TRIP TO GALLIPOLI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21792, 5 May 1934, Page 11

TRIP TO GALLIPOLI

PARTY FROM ENGLAND DUTY PAID ON WREATHS TURKISH CUSTOMS CHARGE STORY OF BURIED MONEY By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received May 4, 5.5 p.m.) CONSTANTINOPLE, May 3 Seven hundred pilgrims to Gallipoli arrived at Constantinople to-day on the liner Duchess of Richmond. The customs officials charged £3l duty on 85 wreaths brought for the graves. One of the wreaths was placed on the Turkish tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The expedition to Gallipoli referred to in the cablegram includes a party of treasure hunters, equipped with plans and maps, purporting to indicate places where gold was buried by soldiers during the campaign. It is said that many men buried their money before going into action, and in numerous cases never lived to recover it. Lieutenant Hope, writing in the London Daily Telegraph, recently said: "I knew several men who buried their hoards of gold, sometimes as much as £4O, before going into the front line. In one instance I even have a photograph of the tree under which I know a pile of money was placed. I was passing the tree one night in December, 1915, just before we were due in the front line when I saw a man drop a pouch into a hols dug beneath this tree. He was hit before he got a chance to return. I am looking through the records in an effort to discover his name. If I find the money and he is still alive I shall take the first opportunity of sending it back to him." A search will also be made for a one gallon jar of Jamaica rum which was buried on the shore at Suvla Bay by a soldier of the Eighth Welsh Regiment. This man, who has been unemployed for the last six years, has supplied Lieutenant Hope with a map showing the approximate location of the jar. The map was to be placed on the notice board of the liner so that all members of the expedition would have an equal chance of finding it. An amusing feature of the cruise was to be the . observance of the routine of 1915 on the way to Gallipoli. The expedition was to be given a farewell by Sir lan Hamilton.