"We live so much under the shadow of sudden death...
All has lost meaning.
Life is usually complicated.
Here it is savagely simple:
eat while you still can,
sleep whenever you can,
keep your morale high and don't fall into desperation
Even a mechanical smile is better than an anxious look.
Worrying is not good for the men."
Percival Fenwick.
War declared. Germany attacks Russia.
The Great War. Britain is against Germany.
Turks entered the war, attacked Russia.
Britain declared war on Turks.
Big events hinge on Dardanelles.
When World War I began,
men in Britain and its colonies rushed to enlist.
Joe Murray, an 18-year-old miner from County Durham
joined up, much to his mother's dismay.
"Why did I enlist?
I simply thought I must.
Something told me I should
and this was my great opportunity to see the world
Don't worry, Mother. I shall come back safely enough.
Joe Murray."
Guy Nightingale was a 23-year-old British regular officer
serving with the 29th Division.
Guy Nightingale was a son of the British Empire.
He was a noble, born and raised in Britain.
He attended Military School and then joined his regiment.
Much like other officers of his time
the military and his regiment was his life
and an indispensable part of him.
He had a great commitment to his regiment.
Selahaddin Adil was an officer with the Dardanelles force command.
His wife, Siret, was in Istanbul and had just given birth.
The newborn girl was their first child.
"November 4, 1914.
Dear faithful Siret,
I am so sad that under the present circumstances
I am upset that I can't see your sweet face
as you take care of our child with affection.
I pray for health and peace.
I hope there is a happy ending for these terrible times.
Selahaddin Adil."
February 19, 1915.
The day the British and French fleets' attack on the Dardanelles began.
The plan was to sail through to the Ottoman capital, Istanbul,
knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war
and open the route to Britain's ally, Russia.
Because no troops could be spared from the Western Front
the operation was to be carried out by ships alone
without landing a single soldier, according to the plan.
British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener
and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill prepared the plan
and most of the politicians in the British War Council approved it
without checking earlier intelligence reports.
Very risky.
Extremely difficult operation.
Not advised.
There will be heavy losses.
After passing through Dardanelles, they have no idea what to do.
Only the assumption that the Turks will surrender immediately.
Everyone hoped and counted on this.
The British boats will impress and scare Turks so much that
when the fleet enters Istanbul
Turks will surrender immediately.
That's the British plan.
But for three weeks
the Turks and their German allies resisted the attacks against the Dardanelles.
The War Council decided to dispatch British troops to the area
and use the Australian and New Zealand troops training in Egypt.
George Bollinger was a bank clerk from New Plymouth, New Zealand.
His German father had emigrated to New Zealand in the late 1870s.
At 1.93 meters of height
he was one of the tallest men in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Walter, known also as Bill, Leadley
was one of the shortest men in the New Zealand Army.
He was working as a telegraph operator in Christchurch when the war began.
The 31-year-old Leadley was a devout Christian
whose diary was filled with verses from the Bible.
Ellis Silas was a 30-year-old painter from London
who had immigrated to Australia in 1907.
At the outbreak of the war, he reluctantly enlisted as a signaler
after changing his mind several times.
"I hate war books, soldiers and soldiering.
I've not read a newspaper since the war began
All I know is there's a war on, that I'm doing my bit
and I'll be glad when it's over.
How I hate this terrible life.
Ellis Silas."
Oliver Cumberland had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force
just to be with his younger brother Joe.
They both wrote often to their sister Una.
She had brought them up after the death of their parents.
"Dear Una
I couldn't see Joe go alone and remain behind myself
and I think it will be better now we are together.
I promise you I will never leave Joe wounded on the field
whilst I have the strength to carry him off
and I know he will do the same for me.
Oliver."
"Cairo, Egypt, March 12, 1915.
Dear Una
We have finished our training and we are waiting for the orders to go to the front.
I will be really glad when we do go
as it won't be so boring as it is here.
They should put us all in the firing line
and let us finish the Germans as soon as possible.
Your loving brother, Joe."
You see from their letters it was very simple to them.
To help Britain, to protect the British Empire
they volunteered to get into the army.
This decision was not taken through intense consideration.
In this aspect, they are no different than all the other thousands of Australians.
March 18.
With international expectations rising
18 British and French heavy warships approached the Dardanelles
for a decisive attack.
Lieutenant Colonel Selahaddin Adil put his troops on alert.
Captain Hilmi Bey, Commander of Mecidiye Bastion
gave his last order before the clash.
"No one will bother with the dead and wounded.
If I die, walk over me and just pass.
And if I get wounded, pay no attention.
I would do the same with you.
Replacements for the wounded and the dead have been determined.
Don't expect any rewards in war.
This I will not and cannot promise.
Captain Hilmi."
"I knew that if I waited any longer, the damage in Mecidiye would get worse.
Taking full responsibility, I opened fire.
But because I started to shoot alone
nearly all the ships turned their fire on us.
The battery became smothered in smoke from all the shells that landed.
The artillery sergeants could not even see the sea, let alone their targets."
"Towards one o'clock, the battle reached its climax.
The situation was telegrammed to Istanbul every ten minutes.
Some shell fragments started to fall near our lookout post.
Selahaddin Adil."
But the mobile howitzers and the Turkish bastions
began to inflict damage on the ships.
At 14:00, the already damaged Bouvet was rocked by an explosion.
The Bouvet sank in less than two minutes,
taking down 600 French sailors.
When the Bouvet sank at 14:00
it had a great effect on everyone's morale because it could be seen from all around.
The soldiers used this pause in the battle
to clean the guns' rails and oil the cannons' breechblocks.
Selahaddin Adil."
In a few hours
Irresistible and Ocean struck mines and sank in the same area.
By 19:00, it was all over.
The ships had hit the mines laid 10 days earlier by the Turkish mine-layer Nusret.
This area was reported to be safe before the assault by the Allies intelligence.
This is a colossal loss for the British and the French.
One third of their ships are either sunk or heavily damaged.
The Turkish guns are nowhere near running out of ammunition.
The British and French can attack twice more or they haven't got any ships left.
On March 22, four days after the attack
the British military commander General Sir Ian Hamilton
and the naval commander Vice-Admiral John de Robeck
decided to land an army on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
The objective was to capture the shore defenses
before the navy resumed its advance.
Kitchener approved the plan and Churchill offered his support.
No British authority objected.
