Tribute to Kiwi women’s Gallipoli tragedy
TWO backpacking New Zealanders killed making an early pilgrimage to Gallipoli have been remembered in a special tribute service.
Rosalind Webb and Jean Walker died in a car crash in 1965 just 3km from the Turkish gravesite of Miss Webb’s grandfather Major David Grant, killed at Anzac Cove during the Gallipoli landings on April 25, 1915.
They were on their overseas experience and had been living and working in London when they made the trip across to Gallipoli — long before it became a major destination for travelling New Zealanders.
The two tragedies — 50 years apart — had devastating impacts on the families.
Ann Grant, wife of the 41yearold butcher and fatheroffive from Timaru, never recovered from the death, her family said.
Now, all three have been remembered in a special memorial event at Chanak Consular Cemetery in Canakkale, across the Dardanelles from Gallipoli.
New Zealand Defence Force senior heritage adviser Matthew Buck led Good Friday’s service where Miss Webb and Miss Walker are buried.
He said Miss Webb, of Geraldine, would have been the first member of her family to make it to Maj Grant’s grave.
Maj Grant was a popular officer and commander of the 2nd (South Canterbury) company of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion.
He was killed during the first wave on April 25, and later buried at Walker’s Ridge Cemetery.
Miss Webb’s sister, Adrienne, finally got to both graves in the late 1980s, while his grandson, and Miss Webb’s close cousin, Bruce Denny, made the pilgrimage in the early 2000s.
He had been crushed by the death of Miss Webb who had been like a sister to him.
The double tragedy meant Anzac Day always loomed with sadness for his Timaru family.
‘‘Because of the effects the deaths had on our family, Anzac Day was always quite different for us. A blanket of grief went over the place,’’ the 77yearold, who now lives at Tanners Point, Bay of Plenty, said.
‘‘It’s been a significant part of our lives and it’s lasted more than 100 years.’’
Making the trip to Gallipoli was a poignant moment for him, and helped bring to life his years of family genealogy and research.
‘‘To stand there at Walkers Ridge and look across the blue Aegean [Sea], it’s a pretty peaceful place to be. But like any of these cemeteries, the waste is incredible,’’ Mr Denny said.
‘‘You can’t but help admire anyone who tried to get up those cliffs in a hail of bullets. It was absolute madness.’’