They left their families to land on foreign shores to fight an unknown enemy.

I have been researching my father's family tree and found that I had two great uncles that enlisted in the army to fight for their country.

They were Allan (25) and Samuel (21).

They were country boys from Mansfield, Victoria helping on the family farm.

They enlisted on the same day in September 1914.

How would their parents have felt knowing that maybe their boys would not come home.

They joined the 8th Light Horse Brigade and after training for several months they set sail in May 1915 for Gallipoli.

Samuel wrote letters and described the conditions as being very hot in the trenches.

He was looking forward to returning home but on 7th August 1915 he lost his life when the 8th Light Horse Brigade were decimated at the Battle of the Nek.

He was reported as missing but later found to have been killed in action.

He was 22.

Allan arrived in Gallipoli with Samuel but in Sepember 1915 was transferred to Malta.

He was there for several months then in April 1917 transferred to Palestine.

He also wrote letters to home describing how they had to dig trenches and tunnels.

The nearest trench containing the enemy was only 11 metres away.

At times they had to scale the top of the trenches and crawl on their stomachs to try and get closer to the enemy.

Imagine what it would have been like to have bullets landing all around them as they crawled towards the enemy.

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Early in the morning of 19th April, Allan was present but later when the roll was called he was missing.

On the advice of a trooper who reported that he had seen him lying in a "sand cart" he was listed as wounded.

It was later found that he had been killed in action.

Two young men, among the thousands who lost their lives fighting for their country.

I never envisioned that I would visit Gallipoli but in September 2016 I flew to Turkey.

After a few days visiting Istanbul I was part of a tour of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

We crossed the Dardanelles and arrived in Cannakale.

Over the next few days we visited all the battlefields eg Shrapnel Valley, Russell's Top, Plugges Plateau, the Nek and Lone Pine.

The Nek batteground is only as big as two tennis courts and as we stood in the warm sunshine it was very hard to imagine wave after wave of soldiers charging towards the trenches of the Turks.

It gave me chills imagining how they only had minutes left to live yet their steps never faltered.

The screams of the wounded and dying must have been horrific.

So many lost their lives that day, including Samuel.

The tour made its way to Lone Pine and there I found the name of my great uncle, Samuel inscribed onto the limestone wall of the memorial.

As I ran my fingers over the letters of his name I wondered what his life would have been like if he had made it back home.

Upon arriving at Anzac Cove, it was very hard to imagine the carnage that happened on 25th April.

It was a calm day with the sun shining and little waves gently lapping the shore.

The pebbled beach is not very big and there was nowhere the soldiers could take cover.

The cliffs overlooking the cove are very imposing and quite steep and trying to climb them under relentless sniper and machine gun fire would have turned their blood cold.

We really can't imagine what those Diggers went through on that dreadful day.

We returned to Anzac Cove very early the next morning and as the sun rose, a wreath was placed on the memorial in memory of all those brave soldiers who gave their lives.

I feel privileged that I was able to visit the Gallipoli Peninsula and immerse myself in the history and feel very grateful to all the men and women who perished in the hope they we could live in peace.

What is war?

It's a state of armed conflict between different countries.

What is the object of war?

"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard

die for his." as quoted by- George S. Patton.

The result of war?

No one wins, just thousands of lives lost.