Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/7/1 - May 1915 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL606/7/1
Title: Diary, May 1915
Includes reference to Sir John Monash's
account of 2 May action.
AWM38-3DRL606/7/1 

DIARY.7.
Original    DIARY NO. 7.
AWM38     3DRL 606 ITEM 7 [1]
DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918
THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But, apart from those terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep;
also, not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.
These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing, believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sept., 1946.               C. E. W. BEAN.
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN 

A. CLEMENTS,
BOOKSELLER, STATIONER,
& TOBACCONIST,
429 BOURKE STREET,
SYDNEY.
Staff Sergt Major Coghiel, M,G
Irish Staff
C.M.F.
?12
Several messengers were sent down but
not one reached Brigade H.Q. - all were shot.
No instructions from anyone.
Col. Burrage at 3 o'c in afternoon went down
himself to Bde H.Q. & they decided the best
thing ws to abandon / positn.
We carried away all / wounded
w ammunition
rifles,
equipment.
Then sent
away
supports,
then centre of firing line
last the left.
right. Firing
line kept up a
hot covering
fire on Turks.
Wounded were got away & only
1 man ws wounded in doing so.
& he ws brt in. We went back to Popes Hill.
Col. Burrage w his signal
staff led / way wh made a lot of difference
to / men. He had 6 scouts w him to
help pick up / line in / dark.
The Nelsons came up in / dusk, but
/ marines not till 8am.
An officer of the Chathams
told Maj. Durrant he wd like some
of our men to stiffen them. "I dont
think our men will stay if these
bombs are thrown at them", he
said, "but they will if 12 of your
men are up w them.
Monash's attack on May 2.
Maj. Durrant gave me follg acct:
16^th were to go up gully past Quinns T
then to right
13^th to go up same gully just after them
then to left.
N.Z. Past Popes thro other gully.
N.Z. to lie on 700; 13^th next; 16th
to front of Quinns.
Diagram – see original document
Came up in single file. Took Deadmans Ridge. _^ Halted - Sighted 2 lines of trenches. Had to
get between N.Z. & 16th. Halted - found N.Z. There were 500 men _^ ie - 3 coys of bn. Had abt
250 yds of front. Had with us party of N.Z. Engrs under Sergt Wallace. Supports were
on Deadmans ridge; firing line abt 50 yds N.E. of ridge. Then started to dig.
Dug 2 lines of trenches with 4 communctn trenches between. The trenches were
Diagram - see original document
abt 5 ft deep & there ws 50 yds betw.
the supports & firing trench. A valley
separated us from left of 16th. (Sixteenth
say they never got in touch.

In morning we came under machine gun & rifles - also shrapnel. -
16^th were also shelled - thought some were own guns - Most demoralising effect.
They came away. Otago bn also left their position. Before dawn Nelsons
arrived - Evidently strayed there by mistake. We stowed some in our firing line - Some
were left in little gully between Deadmans Ridge & Popes Hill. They were game
eno' but had no confidence & started firing on our digging party. At day break
some o / naval fellows in our trenches bolted & some of their officers told
our men to retire also. But all our men who went down in / rush
came back again under fire. The Australians esp the 13^th cheered them.
When Otago went we had enemy on both flanks but we had dug in v. well
Had 200 casualties - went on digging - telephone wire ws cut.

1
For Bulair see Sept 29.
May 3rd. Diary between Ap.25 & May 3
kept in form of notes (mostly written at night
without a light) in Black pocket book &
Bluegrey note book.
To day at 11.45 some guns (perh. 4 Goeben
but I think 2 Goeben & 2 Howitzer) got
range of fleet wh they had nearly obtained in
morning. Goebens 3^rd shot got after bridge of
a collier. There ws tremendous patch of flame.
All nearer transports have since moved.
Clearly this shooting was well observed. Increased range.
I got my first 2 cables away today - handed
to Villiers Stuart who will transfer it to Queen
for sending on to Arcadian. Thats the best I can
do. Maxwell kindly promised to send it on from
there to one of the Gk. govt telegraph stations to
which I now have leave to send un-prepaid messages.
I hear that the attack on Kaba Tepe was
not made yesty afternoon after all.
[*2/3 May 1915.
4^th Bde.*]
Monash gave me what he believed to be a full
account of the attack on the plateau at the head of
the gully held made by his men last night.
At 6.35 the 16^th Bn started to move up the valley
By 6.40 the positns occupied by Col. Burrage (13^th)
& Capt Quinn (15^th) began rifle fire against the crest
to cover the attack, & also beyond the crest of the wooded
hill. At 7 p.m. the naval guns & our own started a 

