PRIVATE HELLES SECTOR TOUR

08:15      Pick you up from hotels in Canakkale.
08:30      Across the Dardanelles by Kilitbahir Car Ferry
08:45      Discover the Southern part of Gallipoli Battlefields
               Visiting:
               Landing Beaches
               Redoubt Cemetery
               Skew Bridge Cemetery
               V Beach cemetery
               Pink Farm Cemetery
               12 Tree Copse Cemetery
               British Memorial
               Turkish Memorial
               French Memorial
13:30      Lunch will be provided at Maydos Restaurant
14:30      Ferry back to Canakkale
15:00      Drop of Hotel in Canakkale

TOUR INCLUDES:

All Transport by Private Vehicle
PRIVATE Guiding Service
Ferry and parking fees
Museum entrence fee
Lunch at Eceabat Maydos Restaurant

LANDING BEACHES

At Helles, the 29th Division, on the morning of April 25th 1915, landed troops at `S`, `V`, `W`, `X` and `Y` Beaches, five small coves at or near the southern end of the peninsula. The landing at `Y` Beach (Gurkha Bluffs) was carried out by the 1st King`s Own Scottish Borderers and the Plymouth Battalion of the Royal Naval Division, but these troops were forced to re-embark on the following day. The 2nd Royal Fusiliers landed at `X` Beach, followed by the rest of the 87th Brigade. Under very severe fire, the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers landed on `W` Beach and cut their way through wire entanglements and trenches to the edge of the cliff. They and the other battalions of the 88th Brigade established themselves on the hills of Cape Tekke and Cape Helles.

REDOUBT CEMETERY

Redoubt Cemetery takes its name from the chain of forts made by the Turks across the southern end of the peninsula in the fighting for Krithia and the Redoubt Line on which the advance halted in May. The cemetery was begun by the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade in May 1915 and continued in use until the evacuation. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when the battlefields were cleared and graves were brought in from small cemeteries in the vicinity. There are now 2,027 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,393 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate 349 casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

SKEW BRIDGE CEMETERY

Skew Bridge Cemetery was named from a wooden "skew" bridge carrying the Krithia road across the Dere, just behind the centre of the line occupied by the Allied forces on 27 April 1915. It was begun during the fighting of 6-8 May and used throughout the occupation. At the Armistice it contained only 53 graves but was greatly enlarged when further burials were brought in from the battlefields or small burial grounds in the area. There are now 607 First World War servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 351 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them. The cemetery covers an area of 2,210 square metres.

V-BEACH CEMETERY

The landing of the 29th Division at `V` Beach was to be made by boats containing three companies of the 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers, followed by the collier `River Clyde` with the rest of the Dublins, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, half the 2nd Hampshire Regiment and other troops. The place was very strongly fortified and heavy casualties were sustained during the landing. On the morning of 26 April, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie and Captain Garth Walford led the survivors on the beach to the capture of Sedd el Bahr village and the old castle above it. Both won the Victoria Cross but were killed during the fight. (Captain Walford is buried at V Beach, Colonel Doughty-Wylie is buried in an isolated grave on the spot where he was killed). That evening, the main body of the French Corps began to land at `V` Beach and after the following day, the front line had advanced about three kilometres beyond it. The cemetery used during April and May 1915 and a few further graves were brought in after the Armistice for burial in Row O. There are now 696 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 480 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate 196 officers and men, nearly all belonging to the units which landed on 25 April, known or believed to be buried among them.

LANCASHIRE LANDING CEMETERY

The beach where battalions of the 88th Brigade landed became known as Lancashire Landing. The greater part of the cemetery (Rows A to J and part of Row L) was made between the landing in April 1915 and the evacuation of the peninsula in January 1916. Row I contains the graves of over 80 men of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers who died in the first two days following the landing. The 97 graves in Row K and graves 31 to 83 in Row L were brought from islands of the Aegean after the Armistice. There are now 1,235 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 135 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate ten casualties who are known to be buried among them. The cemetery also contains 17 Greek war graves.

PINK FARM CEMETERY

Pink Farm (properly Sotiri Farm) took its name from the red soil of the area. The three cemeteries which grew up around the farm were combined after the Armistice on the site of Pink Farm Cemetery No 3, and this cemetery was further enlarged when graves were brought in from other small burial grounds in the vicinity. There are now 602 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 250 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate 219 casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

12 TREE COPSE CEMETERY

Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery was made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from isolated sites and small burial grounds on the battlefields of April - August and December 1915. The most significant of these burial grounds were Geoghan`s Bluff Cemetery, containing 925 graves associated with fighting at Gully Ravine in June - July 1915: Fir Tree Wood Cemetery, where the 29th Division and New Zealand Infantry Brigade fought in May 1915 and Clunes Vennel Cemetery, containing 522 graves. There are now 3,360 First World War servicemen buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 2,226 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate many casualties known or believed to be buried among them, including 142 officers and men of the 1st Essex who died on 6 August 1915, and 47 of the 1st/7th Scottish Rifles killed on 28 June. The cemetery also contains the TWELVE TREE COPSE (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, one of four memorials erected to commemorate New Zealand soldiers who fell on the Gallipoli peninsula and whose graves are not known. The memorial relates to engagements outside the limits of Anzac in which New Zealand soldiers took part. It bears almost 180 names.

Further enquiries can be made to :hasslefree@anzachouse.com