this battle, including hundreds of Canterbury and Otago people, household names in the South Island.

As Anil drives us back down to Kabatepe harbour, he heaps praise on the New Zealand soldiers, their bravery and stamina under such despicable conditions.

It's been a harrowing day, but one we would not have missed for anything.