On March 24
German general Otto Liman von Sanders
was given command of 65,000 Turkish troops to defend the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Hamilton's plan called for the French to land on the Asiatic shore
and the British on five different beaches
at the southern tip of Gallipoli.
The Australian and New Zealand forces known as ANZAC
would land further north.
After landing, the forces would then move inland
capture the heights and secure the shoreline.
It was an intricate plan with no flexibility based on a strict timetable.
In my mind, said Hamilton, the crux was to get my army ashore.
He expected the Turks to run once he landed.
I don't think they really sat down and thought about it.
The problem was the immediate problem of landing an army.
Where that army would go
how it would fight
that was tomorrow's problem.
There was a terrible lack of knowledge about the true state of the Turkish Army
and, above all, there was a lack of understanding
about what any troops will do when they're fighting for their homeland.
The landing was set for Sunday, April 25.
"April 15.
I can't believe that every minute brings us nearer to the guns of the enemy.
Ellis Silas."
"April 23.
My dear Mother
I am looking forward to the time when we are ashore.
We land on Sunday morning at dawn and are the first troops to do so.
Your son, Guy."
"Gallipoli.
Dear Siret
I'm leading my division into the front lines today.
I pray to God for victory
and kiss you and our child with affection.
It might be very difficult to write from now on.
I'll try to keep you informed.
I entrust you to God and my brother for protection.
Selahaddin Adil."
"April 23.
Operation orders have been given out.
A number of Australian ships have docked for tonight.
Our troops are very calm
and think about what's to come.
They have to invade an enemy's country under the eyes of its own forts.
Infantry alone are landing under the assistance of our warships.
George Bollinger."
On the midnight of April 25
the British and Australian ships were off the Gallipoli coastline.
At 03:00, the Australian boats began their approach towards the shore.
"Dear sister, you never know what is going to happen.
If anything happens to me or Oliver, don't let it upset you
because, dear Una, you must remember
that thousands of sisters are losing their brothers daily.
Don't get gloomy over this letter
because we are not dead yet.
In fact, I have never felt better in all my life.
And there was never a Turk or a German born to kill a Cumberland
nor they invented a bullet to could do so.
From your loving brothers, Oliver and Joe."
At 4:30, the first Australian troops landed
surprising the 200 Turks guarding the shore.
Australians were surprised too.
They faced a narrow beach with sheer cliffs
and scrub-covered gullies.
Instead of the 3,000-meters long front to land on
they landed on a front of about 600-800 meters
which caused a tremendous complexity on the shore.
The boats and the troops got mixed, all of a sudden.
Despite the confusion, the Australians moved quickly inland and seized hills.
Only 10 Turkish soldiers out of the company of 200 survived the attack.
The survivors fought as they retreated.
Turks needed reinforcements, and they needed them fast.
The closest Turkish force was the corps of the 27th Regiment
camped seven kilometers away.
Its commander was Lieutenant Colonel Mehmet Şefik.
"We could hear the roar of many rifles in the distance.
This roar meant that just a handful of our comrades from the regiment in Arıburnu
far from any help, were trying to do their duty under great hardships
against an enemy with much superior numbers.
Mehmet Şefik."
At 5:45, Mehmet Şefik began his march to stop the Australian advance.
But he would not arrive for two hours.
As the Australian assault progressed
the British launched Hamilton's main landing further south.
The six-kilometer coastline targeted for the attack
was guarded only by a single Turkish battalion of 1000 men.
At 05:00, the ships opened fire on the Turkish shoreline.
Mahmud Sabri, the battalion commander, watched the bombardment from the hills.
"A lot of shells were exploding one after another.
Trenches that had been dug to protect lives now became soldiers' graves.
those who remained alive in the trenches leveled by shells
took shelter in the craters
and built new trenches.
Major Mahmud Sabri."
The French and three of the British landings were made with relative ease.
But there were two other important beaches.
When they landed in Tekke Bay, the British troops gave casualties
resulting from heavy Turkish gunfire.
But despite this, they managed to secure the beach
and capture the Turkish positions on the cliffs.
The ultimate success of all the landings depended on the one on Ertuğrul Bay.
This natural amphitheater
was defended by 70 soldiers under Sergeant Yahya.
But they were positioned well.
The River Clyde, an old collier carrying soldiers including Guy Nightingale
and boats, neared Ertuğrul Bay.
"6:22.
Run smoothly ashore.
No opposition.
We shall land unopposed.
Lieutenant Colonel Weir de Lancey Williams."
"6:25.
Toes within a few yards of shore.
Hell burst loose on them."
"6:35.
Connection with shore very bad."
As each boat got near the shore snipers shot down the oarsmen.
The boats then began to drift and machine-gun fire was turned onto them.
You could see the men dropping everywhere
and of the first 40 men, only three reached the shore
all wounded.
The place was a deathtrap.
Guy Nightingale."
In 15 minutes, the men in the open boats were reduced from 700 to 300
most of them wounded.
After a time, I noticed men sunk from exhaustion
and loss of blood and were drowned.
The water all along the shore and around the boats, was red with blood.
The shore now was littered with dead from the boats
and some of the wounded who landed.
Some crawled up the beach and were under cover of a bank.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Tizard."
The 3-foot high sandbank on the beach
meant the difference between life and death.
Had the Turks leveled this bank
none of the British troops who had landed would survive.
Thankfully, it remained."
When the River Clyde grounded
the pontoon bridge that was to connect it to the shore failed.
So its captain, Commander Edward Unwin
with one sailor, jumped into the water.
Despite the heavy gunfire
they lashed a few lighters together and managed to form a makeshift bridge.
Unwin steadied the ropes by using himself as a post.
He then signaled to the River Clyde for the disembarkation to begin.
"The commanders and officers had drawn their swords
and were sending the men down the ladders
but they were observed and could not escape the Turkish bullets.
Not one of our soldiers' bullets was fired in vain.
In fact, in many cases, one bullet accounted for several of the enemy.
Major Mahmud Sabri."
Three out of every five who tried to land from the River Clyde were hit.
Guy Nightingale landed safely onto a barge that was being used as a pier,
but the barge was packed with dead and wounded
so he was ordered to go back to the ship.
He landed a second time, later in the day, without getting wounded.
He was possibly the first person to land twice from the River Clyde
and remain unscathed that day.
There were more than 1000 British casualties at Ertuğrul Bay.
The landing had failed.
