GlenysShrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey
March 19th 2011 06:18
... and some trees beautify a solemn place of remembrance ...
Our trip to the Gallipoli Peninsula included visiting a small number of the many cemeteries that mark the resting place of soldiers who fell during the Gallipoli campaign, World War 1.
I was walking along the path that leads to the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, turned a corner and there stood this beautiful flowering tree, as a sentinel over the graves. There are several similar trees at this site but in my minds eye I can always see this one.
Shrapnel Valley is the second largest Cemetery, after Lone Pine (see previous post), in the former Anzac Sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Shrapnel Valley was the main route for Allied troops and supplies from the beach area to the Anzac frontline and ridge. In sheltered areas of the valley, housed in terraced dugouts, were many thousands of men, many of whom provided communications, medical and engineering support. (a plaque at Shrapnel Valley)
Falling shrapnel shells made a distinctive whistling sound before bursting and showering the area with lethal pellets.
Soldiers, moving along the valley were in constant danger from Turkish snipers, who were particularly active in the morning when the sun was behind them. Snipers killed or wounded hundreds of men.
Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick landed at Gallipoli on the 25th April, 1915, as part of the Anzac forces.
Of all the Anzac heroes his story, being one of courage, bravery and mateship, has perhaps become one of the best known.
Private Kirkpatrick was a field ambulance stretcher bearer. Men who were stretcher bearers gave first aid to wounded soldiers and then carried them to the field hospital on the beach where the medical team attended to them. Simpson co-opted the help of a donkey, named Duffy, and together they carried hundreds of wounded men along the valley to safety. As he ventured on these very dangerous missions he would sing and whistle, seeming to ignore the shrapnel and deadly bullets flying through the air, while he tended to his wounded comrades.
On May 19th, 1915, Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick was killed. On this day Murphy returned to base with a wounded soldier on his back, but no Simpson with him.
Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick is buried at the Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli.
This cemetery, facing the ocean, was used from the day of the landing at Anzac Cove until the end of the Anzac occupation.
We visited The Beach Cemetery and as I stood reading the inscription on John Simpson Kirkpatrick's grave, I was filled with emotion as another of my dreams was fulfilled. I have heard (and told) the story of Simpson and his donkey many times, and it was an unforgettable experience to be standing where he is buried, along with so many of his comrades. He was only 22 years old when he died.
Our trip to the Gallipoli Peninsula included visiting a small number of the many cemeteries that mark the resting place of soldiers who fell during the Gallipoli campaign, World War 1.
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
Shrapnel Valley is the second largest Cemetery, after Lone Pine (see previous post), in the former Anzac Sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Shrapnel Valley was the main route for Allied troops and supplies from the beach area to the Anzac frontline and ridge. In sheltered areas of the valley, housed in terraced dugouts, were many thousands of men, many of whom provided communications, medical and engineering support. (a plaque at Shrapnel Valley)
Falling shrapnel shells made a distinctive whistling sound before bursting and showering the area with lethal pellets.
Soldiers, moving along the valley were in constant danger from Turkish snipers, who were particularly active in the morning when the sun was behind them. Snipers killed or wounded hundreds of men.
Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick landed at Gallipoli on the 25th April, 1915, as part of the Anzac forces.
Of all the Anzac heroes his story, being one of courage, bravery and mateship, has perhaps become one of the best known.
Private Kirkpatrick was a field ambulance stretcher bearer. Men who were stretcher bearers gave first aid to wounded soldiers and then carried them to the field hospital on the beach where the medical team attended to them. Simpson co-opted the help of a donkey, named Duffy, and together they carried hundreds of wounded men along the valley to safety. As he ventured on these very dangerous missions he would sing and whistle, seeming to ignore the shrapnel and deadly bullets flying through the air, while he tended to his wounded comrades.
On May 19th, 1915, Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick was killed. On this day Murphy returned to base with a wounded soldier on his back, but no Simpson with him.
Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick is buried at the Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli.
Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
John Simpson Kirkpatrick's Grave, Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula.
*** Lest we forget ... Lest we forget....
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