Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [192]
Only in visiting Gallipoli did I come to appreciate the futility of the enterprise and the tragedy of its failure. With painful prescience Sublieutenant Rupert Brooke—the young English poet who died only two days before the first landings—penned this encomium for his fellows:
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.
Though it’s possible, as Catharine Reynolds did, to tour Gallipoli on one’s own, hiring a guide is a more multilayered experience and usually results in a more efficient visit as visitors can tour the battlefield in a single day. On Kenan Çelik’s Web site he refers to himself as “Probably the best guide for Gallipoli battlefields,” but he is without doubt the very best guide to Gallipoli. Çelik has been a guide to the battlefields of the Gallipoli Peninsula for more than twenty-five years, and he’s been featured in several documentaries about the Gallipoli campaign. He speaks English very well, having earned a Fulbright scholarship at Oregon State University, where he received an MA in literature for his study of the works of Edwardian poet Rupert Brooke. In 2000, Çelik was awarded the OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia—established in 1975 by Queen Elizabeth II of Australia—and was the first Turkish citizen to receive this honor. Kenan Çelik may be reached directly at kcelik@ttmail.com and through his Web site, Kcelik.com. Though he specializes in Gallipoli, Kenan also offers guided tours of nearby Troy. Kenan also arranges for visitors to be picked up in Istanbul.
If he’s fully booked during the time you’ll be in Turkey (he is in great demand) or if you’re looking for an experience that isn’t quite so scholarly, a great company to contact is TJs Tours & Hostel, in Eceabat (anzacgallipolitours.com / enquiries@anzacgallipolitours.com). TJs is operated by a Turkish-Australian couple, and their goal is to “bring the ANZAC legend to life; to open travelers’ eyes to the wonders that Turkey has to offer; and to widen the friendships that started in WWI.” TJs offers tours daily, every day of the year, and, conveniently, the company owns both the Eceabat Hotel and TJs Hostel. TJs has over fourteen years of experience on the battlefields and the guides know the area inside and out. The guides also don’t rush visitors through the battlefields, and all speak English and Turkish. Details of all the tours are found on the Web site, along with some very useful tips, such as: there are very few toilets in the battlefield area, nor shops, so buy water and snacks beforehand; take sunscreen and a hat as there is little shade; the ANZAC area is an alcohol-free zone. TJs also organizes special ANZAC Day tours (essential to book ahead) and can assist in locating a grave—it’s the only agency with a set of registers for the Gallipoli Peninsula. The books were given to them in recognition of their work for the Commonwealth War Graves, and they can thus locate the burial site of any Commonwealth soldier who fell in the campaign.
Gallipoli
The Dardanelles, April-December 1915
Upon the margin of a rugged shore
There is a spot now barren, desolate,
A place of graves, sodden with human gore
That Time will hallow, Memory consecrate.
There lie the ashes of the mighty dead,
The youth who lit with flame Obscurity,
Fought true for Freedom, won thro’ rain of lead
Undying fame, their immortality.
The stranger wand’ring when the war is over,
The ploughman there driving his coulter deep,
The husbandman who golden harvests reap—
From hill and ravine, from each plain and cover
Will hear a shout, see phantoms on the marge,
See men again making a deathless charge.
JOHN WILLIAM STREETS
The Undying Splendour, 1917
ATEŞ ORGA, in Istanbul: Portrait of a City, tells us that Sergeant