Feature Profiles
8 May, 2026
On that fateful day 111 years ago, Australian and New Zealand soldiers sailed across the Dardanelles and landed at Gallipoli.
On that fateful day 111 years ago, Australian and New Zealand soldiers sailed across the Dardanelles and landed at Gallipoli.
TEMPERATURES were dropping towards zero, there was a heavy dew on the lawns.
A chance to sleep before the sun came over the horizon on April 25 after travelling from the other side of the world.
On that fateful day 111 years ago, Australian and New Zealand soldiers sailed across the Dardanelles and landed at Gallipoli.
In 2026, it was a group from East Loddon P12 College stepping onto what is now sacred ground and a place of friendship for Aussies, Kiwis and native Turks.
And the difference from more than a century ago, all in the school group have returned home from the land where thousands of ANZACs lost their lives.
On Anzac Day, the nine students and two teachers - Nakeya Mountjoy and Harrison Bennewith- had been up since
before midnight, taking a 15-minute ferry from Canakkal across the straight towards Gallipoli, travelling another hour in a bus and then snuggled in their sleeping bags, catching some sleep while waiting for the solemn Dawn Service to commence.
From the moving service they walked another 3.1km for the commemoration at Lone Pine and researched ancestors buried on the Turkish Peninsula and then another 3km to Chunuk Bair for the New Zealand service of remembrance.
“We have all returned with a new perspective from being on those shores the original ANZACs made so many sacrifices,” said Harrison.
“The Dawn Service was a powerful experience for every student, Nakeya and myself.”
“That moment at sunrise was so solemn.”
For Nakeya it was a return to Turkey, a member of the college’s exchange program for the Centenary of Anzac in 2015.
“Again, there were no words that can fully describe the feeling of being at Gallipoli at dawn,” she said.
Nakeya and Harrison said students had formed strong bonds of friendship with their Turkish hosts. Nakeya’s reconnection with Begum Aydogan ”picking up where we left off more than a decade ago”.
“It was incredibly amazing to still have that connection,” she said,
It’s a connection and a example of enduring friendships forged through the exchange program that Nakeya and Harrison says has been strengthened for East Loddon students.
“Everyone has returned with strong bonds and a lot of talk for return visits, of continuing the exchange program with the school in Canakkal,” they said.
“Being part of the Anzac commemorations was one part of the college’s first exchange program to Turkey since 2019. “They have friendships that will last forever,” Nakeya said.
NEXT WEEK: Students reflect on their Anzac expepriences in Turkey
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