Petty Officer John Henry Hodgson visited Gallipoli as a member of the crew of H.M.A.S. Sydney in 1936. In 1915 he had seen service as a young Ordinary Seaman aboard H.M.S. Russell off the peninsula towards the end of the campaign. [1]
“In company with H.M.A.S. Australia, on April 28, 1936, we arrived at the entrance of the Dardanelles, twenty-one years after the famous landing of the Australian and New Zealand troops. We passed by Cape Helles and saw the wreck of the River Clyde, [2] and after anchoring in Khalia Lemin Bay, opposite Chanak, we were warmly greeted by the Turkish War Graves Commission. Half of the crew from each ship was landed, equipped with food and water for a six-mile tramp through broken country to Anzac Cove, where, with the combined bands from both ships, we held a service at the Black Cemetery. The service was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Henderson, from H.M.A.S. Australia, and members of the Turkish Delegation, who were also present, placed a wreath on the memorial. Afterwards we were allowed to roam on the battle front. The land is very rough and is covered with gorse bushes. We found many relics which made our hearts beat faster. There were dozens of unexploded Turkish shells, and one man found a pair of field glasses in perfect order. On the famous ‘Lone Pine’ we discovered a dump of hand-made grenades made from milk tins, all rusty with age. Later we visited several other cemeteries such as Shrapnel Gully, Hell’s Spit, and other well-remembered names. Several of the men recognised the burial plots of relatives lost in the campaign, through the small headstones. All the graves were well cared for by Turkish ex-soldiers.” [3]
[1] Born in York on 25th November 1897, he joined H.M.S. Russell on 3rd December 1914.
[2] Whatever remains Hodgson saw, it could not have been the ‘River Clyde’ as this had been salvaged in 1919. In 1936 it was still afloat in Spanish service.
[3] ‘Evening Post’ (New Zealand), 15th June 1936.
Image: H.M.A.S. Sydney in 1936, By Green, Allan C., 1878-1954, photographer. – https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/…/156d4cp/alma9916488333607636, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131950546