The intensity of the fighting and the close proximity of the Turkish trenches gave Anzac a human dimension almost entirely lacking from the warfare of the Western Front.

After the attack of 19 May there were no large-scale battles at Anzac for nearly three months. The warfare consisted of trench bafftes in the front line posts, counter-attacks and raids, and bombing and sniping duels.

The Anzac soldiers' tenacity and fortitude in adversity became legendary. Surviving on a monotonously inadequate diet and with a constant shortage of water, they engaged the Turks with improvised weapons such as periscope rifles and jam-tin bombs.

Digging and fatigues were carried out under constant enemy fire and all the heavy supplies, water, ammunition and construction material, had to be carried from the beaches up the steep slopes to the front line trenches. Even the few heavy artillery pieces which arrived on boats had to be pushed and dragged to their firing positions by teams of men. This continual physical work put a great strain on men already weakened by disease and malnutrition.

As the summer heat increased during June and July, the physical condition of the Anzac troops deteriorated further. Plagues of flies infested the battlefield and men were tormented by lice, gaining only temporary relief through regular bathing in the sea. Dysentery, diarrhoea and enteric fever were endemic and the trickle of reinforcements barely kept pace with the constant wastage from death, wounds and disease. By the end of July, the force was losing through illness the same number every fortnight as were lost in the initial landing assault.

With little apparent prosped of victory and the likelihood of escaping the peninsula only through sickness, wounds or death, morale declined among the men. Many began to give up hope of ever seeing their homeland again.