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The Graveyards of Gallipoli; A Digger History Associate Site |
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A Tribute to the Men of all the Nations that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 |
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The Ataturk Turkish War Memorial Chunuk Bair Gallipoli |
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Conkbayiri Atatürk Aniti |
No A-14 |
Photos: Eric Goossens | |
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The Ataturk Memorial stands alongside the
New Zealand Memorial at Chunuk Bair Gallipoli (see below).
It commemorates the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal later called Ataturk. It is a large bronze statue of Mustafa Kemal in the uniform of an officer of the army of the Ottoman Empire. Behind his back he clasps a whip, a reminder to all who know the story of that dawn when he raised it to begin the great Turkish counter-attack at Conkbayiri (Chunuk Bair).
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| The concrete cannon balls mark the spot where Kemal was hit in the chest by shrapnel but was saved because it hit his watch. He successfully led the Turkish resistance throughout the campaign and later became the first President of the "new" Turkey. Today, Kemal, or more correctly Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Father of Turks) (Born MUSTAFA PASHA, his brilliance and arrogance earned him the name 'KEMAL', Turkish for perfectionist) is the best known Turkish leader of all both of the country and of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli. |
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| The Ataturk Memorial and the New Zealand Memorial stand side by side. As close in peace as the soldiers were in war. Photo: Tim Kantar | |
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"Some chaps had a glimpse of the sea
and all the country in between and we knew perfectly well that this hill
was the key to victory or defeat on the peninsula".
[Sergeant Daniel Curham, Wellington Infantry Battalion, quoted in Christopher Pugsley, Gallipoli, The New Zealand Story, Auckland, 1998, p.286] Photo: Tim Kantar |
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Close up of the Ataturk Memorial showing detail Photo: Tim Kantar |
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Mustafa Kemal (fourth from left) with some of his officers and staff of the Anafarta command. [AWM P01141.001] |
