Remembrance Day in Gallipoli, 2021

Beneath cloudy skies, a small gathering marked the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month on the Gallipoli Peninsula, observing two minutes silence followed by the reading of the ode and of Flanders Fields, and then the laying of a wreath to mark the sacrifice of all those who fell in war.

The informal service has been conducted since 2006, and for the past decade has been held at Embarkation Pier Cemetery, the last resting place of 944 Commonwealth servicemen. Of these, four – three Australians of the 2nd Light Horse and a New Zealand engineer – fell on November 11, 1915, making it a fitting location for the site of the annual commemoration.

This year’s service attracted some 25 people, local Turks, resident foreigners and overseas visitors, with Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Spain all represented.

Report by GA member, Bill Sellars