27 Apr 2015
Rowing to remember Gallipoli 100 years on
Butt was aware of the handle of her oar in her hands. Soon – even though sunrise was still over an hour away – she knew that her oar and those of a flotilla of rowing boats from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey would gently rise and dip back into the water as one, in homage to those who fought and died here over one hundred years ago.
Over a century earlier, Butt’s great uncle, Robert Butt, as part of the 1st Australian infantry Battalion had also been preparing to step down into a rowing boat, as part of the allied forces mounting what they hoped would be one of a series of devastating assaults on Turkish positions and open the way to Constantinople. Instead, Butt and his mates became hopelessly bogged down in a brutal trench battle of unimaginable intensity. In those months, the ANZAC legend was born. The spot where Australian and New Zealand forces landed, fought, died and – just eight months later – were evacuated, is now known as Anzac Cove.
Butt’s crew had rowed into Anzac Cove following the culmination of a 60km row around the peninsula. “You expect it to be a beach but it’s not like any beach I know in Australia,” said Butt, as she and her all-female Queenscliff /Broulee Surf club crew got their first proper sight of the iconic location.
The design of the surf boats used in the multi-national 60 kilometre event bears a remarkable similarity to that of the craft used to land the Anzacs in 1915. And being on the water gave the four women – all of whom had ancestors that fought in Gallipoli – a unique view and understanding of just what the Anzac troops had faced. “It only has a couple of metres of sand. Then from the water, you just see this mind-blowing terrain stretching up, that must have been horrendous to fight in,” explained Butt.
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Queenscliff’s crew in front of the ANZAC Beach cemetery: Alex Butt, Samantha Butt, Pip Butt & Alexandra Salier ©Alex Butt
The heroism and humanity which those men showed through adversity in 1915, together with the way that it has been remembered, has been crucial. In fact, it sometimes comes as a surprise to know that more French troops, many of them from Africa, than Anzacs died in the Galliopli campaign. The numbers of British troops engaged far exceeded the Australian and New Zealand contingents. And of course over 400,000 Turkish troops fought there too.
But this was the first time that the Anzacs – the initials stand for: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – had fought. The initial feelings of pride at those young countries forming an army, turned into a need to both explain and understand a military disaster. Thus a narrative of courage in defeat became the focus. It played a massive role in building an indomitable and distinctive national spirit within. Through the years, it has helped motivate the sportsmen and women of both Australia and New Zealand. On Anzac Day, 25 April, Olympic medallists George Bridgewater (NZL) and Drew Ginn (AUS), both tweeted about the Anzac ceremonies and what it meant to them.
And it was that same spirit which inspired the three Butt sisters: Alex, Pip and Samantha, together with Alexandra Salier and their sweep: Mark Carrick.
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A page from the Referee: an Australian sporting newspaper in April 1915
For World War I, Many sportsmen answered the call to arms and amongst them were prominent oarsmen. They included the remarkable Syd Middleton. Not only was the Sydney Rowing Club man a key member – the ‘6’ man – of the first eight to represent Australia at the Olympic Games, in 1912 but he also played 34 games for the Australian Rugby team: including four as Captain.
Middleton’s leadership skills saw him enlist in the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion. On 21 August 1915, at 1300, Middleton landed at ANZAC cove with his company. They were sent straight into action in one of the final pushes of the unsuccessful August offensive. After that, the war diaries, still available at the Public Records Office in Kew, London, reveal that Middleton spent his time defending an outpost. It was barely a few hundred metres from the cove below and just a few metres away from Turkish trenches. A typical entry for 1900 hours on 9 November reveals: “Enemy opened heavy fire rifle and machine guns. By use of rifle fire, catapult bombs and garland mortars enemy’s fire reduced by 2100.”
Middleton emerged unscathed to lead his company out of Anzac cove in the early hours of 20 December. The evacuation – at least – was a complete success.
Other members of Australia’s rowing community did not leave Turkish shores alive. Before the war, Private George Gunning was one of the most enthusiastic members of the New South Wales Rowing Association, devoting all his spare time to fostering the sport he loved.
On the 8 August, during one of the most famous and bloody assaults of the Galliopli campaign, at Lone Pine, Gunning went missing. His body was never recovered.
Now, Lone Pine cemetery and memorial has become the focal point for ANZAC 100 commemorations. World leaders, dignitaries and relatives assembled there in the early hours of 25 April. No doubt some of them might have seen the name of the former Vice Captain of the North Shore Club on Lone Pine’s memorial. Gunning’s name is inscribed on panel 17.
After Galliopli ended, Middleton’s war continued. He rose to command a battalion in France. However, even during the war, rowing was never far away from Middleton’s thoughts. On 26 June 1918, during a time away from the front line, Middleton helped organise a swimming and rowing competition for his troops at Glisy on the Somme. The records show that there was a ‘Sculling Championship (Each man to provide his own Aquatic turnout) Prize for the most original design.’ And a ‘four oared race’ it’s not recorded if Middleton raced but it’s highly likely that he did.
After the war, Middleton threw himself into organising sporting events for soldiers yet to be demobilized. At Henley in 1919, he was part of the victorious Australian Imperial Forces crew that won the inaugural Kings Cup in a magnificent final race beating a crew from Oxford University.
The Kings Cup is now Australia’s most important inter-state rowing competition. In 2015, it was won by a Victorian crew, containing four Olympic medallists: David Crawshay, Will Lockwood, Karsten Fosterling and Josh Dunkley-Smith. Anzac echoes still resonate in those current Olympic oarsmen. Lockwood recently tweeted references to the Anzac centenary.
Making a connection with their Anzac roots was of course, very much in the mind of the Queesncliff Surf Club rowers, as they travelled to the land where their great Uncle fought. Though he was to survive Galliopli, Robert Butt was killed on the Western Front on 9 April 1917. His body was never recovered. But his name is commemorated on Australia’s national monument at Villers-Brettoneaux – not far from the spot on the Somme where Middleton held his impromptu regatta in 1918.
The boats from the Gallipoli 100 – including Butt’s refurbished Queenscliff boat, will be left in Turkey to inspire future generations of Turkish surf rowers.
Copy thanks to Martin Cross