Hello everyone! I have said before that there are many places to visit in Gallipoli. There are really many historical places to visit and see here, you need to stay for a very long time to finish them all. We tried to visit everywhere as much as possible, but I think it will not be enough, because as I said before, the summer vacation is coming to an end and we will be back to Norway soon. 3 weeks ago we got married in Gallipoli, and I wanted to tell you about the Gallipoli War Museum that we visited before our marriage, because at that time I didn't have time to share it here because of the wedding preparations. If you are ready, let's start to visit this historically important museum!
Before we start, I would like to quote the detailed information about the history of the museum. After you get the historical information about the museum, I recommend you to read the post.
GALLIPOLI WAR MUSEUM
It is difficult to tell the story of a war. A battlefield is a place where life and death are intertwined... It is a place where day and night, right and wrong are mixed together...
The Battle of Gallipoli, where every bullet fired, every shrapnel shattered; not only in Anatolia, but also in the flanks of mothers in many parts of the world, was the scene of a different struggle than any other war...
On the one hand, the Turkish soldier protecting the homeland in poverty, on the other hand, the British, Australians, French, Indians, Senegalese, French, Indians, who landed on the shores of Marmara and Aegean in a war that they did not even know the cause of, far away from their homes.
Many lives were lost in this war... Many soldiers endured unimaginable hardships to survive... One "not to take a single step back" and the other "to take a single step forward" fought for days under the harsh conditions of fire, gunpowder and nature. They endured hunger and thirst. As in every war; the one with more faith won. The other lost.
Gallipoli War Museum was established to tell the traces of a war that witnessed perhaps the greatest heroic stories of history, the Battle of Gallipoli, and the aspects that remain hidden in a corner of memories. In the museum, which exhibits over 7000 items; each item has a different memory. And each of them is related to this war... The traces of the war, sometimes reflected in a toothbrush, sometimes in a flask with a hole, come to light again with the Gallipoli War Museum.
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COLLECTION
For more than 15 years, this collection, which has been brought together with great sacrifices, has returned to the glorious Gallipoli lands where it belongs after many years. The entire collection belongs to Onur AKMANLAR and has been registered to Topkapı Museum for the first time in Turkey.
The collection, with a wide variety of war objects, carries the difficulties experienced in the Gallipoli War, the troubles of the soldiers, their fun, love, hate, in short, all kinds of humanitarian events to the present day.
Among the exhibited artifacts, it is possible to come across thousands of objects and materials from soldier buttons to epaulettes, from bombs to guns, from letters to glass bottles. We believe that history is learned by living, not by rote. We would like to express our gratitude to all our friends who supported us during this work.
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The Gallipoli War Museum is located on a street that we always pass by but never noticed it before. We had visited the Tractor Museum on this street before, but we had not noticed this place then, there is a road that we necessarily pass through when entering the city center of Gallipoli by car, and even for grocery shopping, every time we come to Gallipoli, we actually pass through this street, but as I said, we have never seen it before. The entrance fee inside, as a joke, you may not believe it, but it is only 3 TL.
The Gallipoli War Museum brings the brutal realities of war and stories of heroism to life for its visitors. As soon as you step inside, the echoes of the war and the atmosphere of that period surround you.
The museum houses a large collection of military equipment, weapons, maps and much more used during the Gallipoli War. These reveal the true face of the war and the harsh conditions of that period. We are here to discover stories of the heroes of the war and the sacrifices of ordinary people.
The museum focuses on both the military and human dimensions of the war. Boards explaining the causes, consequences and effects of the war give visitors a deeper understanding of the period. There are also touching exhibitions with stories of the heroes of the war and the sacrifices of ordinary people. There is a guide inside, so you can ask for information if you have any questions, and the guides are very knowledgeable and eager to convey the information to the visitors.
The team of archaeologists and specialists who are devotedly involved in historical research and digging are the ones who dig up the wartime artifacts on display here, such as pottery, bullets and buttons. This team works meticulously to collect and preserve materials from the Canakkale War period. The various objects found during the digging are considered important evidence reflecting the heat of the battle and the atmosphere of the period. It is very impressive to see pottery fragments, bullet fragments, items from the daily lives of the soldiers, weapons and ammunition residues in the exhibition. Can you imagine, even a canned food used in wartime years ago is presented here. As visitors, it is really interesting for us to see and be informed about such historical things.
These archaeologists also work on the restoration, conservation and display of objects found during digs. Displaying the findings with historical accuracy ensures that the museum provides visitors with accurate information. The volunteer dig team is made up of local people from Gallipoli who are also involved in the digging work. Even the moment of the first discovery of a pot exhibited in the museum is photographed and exhibited to visitors.
