the zig zag
the first authentic hotel on the Gallipoli peninsula
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back to silent witnesses
The way down into the Gully or up from there into the front-line
trenches near here was along the side of a long path that meandered over the
steep sides of the ravine and which was naturally called Zig Zag. The
distinctive shape of the path is not visible from the bed of the ravine; but
it is possible to force a path through the scrub, following the course of
tractor tracks and gaps between the thickets of trees, to reach the edge of
the cliff down which it ran and it is only really when looking down into the
Gully from this height, perched precariously above the steep cliff-face, that
the real depth of the ravine can be seen. From the head of the Zig Zag two
support trenches ran across to Twelve Tree Copse called Fusilier and
Lancashire
Streets; between them and the front line four hundred yards ahead ran a
complicated network of British trenches.
"The Battlefields of Gallipoli", Then and Now, (London
1990), Nigel Steele, p. 97
last updated : 20/01/08
"Approach to Gully Ravine - Gully Ravine, Great Gully, or Zighin Dere, is an immense ravine with deep and confusing tributary gullies running into it, and with rugged banks , in some places 50 ft high. It lies roughly parallel with the west coast, beginning above Gully beach and extending northwards behind Y beach. This photograph shows the way down into the Ravine from Lancashire Street", period picture reproduced from "Twenty Years After", p. 384
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WITNESSES
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