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| A beautiful sunrise over the Anzac Beaches |
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| The peaceful beaches that have seen so much blood shed |
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| The crowds who gathered for the memorial service |
Anzac Cove and the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula have a special place in the hearts of Australians and New Zealanders. As we slowly cruised along past the sacred places along the coast of Turkey, a number of ceremonies were held to honour the brave souls who lost their lives here.
Veterans from all branches of the Australian and New Zealand services have been meeting over the past few weeks with the cruise staff to plan the day’s program. I guess we are all strangers, with our own life story’s when we boarded the ship - and you never know the background of your fellow passengers - and today was another opportunity to get to know their stories - our fellow passengers included General Sir Phillip Bennett, Lt Colonel Robert Smith and Commodore Geoff Morton who took part in the main ceremony.
We sat at lunch yesterday with an elderly gentleman, John Craig who had been a prisoner of war working on the Burma railway and then he was taken to Japan to work in the copper mines until the war ended - he had a fascinating story to tell - and was very appreciative that people were interested in his story as he told of the conditions they had to endure - for our freedom.
Four weeks ago, I had made an appointment to get my hair cut... and wouldn’t you know it......it was this morning during the service, and I couldn’t get another one before Dover, so I missed part of the main memorial.
Not wanting to miss out, I decided to get up at 5.15am to attend the dawn service - as the sun rose over the hills, a short service and the call of the bugle was held, followed by rum toddies and Anzac biscuits. Our friends, Linda and Paul were there - Paul proudly wearing his Vietnam medals and Linda was wearing her grandfather’s medals.
A church service was held at 8.00 am. and enrichment lecturer, Peter Headley, gave a commentary from the bridge which was broadcast into staterooms - highlighting the history as we cruised slowly along the coastline.
A large contingent of passengers gathered on the open decks at 10.00 am. for the main Anzac Cove memorial service.The Dawn Princess choir, a group of more than 100 passengers, performed as well. The singing of ‘Amazing Grace’ always brings tears to my eye - and it was especially poignant as we looked out to the beaches.
Congratulations must go to the cruise staff of Dawn Princess who realised the significance of Anzac Cove to the passengers, and set out to present a very moving tribute - from the rosemary sprigs for all passengers, Anzac biscuits (apparently the chefs have been working for weeks to perfect their recipe) - the bugler, and the various memorial and prayer services, all made this a very special day in a sacred place.
Tomorrow we are off to Athens - yippee!!!
Cheers
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