Understanding the ANZAC SPIRIT

Student Activities

Welcome to Anzac Cove, 1915!

The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe, and to the Turks as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which began the land phase of the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. The assault troops, mostly from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), landed at night on the western (Aegean Sea) side of the peninsula.

You are about to go there!

Your teacher will have the world set up for your class as a shared world. As you log onto the Anzac World, you will notice you spawn on Anzac Cove. You are surrounded by the tents, supplies, carts, dug in dwellings and hospitals. What is missing are the people.

Remembering the Soldiers of Anzac Cove

1. Make a Soldier in Minecraft
Your teacher will give you a card representing a soldier who represented their country in Anzac Cove. Each of these people wrote diaries that give us an insight into their lives on Anzac Cove. Read their stories. You may get the Powerpoint here. Make an NPC with the name of that person. Allow them to tell their story by typing in their words on the NPC. Use the URL link to link to their diaries on the Internet.

2. Get to know the Soldiers
Once you and your class have completed the NPCs, your Cove is now populated with friends form the past that want to get to know you and are ready to be interviewed! Take time to read the stories of all the NPCs and get a feel what it was like on the Cove.

3. Add more information
Make signs for others to read around the person.
Place the following information on the signs:

• Name
• age when in Anzac Cove
• Date of Diary entry
• What were they feeling during the time of the event or moment they are talking about.
• What personal qualities have the soldiers displayed?

Extra Awesomeness

• Pretend you are a war correspondent.  Make news articles about the people you interview there. Tahe photos and use your article to encourage the people back home that the soldiers are inspirational.
• Become a soldier yourself. Write your own diary entries detailing how you got there, where you went, what you did, how you felt and who you met. Take screenshots and make them black and white!