Peter Hart Battlefield Tours

20/09/2026

Azmak Cemetery, Suvla.

19/09/2026

4th Parade Ground Cemetery.

19/09/2026

Looking towards Lala Baba from Hill 60.

19/09/2026

If you would like to join us in either May or September 2027, please contact James at [email protected] for full details. Picture courtesy of Bulent Yılmaz Korkmaz

19/09/2026

Various pictures from Suvla today including the traditional pose on the W Hills. Photographs courtesy of Bulent Yılmaz Korkmaz.

19/09/2026

No-one has been lost to a shark yet.

I have read letters by Australians mentioning how safe the waters around the peninsula were, as there were no sharks around (just Turkish shrapnel).

I found a mention of a “large fish” in a letter sent from Gallipoli. This from Petty Officer (Mechanic) Duncan Selby Buchanan, Royal Naval Air Service:

“Our voyage here was quite a pleasant one, and we had a day's swimming off the ship at one island we stopped at, going from our ship to the others near by. Once a huge fish gave us rather a fright, but did not stop us. I'll stop now, and write again soon.” [1]

There are sharks in the Mediterranean. One of the men commemorated in the British Cemetery in Kephalonia is Pte. William Mills, 36th Regiment of Foot, a 19 year-old British soldier who was killed by a shark off Corfu during the British occupation of the Ionian Islands (which was where Sir Ian Hamilton was born).

Sharks are mentioned in “Alive With Death,” the first volume of my Gallipoli history, referenced by Australians during their journeys by troopship to Egypt.

You can read what others have said about that book and check for news of the next volumes at the link in the comments below.

[1] 'The Bridge of Allen Gazette,' 2nd October 1915.

Image: William Mills' commemoration in Kephalonia, courtesy of David Allton.

18/09/2026

Shell Green Cemetery.

18/09/2026

W Beach, Lancashire Landing.

18/09/2026

This statue was unveiled in April 2024 and marked the spot where the famous photograph of Mustafa Kemal was taken on 17th June 1915 by Major Haydar Mehmet Alganer. Photograph of the statue taken today courtesy of Dave Martin.