Anzac Cove () is a small

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

on the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

peninsula in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It became famous as the site of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

landing of the ANZACs (

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

) on 25 April 1915. The cove is long, bounded by the headlands of ''Arıburnu'' to the north and Little Arıburnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south. Following the

landing at Anzac Cove The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe and, to the Turks, as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which ...

, the beach became the main base for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

troops for the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.

Gallipoli campaign, 1915–1916

The first objective for soldiers coming ashore in enemy-held territory was to establish a

beachhead A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. Th ...

, a safe section of beach protected from enemy attack where supplies and extra troops could be safely brought ashore. Anzac Cove was always within of the front-line, well within the range of Turkish

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, though spurs from the high ground of Plugge's Plateau, which rose above Arıburnu, provided some protection. General

William Birdwood Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951), was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl ...

, commander of Anzac, made his headquarters in a gully overlooking the cove, as did the commanders of the

New Zealand and Australian Division The New Zealand and Australian Division was a composite army Division (military), division raised for service in the First World War under the command of Major General Alexander Godley. Consisting of several Mounted infantry, mounted and standard ...

and the Australian 1st Division. On 29 April, General Birdwood recommended that the original landing site between the two headlands be known as "Anzac Cove" and that the surrounding, hitherto nameless, area occupied by his corps be known as "Anzac". The beach itself became an enormous supply dump and two

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...

s were established, one at either end. Four floating

jetties A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signif ...

were quickly constructed for the landing of stores, later replaced in July by a permanent structure known as "Watson's Pier". The volume of stores quickly overflowed onto the adjacent beaches; firstly onto

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...

to the south of the cove and later onto North Beach beyond Arıburnu. Three wireless radio stations were established on the beach to maintain contact with the fleet. While the cove was relatively sheltered from shellfire from across the peninsula, the Chanak forts, as well as the Turkish

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

s ''Turgut Reis'' and ''Barbaros Hayreddin'' anchored in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

, shelled the waters off the cove and it was partially exposed to view from Gaba Tepe to the south and completely open to view from Nibrunesi Point at the southern tip of

Suvla Bay View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as ...

to the north. Nibrunesi Point was under the guns of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

so was never used to fire on Anzac, however the well-concealed Turkish battery at Gaba Tepe, known as "Beachy Bill", was a constant menace. Private Victor Laidlaw wrote of the dangers posed by Beachy Bill in his diary: Despite the shelling and Turkish snipers, Anzac Cove was a popular

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

beach for the soldiers. At ANZAC it was a struggle to supply sufficient

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

for drinking and there was rarely any available for washing. Most soldiers disregarded all but the fiercest shelling rather than interrupt the one luxury available to them.

Commemorations

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

in 1985, the name "Anzac Cove" was officially recognised by the Turkish government. The Anzac Day dawn service was held at Arıburnu Cemetery within the cove until 1999 when the number of people attending outgrew the site. A purpose-built "Anzac Commemorative Site" was constructed nearby on North Beach in time for the 2000 service. Over the years, Anzac Cove beach has been degraded by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, and the construction of the coast road from Kabatepe to

Suvla View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as par ...

, originally started by Australian engineers just prior to the evacuation of Anzac in December 1915, resulted in the beach being further reduced and bounded by a steep earth embankment. The only way onto the beach was via the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

cemeteries at each headland, Arıburnu Cemetery, and Beach Cemetery. In 2003 the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

announced that it was negotiating with Turkey to place Anzac Cove on the National Heritage List, which included Australian sites such as the

Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia, during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, wh ...

gardens. However this request was dismissed by the

Turkish government The Government of Turkey () is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party system. The term government can me ...

as the

peninsula is Turkish territory and already a national park in the Turkish National Park System. In 2004 the Australian Minister for Veteran's Affairs, Danna Vale, made a request to the Turkish authorities that roadworks be carried out in the area. In 2005, the resultant efforts to widen the road to provide a bus parking area for the Commemorative Site covered some of the remaining beach, making it impossible to traverse, and cut into Plugge's Plateau, making the path to the summit and Plugge's Plateau Cemetery impassable. On 18 October 2005 the federal minister for veterans affairs, Danna Vale, called for the battlefield to be recreated in Australia, saying that the physical similarity between the end of the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...

, in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and Anzac Cove, in Turkey, is "uncanny".

Gallery

File:View_of_Anzac_Cove_-_Gallipoli_Peninsula_-_Dardanelles_-_Turkey_-_01_(5734713946).jpg, North Beach looking toward Suvla File:Anzac commemorative site, Gallipoli, Turkey.jpg, Anzac commemorative site File:Gallipoli ANZAC Cove 2.JPG, North Beach with "sphinx" rock in the background.

References

;

External links

Australian Light Horse Studies Centre
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The Battle of Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915
A comprehensive collection of all sources, both Allied and Turkish, including contemporary maps, regarding the landings around Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915.

{{Authority control ANZAC Bays of Turkey Bodies of water of Turkey Coves of Europe Gallipoli campaign Overseas places of historic significance to Australia World War I sites in Turkey Tourist attractions in Çanakkale Province