Page 38 - QARANC Vol 14 No 9 2014

36 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Exercise Northern Angel 2-9 July 14
201 Field Hospital ran a conceptual battlefield study to the Gallipoli Peninsular and Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) in Turkey 2-9 July 14. The former was the site of the Gallipoli Campaign, April 1915 – January 1916, during WW1 and the latter the site of Scutari Barracks formerly known as Selimiye Barracks where Florence Nightingale worked during the Crimean War from October 1853 to February 1856.
The original study was to have taken place in the Crimea looking at the 19th Century battle but the worsening political situation between Russia and the Ukraine meant that this was no longer feasible. A compromise was therefore found in which the group could study the work of nurses during the Crimean War and also include another campaign where medical issues created real problems for all concerned – the Gallipoli Campaign.
The exercise was predominantly for 201 (N) Fd Hosp unit personnel however, in order to develop the concept of ‘unit pairing’ the CO directed that invites were sent out to adjacent paired organisations and as a result we had participation by personnel from 202 Fd Hosp in Birmingham, 205 Fd Hosp in Glasgow and 34 Fd Hosp in Strensall, York. Additionally, we had the pleasure of being joined by Maj General Rowan and his MA, Lt Cdr Hazard for part of the study period, total numbers 34 personnel.
An advanced party departed on Monday 30 June and on the morning of Wednesday 2 July the main body met at London Heathrow airport. It was a four hour flight to Istanbul and this allowed some of us to catch up on sleep as some had travelled from as far away as Dundee.
At the airport we were met by our Turkish Guide, TJ’s, the owner of ANZAC Tour Company. Over the next week or so, this company would prove invaluable in supplying good accommodation, food, transport and highly knowledgeable staff who were able to take us to all the sites in the area pertinent to our study period. The peninsular is a good 6 hour drive from the airport and by the time we arrived
at our hotel it was time for a quick admin brief, dinner and an early night.
The day after our arrival, our first port of call was the Gallipoli Interactive Centre which can be described as an educational theme park to the Gallipoli Campaign. Inside you are issued with headsets and 3-D glasses to facilitate a realistic experience, you then navigate your way through various rooms designed to simulate the various aspects of battle including mine-laying boats, trench systems etc., the sound effects are better than any cinema, giving a great modern perspective of the campaign.
Moving on we then visited Killit Bair Castle, site of the Turkish guns guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles, combined with the mines laid in the Dardanelles, these defences proved much tougher than the Royal Navy had anticipated. A failure to destroy the guns meant that the Commanders at the time felt that there was no other option than to land an army on the Peninsular.
From Killit Bair Castle we visited the Turkish Memorial at Cape Helles. We also visited W and V Beach which were the sites of the first day’s landings and the location of HMS River Clyde. We learnt that the fighting here was fierce and posed many problems, not least for the medical support need to treat those who were injured.
Our next stop was the site of the British National Memorial at cape Helles, here we had the opportunity to reflect whilst reading the hundreds of names of those who fought and died in this campaign. We then travelled to Gulley Beach to walk in the steps of those soldiers who walked through Gully Ravine, a 6km stretch up a ravine. The terrain proved tougher than anticipated but gave us good insight into what the troops from the 29th Division were confronted with. Nursing our thorn scratched legs and arms we then made our way back to TJs hotel by coach.
The following day we visited the site of the famous ANZAC Cove where the Australians and New Zealanders were tasked with scaling the heights of the so-called