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Anzac Cove

For Australians and New Zealanders, Anzac Cove is the most must-see location on Gallipoli. While the dawn landings were spread out over almost a kilometre of coastline during the 25 April 1915, it was the small cove where some of the Anzacs waded ashore, which became most famous. From this little beach the Anzacs were sent inland into battle along the ridges at places which would become famous in the Anzac story - Lone Pine, Courtney's Post, Steele's Post, Quinn's Post, Baby 700, Pope's Hill and the Nek. By the afternoon of 25 April, the beach was crowded with the wounded from the ferocious actions being fought out along the ridges. That day an estimated 2,000 wounded passed through the cove, while others lay out on the battlefield awaiting evacuation.

Anzac Cove 2005 Photo: This view in 2005 looks northwards towards Ari Burnu, around which the original landing at dawn on 25 April 1915 took place. Erosion and the dumping of soil materials during the recent road building has destroyed the look of the cove, which until 2004 had retained a lot of its orignal features.

By 1 May 1915, more than 27,000 men of the ANZAC corps had landed at Gallipoli, and Anzac Cove was being transformed into the main port and administrative centre for the Anzac area. Piers were built to offload essential supplies and reinforcements, the best-known being Watson's Pier, built by a party of the 2nd Australian Field Engineers under the supervision of Lieutenant Stanley Watson of the 1st Division Signal Company, AIF. For the remainder of the campaign, huge rectangular piles of boxes were crammed into the narrow beach area and there was a constant fetching and carrying between the cove and the front line along the ridges. Some of this vital transport of supplies was undertaken by an Indian Army unit, the Indian Mule Cart Transport Company.

Anzac Cove 1915

Photo: [Copyright Stephen Chambers] This photograph from around August 1915 shows the crowded beach and piles of stores that soon covered the area. On the slopes above Anzac Cove a virtual town of lean-to shelters, dugouts and more elaborate structures emerged to house the Anzacs. Any sense of normality suggested here was belied by the fact that the Turks had the range of Anzac Cove and the area was shelled daily throughout the campaign, causing many casualties.

On This Day...

Monday, 17 May 1915

GALLIPOLI - Flight Commander Reginald Marix and his observer Charles Samson were involved in an interesting mission on 17 May 1915. That morning Marix....

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GALLIPOLI - Flight Commander Reginald Marix and his observer Charles Samson were involved in an interesting mission on 17 May 1915. That morning Marix had noticed an unusual degree of activity at the port sighting four transports and several smaller craft visibly unloading stores and troops at the small port of Ak Bashi Liman.

Aerial Samson
Photograph: Taken by Squadron Commander Charles Samson on 17 May.

He also saw a large camp filled with soldiers further inland. He returned in the afternoon with Samson as his observer. They took the opportunity to try out a new aircraft as Samson would later recall.

"On May 17th Marix had his big Breguet ready for action. As our principle objective with this aeroplane was an attack on Constantinople, we had to test it out well before allowing the attempt to be made, so in order to see what it could do I made one of my infrequent trips as passenger. We carried no less than one 100-lb and fourteen 20-lb bombs, and also a Lewis gun, a pretty formidable amount for those days. Off we set with the idea of giving Ak Bashi Liman a look-over. Arriving there, we found the place a scene of great activity. We let go all our bombs and created complete panic, and also did a lot of damage. I have since talked with Turks who were actually on the spot at the time, and they all said that we put a complete stop to work for two days, as the labourers fled to the hills. The loss of life was severe, thirteen killed and forty-four wounded. Marix and I came back delighted with the Breguet; but rather doubtful if the engine was reliable enough as it was missing fire most of the time." (Squadron Commander Charles Samson, No. 3 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service)

The two then carried out a more detailed reconnaissance and when their reports reached the GHQ it was concluded that a new Turkish division (it was the 2nd Division) was in transit and would be launching an attack on Anzac in the near future. Warnings reached the trenches on 18 May and as a ressult the Turks would be slaughtered when they launched mass attacks on the early morning of 19 May.