Anzac descendants mobbed by waiting media in Turkey as they arrive for Gallipoli centenary

THE wives, sons and daughters and grandchildren of the first Anzacs were greeted like rock stars when they arrived in Turkey yesterday on the commemorative Qantas flight QF100.

IT was a Turkish welcome that they did not expect but it was totally appropriate.

The wives, sons and daughters and grandchildren of the first Anzacs were greeted like rock stars when they arrived at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gorken Airport this morning on the commemorative Qantas flight QF100.

They were mobbed by television crews wanting to know about their links to Gallipoli.

“It means a great deal to me to be here but I didn’t expect any of this, the TV crews and such,” Bill Hyland, 89, said.

He was there for his father Francis Joseph Hyland, who signed up at the age of 22 with the 8th infantry battalion that went to Gallipoli and then on to the Western Front. He said it was known as the “blood and bandages” because of its colours being red and white.

Mr Hyland was one of the lucky ones with pass to be at Anzac Cove for the dawn service.

“I haven’t been before but I am here for my father,” he said.

QF 100 carried other families of WW1 veterans including the 10 war widows whose husbands fought for their country.

Bill Hyland chats to waiting media about his connection to Gallipoli.

While preparations for the centenary of the landing at what is now known as Anzac Cove are set in stone, there are some health concerns for the relatives, many of them in their 80s and 90s, who are expected to be there from 6pm on Friday to wait for the dawn service.

They will not be allowed to leave until all the services are over.

None of them are complaining, saying it is an honour.