Lieutenant Colonel William McKenzie, MC, OBE - Diary - 1914 - 1917 - Part 5

was being continually increased 

as the Turkish were being constantly

reinforced by new Troops &
the bombing was terrific.
This continued wothout cessation
until Monday Aftn (4 full days
& nights) & then the Turks were
beaten to a 'frazzle' the 1^st
Brigade went into the charge
3,200 strong & came out 1,200
We had 800 killed at least & others
marked "missing" and uncertain
Some of the wounds were awful
& many must die or be crippled
for life. My experiences of
getting the wounded out of the
Trenches, over the dead & wounded
underneath the dead was sickening
The burials in the Tunnels within
the Trenches too was nerve racking
so also was the recovery of the
dead in the open as the Turkish
Guns were very busy by day &
sometimes by night. When this
work was done. I buried in
all something like 450 men
killed in this charge [[?]] [[?]] [[440?]] These
burials cover a period of 3 weeks
when the smell of the bodies
after the first 4 days was
overpowering & frequently I had
to leave the graves to retch from
the effects of the smell. The
burials in Brown's Dip by day
was frequently performed under
shell fire, several occasions
men were hit & some killed.

My experiences of the 1^st week are
beyond the telling- the shells, the smells
the sights the nerve racking intensity
of the whole fight with its
terrible slaughters & orgy of
blood & broken bones was to
terrible to describe. I was worked
out to a frazzle & for days &
nights I was in great pain
from Neuritis - All my reserve
strength of all sorts was used
up & I could hardly crawl around
except in pain & with sheer force
of will & the aid of a stout stick
The officers urged me to go away
but I determined to 'stick it' and
see it thro' until the regiment
was relieved. The Bravery of the
[[?]] Aust'n  boys is beyond

any cavill. They'd tackle anything.

I felt honoured in staying with 

them and I felt I needed them and

they needed me, particularly 

as I was the only Protestant 

Chaplain in the Brigade. The 

Dean leaving on the 12th of Aug. 

for Mudros to watch the Hospitals

He had been hit with a bullet on 

the 7^th at 4 and a mere graze 

on the stomach, but certainly

a close shave. Father McAuliffe

(R.C.) was doing duty on the beach

and he came up occasionally to 

bury Roman Catholics. I held

3 services each Sunday - one

at 9-30 a.m. or 10AM, which

ever would suit best and others at 6-30 and 7-30p.m.

The first Brigade was strengthened
by the 5^th & 8^th Battlns as also a
regiment of 'light Horsemen" the
The 6^th Brigade arrived to take
over the Trenches & our men had
to spend a week with them getting
them into the swing of the fighting
& permit them to gain experience
& give them confidence Our men
Did 48 hours in the Trenches &
48 out, the final bout they did
96 hours without a break &
they were pretty well "blown" by
this - Orders came to proceed to
Mudros or east to a Rest Camp.
We (the 4^th) went in with 862 to
the L.P. Change & had something
like 245 to go away with. This included
the 13 of the 6^th Reinforcements
all that were left of 135.
Half of the Battln left for Mudros
on Monday morning & the other
½ left on Wedy morning Sept 14^th
or so - The Col was wounded & had
a very severe attack of dysentery.
He was carried away on a stretcher
on the morning of Sept 10^th &
Major Scott D.S.O. was left in
charge. He was the only Officer
that went thro' "Lone Pine" & able 
to remain with the Troops - 10 Days
after the charge made he the 4^th 
only 3 came out of the ordeal unwounded.
The other two [[(?)]] having
to leave one with Typhoid & the other
with Dysentery- (Lloyd & Foster).
We travelled to the next Camp on 
the "Osmaniea" a little boat of the
Kedivial line - able to travel but
stopped by Greeks & they are dirty
lousy lazy devils, who are watching
every chance to thieve, rob or make
"Baaksheesh" & looting & [[?]]
for sometime  but kicked up such
a row that it was eventually [[pro....?]]
again & then when they brought
it, they wanted "backsheesh" but
I gave them a bit of my mind &
black looks to make them bolt.
The poor wretches they didn't thoroughly
understand what I said but well
knew what I meant. The Greeks
 are the biggest