TC100GP VI8ANZAC friendship contact

A meeting by two commemorative stations - TC100GP for the Centenary of Gallipoli at Canakkale, and VI8ANZAC at the North Darwin Return Services League - symbolise the enduring respect held by both sides of the WWI battle. The 15m band ANZAC weekend QSO is one of occasions when Turkey's TC100-prefixed stations and the ANZAC-suffixed callsigns in Australia, made contact via Amateur Radio.

Coscun Pinar TA3CX of Team Papa that was TC100GP at Gallipoli later wrote: "We Turks are highly respectful to our ancestors, very similar to you. Therefore, we admire the ANZAC spirit and fidelity. Our ancestors sleep in peace in Gallipoli together and we wish peace for the living world forever. VI8ANZAC coordinator, Stuie Birkin VK8NSB replied: "My friend, thank you very much for activating TC100GP. I was very happy to have worked you guys on ANZAC Day. It was a pleasure to have met you, and this QSO will stay with me for ever." Stuie VK8NSB, now in his 28th year with the Royal Australian Air Force, is very proud and honoured to activate the VI8ANZAC callsign. He was in Gallipoli for the ANZAC Day 1988 service, and has never forgotten the friendship that the Turkish people showed at the time.

The Gallipoli campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories and a major allied failure. Both the Turks, then under the Ottoman Empire, and allied forces suffered heavy losses in that WWI conflict. It became a defining moment in Turkey's history. The Turkish War of Independence raged soon after WWI with freedom from the crumbling Ottoman Empire, and formation of the Republic of Turkey.

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