Two Battles = Twice the Fun


Elizabeth and I took a weekend trip through the Asian continent of Turkey and down south to
Çanakkale. This region houses both Gallipoli and Troy, where two famous battles took place thousands of years apart. The most recent was the battle at Gallipoli where the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) made a name for themselves and finally broke free of their ties to "Mother England". In 1914, the objective at Gallipoli was to capture the Dardanelle Straights and create an ice free sea route to Russia. Fighting nearly face to face in trenches that were just across the road from each other, the two warring nations were up close and personal with their enemies. Eventually, they started swapping food by throwing canned "bully beef" in return for milk and other supplies. The battle was 8 months long and over that period of time the ANZACs won the respect of their Turkish adversaries. Unfortunately, after thousands of deaths on both sides, the campaign failed and the ANZACs left.



Coincedentally, this military campaign was where the future leader of Turkey established himself as well. The Turks are very proud of Ataturk and his famous quote from this battle--"I'm not asking you to fight. I'm asking you to die."


As we pulled out of the dock to head to Troy (honestly, pretty glad that we didn't have to look at another memorial or graveyard in the hot, hot sun), we saw a huge sign painted onto the cliffs. It read, "Dur Yolcu" (stop, travelers), "try to hear the beating heart of a nation". Although, I'm not much for battlefields and military history, it was difficult not to be moved by two nations having such a profound respect for one another.


The second, or rather first and much older, battle is the one immortalized in Homer's Iliad. You all know the details, "the face that launched a thousand ships", the Trojan horse and all the jazz. There isn't much left of the city thanks to Scliemann, a German "archeologist", who destroyed the the land in an attempt to find the treasury (he did and stole all of the goods). However, I must say that, although quite tacky, the replica Trojan horse inside the city made the whole trip worth our money.