The Galipoli battlefield tour was fascinating on several levels.

The unspoiled landscape of cliffs, green hills and sandy beaches was spectacular. If it wasn’t a graveyard it would surely be a string of beach resorts.

As the site of a tremendous Turkish victory led by Ataturk, the peninsula is venerated by Turks who have very generously shared memorial space with their hapless attackers.

On the tour were several Aussies with a personal connection to the battle. One read from the battle diary of his grand uncle. Another visited the grave of his aunt’s fiancee. She never married, he said, but devoted all her thwarted love to him and his siblings, exerting a profound influence on his life.

Nine months of battle; one half million casualties and 130,000 dead on both sides.