Gallipoli The Battlefield Guide
Gallipoli The Battlefield Guide
In time for ANZAC day, Gallipoli: The Battlefield Guide is the only guide to the battlefields and cemeteries of Gallipoli, especially written for Australian and New Zealand visitors by battlefield guide Mat McLachlan.
More than 30,000 Australians visit Gallipoli every year to see where their fathers and grandfathers fought and died, and where the ANZAC legend was forged. These numbers increase every year as the centenary of the landing approaches in 2015. This practical guide book enables visitors to plan their trip, work out what to see, and in what order, and gives the historical background to the major battles. It gives all the necessary information - both practical and historical - to appreciate what happened, and where.
The guide's focus is on Australian and New Zealand battlefields, with convenient British battlefields included as well. All cemeteries in the ANZAC area are included, with detailed historic information. Understand the historical significance of Gallipoli, strategically and militarily. Find out when to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to wear. Clear and straightforward advice from a writer who knows it all, combined with all the historical information any traveller will need to get the most out of a visit to Gallipoli.
Gallipoli: The Battlefield Guide includes
Mat McLachlan is a travel agent with a love of military history. He leads specialist tours of battlefields and has taken part in a documentary on Gallipoli for ABC TV. He is the author of Walking with the Anzacs: A Guide to Australian Battlefields on the Western Front.
Gallipoli The Battlefield Guide
Hachette Australia
Author: Mat McLachlan
ISBN: 9780733623851
Price: $29.99
Interview with Mat McLachlan
How many years did it take to put this guide together, what research went into the book?Mat McLachlan: It was about two years to actually put the book together. It terms of research, I've been visiting Gallipoli for the last seven or eight years, so it's been a long project.
How many times have you travelled to Gallipoli? Do you learn something new each time?
Mat McLachlan: I couldn't tell you off the top of my head, but I've spent quite a bit of time there, I used to live in England as well so I had the opportunity then to get over there. You always learn something new with that sort of battlefield; it's really that sort of place. The more you go there, the more you discover the stories of what went on, which is what really led to the book, because I found that when I was there it was very difficult to make sense of it when you were on the ground, so there was no good way of finding out what went on. And also because the area is so tiny where the ANZACS fought, you find that on one very small patch of ground, so many things could've gone on there, that it's very difficult to make sense of it unless you've got someone to guide you through it.
Who would you recommend this book for and who would you recommend travels to Gallipoli?
Mat McLachlan: I think anyone. Anyone who's got interest in Australia's heritage would find it an absolutely fascinating place. It's the world's best reserved battlefield and the terrain hasn't changed very much since 1915. Anyone who has any interest in that chapter of our history, which lots of people do, would find it a quite amazing experience. I'd also say too, that a lot of Australians have family members who served during the war and a lot people have relatives who served a Gallipoli or who were killed there, and for those people, experiences can be overwhelming in terms of the emotion of standing in that spot where their relative served.
What travel tips would you give to an Australian travelling to Gallipoli?
Mat McLachlan: My advice to people and what I'm trying to do with the book is to spend more time at Gallipoli than you think you'll need. Most people travel to Gallipoli only for a day or two and just do the Australian and New Zealand sector and then head back to Istanbul. But there's so much more to it and that's why I produced such a thick guide book, the six chapters are the six very distinct areas of Gallipoli that I think everyone should visit if they can afford the time. So what I would say to people planning a trip to Gallipoli is don't intend just to go there for a day or two, if you can spend three or four days there and really have a good look around and learn the full story of the campaign.
How did your love for travel begin?
Mat McLachlan: That's a good question, my family company is a travel company so we have always been involved in travel and I grew up in an environment where I was taught to respect servants in the armed forces and the sacrifice of people during war times. I am very fortunate that the two have come together and that I am able not only to write books about battlefields but also lead battlefield tours. It is a really great thing, out of all the great things I get to do the number one is to take people to these battlefields and show them the grounds themselves.
How do people, normally, act when you show them the battlefields?
Mat McLachlan: It is always very emotional, we have had people on our tours, tough Vietnam veterans, who have seen the grave of a relative who was killed almost 100 years ago and have broken down at the grave with tears in their eyes. I think it has a very strong affect on people when you see these names and an inscriptions from the family on the grave that show they were never able to visit the grave or the grave was too far away for the family to visit, it is really touching for Australia visitors. I hope it is something that everyone will do at some stage.
Who inspired you to begin your research of Gallipoli?
Mat McLachlan: It wasn't so much one person, it was more the story, it is such an epic story and important chapter in our history, and I really wanted to learn more about it. I have always had a very strong interest in the Western front, in the battlefields of France and Belgium and the more you learn about that story the more you learn that Gallipoli is such an important part of our history; that is what really got me involved and interested to learn about Gallipoli, which eventually lead to the book.
What is your tour company?
Mat McLachlan: It is called Mat McLachlan Battlefield tours and we do tours to the Western front, Gallipoli and Vietnam. We have some of Australians leading war historians who are showing people around the battlefields, one of the most important things when travelling around a battlefield is travelling with an expert. It is a fantastic group of people and we are going very well. We have 500 people who will travel with us to the battlefields this year, 250 of those this ANZAC day.
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