Diary of Wilfrid Wanostrocht Giblin, 1914 - 1915 - Part 7

all was well also Boddam.  We have had shells today
from our old friend, the 6 inch howitzer but none
in yet from the 11 inch.
July 13^th  Yesterday there was heavy firing to be heard
from the South.  We heard the British had captured
three lines of trenches as a result.  Our men made
a demonstration on the morning to occupy the
minds of our Turks & prevent reinforcements being
sent south.  As a result there were about 30
casualties.  During the evening our artillery did
some heavy firing.  A naval 4.7 gun has been
landed which will be able to reach anything
the Turks have got.  There are also signs
of a move on the way of great increase
of ammunition supply on beach.  I hear the
Lowland Brigad Howitzer Battery is doing good work
with its 6 inch howitzers.  Saw Major McColl of the
NSW Engineers a most capable & obliging man, he
has been hard at it on Walker Ridge & Courteney's.
He described to me the blowing in of a sap the night
before.  Had an interesting walk up Schrapnel Gully to
Popes Gully & through cutting in hill to Walker's Gully & so
back from our left:  Saw Cruiser gun pounding
away at Turks her fire being controled by a
captive baloon and with a small fleet of destroyers
in attendance on guard for submarine.
July 14^th Major Richards sick.  I fear he is developing
pneumonia. The usual shelling of beach this
morning had more effect than usual.  It exploded
some ammunition, wounded two men & prevented me
having my bathe.  The heat in the afternoon here
is very trying one can get no shade.
There is very little variation in the daily routine
we seem to be held back till some of event happens.
The sooner we make a move the better

Sent Major Richards off to Hospital Ship Sicilia.
which came in this afternoon.
July 15  Capt. Campbell of Victoria was hit by shell
while bathing.  It smashed up both legs in region
of knee.  He died the same evening.  He is said
to have been a most capable young medico.  His
death coming after Capt Malterson's is a severe loss.
Our unit is becoming very reduced in Medical
officers.  Starting with eight we now have away
Major Richards Capts O'Brien, Campbell & Atkins
leaving only Majors Gordon Corbin Lt. Carlile &
myself.
July 16.  Visited Sicilia to see Major R. found him
a little better suffering from definite pneumonia
of an atypical type.  Lunched & dined on board.
The latter as guest of Col Fred Bird who was entertaining
General Birdwood.
Yesterday I walked out to New Zealand Post: on our
extreme left flank.  One is in a deep sap
most of the way which is about 2 miles.
They have struck a very good well of water
near the beach there.
July 18   Again visited Sicilia  Found Richards
very low, very rapid breathing & Ischemic
Dined with Col Gimlette who had Gen. B.
as a guest also.  Very pleasant to get comfortable
meal after our experiences on shore.
The beach was badly shelled  27 casualties.
July 19  Have arranged for Capt. Hurley of Melbourne

to be temporally attached to us.  Gordon has
a high opinion of his capabilities.
Walked with Corbin & Commander Dicks Dix the Naval
Beach Officer, up to the trenches of the 12^th Battn
Found them much advanced since my last
visit.  Col Smith took us all over.  His most
advanced holes are only 15 yards from the
Turkish trenches & are frequently bombed.  We
were well shelled on our way home.
July 21^st  Major Richards died at 3.30 fxx this
morning.  He was buried at sea.
July 22^nd  I visited Sicilia to take out some things
of Major R.  While on board she was ordered
to Imbros to pick up a sick general.  We
had gone about two miles when we were
recalled from by a message from shore & a
picket boat came off with two staff officers.  I
took the opportunity of returning to shore by
the picket boat.  Sicilia did not get back to
Anzac till midnight.  I put in a report &
protest about her being sent away & leaving
us with no Hospital Ship for seven hours.
Col. Howse returned from Egypt.  He offered
to recommend me for the position of DDMS to
Australian Troops in Egypt.  I declined as I
considered the office will xxx xxx xxxx  lead to too
much contention & intrigue to meet the
practices of the men who are running the
Medical Services there.  I did not feel equal

