As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
After leaving Athens Toronto sailed directly for Aksaz, Turkey – one of their main naval bases. The landscape in that part of Turkey reminded me a lot of British Columbia. Large hills rose from the sea, creating coves for countless private yachts and perfect natural barriers to protect the base. Apart from 50% of the crew getting tattoos (including myself), and buying leather coats on the cheap, there wasn’t too much to do in Marmaris – the closest real city to the base at Aksaz.
Marmaris was a beautiful, and seemingly rich, port city. The ship receives “R&R” funds and is allowed to spend this money on events for the whole ship’s company. Some of the things we’ve done with these funds include: sharkdiving in Cape Town; scuba diving in the Seychelles; and, from Aksaz, a tour of the dramatic ruins of Ephesus and the last known dwelling place of the Virgin Mary in Turkey.
Upon leaving the harbour at Aksaz our Task Group conducted an asymmetric threat exercise. The Turkish forces sent small boats at high speeds out at us to simulate a small boat attack. They were also supposed to have low flying aircraft, however a massive thunderstorm rolled in just as we slipped the jetty and all the aircraft were grounded for the duration of the exercise.
In the following days the original plan was to conduct a series of exercises with the Turkish navy, and then head to Izmir – Turkey’s second largest city. However, plans changed and we ended up heading to Istanbul instead.
FORGOTTEN ROYAL NEWFOUNDLANDERS REGIMENT
We passed through the historic Dardanelles where Australian, New Zealand, British, French, and Newfoundland regiments fought and died during the Gallipoli campaign in World War One. It was a significant battle that doesn’t get too much publicity in our history classes, mainly because there were so few Canadians that fought there. However, in Australia and New Zealand, it is the reason for ANZAC day. It is sort of the equivalent to the Battle of Vimy Ridge for Canada. This was where their national identity was founded, and every year on the 25th of April tens of thousands of ANZACs hold an elaborate ceremony of remembrance there.
Fighting alongside the ANZACs was the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. 49 Newfoundlanders died there during that campaign, and very few people know this. Now, however, there are at least 47 Canadian sailors that know about it and have been to the Canadian gravesite on Hill 10 at Gallipoli. The ship organized a tour on Remembrance Day to go to Gallipoli with a small contingent and hold a ceremony there. The peninsula that the campaign was fought on is approximately 4 hours from Istanbul by bus. So while the rest of the crew conducted a ceremony aboard Toronto, 47 members of the ship woke up at 0500 hrs to get on a bus to Gallipoli.
We first stopped at a few of the ANZAC memorial sites, then we asked the tour guide and bus driver if they could take us to the Canadian grave sites. They had trouble finding it because nobody had ever asked them to go there. Our ceremony on Hill 10 was very simple. There was no music (because our stereo broke!), but PO1 Skinner – a Newfie himself – gave a very stirring speech, which happened to bring several other people to tears.
It was a very unique experience to be a part of such a somber yet simple ceremony in a faraway land for such a little known campaign. There aren’t too many people that know Newfoundlanders died on Turkish soil, and there certainly aren’t too many people that have done Remembrance Day ceremonies at Gallipoli.
SHOPPING BAZAAR STYLE
The following day I took a walk through Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, where thousands of shops and even more people sprawl through a huge section of the city’s “old quarter”. I walked through the Topkapi palace, centre of power for the Ottoman Empire and dwelling site of countless emperors. The only way I can describe it is: supremely extravagant. The halls were lined with 13th century carpets, thrones laced with diamonds, rubies, and inlaid with mother of pearl. And the view from the Caliph’s bedchambers is unmatched anywhere else.
Istanbul felt like the centre of the universe. It’s the only city to straddle two continents, Asia and Europe. It sits at the crossroads of so much commerce, and seems to be geographically at the centre of everything. Its population is so nomadic and fluid that the only number they can put on how many people actually live there is an estimation between 12 and 15 million.
BROWNY POINTS
I know it sounds cliché to write about how much I love my job…but I really love my job. It sounds like I’m constantly brown-nosing. I’m not denying that these articles do give me some serious brownie points, but what else can I write? They send me all over the world to learn my job – how could I complain about that? I get paid (a lot) to travel and to represent my country. Sometimes the job is hard, like a 72 hour boarding, or a 48 hour SAR operation in the Red Sea – but it’s all worth it. And I don’t care if it sounds like I’m sucking up. I love my job.
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