By 8:00, in Arıburnu
8000 Australians had come ashore
including Oliver and Joe Cumberland.
At the same time, Lt. Col. Mustafa Kemal, the commander of the 19th division
began his march to stop the Australian landing.
At 8:00, Mehmet Şefik had reached the landing point.
At 8:30, he attacked.
Mehmet Şefik's attack caused confusion among the Australians.
Wounded and stragglers were everywhere.
Troops searched for their officers, and orders.
Many got lost in the rugged terrain.
Bill Leadley was among the New Zealanders who came ashore around 10:30.
"When I jumped off, the water came up to my neck.
I held my rifle above my head and waded towards the shore.
But halfway there, I stepped on a hole in the sea bottom
and went right underneath the water.
I lost my rifle but managed to scramble out of the hole and reach the beach.
I quickly obtained a rifle from a dead Australian
and joined up with the other signalers.
Bill Leadley."
As Oliver Cumberland rushed up one of the cliffs
he was shot in the thigh and taken back to the beach with the wounded.
All along the peninsula, plans for evacuating the wounded broke down.
Hospital ships quickly became overcrowded, their staffs overwhelmed.
Ships which carried mules and horses were converted into hospital transports.
Most of the wounded on the shore waited 2 days before being evacuated to the ships.
Many wounded died during their return to the hospitals in Alexandria.
The rest bled to death on the shore, waiting for help
Lieutenant Colonel Percival Fenwick, a New Zealand doctor
rushed to attend to the wounded as soon as he landed.
"At one time, over 400 were lying on the stones
waiting to be moved to the ships.
I dressed as many as I could, but it was a dreadful time.
The bombardment never ceased.
One poor chap who had his tongue and jaw shot away could not speak
but wrote on a scrap of paper
'I'll be well soon, and have another smack at them.'
Percival Fenwick."
At 10:00
Mehmet Şefik's troops were under heavy Australian fire.
His right flank was commanded by
Captain Halis of Uşak, a seasoned soldier.
"You could see in his face that he did not believe the situation was in our favor.
I tried to infer meaning from his face turning pale
and from his eyes losing confidence.
But there were no need to think this through
as the khaki cloth of his left arm slowly turned red
and blood drops accumulated at his fingertips.
Lieutenant Ahmet Mujib."
Halis was shot on his arm but he still kept commanding his troops.
Before he left, he ordered his troops to resist
and defend the line to the last man.
"We are melting slowly.
Our firing line gradually disappeared.
There are 40 to 50 rifles left firing.
The time has come to send a messenger to let us know that we are about to die."
Around 10:30, just as the Turkish line was about to collapse
Mustafa Kemal arrived ahead of his 57th Regiment.
He took command of the entire front and attacked.
The battle for the heights had begun.
"This wasn't a regular assault.
Everybody was hungry for either success or death.
I added a verbal order to my subordinates, stating:
'I don't order you to fight. I order you to die.'
Mustafa Kemal."
He was a genius in that he could reduce the problems
And what he thought of on that first day was onto the point:
"Whatever they may cost us
We can't lose the cliffs.
We must do whatever we can to prevent the Australians from controlling the cliffs."
During the fierce struggle, the small hill, Kılıçbayır
changed hands five times.
"Now some of the chaps are getting hit.
Groans and screams everywhere.
Calls for ammunition and stretcher bearers
though how they are going to carry stretchers to these slopes beats me.
Now beginning to take some of the dead out of the trenches. This is horrible.
I wonder how long I can stand it.
Ellis Silas."
The wounded cluttered the beaches
and now Joe Cumberland was one of them, who was shot in his lower waist.
By nightfall, Mustafa Kemal and his troops held all the heights.
4,000 Turkish troops had stopped
an ANZAC force three times their size.
Once it was dark, at Seddülbahir
the remaining soldiers came ashore from the River Clyde.
At Seddülbahir and at Arıburnu, both sides had suffered heavily.
One of Mustafa Kemal's battalions no longer existed.
"I have no idea when the sun crossed over to the west today.
Darkness fell over the sea and everywhere.
Hundreds of British boys were lying on our land
never to open their eyes again.
Curled up in bloodstained uniforms
these shaven faces that look sympathetic at first glance
gave us both feelings of revenge and mercy.
Lieutenant Ahmet Mujib."
Hundreds of dead from both sides lay between the lines in no man's land.
Many of the bodies would only be recovered years later.
"I certainly am very astonished that I am alive.
I can't not conceive a more hellish day.
Percival Fenwick."
This was only the beginning.
"Dear Una
I suppose you received my last letter in which I said I was slightly wounded.
I am quite well now and expect to go back to the front any time.
But, Una, prepare yourself to hear the worst
if you've not already heard it.
Joe is gone.
He died of wounds in Alexandria Hospital on May 5.
When I saw the list I did not know what to do.
I wandered about the streets nearly mad, I felt so lonely.
I am letting you know at once
because I think it is always best to know the truth, however sad.
He died for his country, Una.
I know how you will feel.
God help you all to bear it.
Your affectionate brother, Oliver."
"Total to date: 5000 casualties.
About three men per meters of ground gained.
For the New Zealand and Australian Division
this bay has been named Anzac Bay.
The name doesn't matter.
Perhaps it will someday be known as Bloody Beach Bay.
God knows, we have paid heavily for it.
Percival Fenwick."
By May 4, ten days after the landing,
the casualties for both sides exceeded 10,000.
Already more than 100,000 troops were on Gallipoli.
The French had landed and taken over the Allies' right flank at Seddülbahir.
An Indian brigade with Sikhs, Punjabis, and Gurkhas
joined the Allies.
Turkish reinforcements were also arriving constantly from each corner of Anatolia.
Battle of Kılıçbayır at Arıburnu
and the First Battle of Krithia at Seddülbahir
each side attacked relentlessly, day and night.
"April 30.
A bullet went right through my trouser leg and then an Australian's two legs.
There are lots of hats with holes.
And tin cans saved lots of lives.
Just now, I ceased fighting to observe
and they put a bullet right through my hat.
George Bollinger."
"The Turks attacked again and again, shouting 'Allah!'
We mowed them down
and only once did they get so close that we were able to bayonet them.
We took 300 prisoners and could have taken 3000
but we preferred shooting them.
All the streams were running with blood
and the heaps of dead were a grand sight.
Guy Nightingale."
