GALLIPOLI.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1920, Page 10

GALLIPOLI.

ALL ANZAC GRAVES LOCATED. London, July 8. It was definitely decided by the Imperial War Graves Commission at their meeting on ' August 23, 1919, that all the work to be done by the Commission on Gallipoli should be carried out by an Australian and New Zealand personnel. Colonel C. E. Hughes, who had been in Gallipoli as the Australian representative with the Imperial Graves Registration, was appointed deputydirector of works, and was Instructed j to set up an establishment and secure his staff. In the meantime, work on detailed plans of cemeteries was being started by Sir John Bennet and Cap.tain G. S. Keesing, who had visited Gallipoli in May of 1918. , Colonel Hughes and his party of four- ■ teen Australians and New Zealanders went out on September I*2, 1919, and work r ha« been proceeding since that time. The New Zealand officer is Hon. Lieutenant A. W. Mildenlikll, N.Z.E., who is under the War Graves. Commission, but does not represent New Zealand as BUch. Colonel Hughes, however, is tiow in London consulting with Sir John Bennet with regard to plans and the arrangements of contracts. When seen by .the London correspondent of The Press, he had sqme interesting information to give concerning their experiences throughout the winter and the work that had' already been accomplished. The party landed at Chavak (Dardanelles) on October 28, and arranged with the French authorities to be quartered at Kilid Bahr, on the Gallipoli side of the Dardanelles, in an old Turkish fort, until such a time as materials could be secured and quarters erected at Kilia. As winter was descending on the Peninsula, every effort was made to get things in order. All provisions had td be drawn from Chavak, where there was a small detachment of British troops, and transported across the Narrows by local small boats. A motor-boat which had been purchased was struck by a storm while being toWed down from Constantinople and sunk, Colonel Hughes, the transport officer, and the launch driver being nearly drowned at the same time. Owing to the isolated position of Gallipoli, the unit had to be self-sup-porting, and able to carry out all repairs, especially with motor transport. Transport was obtained at Constantinople, and shipped to Kilia, where it w!ib lightered ashore. Bad roads and dangerous bridges had to be passed over for four miles before these were all safely housed at Kilid Bahr. The survey officer and his staff got to work on the plans of roads and cemeteries, stores were accumulated, and data was obtained as to the cost of /Materials and labor for work on Anzac.

'During this time brigandage was a very popular pastime of the local inhabitants, the villages' of Mados, Yelova, Boghalia, and Kojadere being within easy reach, and a careful watch had to be kept. On several occasions the staff were sniped at, and matters became so serious that it was decided to get into touch with the Chief. This was arranged and satisfactory relations established, with the result that up to the present no further trouble of this kind has occurred. The site chosen for the permanent headquarters at Kilia is about one mile north of Maidos, opposite Nagara Point, and about 4£ miles from Anzac. Building materials were transported by water from Chavak by a new motor launch, obtained in Egypt, and engineering materials were brought from Eck Bash, a Turkish dump about eight miles north of Maidos where most of the. material secured by Turks from Relies, Suvla, and Anzac at the evacution had been stored. A certain delay in the work was caused early in March by a r<\id of Nationalists from Asia Minor on this dump, and in April, owing to delay in signing the Peace Treaty with Turkey, the local situation became difficult, and the small British force at Chavas had to be reinforce!. The Imperial War Graves Commission party moved into their new headquarters at Kilia in May, and armß and ammunition having been provided by the Imperial authorities, the camp was put into a state of. defence. A Crossley tender and three Fords were fixed up to carry each & Maxim and a Lewis gun, and these preparations seemed to have a good effect upon the local population. Though they looked with longing eyes on the stores of the party they continu- .■ ally made the assurance of friendliness. "The position at present," said Colonel Hughes, "is that all the graves at Anzac have been located. A number of isolated graves have been transferred, and plans have been completed, and details worked out, for twenty-seven Anzac cemeteries. All the temporary wooden crosses arc up, and name plates are complete. The survey work at Suvla and Helles is well in hand, and should be completed very soon, With the present political and • military situation ruling, it is practically impossible to

carry out the work at once by contract as originally intended, so that in order to push on the work of the permanent memorials it has been decided to carry out the work of erecting the protection waJJls of the cemeteries by day labor, supervised by the Graves Commission staff, Until such time as it is possible to arrange contracts. The Graves Registration unit has worked uneeasinpy, and the cemeteries arc all well tended, wooden crosses being erected to those buried there. As the Graves Commission work is carried out' those temporary crosses will be replaced by per--1 manent headstones." Asked whether the graves had beeu deserated by the Turks, Cojonel Hughes said that in Noveniber, 1918, a cemetery was found 400 yards east of Lone Pine, overlooking Leggs Valley,.and in front of our own original front line. It had been wired in and headstones erected. Near by was another cemetery wired in, ■ and with similar headstones erected. This latter cemetery was also supposed a to be a Turkish one, but on investigation being made last May it was found that it contained the remains of Australians and New Zealanders, and sailors who had been killed in the "first rush. They had evidently been buried by the Turks, and the cemeteries had been protected. If the Turks took as much trouble as this, said Colonel Hughes, in one case, it was hardly reasonable to suppose that desecration took place on other cemeteries. Speaking of the suggestion which has been made that the New Zealand memorials should be erected at Chunuk Bair, Colonel Hughes said that he thought New Zealanders would be better advised to combine with the Imperial, Australian, Indian, and New foundland authorities in the erection of a permanent memorial at Helles. A local memorial would be seen only by visitors to the spot, and future generations would forget that it was there. On the high cliff at the entrance to the Dardanelles, however, it would be seen by everyone passing up and down the ftHit,.a&d wattW is » landmark «v»n

in the centuries to come. This matter would be decided later, however, by the Battle Exploits Committee of which the High Commissioners were members. It is anticipated that the work on Gallipoli will take a period of three years to complete, but' providing the political and military situation is quiet there is no reason why visitors should not be allowed earlier. At the present time, however, visits of civilians to the Peninsula are out of the question.