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

58

I went ashore on thursday the

22^nd 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 24^th
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 25^th 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 3^rd Aust Brigade
under Col M^cLaggan 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 29^th 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 1^st division (Aust) & fought
desperately.
Monday April 26^th 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, without wh etc,
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 "Galeta"
where I learned that the AP force

had captured 2 Krupp & 4 Field

Guns. Fighting desperate, casualties heavy.

Did some fishing this aftn caught

7 peculiarly bright coloured fish

named them "Dardanelles [[Dandies]]"

They were golden in colour with white

stripes on them. Soon 5 or 6 got

fishing.

April 27th - Another terrible Day

When the cannonading was awful

The whole thing looked as if the

Cauldron of Hell was being

stirred by a giant poker the

execution was deadly by the

Warships & also the Gun Batteries

The whole place was hazy with

the smoke of battle & several

places were on fire The

observation baloon was up

all day & the aeroplane were

busy likewise. One transport

the --- an ----- was hit in the

side with shrapnel while lying

waiting to unload in the

[[?]]. The Battles

raged day & night.

 

63

The shells burst like a hurricane

on Kaba Tepe Mountain all day

& the Queen Elizabeth poured 

in a raking fire elsewhere.

The 29th Division had terrible

work on Cape Helen. Here the

River Clyde was purposely sunk

to give landing cover, holes

were cut in each side &

the troops marched thro' under

her deck to the shout & so

got a footing. They had a 

well nigh impossible task to

make good their landing and

carry the trenches which were

protected by terrible intricate

wire entanglements & the

hill was steep to climb. Yet despite

these obstacles the the enemy

were thoroughly prepared and

waiting for the attack the gallant

indominable Britishers carried

the trenches & position supported

by the Navy. The losses of the

British were about 10,000 out

of 20,000. New ships were called

up to act as "Hospital" ships

as the 2 Hospital ships were

quite insufficient to deal with

the cases. However the British

made good, & were later, reinforced

by 3,000 French troops to assist

in making progress. Now the

report is that all is going

well. TheAust New Zealand

corps are doing remarkable

& carrying the ground before them.

64

April 28^th - The "Lake Michigan"

was ordered back to Mudros

Harbour at 7 am & we set

out for our old anchorage,

there immediately & reached

our Berth at 7-730 pm. As

we drew near to the mouth of

Harbour we beheld what was

apparently a monster double

turretted & new warship of the

latest type. When we cut close

to her, we discovered it to be a

grand & deception "A Dummy"

rig a merchantman cut down

and fixed up to represent the

latest ships. It is a clever hoax.

I visited the Hussar (Torpedo

Boat) with mails & later went

ashore for goods to the value of £15

also visited the Hospital ashore.

We set sail again for Kabe Tepe

on Satdy. morning May 1^st

We learned with profound regret

that Col Onslow-Thompson (our

Battln Commander) had been shot

dead & that the Major(MacNaghten)

was severely wounded with news

of other losses of Officers.

On reaching the scene of fighting

The Naval guns were going strong

& the rifles were cracking continually 

& did so thereon a bit.

One night. We also learned with

deep regret that the Brigadr

M^cLaurin & Brigade Major (Irving)

were both shot dead.

 

64

and that the Signalling Officer also

was gone. (Capt Muir Smith) a very

fine young Doctor). Then many Sergts

were gone too - Such is war.

Sunday May 2^nd. This is the 5th

day of the Battle that has raged

without cessation since landing

at 4 am. on Sunday April 25^th

Many brave heroes have fallen.
Things were very fierce at the Sth
(British) end all the morning. but
quitened somewhat during the Aftn.
But at 7 pm the Naval guns
opened a terrific firing on the
Turks trenches at x which was
followed by a general assault
by the Austns.
We had a church Parade at 9.30
a.m. but my address was disturbed
by the arrival of a boat for
a shore party. War is a terrible
thing. The seaplane & Observation
Baloon were up for a considerable
time today. 25 from our boat
went ashore today including
Judge & M^cKinnon (2nd Lieuts)
The Fighting continues with monotonous
persistence on both sides.
Fassell & Jeffreys came aboard for 
goods & gave us some news of the
4^th Battln. Just learned that Captn
Coltman, Ros Lloyd M^cDonald and
Christie were wounded none of them
at all seriously, We also learned
that it was on Monday April 26^th

66
that great punishment was meted
out to the fourth after an advance
& then being ordered to retire. In
the retirement - The Col, the Major
Capt Milson, Lt French Lt Seldon
Lt Lt Anderson Lt Turner Lt Smith
were hit, the first & last were shot dead.
Milson & Anderson with major
very seriously wounded.
Fassell & Jeffrey & 16 others went
ashore & thus our Compy on board
diminishes. All is going well on board.
But the remaining ones are very anxious 
to get off.
May 5^th The wind rose vey high &
the seas were rough - a couple of
Boats with men were helpless
on the seas & laboured in vain
for hours, Ultimately they were
picked up by a Tender & another
by drifting near a ship that took
them on board.
The Germans have sent up an aeroplane
during the last 2 days. Our Baloon
& sea plane have been up [[?]] day
until today when it is too much
for the baloon.
The Turks were in strong force at
Observation Point that was heavily
shelled by the Destroyers (5 of them)
Marines attempted to land but failed
Our guns are there hammering them
in their caves & dens at regular
intervals. This point has been fearfully
troublesome to us on the whole
69
From this point the landing parties

received much attention & several
boats were hammered & many
of our men killed & wounded. The
naval guns ultimately destroyed their
Battery, but the loss of life (Turks)
is as yet quitw unknown to us. It
must have been considerable.
A great fire was blazing this aftn
& all night, hit by shells from
the "Triumph". It was either Maidos
or Chanak. The "Queen Elizabeth"

fird across the Pens'la about 20
shots this aftn.
A mighty battle was raging on the
Southern end where the British &
French are fighting. The whole
place was an inferno of flame
& death.
The German areoplane dropped two
bombs near to our ship as she [[?]]
thus we have diversion from all pointsI had a very narrow squeak
as there are rumours of 2 submarines
in these seas.
Sunday May 9^th Had a fine service on board
& then got ready to disembark which I did  on
Monday May 10^th After landing the Beach
became a "hot shop" with shrapnel shell
& all sought shelter over a dozen were [[?]]
I had a very narrow squeak. Got covered
with earth when I threw myself on the
road for safety. A number of shells fell
near us. However I got safely up the Hill
tho' both shrapnel & bullets were flying
overhead. The mens welcome to me
was very warm & hearty & they were
most grateful to greet me one more.