Troops on both sides stayed on the firing line for days without any sleep.
Even when they moved to the rear
they had to unload stores, dig trenches
and haul water and ammunition to the front lines.
"None of us got any sleep at night.
We were exchanging fire with the enemy
and trying to dig trenches and build fortifications at the same time.
Everything was done at night, to hide it from the enemy.
Lieutenant Münim Mustafa."
In some places, especially at Arıburnu
the trenches were only five meters apart.
To show one's head above the parapets meant instant death.
Grenades were thrown back and forth.
Soldiers either smothered them with sandbags
or threw them back before they exploded.
Nowhere on Gallipoli was safe.
The trenches, the beaches and the dugouts
were under constant shelling and sniper fire.
"You show me a man who says he's not afraid of shelling
and I'll show you a liar.
George Washington said he liked the sound of bullets whizzing over his head.
But he wasn't in my war. Joe Murray."
"This afternoon, pieces of human flesh rained from the sky.
The enemy fired a shell from the sea but we couldn't hear the sound.
A soldier delousing himself on a hill near the sea.
The shell tore through the soldier's body
and blew his pieces to sky.
Ismail Hakkı."
"When I see the men going to the frontlines
I often wonder how many are coming out.
A few minutes after they've been in, there's usually a scream
then the awful cry 'Stretcher bearers!'
And then the mangled heap is brought out.
Trench corners are full of the remains of limbs and human bodies.
Ellis Silas."
On May 6
Allied forces attacked the Turkish lines, hoping to capture Alçıtepe Hill.
"We couldn't see where the firing came from.
Down we went.
We crawled on, but the bullets were hitting all around.
Some hit our packs, right in front of us.
Poor Horton
a bullet struck him right through his head.
Poor Horton.
He kept calling for his mother as he died.
I don't think he was even 16.
Joe Murray."
The attack failed.
Major General Hunter-Weston
ordered the attack to be repeated on the next day.
It failed again.
"Dear Mother
I led up the Dublins, and just as we got 200 men up there
the Turks opened a crossfire on us from two machine guns.
Out of the first six men up there, I was the only one not hit.
I got off lightly.
A bullet missed me by 2 milimeters
and went into the throat of a man next to me.
Your son, Guy."
Hunter-Weston ordered the same attack for the third day in a row.
This time, the New Zealanders and Australians from Arıburnu
were also ordered to be prepared for an assault.
"So another day draws to a close.
At sunset, regular people prepare for the coming night and a peaceful rest.
We prepared for a nightmare.
Joe Murray."
"Reached the firing line, exhausted.
Bullets were whizzing past me.
I wished that one would hit me, I was so dead beat.
I was greeted with a deadly machine-gun fire, all of a sudden.
Bill Leadley."
The attack fell apart again.
At 15:00, Hunter-Weston ordered the New Zealanders to repeat the attack.
Nothing changed.
General Ian Hamilton came ashore and ordered yet another attack.
This time, the Australians would advance on the New Zealanders' right.
Once again, the attack failed.
After three days, Allied forces had gained only 500 meters.
Turkish casualties numbered 2,000.
Total Allied casualties were 6000.
Only a third of Guy Nightingale's battalion remained alive.
The assault became known as the Second Battle of Krithia.
The planning and commanding for the Second Battle of Krithia
was dreadful for the British side.
The goals were ludicrously overambitious.
The strategy took no attention of the number
and the state of troops and was ridiculous.
And it completely underestimated the Turkish troops and defenses.
"The beautiful battalions of April 25 are wasted skeletons now
shadows of what they had been.
General Sir Ian Hamilton."
"I don't wish to be rude to the higher powers
but this seems to be an absentminded war.
The navy can't find the enemy's guns
ammunition for our guns is very short, medical stores are always 'on the way'.
It is strange.
I would very much like to live through and see the explanation
but I do not expect to do so.
Percival Fenwick."
Government Crisis.
British attacks have been stopped.
Limited ammunition
In London, the government was in turmoil.
The press held it responsible for the handling of the entire war.
The British did not have sufficient materials
to fight both on the Western Front and at Gallipoli.
They needed to choose one or the other
and implicitly, they chose the Western Front.
The Western Front got the lion's share of the men and the munitions.
So Gallipoli was always second best.
On May 14
the British War Council finally met, for the first time in eight weeks,
to discuss Gallipoli.
Three days later, because of his failures in Gallipoli
Churchill was forced to resign.
Finally the government fell
and the War Council reformed through the new coalition.
But the new council didn't get together for three weeks.
The soldiers at Gallipoli were on their own.
The government was not united in terms of purpose.
And you can't win any war without unity.
The war also affected everyone in the Ottoman Empire.
The battle was on their soil, and news reached them quickly.
"Most of those who went to Çanakkale were reported dead immediately.
So those getting ready to leave
kissed and embraced their families with great affection.
They showed their love and care for each other for the last time.
I kissed my mother the same way, and she cried constantly as I left her.
I didn't tell her I was going to the southern lines to make her less upset.
Münim Mustafa."
"Little sleep.
My dreams are so frightful that I fear sleeping.
I'm making no effort to keep a concise diary.
I can only hope that I shall be able to forget it all.
May 16.
In my heart, I know I am done.
I don't want to make a mistake and cause these brave men to lose their lives.
Ellis Silas."
Ellis Silas was evacuated as a psychological casualty on May 18
and hospitalized for months.
His fighting days were over.
In May,
the conditions in the trenches deteriorated.
Warmer weather, decaying corpses, and filthy latrine conditions
caused the flies to swarm the trenches.
Latrines were just openings in boxes or holes in the trench walls.
The lack of sanitation and the flies spread diseases.
Jaundice, enteric fever, paratyphoid, and cardiac disorders
made life even harder within the trenches.
Almost everyone on both sides suffered from some form of dysentery.
This isn't just an upset stomach.
This is people whose insides are almost coming out.
This is people who have to go to the latrines 10, 12, 14, 16 times a day.
This is people whose backsides are red raw.
Without toilet paper.
They wipe their backside with their hands
and then look for some grass to wipe their hands with.
That didn't stop the dysentery.
Under these conditions, dysentery became an endemic.
Many soldiers became so weak that they could hardly stand up.
Many were evacuated.
Some even fell into the latrines and drowned in their own excrement.
In May, the Allies' medical arrangements had improved.
But on the Turkish side, everything remained in short supply
so doctors had to create makeshift remedies.
