Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.

I joined a tour group in Istanbul and on our first day out of Istanbul and headed south, we visited Anzac Cove. It was very moving to be were so many lives were lost. And although it wasn't warm when we arrived, it wasn't difficult to imagine how dreadful it must have been for the men fighting on that exposed ridge, in the hot Turkish sun.

These are the actual trenches where the men fought (below). Apparently, at one stage, when the stench from rotting bodies became unbearable, the soldiers made a truce so each side could retrieve their dead and bury them. Then, when they realised that they were just the same as each other, and not the monsters their commanders had told them, they started trading cigarettes and other items, like canned meat; anything to make their miserable time better.
Can't help thinking that if the men who have to do the fighting were allowed to do the negotiating, instead of politicians and generals, there would be a lot fewer wars. I know that's not an original thought, but I think it bears saying more than once.

You'll probably have to double click on the photo (below) to read what Attaturk said, but I think it's worth it. One person in the group said that it was almost as if he was apologising to the fallen.