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Ancient village a place of war and healing

Neat rows of chopped wood are stacked against old stone-walled homes and all around roosters compete with birdsong to register the loudest celebration of a new morning.

A tractor rumbles past and a few older men of the village gather for tea, company and to read the papers or play backgammon.

Away in the distance atop a couple of hills, big Turkish flags fly proudly, marking the site of war memorials dedicated to the memory of those who fought the Anzacs 100 years ago.

A statue of a nurse tending to a soldier and boards with images of injured men are the telltale signs that the village has a unique link to the Gallipoli battles of 1915.

Welcome to Kocadere. It sits a few kilometres away from Anzac Cove, making it one of the closest villages to the Anzac landings and the carnage that followed.

The village men explain that it had at one time been home to several hundred families but it had been damaged in the war and just 25 families remained, farming the rich fields nearby.

It had been used as a first-aid post in the immediate aftermath of the Anzac landings, then became the site of a hospital.

The small Turkish village of Kocadere was the closest to the fighting in the hills behind old friends (l-r) Senol Manga, Tahir Sim and Volakan Beceren. Picture: Steve Ferrier / The West Australian

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A German commander in the area during the war, Liman von Sanders, was so impressed with the hospital's work that he presented the village with a gold medallion. The men offer tea and say they are all proud of the region's place in history.

Volakan Beceren, 52, said he was originally from the nearby village of Bigali. It was used as a base during the first days of the Gallipoli campaign by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Turkish officer who became a national hero and the country's first president.

Tahir Sim, 63, said some men from Kocadere would go to the front to fight during the day and come home in the evening. The village had lost a lot of men.

It was striking just how familiar some of the images of soldiers on the boards around the town square looked. Many, in rows of beds, had the haunted look seen on the faces of some of the shell-shocked Diggers in images taken by Anzac photographers.

And just like with the Anzacs, there were tales of honour and tragedy told at Kocadere.

One involved a wounded Turkish soldier who told those trying to save him that he owed a mate money and if he didn't pull through, could they tell his friend that he was sorry he had not paid.

His mate, also injured, told those helping him that if he didn't make it, to tell the man who owed him money that the debt was forgiven. Both men died.

The tragedy of war does not recognise nationality.