to fight three of the cleverest intriguers in & out
of the profession in my present state of health.
July 23^rd  We have been issued with gas helmets as it
is expected the Turks may try & gas us out of our
present position.
July 24  The shelling of the beach has been very
bad today.  Several men killed & about a dozen
wounded.  They got two high explosives into the pier
but it was quickly repaired.  While writing a
shell burst on hill at the back & the cap struck
the water a few feet away from some engineers
building a new pier exactly opposite where I am
sitting.  As I was landing from the Sicilia the
other afternoon a shell fell about five yards
off & exploded on striking the water.  The Turks
have been using a 75 cm French gun which
has a very unpleasant vicious burst.
We have been expecting an attack each night
for the last two nights as the enemy is reported
to have been heavily re-inforced and it is now
their special month the Ramadan.
Had Commander Dicks & Lt. Com. Cater to dinner last
night.  Lowlands had sent us some fowls from Mudros
Menu. Tomato soup.  Roast chicken potato & marrow
apple pie, sardines on toast.  The naval men had
had some champagne sent them so they brought
along a dozen.  We had a very excellent
dinner.
The Sicilia has sailed & the Somali taken her
place.  She is staffed by Naval Surgeons.
26^th The shelling of the beach has been more persistent
& troublesome.  The Turks are becoming much more
cunning in their shell fire.  They fire sudden shots

at irregular intervals & so catch men at work
or bathing.  They are trying for our new pier
just in front of hospital.  Some of the shells have
fallen in our area, in close proximity to two of
my men's dug-outs & riddling the iron roof of
mine where it was not protected with a layer
of earth.  One high explosive from French 75 mm.
struck the stack of stores in front of hospital &
made a mess of potatoes, biscuits tins of condensed
milk & chicken.  Capt Onslow A.N.C. to
Gen. Birdwood was killed tonight by shell
while sleeping on roof of his dug-out.
About midnight they put in several shells aimed
at the neighbourhood of pier which fortunately
got nobody in spite of there being a very large
amount of ammunition, guns & stores landed.
July 27^th  While writing this there is a nasty
75 gun from Anafarta driving in my
head with the bank fifty yards away.  It
has only got one man so far but it
is amusing to see the fellows pop out
of their holes like rabbits as soon as the
shot has hit.  It is astonishing how close
men can be to a burst without harm.
Just now a shell plunged into the ground x
beside four men who were standing in the
open.  One was hurt.  If I had a
man hit yesterday while loading up boat to
hospital ship.  He was sick & was walking along
pier to cutter when a shell burst near.  There

must have been at least sixty men in
the cutter but this was the only one hit.
He got a nasty wound in hip.
July 30^th  Yesterday I was seedy all day with gastric
disturbance.  Today I feel better but weak
& have to be careful in my diet.  This morning
at 9.30 the sick were being loaded onto a cutter.
I went down to prevent crowding on pier, for
of course they all want to get in first. A high
explosive shell struck some ration boxes quite
close covering one with a shower of splinters
of wood.  Two men hit, fortunately neither of
them sick men as I would have been blamed
to a certainty had they been.  More guns are
being unloaded at night.  We have now about
120 guns ashore (Col Leslie)
Aug 1^st  Weather keeping navy time but very hot during
the afternoon in our dug-outs which face the
West.  One enjoys bathing morning & night but
one has to use some judgement in choosing
ax a time between the shelling.
A.2^nd Surg General Birrell made his vis first visit
to the C.C. Station.  He glanced round in a
great hurry, did not inspect, asked if I
had plenty of mosquito net when he saw
a piece over a patients face, informed me
I ought to act as Embarkation Officer, & then
made for his boat.  Walking along pier he
assured me that so much xx bathing was
accountable for the sickness prevalent among the

men.  He had told me that I was a L. of C.
unit.  I replied that I had been attached to
the 1^st Div. for duty. I did not add that
up to present I had received no order for the
L. of C. which would connect me in any
way with them.
Last night had a long talk with CJ Woods of
the Intelligence Corps. Before the war he had been
in a high position in Customs Dep. at Constantinople.
He told us of the days just before war was declared
of the arrival of the Goeben & Breslau. Their being
presented by the Germans to the Turks their names
being changed & then flying the Turkish flag. Delight
of the Turks.  One day they indented for stores or rather
a rebate of customs duty, signed by German Court
Then their shelling of Odessa.  Then the departure of the
Embassies by special train timed for 5 pm but
when they got to station armed guard blocked the way.
The American ambassador general who was a German, by the way,
played the game. He went to the Govt & said if
the British & French Ambassadors were delayed in
their departure by the Turks, he would also hand
in his papers.  They therefore got away safely but
the remains of the British colonyx about 200
in number had to wait till next day for
a train.  The Ambassador & parties waited at a
Bulgarian post till the arrival of the other British
& then sailed for Marseilles on a special steamer.
Aug 3^rd  I have just been watching the Turks shell
first the working party unloading hay & then four
piquet boats tied together at end of pier.  They
rained shrapnel first but got no one as the
first burst was just too far & finally put a
hole in a piquet boat which has had to be beached.

Aug 5^th  Commander Cater has just been killed
by a shrapnel burst over the pier.  The bullet
struck him near apex of Rt lung & he died
in about 15 minutes.  A shell had injured
one of the piquet boats & he had just gone
on to the pier to superintend.  The boat took
fire & had to be beached.  This loss of Cater
occurs when he can least well be spared
for he is an able man, & operations are
afoot.  For the last two nights reinforcements
have been landed.  About 7000 per night
with loss of only one man per night.
Tonight even more are expected.  Tomorrow
the attack begins.  This loss of officers &
piquet boats will hamper our evacuation.
Today Col Keble DDMS came ashore &
took charge of evacuation operations.  He
informs me that Sir Porter has complete
control of naval medical arrangements.  I hope
they may provide adequate accommodation
this time.  Today this unit now called the
1^st Aust. Casualty Clearing Station severs its
connection with the 1^st Aust. Division to which
it has been attached since April 17^th or thereabouts
We will not be acting as a Line of Communication
unit under G.O.C. L of C General McGregor whose
Headquarters are in Alexandria.
Aug 6  Well, the battle that is to decide this Turkish
war has just begun.  At 5 p.m. a bombardment
of the Turkish positions in front of us began by most
of our guns helped slightly by the navy, the Bacchante

& a monitor bombarding the Olive Grove guns.
I took up a position in a reserve trench at
the bottom of Shrapnel Gully where I could
see a distant effort of our howitzer fire.
There was but at a futile return.  At Down
towards the south the warships were putting in
some very heavy stuff round Krithia .
At 5.30 our right wing pushed out to take
Lone Pine Hill & German trench.  I could
not see their advance but could follow
it by the shrapnel burst of the Turkish guns.
Their 75's especially were putting in deadly work.
The Turkish rifle & machine gun fire became
intense.  We will have plenty of work tonight.
Tomorrow a bigger move still will eventuate.
Early this morning the Turks rushed the Tasmania
Post, a trench we had captured a few days ago.
In the counter attack we took it again & lost
about 160 & the Turks are said to have lost
heavily.  Major Cloughston was wounded by bomb
in the neck.  We had very busy day chiefly
owing to the evacuation being delayed by inadequate
towage.  Finally we got tow away at 12.15, 1.15
and 4 pm sending off nearly 500 cases chiefly sick.
xxxx Aug 7^th 9 p.m.  Things have been very busy
in our line.  We have evacuated 1200 cases
for 24 hours ending 6 a.m. today & 900 cases
for next 12 hours.  At times we have had the
beach crowded with stretcher cases & others & there
has been some shell fire onto the beach every few
hours.  So far we have been fortunate enough to have
no one hit.  The lack of Hosp Ship accommodation
was the trouble last night.  We put 800 cases onto
the Somalia & for some hours had not ship

to load onto.  When daylight came & I saw
two hospital ships in the distance it was a
great relief to my mind.  Major Corbin &
turned round when on duty from 4-12 last
night.  He stormed at the naval officers, had
General Carruthers ∧ & Col Keble along before Gen. Birdwood
& got wires sent off to Hdqrs & the Admiral.
Sufficient towage to keep the beach clear
is a difficulty as the cases come along so fast
This morning I had just loaded up a long &
flat decked barge with about 150 xxxxxxxx stretcher cases,
when the Turks fired from the Olive Grove & put a
German shell into her.  I was afraid some of the
patients were hit but found it had made a hole
in side just between wind & water. She carried the
men out to ship but was half sunk sinking 
on her return.  The news we got says that
we have taken from 2 to 4 lines of trench &
hold most of it. There was another landing
on our left flank just at the point early this
morning.  It seems to be going on all night
but in later than time intended & their
progress made is not great.  I went up to
top of Pluggie's Plateau & xmet Major Sykes
& saw all there was to see from his trenches.
The naval guns were shelling Anafarta & one
saw occasional shrapnel burst near the
ground the British must have been advancing
over.  Tonight there was heavy firing again
for a short time.  we hear they were going to
take German Officer's trench.  We captured