May
19th 1915
A strong Turkish counter-attack aimed at driving the Anzacs back to
the beaches was beaten off. Enemy losses were approximately 3000 dead
and 7000 wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel S P Weir, 10th Battalion (South
Australia), wrote:
"We can see hundreds of dead bodies from our trenches, and in a
couple of days we shall smell them too".
Corporal Albert Jacka, 14th Battalion (Victoria), of Wedderburn, Victoria,
became the first Australian soldier of World War I to be awarded the
Victoria Cross. He gained this for his bravery in defending Courtney's
Post on the night of 19-20 May against a Turkish attack. In addition
to his Victoria Cross, Jacka also received the £500 and gold medal
offered by Melbourne businessman John Wren for the first Australian
to be awarded the VC in this war.
A Turkish sniper's bullet killed Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, 3rd
Field Ambulance - 'The Man with the Donkey' - in Monash Valley.
StoryThis site: 'Simpson's Donkey'