Five students selected to visit the Gallipoli battlefields where their ancestors fought 100 years ago had another important mission - to report the key events of their tour.
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The students have spent time at the Mercury with editor Eve Nesmith as they prepare to be cadet journalists for the trip.
Ms Nesmith said all the students had done a great deal of research and what they recorded on their trip would be important to young people in the Hunter.
This tour of the Gallipoli war front appears unprecedented in Australia, with 20 schools from throughout the Hunter Valley represented.
The five cadet journalists are Lauren Wood from St Phillip's Christian College, Jack Olive from Francis Greenway High School, Scarlett Budden from Maitland Christian School, Adam Robinson from Cessnock High and Georgia Filis from All Saints College St Peter's Campus.
Here's Lauren Wood's account of the day:
It finally came, the day we had been waiting for.
After three years of research, presentations, interviews and speeches the whole reason for this trip seemed ready to be uncovered.
Our Anzac Day dawn service at Hamzacoy Beach at Gelibolu started with some 20-odd surfboats loomed out of the darkness of the Dardanelles and deposited their crews upon the shore, a symbolic re-enactment of the landings exactly 100 years ago.
While I witnessed this I couldn’t help thinking about how the soldiers would have felt, not knowing what was about to happen.
The service included speeches from Colonel Graham Fleeton RFD, Major General Paul Irving AM, PSM, RFD and the mayor of Gelibolu, in front of most honoured guest Lady Cutler.
There were also two Bible readings delivered by a rower from New Zealand and our own Abby Thomson from Maitland Grossmann High School.
The speech by the mayor of Gelibolu was touching and sincere.
He spoke about how important peace is and how war brings no glory.
He spoke about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s famous speech and the letter of reply from one of our fallen Anzac’s mothers, which I was surprised and comforted to hear.
The letter of reply was full of gratitude and respect and that acknowledged Kemal Ataturk as a father of all the fallen.
As the ceremony continued, I kept reflecting on what it would have been like 100 years ago on this day at Gallipoli.
At the end of the service we were blessed with an incredible sunrise and I wondered if 100 years ago on this day if a sunrise such as this rose above the chaos and agony of the battlefield.
The support everyone showed each other throughout the morning was incredibly touching and reminded me once again of the mateship and camaraderie that typified the Anzac spirit.
The morning was full of mixed emotions for me because, although I mourn the loss of thousands of obedient soldiers, including my own great-great-uncle, I am also proud of each of the soldiers who fought in such indescribably difficult circumstances.
Throughout it all they did their best, exemplifying the Anzazc spirit.
