We had no sooner arrived in Eceabat and were approached by a reporter from the UK Guardian for an interview. Here is an exerpt.
"As dawn rose over Gallipoli 100 years ago, Cyril Batchelor of the 12th Battalion AIF was on the number two boat in to North Beach, later to be known as Anzac Cove.
The young Tasmanian made it ashore, but was hit in the left leg by Turkish machine gun fire and collapsed; a junior officer who ran over to him caught a neat row of bullets across the stomach and was among the first of about 620 Australian troops to die that day.
Batchelor did what he could for the young officer, then dug himself in to the sand. Such was the savageness of the fighting that it was three days before a medic could get near him.
“They took him to Lemnos to operate and, back in Hobart, he went on to father 10 children – the youngest of which was me,” said Ben Batchelor. “But when they took those bullets out, you know, he kept them. Kept them all his life. Couldn’t forget.”
Eceabat, a small, slightly scruffy port on the eastern side of the Gallipoli pensinula in modern day Turkey, is full of people like Ben, 79, and his wife June, 77: Australians and New Zealanders who have come to pay their respects to a brave young forebear, and to remember 11,000 fellow countrymen who came here, too, but never went back."
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| Gina Scott, June and Ben Batchelor and Guardian reporter Jon Hendley |
Ben and June were transported to the Anzac service with Crowded House Tours, who were very kind and easy to work with. If you are going to Turkey to do a tour of Anzac Cove, we would recommend them to you.
We had ensured the oldies were kitted out correctly for their overnight adventure at Anzac Cove, they assured us on return they were not cold, but I can tell you they were very tired.
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| June and Ben Batchelor after the dawn service 2015 Gallipoli |
We found the security to be excellent with gunmen on top of buildings everywhere, and fighter jets flying across frequently.
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| June Batchelor, Gina Scott, Ben Batchelor - Eceabat 2015 |
In Eceabat there is a waterfront memorial too which is worth a walk around.
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| Eceabat memorial |
And I have to say we were staying in an idealic location just outside a small village, (we found it difficult to actually locate any accommodation, even planning more than 12 months in advance). The locals were very friendly and helpful and many loved to have a chat.
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| On Gallipoli Peninsula looking toward Greece. |
Ben also did an ABC interview with local radio in Launceston, whilst in Rome.
