Re: Gallipoli

Posted by Kathy Schlegel on Apr 26, 2012; 2:48pm
URL: http://sundownersadventures.385.s1.nabble.com/Gallipoli-tp5663673p5667828.html

Gallipoli: Memories of the day we spent there on Sundowners TK159 come rushing back. Both Anzac Cove and Lone Pine had an atmosphere about them that made all of us speak in hushed whispers, almost as though to speak loudly would arouse the ghosts of 1915. Certainly none of us felt other than reverence in those two places. To wander through the headstones was a sobering experience - so many of them were so young - too young to experience what they went through. Although we did not camp there over night, I am sure none of us would have indulged in alcohol etc had we done so. It was just not that sort of place. When it was finally time to travel onwards, most of us felt reluctant to return to the bus, almost as though we were abandoning those who would be there forever.
Perhaps it was not the correct thing to do, but my husband, having accidently kicked something hard in the loose gravel, picked it up and popped it into his jacket pocket. Closer inspection showed it to be a badly rusted shell casing. which he subsequently brought home and had preserved. It now sits on a plinth in a special casing with a brass plaque explaining from whence it came and is a very treasured memento of our experiences at Anzac Cove and Lone Pine. With luck, I shall return there one day, though I know it will be vastly different from the place it was in 1977.