KIAMA'S Andrew McCullough was among a crew of 24 young Australians and New Zealanders on board the Young Endeavour spending Anzac Day at Gallipoli.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The engineer and Kiama SES member shares the experience:
Being in Anzac Cove on the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day was truly special, and it was amazing to be part of the group of 10 warships sailing past during the dawn service.
As the sun rose on Anzac Cove, the first thing I noticed was the difficulty of the terrain and the steep cliffs - I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the soldiers to cut through that terrain back in 1915.
I was also moved by seeing the names of so many young Australians at the various cemeteries in Gallipoli. Many men far younger than me died at such young ages as a result of the Gallipoli campaign, they made a huge sacrifice for their country.
It is great to see so many Australians in Turkey for the Anzac Day commemorations, and recognising the sacrifice of our armed forces. Travelling to the battlefields has given me a far greater appreciation of the Gallipoli campaign and the challengers the Anzac troops faced.
I travelled on the Young Endeavour with three young people from New Zealand - over the three weeks we have become great friends and I’ve learned a lot about New Zealand’s involvement in the war, and how it affected their country. One of the travellers has a very small extended family after some of her great uncles were killed in World War One.
My great grandfather traveled to Egypt in 1916 during World War One and returned to Australia but many others were not so fortunate.
Mr McCullough is being sponsored by the NSW SES to participate.
He said he had enjoyed the experience since leaving Spain on April 4.
He said they had encountered some ‘‘pretty rough weather’’ in the Strait of Gibraltar as they sailed past Morocco.
‘‘Everyone was sea-sick,’’ he said.
‘‘The waves were huge; 40-50 knot winds, it was crazy.
‘‘Apart from the bad weather, it’s been awesome.’’
Mr McCullough said learning to sail had also been challenging, but enjoyable.
‘‘Learning to sail and climb the mast... I’ve never stepped on a sailboat before.
‘‘We’ve learned the basics, through to sailing ourselves.
‘‘It’s a 35-metre high mast, and we’ve been learning all the names of the sails, the ropes, knots, cleaning the ship every day, and helping to prepare the meals in the galley.
‘‘It’s run like a Navy ship, you do overnight watches.
‘‘I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in three weeks, (but) the exhaustion and sleep deprivation adds to the challenge.’’
Their voyage included Command Day, whereby the young participants essentially ran the ship without staff assistance for a 24-hour period.
However, Mr McCullough believed his SES experiences had been beneficial.
‘‘Some of the skills I’ve learnt have really helped - things like teamwork and leadership,’’ he said.