President MacAleese,Memorial in Gallipoli

arnhem44

Just saw this,President MacAleese is to dedicate the foundation stone of a proposed memorial On Chocolate Hill in Galliploi on the 24th of March,does anyone know anymore about this and what sort of memorial is to be put up?

Morlar

Just after st Patricks day too

http://www.oneconnect.ie/content/view/163/17/

Memorial to the Irish Casualties of the Gallipoli Campaign

News has broken very recently that a long overdue memorial to the Irish casualties of the Gallipoli campaign will be erected in the area where the 10th Irish Division operated at Suvla Bay. The President of Ireland will be paying a State visit to Turkey and during it will spend a day on the Peninsular and will dedicate the foundation stone of the proposed memorial at one of the cemeteries in the Suvla Bay area.

The Somme Association, which had planned to make a pilgimage on October has brought this forward to coincide with the visit of the President and details of its Tour from 20th to 26th March has been sent to all members of that Association.

In order to accommodate others who may wish to witness this historic event, in particluar members of the disbanded Irish Regiments Associations, a similar tour has been organised, on request, by Group Travel International, a Dublin based Travel Group and details are attached to this email.

The email is addressed to all who have an assoication with the Irish Regiments involved in Gallipol with a request that the information should be widely publicised amongst their members in the event that they would wish to join the Tour. The key date is Wednesday 24th March and on that day the Tour will concentrate at the proposed location of the memorial in the Suvla Bay area.

The conditions of the offer need to be noted; full payment is due at the time of booking; closing date for booking is 9th February; vacancies are being allocated on a first come first served basis; and a figure of at least 20 applicants must be achieved if the tour is to proceed; applications are to be made direct to the Tour firm, GIT

Tour Details -

MILITARY TOUR TO GALLIPOLI

FOR THE DEDICATION, BY PRESIDENT MARY MacALEESE,

OF THE FOUNDATION STONE

OF A MEMORIAL TO THE IRISH FALLEN

€995

Per person sharing

Including Taxes and Charges

5 Nights - 4* and 5* Hotels

22 - 27 MARCH 2010

This tour provides a unique opportunity to visit the Gallipoli Peninsula and is specifically and especially designed to coincide with the historic first visit of an Irish President to the First World War battlefields there where so many Irish soldiers fought and some 3,500 died. On Wednesday 24th March, the President will dedicate the foundation stone for a proposed memorial at Chocolate Hill to all the Irish who perished in that campaign and, in particular, the men of the 10th Irish Division. The Tour will visit the battlefields of the Helles, ANZAC and Suvla Bay Sectors and will enable members to participate in a remarkable journey of remembrance where the rugged landscape provides the backdrop to untold heroism, endurance and sacrifice.

While in Turkey, the Tour will also visit the ancient site of Troy as well as the magical city of Istanbul, which

is a 2010 European Capital of Culture.

Your Price Includes:
- - - -

Unless the numbers are wrong more Irishmen died in Gallipoli alone than in the 30 or so years of the northern Ireland troubles. According to here the numbers were higher, approx 4,000 Irishmen died there.