A retired tortoise breeder is seeking to return a 98-year-old
tortoise, Blake, to his native home, the beaches of Gallipoli in
Turkey. According to the Telegraph, back in 1916, a British
serviceman now only remembered as Mr. Marris took the tortoise
from the beach in Turkey “as shells rained overhead” in the
Gallipoli Campaign, which is regarded as one of the greatest
disasters for the Allies in World War I. Gallipoli is located
near the Dardanelles, a narrow strait in northern Turkey. The
British and French, with volunteer soldiers from Australia and
New Zealand as well as British India, undertook the campaign to
secure a sea route to Russia (because Germany and Austria-
Hungary controlled access to land routes at that time) and also
to capture Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The
Allies lost in what was regarded as a major victory for Turkey
(whose troops were fewer in number), with both sides suffering
heavy casualties of at least half a million. Marris carried the
tortoise in his backpack on 2,