Over the years since WWI, veterans from Australia have travelled to Turkey to visit the graves of those who fell attacking the Turkish troops on the beach at Anzac Cove - This attack was Australia's worst military defeat and for many non-Oz folk, the thought of celebrating a defeat seems crazy. It is not the battle which is revisited but rather it is a returning to a place where so many fell, so far from home on a lonely beach, sacrificing themselves for what seemed after the fact, a tragic waste. Turkey is now a friendly nation and have taken great pains to preserve the area, they themselves being awed at the heroic defeat the Australians suffered... More recently, the numbers have swelled as families of the fallen and in fact anyone who wished to remember the AIF contribution to the war, made this annual pilgrimage with last year seeing a total of 15,000 Ozzies travelling around the world to witness the dawn service. If anyone is near the area on the 25th, they would do well to stop by and maybe snap a picture or two of what will undoubtably prove a rather awe inspiring site as thousands upon thousands of people so very far from home sit or stand in the cold early moring waiting with tears in their eyes for the sun to rise ..again Karl