Used cotton and bandages were boiled in sodium carbonate and reused over and over.
"The wounded are still lying on the bare ground
and their bandages are soiled with dirt.
As morphine is being saved
soldiers shot in the head and the abdomen are in agonizing pain.
Dr. Georg Meyer."
On the morning of May 19, 40,000 Turks attacked the ANZAC line.
But the ANZAC were ready for such attack.
Some Australians paid money so they could get a place on the firing line.
Despite wave after wave being annihilated, the Turks kept on attacking.
The attack stopped at noon, the next day.
ANZAC casualties were 600.
Turkish, 10,000.
More than 3000 Turks lay dead between the lines.
From the Nek to Kanlısırt
and down to the sea, the road
is a carpet of bodies.
And you could walk from the ANZAC trench to the Turkish trench
and not touch the ground.
Because there were dead bodies everywhere.
The corpses swelled up fast
and the stench of the decaying dead was worse than ever.
Many soldiers in the trenches became sick
vomiting constantly, and unable to eat because of the smell.
An armistice was arranged for May 24 to bury the dead.
"The Turkish captain with me said:
'At this spectacle, even the most gentle must feel savage,
and the most savage must weep.'
One of the Turks pointed to the graves.
'That's politics,' he said.
Then he pointed to the dead bodies and said: 'That's diplomacy.'
God pity all of us poor soldiers.
Major Aubrey Herbert."
For the first time since the landings,
soldiers could see the effects of modern warfare up close.
"The Turkish dead lay so thick
it was almost impossible to pass without treading on the bodies.
The awful, destructive power of high explosives was very evident.
Huge holes surrounded by circles of corpses, blown to pieces.
One body was cut clean in half.
The upper half, I could not see, it was far away.
One shell had apparently fallen and set fire to a bush
as a dead man lay charred to the bone.
Everywhere one looked lay dead, swollen, black, hideous.
And over all, a nauseating stench that nearly made one vomit.
At another place, a dead Turkish officer lay close to our trench
face down, grasping his revolver.
In some cases, the dead actually formed part of the trench wall.
It was a terrible sight to see arms and legs
sticking out of the sand underneath the sandbags.
I pray to God I may never see such an awful sight again.
I shall certainly have eternal nightmares.
Percival Fenwick."
After the eight-hour armistice, the soldiers returned to their trenches
and the killing resumed.
But both sides had learned a lot about their enemy.
They'd seen him at close hand. Some had even shaken hands.
An interesting mutual respect grew
The ANZAC began to call Turks
"Jacko" or "Johnny Turk".
Both sides continued to fight and kill each other
but with a little more respect.
After armistice, the letters of the Australians stated:
"Whatever you may think about the Turk, he's a gentleman."
There was a strange sort of honor, from that moment on.
On May 29, the Turks exploded a cesspit in front of the ANZAC trenches.
The battle would now move underground.
Both sides began digging towards their enemy
often passing above or below each other's tunnels.
In a few weeks, an underground maze crisscrossed the peninsula.
"What are they up to?" said a Turkish officer.
"These Allies will tunnel to Istanbul."
Joe Murray volunteered for mining.
"Digging towards the enemy is not a pleasant task.
Every time he stops, so do we, and until one of us resumes digging,
we do not know whether he is making his mine ready to blow us sky-high.
Of course, he is in the same predicament
as he must also hear us digging.
Joe Murray."
After the explosions
the troops would rush forward to occupy
and fortify the craters created by the blast
and then connect it to their trenches.
"Tuesday, June 15.
Back in the trenches amongst the flies.
The stench from our own dead, lying out in front, is terrific.
It's hard to think that each of these men is some mother's son.
While we see such scenes as this
some newspapers still continue to suggest that we like this life.
George Bollinger."
"We are deadly tired of sitting under shells all day.
I think the men have gotten absolutely callous.
They bathe, loaf and sit about, absolutely regardless of the shells.
And when a man is blown to pieces, they hardly trouble to condole with.
War is hellish.
Personally, I cannot see any hope of living through this.
Percival Fenwick."
Lt. Col. Percival Fenwick
was evacuated from Arıburnu on June 18, suffering from paratyphoid.
He continued to serve in New Zealand hospitals in England
until the end of the war.
Shortly after Fenwick left the peninsula
Oliver Cumberland returned.
"July 13, 1915.
Dear Una,
I've been back in the firing line for a month and I'm getting along alright.
My wound healed up beautifully
and won't leave traces at all.
Did you ever get any message from Joe after he was wounded?
He was buried before I knew anything about it.
Best love to all. Don't worry about me.
Oliver."
From June 4 and July 12, at Seddülbahir
the Allies and the Turks
hammered away at each other in the bloodiest battles
that the peninsula had witnessed.
"Our methods here seem to be based on a theory that all tactics are rot.
The only way to do anything is to rush forward bull-headed
minus support, minus reserves
and at the end, probably minus a limb or two.
Lieutenant Reginald Savory."
All the nationalities suffered very heavy casualties.
Whether it was British, Indian, French, Ottoman Turks
all had huge losses.
The bodies began to pile up.
The trenches began to smell with the decomposition.
Seddülbahir was a horrible place.
The Allies suffered 20,000 casualties and advanced just half a mile.
Trying to stop them, the Turks lost close to 50,000 men.
For the Turks, these battles on two flanks
were the bloodiest and costliest of all the battles in Dardanelles.
The Turkish losses here, the lives lost certainly
account for the majority of losses out of total during the battles on Dardanelles.
To reduce the stench, soldiers
poured gasoline on the corpses they could reach and burned them.
Selahaddin Adil's division was so battered
that it was called to the rear.
"July 15.
Dear Siret
Thank God I am not ill.
But two months of continuous struggle
hardships and an uncertain life have taken their toll on my body.
My troops have held their positions against
the whole French and a part of the British lines.
They have worn the enemy down.
But I, my brave officers, and soldiers, we are all finished.
Selahaddin Adil."
"It is pitiful to see men not long ago strong and healthy.
Once youthful complexions have been replaced by hollow jowls and sunken eyes
their bodies emaciated.
Most of them should be in hospital.
They are cheating death, but only just.
They are walking corpses.
The ghosts of Gallipoli.
Joe Murray."
"The peninsula, at present, consists of dust, dirt, grit, jam, bullets, and blood.
I wish this beastly war was over.
