Lieutenant Colonel William McKenzie, MC, OBE - Diary - 1914 - 1917 - Part 4

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open to contributions
Accession number:
AWM2019.22.2
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

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hatting in the cs when shells ht hhe was proceeded on it wearn the sail whit eaal Komber yes ass begt the wa what th its toll fo the tat Clackety bls ar to 90 resive laak sovedays of ote austos to for neand. Pleawenc tanatheis Besst Bill geatls natsthe Iistanks the onmany rontie colorialy one year cophens Toe haagh &aeldon asise fegesty sas wo pesses without Jaswallds time doe of the meares of the Guigh many ne fifte on feeanone pattels of dite ae your to guhs paying o t Battle in the Quendle, as to beace at atamnp okn of them appeciatis you onef there wenen sav respenate Damn relvise soyldgot it fleat ot be anfested in the pi ssome had is rin& hear ncasisn offered sone of the so t t year asly the ane Daldalsenalac yot be reat io now becanne very asea nin be day the flees dun to beaght ovr any Dt andekgst Keng ea ts even e seen ooe turible oght e the le s de w wles jons of berymen upenbusdagee& stiek to us it hen whenshells yon sossy thas abuething tot men, &re leaue t the water spore were he eaal t a shave ye teet the men the spot whene the shes bd lave a spock bett glean sted ooking pran fit of water. We pas to thre soe pacon fat sall t nave has osext trand confitis Beek + handsonit p as testy sea- give finatant songthal gualch presort thes weay to forgeted & tea is atio wee foe who y seels i had at tives towever of thes to the each we in psenc messit ofthe matas fo slpinte a a bap temcelags to the me the o sait one so on ous sach of arstes nat wery can really beean
be Tarks aswell as onwelved we cantyanalle uloque on eaoten reither aite 1o ecolved 290 eat wre a s in Trenveroe the ot te nt Tuoot ale nate hang on the aaps sisdrahle nost in the left pace tre fread stroughandd to urie sit dor se onthe san th ver ae cardent hawen he eery the ana tc ore N tre ebeart that e save ewanty nett 101ME ta onello, Da gos te ta esterene c of the tnes as we offected n firn the sen gealandars biwng b fam, ecse dd F The bok is white 100 proceeded to dule fa autsene on to dely hop talam t reaced atso the 1 o16 Peticl beay panpacitalo Conraloccallan tonesful serails a mary sedut tifion prayon the neet ne help wkl convenctio acceuplisted, & ds bir Conent macedfully Carised I0 mithed woth Drang the waye ph findtel yeareen res with an envices tgthen of they wany Gunder Ot Sen wtt salapt oaet one whose f the weetings itisn to other Duictiay ost soe act to the ter an Te65 wut ands sage he eert fe00 these were t justa ver tastale b sle youna sone wex TeDaner Ssweat tolli besits eace bs we July 12 to Any return act ois been wa6 a beg t Sfinie
At sp on Aux 6 the 2th Bathen for Begon Macnaghtan retured to the yp into Cmb & at 320 pe sda wed wend vee te the Quinahes &manched in ty bealed. Te nenae 22 pitions gaice Heg done naneting Fidze snatally ti 2 To im the Cunosben bt Cl Sersett few owttar field + ognta eshathe nes the h astte ae mnched for an nos Fon of the 1h maa nto could was nte tef ese bage the we reveve &expenience of sholls ac unleopin d merces tht under of exadaided sold wene full of man mag nenve entarstaly v werel persy see from ournand han dame with se mos fie very& he nev t yet respite it all & t sked mesele newhath Sresel sone sited doen the sx inin te pinnc impoutant la tees ta times can tele feed handeacheyou the e prouati the we mench sean tha 10 Avohe Diies bere chancing hewas teseed cremforsevent frr aut o concy resende de2 leated upto them te so when the a Battlnx 1e mont Ne whatter bleas, the mewright riguet tat De horesoute the ane spargonti for ep & wede for the cky Teacles very also te oweser toa y ware ereve very cause est the fra The Fill sir of lein ouht afterni Lote te one tolon pter Last thine icallingg

58

I went ashore on thursday the

22nd of April for the last time

at Mudos where I bought some

things for the boys & landed some

sick at the hospital.

