Australian Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce undertook a tour of the cemeteries on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1924. He had served as a Captain in the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers during the campaign.
“Gallipoli Graves
“Visited by Mr. Bruce
“Reuter.
“DARDANELLES, February 10. [1924]
“Yesterday morning there was a other break In the weather, rain and sleet making doubtful the possibility of cars reaching Anzac. Mr. Bruce (Prime Minister of Australia), therefore, borrowed a sheepskin lined raincoat, and rode across the Peninsula on an old Australian waler that had been left behind by the Light Horse. He visited each of the 17 cemeteries in this area. In the after noon he proceeded to Suvla Bay, where there was a striking absence of ostentation and display. There were no speeches and no posing. Mr. Bruce simply, satisfied himself that every care was being taken with the graves.
“As Mr. Bruce looked among the names in the Redoubt Cemetery, at Cape Helles for those of Australians who fell with troops of the Motherland, he said, replying to a remark that it was not very wonderful that the Australians responded as they did. They had descended from adventurous stock and their fathers were pioneers who had fought a battle with drought and floods, and triumphed. The stock was good and it was unthinkable that they should have failed to respond. The same might be said of the other members of the Dominions who were buried here.
“KING OF AUSTRALIA.”
“Prior to embarking for Port Said, where he will arrive on Tuesday, Mr. Bruce this morning laid laurel wreaths on the beach cemetery at Anzac. Yesterday he received the Kaimakam, the Turkish Governor of the Maidos area, and impressed him with the depth of the Australian interest in these cemeteries. Mr. Bruce’s visit is calculated to have a healthy effect on the native mind towards our memorials, although in the majority of cases the natives are not clear who Mr. Bruce is. A gendarme asked a Reuter’s representative when the “King of Australia” was going to embark.” [1]
[1] ‘The Week’ (Brisbane, Queensland), 15th February 1924.
Image: National Library of Australia.