Furnishings consisted of commandeered sandbags or old overcoats for softening the hardness of the baked floor, a cut down petrol tin for a ‘bath’ and whole one for storing water. A couple of salvaged oil sheets pinned across with salvaged bayonets made a roof that would keep out the dew at night and the sun glare by day. With pick and shovel a cut was made in a slope that gave protection from the bullets of the snipers, and if possible from the bursts of shrapnel. This was a structure of a very primitive sort. Whenever possible, whether in the line or out of it, a man paired off with a mate and established a ‘bivvy’. Water, food, ammunition, and other supplies arrived at Anzac on ships and were landed on the beach with great difficulty. The area possessed no natural water source, so there were constant shortages. At its furthest point, the distance between the front line and the beach was just over 900 metres. The area occupied by the New Zealanders and Australians at Anzac was tiny – less than six square kilometres.
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