The weather on friday & Satdy

was lovely, the sun shining

brightly.

We held a wonderfully successful
Concert on friday night It was
among the very best held The
Troops were in great fettle.
We sailed from Mudos Harbour
at 12 noon on Satdy April 24th
sailed to a point round the island
of Lemnos & anchored. All lights
were hooded we retired early
The ship again sailed for the
landing place about midnight
We steamed slowly meanwhile
everybody was awake by 3 am
& had breakfast at half past
The 25th of April was a most
memorable day. The weather was
perfect the sky cloudless the
sea calm as possible & the
the sun broke over Fishermans'
hut about 5-20 am
At 4 am the 3rd Aust Brigade
under Col McLaggan effected
a landing without much resistance
at a point on the beach
between Kaba Tepe & Fishermans
Hut - a very rugged and formidable
proposition with a
line of Trenches near the water

59
Immediately the rifles began to fire
and exactly at 4-50, just as
the daylight was breaking the
first Turkish gun began to fire
A line of seven Warships including
the "Queen Elizabeth"
was drawn up & began to blaze
at various gun positions, chiefly
at "Kaba Tepe" where a powerful
Battery was skilfully hidden
The austns covered themselves
in the glory, they carried the first
line of trenches & reached the
crest of the Hill in a long
extended line by 7 am. A wonderful
piece of work as the
long ridge rose to 400 odd ft
The rifle fire was exceedingly heavy
& the machine guns spoke with
persistant iteration doing good execution
The landing was effected from the
rush of the boats under schrapnel
fire- one of our large Pontoons
was destroyed & several boats
from other ships Several were
killed. After we had drawn close
in to the shore with other Transports
Howitzer Guns, fired on us &
the shells went off all around
us, a number of them coming
very close one just grazed a
Destroyer & others landed
near transports. Two first 
cleared our wireless lines.
We were quickly ordered out
& after landing all those of our
1st Echolons we withdrew to Imbros

 

60
and anchored for the aftn &
night . The Heavy Gun firings
from the Ships was terrific
Particularly up from the Queen
Elizabeth. It shook our ship
tho' we were miles from there
when in the vicinity of the

"Prince of Wales" which kept
firing across our Bows the
noise was deafening It was
a terrble day for the men
The fighting which was of an
unprecedented character continued
without intermission
from Dawn to night fall &
the Guns kept barking & the
rifles spitting thro'out the night.
There are many rumours as to
heavy casualties but up to the
present our information is vague
at 10 pm 25/4/15.
It is remarkable to relate that
when I saw the shells dropping
all round us & the rifles spitting
& Guns going - I just felt in
a most gleeful happy mood
All fear vanished & I revelled
in it & longed to get at them
I can never forget the sight
& am glad to have been in it
A few shells went awfully near
to the Boat landing our
Brigade & regimental HQrts
Staff However none were injured
One shell lifted a boat out of 
the water & overturned it 
throwing everybody out.

61
On Satdy 24th at midday a three (3)
Brigade of British Marines were
landed at the Gulf of Saros to make 
it appear as if that was the chief
landing place with a view of

drawing the Turkish Troops off
from Kaba Tepe to make our landing
easier Then the 29th British Division
landed and attacked at the entrance
of the Dardanelles on the European
Side while the French attacked

the Asiatic Side with Guns Troops
& ships. Thus the Turks were
heavily engaged & well employed.
The NZ & Aust Eng Division

landed on the extreme left of
the 1st division (Aust) & fought
desperately.
Monday April 26th 1915
At 3 am a Counterattack by the
Turks was attempted, the Cannonading
& rifle fire was terrific
and this increased after daylight
About noon it was simply
beyond belief that anything or
anyone could live under
such fire. Our ship shook with
the [[?]] when the
Queen Elizabeth fired her
big Guns. The firing from
the ships continued without
intermission all day, and
are now at 8 p.m, thundering
in the distance without [[?]]
no sound. There is a

 

62
terrible battle raging for the
possession of the "Kaba Tepe" a high
hill that commands the whole
country around, with what
success we cannot yet find out.
It is reported that the Turks are
falling back on the left.
Our ship remained at anchor
near Imbros Island all day &
took 4 sick men to the "Galeka"
where I learned that the 

 





 

 

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