The remains of 17 missing French soldiers who fought at the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I have been given to French military officials and buried with other fallen comrades more than a century after their deaths
By MEHMET GUZEL and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press
Apr 24, 2022 2:57 p.m
• 3 minutes reading time
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CANAKKALE, Turkey – The remains of 17 missing French soldiers who fought in the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I were handed over to French military officials on Sunday and buried alongside other fallen comrades more than a century after their deaths.
The remains were found during restoration work on a castle and surrounding areas on Turkey’s northwestern Canakkale Peninsula, where Allied forces fought Ottoman Turks in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign that began with landings on the peninsula on April 25, 1915.
At the handover ceremony, Colonel Philippe Boulogne paid tribute to the soldiers who “came to defend their homeland in that far-off land that was the scene of one of the most tragic episodes in our history”.
The ceremony coincided with commemorations marking the 107th anniversary of the start of the battle, commemorating French, British and other soldiers. On Monday, Australians and New Zealanders mark Anzac Day to commemorate their fallen soldiers in a dawn ceremony.
“Zuaves (light infantry corps) and riflemen from Senegal, Algeria, legionnaires, 10,000 French and colonial soldiers fell on the Gallipoli front,” Boulogne said. “Neither the scale of the casualties nor the violence of the war have diminished the courage of these men. Her courage and self-sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Only one of the 17 French soldiers – Cpl. Paul Roman of 1st Engineer Regiment – formally identified.
Authorities were also able to identify three headstones belonging to Cmdr. Galinier of the 58th Colonial Infantry Regiment and Capt. Stefani and 2nd Lt. Charvet vom 4th Zuaves, according to the French embassy. Only their surnames were given.
The Gallipoli Campaign of World War I aimed to secure a sea route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles and take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. The landing at Gallipoli marked the beginning of a bitter struggle that lasted eight months.
Around 44,000 Allied troops and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers died in the fighting.
Ismail Tasdemir, the Turkish official in charge of the historical site, said during the handover ceremony that the former battlefields have now become a land of “peace, tranquility and trust”.
At the soldiers’ final resting place in the Seddulbahir French Cemetery, French Embassy staffer Mathilde Grammont read from a message that the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – a former commander of Gallipoli – wrote for the mothers of the fallen soldiers:
“You mothers who have sent their sons from far-off lands, wipe away your tears; your sons now lie in our breasts and are at peace. After losing their lives on this land, they also became our sons.”
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Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara.