Turkish Attack at Anzac Cove
On 19 May 1915, their German commander, Field Marshal Liman Von Sanders, sent the first of 42 000 Turkish troops to attack the 12 500 Anzacs then at Anzac Cove. The intention was to drive all Anzac forces on to the beach and kill them there. In places the combatants were only metres apart but it was one assault for which the Anzacs and their British commanders were prepared. British pilots had noticed a build up in the Turkish line, confirming observations by those on the ground, including Charles Bean, that Turkish firing patterns had changed and that heavier artillery was being used. In the resulting six-hour battle, the Turks were to incur around 10 000 casualties as repeated lines of Turkish troops were sent out of their trenches, to be gunned down almost immediately by the Anzac forces. The Anzacs suffered 628 casualties, among them John Kirkpatrick, known as Simpson, who had carried wounded men from battle on a donkey.
On 20 May, several Australians sought to rescue Turkish wounded from the narrow strip of ground between the opposing forces, an area known as No Man's Land, which was becoming littered with dead bodies. An informal truce was called while both sides collected their dead and wounded. On 24 May, an eight-hour formal break in fighting was agreed for both sides to again collect their dead and wounded. The cease-fire was honoured by both sides.




![Armistice to bury [indicated with a white X] Turk with flag of truce-Turkish trenches just at his rear, [the Turk in question is just outside of the photograph, to the left of the soldier standing on the far left] May 1915](images/pic-an23297148-t.jpg)