An Australian soldier solemnly remembers the fallen at Gallipoli with weary Aussie and Kiwi civilians, many wrapped in sleeping bags after a chilly night. Photo / Alan Gibson
At Walker's Ridge cemetery there is a grave that many stop beside.
It catches your breath and gives you a sharp jolt of reality.
Private R.H. Robertson was 16 years old when he was killed in action at Gallipoli. He was among the youngest Anzacs to die during the disastrous eight-month campaign.
His epitaph reads: "Although his body resteth, his memory will never die."
That message is true for all the Anzacs, proven by the 10,500 people that made the pilgrimage to Gallipoli for the 100-year anniversary of their landing.
They came from all corners of the world, from all walks and stages of life and they had a common goal - to remember the fallen at the dawn service.
They travelled for days on buses, planes and ships; waited what probably seemed like forever before they started to shuffle towards the service site, passing through security points along the way.
They filed into the site and waited, some for 12 hours, for the service to start. They slept - if and where they could - under a blanket of stars and chill. You might think all that effort for a 60-minute service is a bit much. But you wouldn't have found a single person with that view among the crowd.
As an elderly man inching his way into the mobility seating noted - to honour sacrifice you might have to make a few small sacrifices of your own.
• For full video coverage of Anzac services in NZ and Turkey, click here.
The build-up to the centenary, which also included services at Cape Helles, Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair, started years ago. Meticulous planning went into every facet of the event. Every component of the services to security, crowd management, facilities, food and transport was planned with military precision.
When the
Herald
arrived at Gallipoli last Tuesday, work was already well under way at the service sites. Tiered seating had been erected, stages were up and lighting and sound rigs were being set up. The place was transformed by the hour in preparation for the services.
The 31 cemeteries scattered across the peninsula were pristine, the result of years of planning, planting and maintenance by Commonwealth War Graves Commission staff. And it was the graves that had the biggest impact.
The Herald spoke to people about their thoughts and all were impressed by the official commemorations. Many were impressed by the grandeur of the tribute to the Anzacs and the presence of Royalty. But it was the Anzacs, their resting places and graves, that left the biggest imprint on them.
Walking among the rows and rows of simple white headstones, taking in the ages, names and messages they bear, and reflecting on what happened 100 years ago and why the men were buried in this now-beautiful setting - was the real reason the 10,500 pilgrims were there.
"Walking around taking a look at the graves - so many of them are younger than me. The oldest one I saw was 42, that's so sad," Wellington woman Kelly Coppin said.
Karenza Harris from Warkworth said: "We walked around and just saw all the rows of graves ... you get shivers."
The epitaphs on some of the graves are heartrending.
"A life of promise, closed."
"He died fighting like a tiger and with defiance in his face."
"He died doing his duty. That is all."
"I have fought a good fight."
"Deeds, not words."
It is the inscriptions on the graves, beyond any ceremony, that convey the real message of Anzac and why people come, not just on Anzac Day but every day, to remember them.
One issue seemed harder to agree on than most - how big the crowd was.