I'm fed up with fighting.
Guy Nightingale."
In the sweltering summer, conditions got even worse
the heat, the lice, the flies, the dysentery, and the morale.
Overcrowded trenches became ovens where men had to scour for water.
Many sucked on rocks or wiped their lips with urine for a little moisture.
"The only water we had to drink was a limey, smelly, and bitter well water.
If, by any chance, a little water was left in a cup
after a while a white, chalk-like sediment settled on the bottom.
Münim Mustafa."
"Tuesday, July 20.
Today we began to dig a well on Ikiz Bay.
It was really comical.
Only a few hours ago we were sucking stones to quench our thirst
and now we're next to the water as we want.
A bit salty, but not nearly as salty as urine.
Joe Murray."
"One of the things that disgusted us was the flies.
My God, what annoying creatures.
Thousands of flies attacked the food on our forks while we ate.
We couldn't swat them away, even with our hands.
Münim Mustafa."
The flies went from the feces in the drains to the food.
The flies came from the mouths and the open wounds of the dead
to the food, into their mouths.
And the flies spread disease.
In July and August
disease caused by flies was rampant.
Both sides evacuated hundreds of men each week.
George Bollinger spent most of July in Egypt, suffering from acute gastritis.
By August, 80% of the ANZAC men had dysentery.
Eventually, 20,000 Turkish soldiers would die of disease.
Poor, monotonous diet compounded the illness.
The Allies survived on bully beef, bacon, cheese
tea and sugar, biscuits and jam
almost always covered with flies.
The bully beef and cheese melted in the heat and became inedible.
The biscuits were so hard
that one soldier claimed that he broke seven teeth trying to eat them.
Turkish soldiers lived on rice, pounded wheat and flour soup.
Any food cooked in the rear was cold by the time it reached the troops.
Both sides rarely saw any fresh vegetables or fruit.
"Just a drop of vinegar or a piece of sugar
How wonderful they would be.
Just to smell or even see these delicious condiments would be enough for me.
Or a bowl of salad.
Münim Mustafa."
Unlike what Allies presume, the Turkish soldiers lived in squalor.
Most of them had not been paid for months.
We know they had very little equipment.
We know they had very little in the way of clothing.
A lot of clothing got swapped round.
Some men didn't have boots
they literally had bandages on their feet.
Even the horses were in poor condition.
But, strange as it seems
the morale of the Turkish army was very good.
Soldiers spent what little free time they had talking, reading letters,
harassing their enemy across the lines, and swimming.
"June 23.
I went down to the beach today.
There were thousands in
when the enemy's shells rained down.
One shell landed amid a crowd on the beach
and accounted for 17 casualties.
The beach was soon cleared
but this sort of thing is happening every day.
George Bollinger."
The French even found time for archaeological excavations
when heavy shelling unearthed some ancient statues.
Later in the campaign, the Allies organized soccer games at Seddülbahir.
According to some soldiers
the Turks didn't fire on the players, but actually bet on the games.
"Each afternoon it was calm at the front, because everyone was usually at lunch.
It was as if both sides had agreed to take time off from the war
so the front was completely silent.
After lunch, the British sometimes
held up long sticks with puppets made out of paper and rags.
They moved these above their trenches, making them dance left and right.
Münim Mustafa."
At Arıburnu, where the opposing trenches were closer
a special relationship developed between the Turks and the ANZAC.
There was a personal dimension to Gallipoli. As trenches
were close enough for both sides to often see each other.
Somehow, they got to know each other.
The Turk was not a shadowy figure on the eyes of the ANZAC.
The Turks got to know the ANZAC, and the ANZAC got to know the Turks.
Messages were even exchanged.
Gifts were even exchanged.
Turkish soldiers threw cigarettes to the Australians.
The Australians threw bully beef back.
It was returned after it was opened and tried.
Some of the men even ventured into no man's land to retrieve the gifts.
"'Ernest' was a gaunt old Turk who used to
come out of his trench every morning to gather firewood.
Our chaps never fired a shot for a long while.
They used to chuck him tins of bully
and he'd say hello and thank them.
Poor old 'Ernest' died a sudden death one morning
when a new lot came in the trenches.
Lieutenant Harold Eric Moody."
For everyone, letters were the strongest connection to their lives back home.
Soldiers lived for news from their families.
Guy Nightingale kept up a regular correspondence with his mother
sparing her no details.
"June 9.
Dear Mother
we are a small lot of officers now.
All the rest are new territorial officers and absolute strangers.
One was hit last night during dinner and fell into the soup
upsetting the whole table, making an awful mess of everything.
And we finally didn't get dinner until after dark.
Guy Nightingale."
The literacy rate in the Turkish Army was only 5%,
but those who could wrote constantly
and anxiously awaited news from home.
Dear angel
Let me tell you my plans.
As you know, our honeymoon was spent first at the frontier and then at war.
I am saving all my money in case I survive and return.
Then we can go anywhere we wish for our honeymoon.
Selahaddin Adil."
The Turks also had special couriers
who delivered messages and gifts to the soldiers from their villages.
Their arrival was always a special occasion in the trenches.
"The excitement of our soldiers that day was a sight to see.
They kept asking about their fiancées and wives.
The courier was trying very hard to answer all of them and ease their hearts.
He talked about the soldiers' friends and families, from all the villages.
'Where is Durmuş's son, Kara Ali?'
When he was told that Ali had been blown to pieces by a bomb three days ago
We saw him trying to figure out how he would return and give these news
Our eyes filled with tears.
Münim Mustafa."
Despite all the hardships, the men hung on
both to their positions and sanity.
One morning when Bill Leadley was going to the rear
he saw the remains of 20 Australians killed by a shrapnel explosion.
"It was a terrible scene
but I was struck by a rather unusual sight
and went closer to investigate.
In this example of the horrors of war
one of the soldiers' packs had burst open.
And lying on the ground, just as they'd fallen out
were a pair of light blue baby shoes.
And close beside them, a pair of ladies' white gloves.
They looked so much out of place
lying there in the midst of so much bloodshed and carnage
and a lump rose in my throat.
Suddenly I thought of their owners, probably far away
in Australia, who'd just lost their loved one.
Did I say 'lost'? I'm wrong.
Love is never lost.
It goes on forever
until it's lost in God, the fountain of love.
So these three who loved each other separated now for a little while
They will meet again when the shadows flee away, and will go on loving forever.
