Anzac fears grow over roading damage

Claims of worse desecration than feared at the beachhead of the 1915 Gallipoli invasion by Anzac troops have alarmed military veterans in New Zealand and sparked a blistering political attack in Australia.

An investigation by Melbourne's Sunday Age newspaper, which inspected roadworks at Anzac Cove before claiming these had radically reshaped the coastline and removed historic landmarks, has prompted recriminations against Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Labor Party leader Kim Beazley is accusing Mr Howard's Administration of "appalling neglect" of the area after allegedly pressuring Turkey to provide better access for the thousands of antipodeans travelling there each Anzac Day.

The Age said the landscape above the 600m-long cove bore only a passing resemblance to the one encountered by New Zealand and Australian troops in 1915, and the slopes of the Ari Burnu knoll on which they launched their initial attack at the northern end had disappeared.

It described as extraordinary an alleged failure of Australian officials firstly to audit heritage sites around the cove, and then to monitor construction, including that of generous parking areas for tour buses at each end and the consequent dumping of spoil on a shrunken shoreline.

But although New Zealand's Returned Services Association expressed renewed alarm yesterday about the latest revelations, a spokesman for Opposition leader Don Brash indicated he would probably want to hear the Government's response before commenting. A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark last night said she was preoccupied with "another issue" and needed advice from officials about the latest Gallipoli revelations before addressing them today.

The Age reported that what was a narrow road cut into a steep hillside once studded with dugouts sheltering Anzac forces desperate not to be driven back into the sea had been widened to up to 10m in parts - enough for three lanes of vehicles.

RSA spokesman Bill Hopper said his organisation "has a real concern that major earthworks have destroyed significant battle sites in the Anzac Cove area of Gallipoli".

He said it would have expected the Australian Government, after having apparently asked for road access improvements in the first place, to have liaised with Turkish authorities to ensure specific heritage sites were preserved.

The association intended asking the relevant New Zealand authorities, including the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, to find out the full impact of the roadworks.

Officials of the ministry's heritage branch, from whom Helen Clark called last month for a report, could not be reached.

But senior ministry historian Ian McGibbon said the Turks had been faced with a dilemma in efforts to prevent a potential tragedy if the ground gave way under a tour bus, sending dozens of New Zealand or Australian visitors into the sea.

Dr McGibbon, who has written a guide to Gallipoli's battlefields and monuments due to be launched by Helen Clark next week before they both fly to the commemorations, said he wished "such a wonderful place" could have been left alone.

But he said 50 to 60 tour buses visited the cove and a memorial to its north each Anzac Day. He would be on one of them this year as a guide, hoping not to be too dismayed by the changes.

Despite the cove's special significance to New Zealand and Australia, he said: "We have to bear in mind it is in Turkey - we left it in 1916 and the Turks are very sensitive about their sovereignty."

Anniversary

* Up to 25,000 people and dozens of tour buses are expected this month for the 90th anniversary of the ill-fated Gallipoli landings.

* 2721 New Zealand soldiers died in the invasion and 4752 were injured.