This team of volunteers at the Gallipoli War Museum is dedicated to tracing the traces of the war, illuminating this period and preserving this important historical monument. In addition to keeping the memory of the battle alive, the museum also conveys the details and nuances of the period to its visitors through the work of these experts.
That's all I have to tell you about the museum in general, I took a lot of photos from this wonderful museum for you. I will continue by giving information about some of the photos I will share. I hope you already feel like you have been to this museum.
CANNON SHELL
There may not have been many shells fired, but being too close to the exploding shells was a terrifying experience for the soldiers
In the trench, I would lie face down as close to the trench wall as possible and as close to the bottom as possible. The ground would shake and mortar shells would pass over it, sounding like meowing cats. It was good as long as you heard the explosion. If you didn't hear the explosion, you were dead!
Private Harry Baker
While the shells were falling into the sea in the distance around Cape Hisarlık, they began to approach us in stages; the second was shorter, the third landed on the Seddülbahir pier, and the fourth shell landed on the battery right next to us. Seeing this battery in the dust and smoke, the enemy concentrated their fire on our side. At one point there was a terrific and deafening explosion. The whole place was shaken... Suddenly my breath caught in my throat and I couldn't breathe. As I felt something warm flowing down my arm and leg, I realized that I had been wounded with a terrible pain. I had not lost consciousness in this state. I don't know what happened next. When I opened my eyes and came to my senses, the bombardment had stopped and a silence of death surrounded me... a large enemy howitzer, which I thought had fallen on the arch under which I had taken shelter, had hit our central armory. That terrific explosion I heard was the sound of our ammunition being blown up.
(Captain Semsettin Bey - Camurluoğlu)
Other items found in the area
Pocket Watch
Various Unifrom Buttons
Coins
Handmade Bomb Made From a Jam Can
The stern lettering of one of the landing boats
Pipes
A metal plate used in the British army to polish the buttons of soldiers' jackets to prevent the jacket from getting dirty
British-Anzac, shovel, hoe hand tools
Razor & Scissors
Gurkha Khukuri - Bayonets - French Bayonet - British Bayonet
Turkish grenade handle
Lamp in Captivity
JOHN WOODS A friend from Australia. 75 years old.
My friendship with John started 4 years ago. A few emails and then hundreds. The subject that we share and that binds us tightly to each other is, of course, Canakkale, and like us, John had created a website www.anzacs.net on the Canakkale war. John and I started to think and we started a huge project to photograph the gravestones of Anzac soldiers who lost their lives in Gallipoli. With the help of this project, a person in Australia who clicks on the name of his grandfather on John's website will be able to see his grandfather's gravestone and maybe pray online. A big part of this project was realized. Most of the more than 6000 tombstones that needed to be photographed were included on the site as a result of our volunteer work. While the work was going on, I received a package from John. He had sent me a lamp that Anzac soldiers had taken from a mosque in Gallipoli as a trophy during the war, as a souvenir of this work. John wrote that he had bought the lamp 40 years ago at an auction and that he had kept this lamp with verses from the Quran on it in the rarest corner of his house for 40 years. I recently came across a similar model in the "Aramco World" magazine, which does archaeological research in the Arab world. The description there mentions that the lamp, which is thought to be Syrian or Egyptian, was manufactured in the late 14th century... They will live as long as we dig, as long as the world turns, as long as their names are remembered...
source: Gallipoli Digger Team
SRD
When the order came to destroy all alcoholic beverages, the situation became very serious. We were also asked to telegraph that the order had been carried out. In due course Hawke Battalion reported that "All 'excess' stocks of alcoholic beverages had been destroyed" However, this statement was found to be incorrect 36 hours later and... this was made clear to us in plain language.
(Lieutenant Douglas Jerrold)
Looting was also a problem, with large quantities of alcohol and other valuables waiting to be destroyed in abandoned canteens. To prevent this, O'Dowda had tightened security at the warehouses under his control on W Beach.
I decided that I had to remove this source of temptation from those who would come after him. I sent my MPs, armed with iron bars and accompanied by an officer, to the canteen and they checked the liquor. Indeed, the frothing flow of the liquor down the beach brought tears to the eyes of some of the thirsty. And the smell of it traveled far and wide.
(Brigadier General James O'Dowda)
British Jam Tin Can - British Beef Tin Can
Sand of Arıburnu
Shovel and bottle that found underwater
That's all I have to share with you on this museum visit. I want to say that this is one of the museums that has impressed me the most so far. I spent hours inside to learn about this history and to see the things that were collected from the digging work. I included a lot of quotations in my post, the reason for this was that the informative articles telling the story of the things were also exhibited there for the visitors and I wanted to convey this information to you, so I think I have preserved the integrity of meaning. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I have been preparing this article for hours, I have finally come to the end, I took photos of every detail and tried to tell the story for you. Thank you all for reading.
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