Bill Leadley."
These men had seen terrible things, and did terrible things
and will do terrible things
because they believe in their cause
they'll take away from this experience terrible scars,
but they'll never, ever have lost their humanity.
On August 6, 1915, the Allies
to capture Chunuk Bair
launched a new major offensive on all fronts with 100,000 troops.
First at Seddülbahir, then at Arıburnu.
At the start of the Australian attack
Oliver Cumberland was in the trenches at Kanlısırt.
When the Australians surged into the Turkish trenches and tunnels
hand-to-hand fighting began underground.
Men shot, choked, and clubbed each other to death.
The Australians immediately captured the first Turkish line.
But the Turks battled back.
Both sides fought with bayonets and hand grenades.
Some bombs made three trips back and forth before they exploded.
"Bombs were going over from both sides.
In the trench behind me there were dead and wounded
and the soldiers were stepping over them.
This decreased the morale. They were in a state of high strain.
Major Zeki Bey."
The Turks stopped the Australian breakthrough at the last minute.
Trenches became cluttered with dead.
In some places the corpses were piled two to three meters high.
There's several cases of Turks and Australians bayoneting each other
and literally both dying at the same time
so that they were, if you like, totally linked in death
and just lying there, impossible to separate.
The Australians held on to their captured trenches despite the Turk counterattacks.
The Australians lost 2000 men at Kanlısırt.
The Turks, 7,000.
"They have made the sandbags all greasy.
The flies hum in a bee-like cloud.
Of all the bastards of places, this is the greatest one in the world.
Ion Idriess."
When the Australians went on to France and Belgium on the Western Front
they often compared battles to the one in Kanlısırt.
In their letters, they wrote either "It was as bad as Kanlısırt"
or "It was nearly as bad as Kanlısırt."
Everyone who was there never forgot it.
It was impossible to go into that place and not come out mentally scarred.
After Kanlısırt, Oliver Cumberland was listed as wounded.
Further north, the New Zealanders were to capture Chunuk Bair
and then to support an Australian attack at the Nek.
But the New Zealanders were delayed.
The Australians would have to attack the Turkish trenches alone.
The men waiting at the Nek
were soldiers of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade.
At 4:30, the first wave attacked.
Two minutes later, the second wave was ordered to follow.
Minutes later, despite knowing what had happened to the first waves
the Australian commander ordered the third wave to attack.
In the trenches, trooper Harold Rush turned to his mate and said:
"Goodbye, cobber. God bless you" and attacked.
The fourth wave was ordered to go next.
Before this had happened, a Turkish officer
came to the end of one trench above the Australians and called out
"Stop! Stop!"
The slaughter had become too terrible.
They attacked anyway.
Within half an hour, out of 600 Australians
234 were killed and 138 wounded.
All in an area no larger than a tennis court.
One of the things that always haunts me when I go there is
why those men in the third and fourth line left the trench.
What were they thinking?
Despite knowing that they were going to achieve nothing and were going to die
why did they leave?
"August 7.
I expect we shall lose a lot more good men tomorrow.
So, if this is the last entry in my diary
I send my dearest love to Bill, Dad and Ma, Jack, Floss and Gwen.
And hope that you will not worry too much about me.
I am not afraid to die.
Goodbye, if it is to be.
Bill Leadley."
The next day, on August 8
Commanded by Lt. Col. William Malone, the New Zealanders
supported by two British battalions
captured the Chunuk Bair.
When the Turks retaliated, another intense battle began.
All through that day, they exhausted each other
and it was as bloody as the Somme and Passchendaele.
More intense, even
because it's such a tiny piece of ground.
And at the end of the day
the Turks as well as the New Zealanders
were exhausted.
The New Zealanders and the British
were under fire from all sides
but held their positions and refused to retreat.
On the night of August 8, Liman von Sanders
gave Mustafa Kemal command of all Arıburnu and Anafartalar forces.
It was his battle now.
Mustafa Kemal first rode to Anafartalar
where new British divisions had landed two nights before.
The new troops were inexperienced and their commanders incompetent.
Just four Turkish battalions had impeded their advance.
The Turkish opposition at Anafartalar is almost an unsung tale
because people don't seem to have grasped the success of four Turkish battalions.
The way they held the outposts.
As the British neared, they kept hitting and running.
It caused heavy casualties.
And then evaporated into the night and the bushes.
On August 9, the British troops finally started to climb up the hills
when Mustafa Kemal attacked.
All day, the Turks defeated every British attempt to advance.
By nightfall, Anafartalar was in charge of Turks.
Immediately, Mustafa Kemal returned to Chunuk Bair.
In the night of August 9, the remaining New Zealanders on Chunuk Bair
were relieved by two British battalions
The New Zealanders had been there for four days
and lost half of their 4,500 men.
Nearly three Turkish regiments had been wiped out trying to dislodge them.
Mustafa Kemal decided to risk everything
and planned a raid with all his available forces.
The Turks attacked at 4:30 on the morning of August 10.
When they withdrew
they left behind, scattered in the gullies and the scrub
2000 British dead and wounded.
"When our soldiers captured Chunuk Bair
the enemy unleashed hell on the hill with
an intense naval and artillery bombardment.
Chunuk Bair was completely covered with flames and smoke.
Everyone just waited for their end to come next.
There were dead and wounded piled up all around us.
Mustafa Kemal."
Despite heavy casualties, the Turks won back Chunuk Bair.
Once again, the Allied offensive had failed.
Mustafa Kemal
was destined to be.
He knew what he had to do
and very well knew the price he had to pay.
He didn't hesitate and abandon his command.
And he succeeded.
The fighting at Anafartalar rumbled on throughout August.
During many of the battles, the scrub caught fire.
"This place is full of bodies of dead soldiers.
Some must have been wounded when they crawled here
and probably died before or during the fire.
Their flesh was charred and split wide open.
The tragedy of the scene is so dreadful that it makes one's hair stand up.
Ismail Hakkı."
"We all thought we'd be burnt alive.
We lay flat at the bottom of the trench and the flames flew over.
The whole attack was a ghastly failure.
They generally are now.
Guy Nightingale."
By the end of August
almost every unit on both sides had been devastated after three weeks.
"We are really played out, and so was the whole division
and ought never to have been made to do anything.
The 29th Division will never be any more good
but authorities think we are the same troops that did the landing.
