The Nek Cemetery
'Shivers up your Spine'
"I asked if we could go back and do a small commemoration at The Nek.
I just couln't leave without saying goodbye. So the group gathered around while I said the Ode and laid a poppy.
It was one of the most special times of my life and for as long as I live I will never forget the connection I have with The Nek."
Claire Pailthorpe - Debt of Honour Tour 2004
Remembrance 2008 tour - Sacha recites the Ode at The Nek - her feelings mirrored that of Claire's above:
"It was so unreal - a tiny space that holds so many memories, so many emotions and so many bodies."
Visiting The Nek Cemetery at Galllipoli is one of the most memorable and moving experiences of a tour of the Anzac battlefields.
It is always an anticipated visit as the students are constantly amazed and agitated by the history of this battle - the needless slaughter, the sheer hopelessness of the situation and the unbelievable willingness of the Australian soldiers to leap from their trenches to almost certain death or injury.
What gets to the students when they finally visit The Nek Cemetery is the size - how small the cemetery is and how small the overall battlefield is. Then there is the cemetery itself with 300 burials but only 5 of them known. The rest of the men lie in 6 long unmarked mass graves. It is an eerie feeling to walk over these unmarked graves, knowing this is the actual area that these men died and also the area that they now lie forever.
Views of The Nek Cemetery
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From the entrance looking North |
Looking across the cemetery to the Cross of Sacrifice and the 5 known grave |
Another view across the cemetery looking North |
A closer shot of the Cross of Sacrifice and marked graves |
Lest We Forget Tours at The Nek
The Anzac 2002 group at The Nek - it's April, hence the green grass |
Much drier in September - here the Debt of Honour group sits at the Cross of Sacrifice |
Spirit of Anzac tour member, Katrina Mandryk sits in the middle of the cemetery and ponders where the soldier she commemorated may be lying beneath her |
Spirit of Anzac tour members in their own thoughts at the cemetery |
The Remembrance 2008 group sits and listens as tour leader, Mike Goodwin, reads an excerpt from the book, "Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You"
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Remembrance 2008 tour member, Stephanie Ferguson, reflects on the battle as she wanders the cemetery |
Commemorations of Soldiers killed at The Nek
Most of the soldiers commemorated on the tours are from Queensland, but many relatives from around Australia contact the school.
Two soldiers killed at The Nek have been commemorated by the Lest We Forget Project. Both lie in unmarked graves in the cemetery and both are commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial.
Spirit of Anzac Tour 2006 Sgt Clifton Grenfell - 381 8th Light Horse Regiment Sgt Grenfell was in charge of a section of men and was one of the first men to be killed in the first wave of the attack. He was commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial by Katrina Mandryk. |
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Remembrance 2008 Tour Tpr Oscar Matthies - 903 8th Light Horse Regiment Tpr Matthies arrived at Gallipoli only 2 days before the Battle of The Nek. He was also killed in the first wave and his body was not identified. He was commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial by Sacha Wohlfahrt. |
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Rest in Peace
Dept Veteran's Affairs - Gallipoli - The Nek
A link to the Department's very good Gallipoli website - with information on the location and the history of The Nek
