Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921Graham, Stephen
History
Europe—whither bound? (Quo vadis Europa?) : $b being letters of travel from the capitals of Europe in the year 1921
Graham, Stephen
Europe -- Description and travel
We have gathered together the bones and have buried them all, be they
English or Turk, and have decently cleaned up Gallipoli--as Englishmen
would. Australians and New Zealanders work there now with simple
devotion and energy, and are astonishing the Turks, who ask, "If they do
so much for the dead, what will they do for the living?"
A few army huts on the height above Kellia Bay mark the headquarters
where Col. Hughes and his Anzac staff are living. From ever-windy hills
they look across the Narrows to the wan house where Byron lived. Gangs
of Greeks are working for them. The extremity of Gallipoli Peninsula is
as it were an imperial estate, and every day a round of work goes on at
Helles, at Greenhill, at Suvla, and the rest. With the coming of summer
the ships are coming with the marble, and the stone slabs will climb the
hills where once our fellows struggled upward. It is a fine undertaking.
No ranks are distinguished in the gravestones, and all are equal in
sacrifice. But dominating everything will be a tall white obelisk to be
put up on the highest point of Helles, visible to all ships passing
through the Gate and going forth upon the seas. Australia will be there.
England might lose its interest in the Dardanelles--but the Empire never.
The younger men have their eyes upon it. And what a contrast the
Laodicean atmosphere of G.H.Q., and the frankness of an Australian and
New Zealand mess!
A certain widow of a brave general who died in the attack, has, through
wealth and influence, obtained permission to erect a personal monument to
her husband on Gallipoli. If this is carried out it will be greatly
resented by the Australians, who say, "If wealth can purchase a monument,
there are plenty of rich Australians who would readily erect memorials to
their gallant kith and kin who perished here." A pity if the equality
and simplicity of the Gallipoli cemeteries is broken into.
An exchange of hospitality with H.M.S. "Tumult," standing off Chanak,
kept us in touch with the outside world, giving us the wireless messages
each day. Thus we heard of the application of the "sanctions" to
Germany, the conclusion of the trade treaty with Soviet Russia, the fall
of Batum, and other items of world interest. The first officer told us
how they stood off at Sevastopol and took on Russian wounded, the most
appalling cases of suffering where there was never a murmur from the men,
and the Russian sisters sat with them all day and all night with a
never-tiring devotion. The Commander and every one were strongly
Russophile--won to them by personal contact with the Russians, and that
although the ship "stank like a pole-cat" before it could bring the
refugees to port.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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