I am sure everybody's opinion out here is 'Live and let live'
and 'Turkey for the Turks'."
"I don't know these British, and they do not know me.
What can I say to those who made us come here and kill each other?
I have sworn that I will not fire a single bullet without reason.
Ismail Hakkı."
Gallipoli was the battle where
a group of amateur soldiers faced the realities of war for the first time.
And there was nothing glorious about it.
It was mistake, blunder, muddle, death, and disease.
Should the troops be withdrawn?
It depends on Kitchener's report.
Kitchener might not withdraw the troops.
By October
the British government had to decide whether to prolong or to evacuate.
Winter was coming.
As the politicians and generals bickered over what to do
on November 26, a powerful storm hit Gallipoli.
Water rushed down the ravines and flooded the trenches.
"The trench we had dug in the cliff side was now gone
filled-in or washed-away by the raging torrent.
Stores. Timber. Equipment. All floating away.
Among these, fresh as well as decomposed bodies
pieces of uniform with bones protruding could be seen.
Despite the rain and shelling went on without a pause.
We realized that a lot of people were drowned only after the storm.
Joe Murray."
The next morning, snow began to fall.
After the hottest summer in years, the peninsula
was about to have the coldest winter in decades.
"Sunday, November 28.
Several centimeters of snow fell last night and continued to fall all day.
There was no inclination to go snowballing.
We were miserable.
No one had contemplated this.
George Bollinger."
"The snow is two finger high.
Fairly strong cold wind blows snow into our faces.
Conditions are terrible.
I can't walk without slipping.
If we have to go into action, what then?
Oh, my God, help us.
Mehmed Fasih."
The freeze lasted for a month.
16,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated with frostbite.
Almost 300 died of exposure.
The men were getting desperate.
"I am 21
but my hair and beard are already gray
my face is wrinkled and my body is rotting.
I can't tolerate these disasters any longer and I get easily affected.
Mehmed Fasih."
After six weeks of indecision
the British government finally
decided to evacuate Gallipoli.
"I am ashamed of leaving so many of my pals behind.
We all came here together, full of hope
for that hope, many have died.
Their hopes and their bones are scattered in this desolate waste.
Even though it was no fault of ours
those of us who survive will be tormented for years by this fiasco.
We fought well and suffered dreadfully.
We could not do more
but in the end, we deserted them.
Joe Murray."
January 9, 1916.
End of war.
Last looks at Arıburnu.
Farewell to Turks.
After Gallipoli, most of the British units served
on the Western Front, or in the Middle East.
The ANZAC spirit that was born in Gallipoli
grew stronger on the battlefields of Northern Europe and Palestine.
The Ottoman Empire won at Dardanelles, but ultimately lost the World War I.
They surrendered to the British.
In October 1918
the British fleet finally sailed through the Dardanelles
and occupied Istanbul,
without a single casualty.
In later years, Gallipoli became known
as a campaign of what-ifs and missed opportunities.
For the Turks, it was the last defiant stand of a crumbling empire.
For the British, an unexpected disaster in the Near East.
For some, it was a speeding factor in the Soviet Revolution.
For others, just a sideshow in World War I.
Whatever its impact on history
its human toll cannot be disputed.
More than 120,000 soldiers lost their lives in Gallipoli.
Bill Leadley
Joe Murray
and Selahaddin Adil
all survived Dardanelles and the World War I.
They all lived to old age.
George Bollinger survived Gallipoli
but was killed on the Western Front in 1917.
Dardanelles campaign made Mustafa Kemal.
After Dardanelles, he came to be known as "The Hero of Anafartalar".
After the World War I, he led the country in War of Liberty
and regained independence for his country.
He then established a secular government
and became its first president. To the world, he became known as Atatürk.
After Gallipoli, Guy Nightingale fought on the Western Front
and survived the war without a single wound.
When his beloved regiment was dissolved in 1922
Nightingale was devastated.
He retired from the army, became a recluse
and started drinking heavily.
In 1935, at the age of 43
he shot himself with his own gun.
By the end of 1916
Oliver Cumberland's sister Una still hadn't heard from him.
The last letter that she received was dated July 26, 1915.
Ten days before the Battle of Kanlısırt.
"July 26, 1915.
Dear Una
I've been in the firing line for about six weeks
and still going strong and in the best of health.
You can understand, Una, that losing Joe has broken me up a bit.
But, Una, in this terrible game of war, especially this war
those who are killed quickly are luckier.
At least they don't suffer.
I know it is useless to ask you not to worry about me
but remember, I'm used to roughing it
and wars can end as suddenly as they start.
And apart from the loss of poor Joe
I'm keeping my spirits up fairly well.
You remember the girl in Winton you sent my photo to?
She turned me down.
She has only written me one letter since I left Winton
and it was only a few lines. So I've scratched her off the list.
Your affectionate brother, Oliver Cumberland."
On May 31, 1915
a young Turkish captain
wrote a letter to his parents from Arıburnu.
It was the longest Turkish letter to survive the battle.
"Monday, May 31, 1915. Arıburnu.
To my beloved father and mother.
Dear Father, beloved Mother
During the first terrible battle I fought at Arıburnu
a bullet passed through my side and trousers
God be praised, I was spared.
But I do not hope to survive future battles in which I will fight.
I am writing these lines for you to remember me by.
I thank God that He enabled me to become a soldier and reach this rank.
His divine fate has seen me suitable to be a soldier.
You, as my parents,
did all you could to raise me
and make it possible for me to serve my country and my people.
You are my heart, you are my soul, and you are the inspiration of my life.
I am eternally grateful to God and to you.
Beloved Father, dearest Mother
I entrust my beloved wife, Münevver, and my dear son, Nezih
first to God, and then to your protection.
Please do for them whatever is possible.
Please help my wife in raising my son and providing him
with the necessary education.
I know that we are not wealthy
so I can't ask for anything impossible.
To ask would be quite in vain.
Please give the enclosed letter addressed to my wife into her own hands.
She will be devastated
so please do what you can to console her grief.
She will weep and mourn.
Please comfort her.
Dear relatives, beloved friends and comrades
farewell to you all.
All of you, bid me farewell and pray for my soul.
I will pray for yours. Farewell.
Farewell. I entrust all of you to the eternal God.
Beloved Father and Mother, I eternally entrust you to God.
Your son, Mehmet Tevfik."
Mehmet Tevfik was killed two weeks later.