Lest we forget the cold...

We got lucky. The weather was a relatively warm 5 degrees. No wind. No rain. Before going we had heard horror stories about the intense cold overnight on the Gallipoli peninsula.

Consider this: at 3.30am I had on 5 layers of Icebreaker tops (1 cami, 2 t-shirts, 2 long shirts) and a polar fleece vest and a rain jacket and I was only just warm enough when the early morning breeze came in.

The best part of the service was the beginning, before all the speeches. In the pre-dawn the Aus/NZ army band played tunes from the 20s. Lights were shone onto the water and the cliff outcrops behind us. It conjured up the sensation of boats heading towards shore.

A selection of headstones were read out (name, occupation, birthplace, date of death, the battle/area where they fell) while their face was projected on the screens. Really moving.  They were so young.