Nat Peters shares her ANZAC story

Macquarie National News Deputy News Editor Nat Peters is in Gallipoli this week on assignment to cover the centenary of ANZAC. But she has a personal assignment of her own as well. Like many Australians, she had relatives fight and die as Anzacs. Here’s her story.

 

Day One on the peninsular, I caught up with historian and journalist Dr Jonathan King and we went for a drive along the Gallipoli Peninsula, to Anzac Cove.

It was very humbling to be standing where they fought close to 100 years ago. After studying Gallipoli at school and reading about it, what struck me when I saw it with my own eyes was the scale of the beach. It was much smaller and narrower than I imagined in my head, which made the cliffs that much steeper. The soil was bare and would have just crumbled under the soldiers’ boots.

We then went to Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, which I knew contained the grave of a distant relative.

I had a hand drawn map in my notebook of where Plot 3, Row D, Grave 35 would be, and after a few minutes I found the white stone with the name ‘C Lidster’ engraved. One of the first things I noticed was that someone had placed a poppy beside it, and it may sound silly, but I felt grateful someone had thought of him and thanked him for his service. He is a distant relative through marriage, yet I felt almost protective of him, lying here in this foreign land.

He fought in Gallipoli in 1915, along with his two cousins, one of whom later died in France, and other who returned home and started a family, which is where I’m connected.

I have two closer World War One connections – my great grandfather Alfred George McDermott who served in France, pictured in the old photos.

And on my father’s side, my great uncle Trooper James Daniel Ryan, who served in the Boer War before signing up for the Great War where he served in 6th Australian Lighthorse Regiment here in Gallipoli. His World War One record makes sad reading. He suffered what the military calls ‘melancholy’ which is essentially PTSD. He was on and off the hospital ship here in Gallipoli before being sent back to Egypt, where he soon after left hospital and was found dead in a canal. His medical records say there was some suggestion of foul play, but the death was ruled an accidental drowning.

I am just like so many Australians in that I have a personal connection with the Anzacs, whether it be from WW1, 2, or a more recent conflict. I think this shared connection is what ensures ANZAC Day remains such a crucial day on our calendar.

My story is one of millions, and not the one I am here to find or tell in my role as a reporter, but it does shape my work here. It was nice to have that moment at Shrapnel Valley to remember my WW1 ancestors, and my grandfather who served in WW2. 

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