Gallipoli trip a spiritual journey for proud brothers

Dennis Geddis (left) holds his and brother Chris' grandfather's war medals - the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal - while Chris holds the Gallipoli Medal.

Memorable and emotional pilgrimage to Gallipoli where 100 years ago two other brothers fought, one slain during a bayonet charge, the other miraculously surviving a chest shot. Roger Moroney reports

For brothers Chris and Dennis Geddis the steps they take across a distant land on Anzac Day will be very special and very spiritual moments.

They will walk the land where one of two other brothers, who were great uncles they never got to meet, fell in battle.

Private Hereward (Harry) Phelps Hopkins was cut down by bullets during a bayonet charge on Gallipoli on May 2, 1915.

Private Hereward (Harry) Phelps Hopkins, who died at Gallipoli

He was 25 years old.

His 26 year-old brother, Vivian Phelps Hopkins, died in battle at Ypres, Belgium, on March 21, 1918.

They will also appreciate the remarkable luck a third brother, their grandfather Berkeley (Bert) Phelps Hopkins, experienced while also on Gallipoli.

For he survived - by virtue of a silver cigarette case he had in the breast pocket of his uniform.

He was struck by a bullet from a Turkish sniper and the impact knocked him flat on his back.

The shot should have killed him.

But he was left only winded as the cigarette case had taken the impact from the bullet.

Sergeant Berkeley (Bert) Phelps Hopkins who survived the battles of Gallipoli, as well as in France and Belgium.

The badly dented cigarette case that he always carried in that pocket, had saved his life and he would go on to survive the war, living into his 90th year before passing away in Napier in 1984.

As Chris put it - their existence, had that case not been in that pocket, would have been in "serious doubt" and with a smile he quipped "who says smoking is bad for your health?"

The brothers, Chris who lives in Napier and Dennis from Palmerston North, have long wanted to travel to Gallipoli and this year, the special 100th anniversary of the doomed campaign, they have got their wish.

Chris said like their grand uncles they, too, "volunteered" to make the journey.

They put their names into a ballot 18 months ago to be part of the Kiwi contingent who will be part of the commemorative services there and they, too, would be wearing a "uniform" (not khaki) but dark outfits bearing the silver fern issued by their tour company.

While their great uncles wore helmets, their hats will be specially monogrammed silver fern beanies.

"No lemon squeezers in sight," Chris said.

And they have been able to prepare and pack their clothing not from the army's uniform stores but from modern specialist stores where all seasons and conditions can be catered for.

"We won't be issued with water bottles to fill from stagnant ponds or get rations of hard tack, tinned bully beef and jam we will have to fight the flies and maggots for - there are food and water vendors on the site."

And, keeping their friends and family up to date with what is happening there will not, as it was for their great uncle and grandfather on Gallipoli, take several months and be dashed out using pencil on scraps of paper which would then be heavily censored.

They will use the internet via their laptops, or iPads and cellphone texts.

"And we will arrive at Gallipoli by bus and not landing craft or dinghies with bullets coming at us."

Chris said he and his brother had hoped to find the gravesite of their great uncle, the man the family lost during the battle for the peninsula, but sadly that was unlikely.

"We were aiming to find the grave of Harry, up a place appropriately named Dead Man's Ridge, and reflect on his sacrifice, but we have been told by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that the great majority of the graves at Gallipoli are unidentified."

After the evacuation of Gallipoli, which was completed in early 1916, Commonwealth forces returned to the peninsula after the Armistice in 1918.

They had also sought to find and identify gravesites but most of the original grave markers had been lost or used by the Turkish soldiers for firewood.

They were in time, however, replaced by memorials to those missing.

"Great uncle Harry is commemorated on panel 75 of the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing."

Hereward (Harry) Phelps Hopkins was the fifth of 10 sons born to Arthur and Mary Hopkins of Christchurch (the children all carried the Phelps name from their grandmother's side of the family).

Vivian Phelps Hopkins was the sixth son, and the brothers' grandfather Bert - the only one of the three to survive the war - was the seventh.

Before the outbreak of war Harry had worked as an electrician, Vivian was a bank officer and Bert was studying law at Canterbury University.

Harry enlisted with the Otago (New Zealand) Infantry Regiment while Vivian saw service with the 1st New Zealand Rifle Brigade (D Company), where he gained promotion to 2nd lieutenant while serving in France and Belgium.

Bert was a sergeant in the 6th Canterbury (New Zealand) Infantry Battalion and later gained promotion in No3 Company of the New Zealand Machinegun Company where he saw action at Gallipoli, France and Belgium - becoming a lieutenant after the Battle of the Somme.

Harry's parents were stunned and shocked to get the news he had died, and a letter sent to them by one of his comrades, Private AE Cookson, outlined what had happened.

"On the day Harry was killed, he was recommended for a commission and the DSO (Distinguished Service Order). His lieutenant, Mr Hamilton, said he would make a fine officer - he was so absolutely fearless, would stop at nothing, and had a fine way of handling men put in his charge.

"I knew while in Egypt that Hamilton thought a lot of him, because I sometimes had a yarn with him. I am glad to be given the chance to tell you this, I am proud that Harry was my friend, and although we all feel his loss keenly, we should be proud that he did honour to his native land.

"As I look up the gully in which he met his death, I can see the scene again and picture him charging up the hill while the bullets whistled round him, regardless of all danger, and only intent on doing his duty."

For the two brothers of today, the journey to Gallipoli where two brothers from 100 years ago fought will be memorable and emotional.

They, and the others on their tour, will be in the company of military historians Glyn Harper, Cliff Simons and Stephen Clark.

"We will be participating in history, and be able to walk the talk in knowledgeable company at the place where it all happened," Chris said.

It is both a pilgrimage and spiritual journey.

"A wonderful opportunity for us to understand the spirit of the original Anzacs and may help us to realise that their values of courage, commitment, camaraderie and compassion are still relevant today."

They will also be bearing symbols of the Anzacs, and a list of names compiled by the Napier Boy's High School's archivist, Philip Rankin.

"We will be carrying poppies and we intend to commemorate old boys from our old school (Napier Boy's) that Philip has listed, noting the locality of their memorial or final resting place."