(a) 'Tell the Colonel the fools have landed us a mile [1.6 kilometres] too far north!'

As soon as the first boats landed, the Turkish sentries started firing.

(b) '... some get ashore safely, some are hit slightly, others are drowned in only a couple of feet of water because in the excitement no one notices their plight ...'

(c) 'Klock-klock-klock. Wee-wee-wee' came the little messengers of death. Then it opened into a terrific chorus ... The key was being turned in the lock of the lid of hell. Some men crouched in the crowded boat, some sat up nonchalantly, some laughed and joked, while others cursed with ferocious delight ...'

The men were soon mixed up and not in their expected order.

(d) 'A brief pause on the beach to fix bayonets, and singing "This bit of the world belongs to us" and swearing and cheering, we charged up a hill so steep in places we could only just scramble up it. It was mad, wild, thrilling.'

The Turks were able to hold off the attackers. As the day continued, they were able to bring artillery to shell the attackers as well as shooting at them with rifles and machineguns.

(e) 'We were laughing and joking as we went along. The first time fear came to me was when we were in a perfect hail of bullets and the men were being killed all around me. I felt frightened and, I am not ashamed to say, wanted to run away.'

(f) 'They poured every conceivable sort of fire into us. Every five minutes seemed an hour and the day seemed it was never coming to an end. Our nerves were strained to an immense degree, not so much by the noise as by the sights we had to witness. These were made the more horrible by the fact that most of them were our mates who we had been in constant company with for eight months. It was one long continuous cry for stretcher bearers.'

At the end of five days the Australians had not achieved their aim. The Turkish defenders were still there. The plan had failed. The Australians stayed for the next 8 months, but never advanced beyond where they were on the first day.

Soldiers' quotations: From The Broken Years by Bill Gammage, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1974