Back to letters
Gallipoli Battlefields by Air
Keith Butler travelled with his wife on the Gallipoli Battlefield Tour and told us why he had decided to join this particular tour.
We’d never been on a Battlefield tour before so were a bit unsure what to expect. My interest was a family one – my grandfather served at Gallipoli and we were fortunate enough to have his diary of the campaign. Of the 40 in our tour group, I would say about half had a family connection to the conflict. The other members of our group were a wide cross-section of ages and backgrounds, but everyone was very pleasant and gelled very well, so as we travelled along everyone chatted to whoever happened to be nearby.
Our Specialist Guide
Our Battlefield Guide, Peter, was very knowledgeable and his enthusiasm made the battlefields come alive. His humour and patience under a barrage of questions was impressive.
Fascinating Visits
The Gallipoli Peninsular was a Turkish military training area until the mid 1990s, so is largely unchanged since the First World War. This means that there is plenty of evidence from the battles. It was fascinating to visit places my grandfather wrote about. He was a blacksmith, and to see horseshoes which local farmers had dug up from their fields got me wondering if he’d made them 95 years ago.
Excellent Hotel
The Hotel Kum was ideally situated in the middle of the peninsular and was excellent with very attentive staff. The rooms were spotless and comfortable and there was a wide selection of appetising and plentiful food.
Tour Highlights
Our coach driver and Bilga, our Turkish guide, were very approachable and charming ambassadors for their country. There were many highlights: the desolate Lancashire Landing; the poignant Anzac Beach and the striking Turkish Memorial.
It was interesting to see how patriotic the Turks are, with flags everywhere, and how they trace the growth of modern Turkey to the Gallipoli campaign.
My wife enjoyed the battlefields, but the trip to Troy and the time spent in Istanbul were an added bonus.
Highly Recommended
We had never travelled with Leger before but I am sure we will again in future. Several friends had recommended Leger Battlefield tours, but it still surpassed our expectations.
