Travelled to Canakkale (tourist attraction for Troy ruins and the above campaign). Toured the Gallipoli Peninsula and the landing sites and graveyards from this ill conceived campaign. A little history lesson is now needed. The Allies wanted control of the Dardanelles (strait separating Europe and Asia and an important shipping lane through the Black Sea to supply Russia). This strait was controlled by Turkey who were allied with the bad guy Germany. Britain needed control of this strait to support and supply Russia. The British initially tried to invade the strait with warships but were quickly defeated since it was mined and heavily fortified with guns at the entrance. Then Winston Churchill conceived the plan to invade the Gallipoli Peninsula and attack the forts protecting the entrance to the strait by land.
The campaign began April 25, 1915 and the invading forces were quickly stopped and bogged down in trench warfare for the next 9 months until the Allies finally evacuated in Dec. 1915. During this time 36,000 Commonwealth lives were lost (Australians, British, New Zealanders, Indian, Newfoundlanders), 10,000 French, and 86,000 Turks. The tour was focused on visiting the various graveyards of the dead and explaining the mistakes the British officers made. This campaign was a great victory for Turkey (despite the loss of lives) and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the General who led the Turkish defense) later became the first president of Turkey and is now revered as a martyr throughout the country. His picture is everywhere similar to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. Many of the gravestones have inscribed on them LEST WE FORGET.
Touring the site drives home the folly of war. Why do we have such a hard time learning our lessons from history, evidenced by the current conflicts happening in the world.