GALLIPOLI
They left their homeland with nary a care
A great new adventure was waiting out there
Little did they know what fate had in store
Their mother’s worst nightmare will come to the fore
25th April 1915, on that fateful day
At Anzac Cove those soldiers went into the fray
The many lives lost while coming ashore
The bloodied waters…not blue anymore
The Turks in the high grounds
Had made good as they waited
The perils for our boys, already baited
The night sky should have shielded them when coming ashore
But the rising sun put paid to that ploy
The Turkish snipers deeply entrenched
Their troops ready to save their lands so intent
Standing in those trenches, men kneeling to pray
Too many were to die in the following days
Thousands of men lost their precious lives
Never to return to parents, children, or wives.
They lie here in Turkey, whom they now call their own
The growing pilgrimages mean they are never alone
The ultimate sacrifice made, we should never forget
Or the ongoing battles that continue still yet
Pray for the souls that go into war
And hope that one day peace will prevail once more
Diane Thomson
Written at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey
25th April 2016
