Anzac Cove

In the game

Gallipoli's Anzac Cove map starts at dawn in rowing boats, with Australian troops landing on a narrow beach under steep, scrubby ridges. The developers' walkthrough sends the attackers up to Plugge's Plateau, past the eroded peak known as the Sphinx and on to the trenches of Russell's Top, all named after the real ground above the cove.

The real place

On 25 April 1915 soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed here, about a mile north of their planned beach, and fought their way up the ridges. The campaign lasted until January 1916 and cost more than 100,000 lives on both sides. The cove, called Arıburnu in Turkish, is now part of the Gallipoli Historical Site, with cemeteries and memorials along the coast.

Visiting

The peninsula is easiest to reach from Çanakkale by ferry to Eceabat, then by car or on a day tour. The beach at Anzac Cove is small and quiet; the Sphinx is the pale eroded peak right above it. Around 25 April the area fills for the Anzac Day dawn service at the nearby North Beach, so book early if you go then.