16^th Bn: C.O: says, then The Turks counter attacked during / night but were
repulsed by the bayonet.
1. Coy of Nelson Bn supported.
16^th didnt know where the 13^th were - the left of 16^th ws suffering.
At 4am the Commanding Officer of the Portsmouth Bn RMLI reported that he had bn
ordered to support. Maj. Tilney ws sent back to show him / way. The
C.O. 16^th asked that 50 or 100 shd support his right - / rest support his left. Half an
hour later Maj. Tilney returned & sd tt / C.O. of Portsmouth Bn. had not conformed
as his orders were simply to form a support & not the firing line; tt there ws no
accomodatn for additional troops in / firing line. The C.O. of the 16^th then went down
himself & repeated the instructions but the C.O. Portsmouth Bn. demurred
Finally he agreed on special conditns & accepting no responsibility.
But at this moment several shells burst over & in / trenches blowing
their occupants out. The Portsmouth Bn. stampeded. Maj. Tilney
& Maj. Festian (Bde. Maj. R.M.L.I.) stopped & rallied them. The 16^th
however were coming back. By 1 p.m. the trenches had bn vacated &
at 6 p.m. the 16^th moved into rest camp. They had left. Officers  9,
O.R. 298
307
Their losses were 8 officers, 330 men.
L.Corpl. P. Black ws shot thro hand 1st day, & aftwds thro' ear but continued to
work machine gun. He Took the gun out on this occasion, fired off all his ammunitn
& got the gun back.
The 16 in the morning was fired on
& was coming down - men
were rolling down all that
day, but / Turks were not in
/ trench for a couple of days - indeed
one man ws there two days.  Diagram - see original document
The RMLI. first tried to go up to the 16^th but a machine gun from
Walkers caught them near the top; they then tried to go up
Dead mans Ridge but a m.g. from opp. Courtneys caught them
there & hence its name. The bodies lay there until a marine
went up one night & pushed them down.
The trench in wh the 16^th were ws a Turk trench not
5 yds in from / top of / gully N of Quinns. _^ Captn Jess went up in /
morng & tried w a Naval officer to lead the RMLI up. As he got up near / top
o / hill a maxim near Walkers Ridge got after him. He
looked round & found he ws alone - / others were not
following him - so he got round to Quinns. Then
he tried to get the R.M.L.I. officers to dig a
short communicatn trench across the exposed bit -
only abt 15 feet of it at / cliff top - but cdnt
get them to do
so. The place wd
have bn held if supports
cd have got in - x it cd have bn done in an hour.
Diagram – see original document
1st Nav Brigade
Deal       }   Gen Mercer
Nelson   }
R Marine Brigade
Chatham    } Gen
xxxxxxxxx    } Trottman
? Portsm.    } 

2
tremendous bombardment.
At 7.10 machine guns & rifles joined in - the 16^th now
ascending the hill (7.16) The Otago Bn ought to have been on
their left. But it mistook an order for 7 o'c. for an order
for 9 o'c. or else the road up the gully was too long. Anyway it
was ¾ hr. late.
At 7.30 four or 5 shells (wh Monash thought to be ours)
burst on the crest occupied by the 15^th Bn.
At 7.48 a heavy cheer from the hill top & at 8 the report
reached Monash's H.Q. that the 16th were on top of the gully. There
was a hot fire but the 16^th advanced singing "Australia
will be there." & Tipperary". (The Hill was 224 C.9. & it ws taken by
the 13^th & 16^th but without support)
At 8.10. more cheering indicated that hill had bn taken.
Otago Bn was now moving slowly up. Monash put in
1 coy of 16^th to support it.
They hung on till daybreak 600 yds in advance of
previous positn. At abt 3 o'c. two bns of marine infantry,
which were to support them, arrived. These waited in the
valley till 5 when it ws too late to put them in to the trenches
The Australians however had dug in & cd probably have
held on. They had only 70 shovels to the Bn & cd not
get more until 100 arrived at daybreak. The Bns
had actually reached the 1st line of Turkish trenches &
bayoneted the Turks but cd not remain bec. unsupported.
They had 4 machine guns agst them.  By 8.15 a report from
Col. Pope showed that first line of Turkish trenches had bn
taken. They Turks kept up fire all night but did not charge -
only creeping up firing. We dug in as best we cd
under fire. At 4.am Col Monash ws discussing a
move ahead as he ws getting 2 Bns of RMLI. Just 

[[Shorthand]] was kept from 25 to
midnight on 27^th
[[Shorthand]] is 2500 to 2750
Rockcliffe & 4 killed  4 wounded
On Tues. the ships went off.
Wed. Threatened Enos. Aft. Landed to E of it. Destr & 3 boats
Destr. & 9 boats should be
Thurs. Steamed into head of G. of Saros. 
Destr. & 3 boats headed in shore.
& Launch
Amethyst
Dartmouth (Tabby)
Ribble & Esk
Shrapnel from guns
on the hillside. Cleared out
quickly.
Bombdment looked
arrival from beach.
Saw 2 men w stretchers on
Sund. go along to pick up
wounded from heap on beach.
Picked up & returning when fired
on. 7am. Changed places.
Ran on again - Then both
[[shorthand]] almost at once. Prob. maxim.
Ships shelled Fish. Hut.  Cd
see men running from it.
Map of beach [[shorthand]] plans 
Plomp of bullets
into water
Wireless unused owing
orders to cease fire.
RMLI on Frid shot _^ & killed own Col. by mistake
for Turk & wounded McNicol.
Snipers among spring flowers
Top being chipped off parapet. Adjusting loophole
Landing at Helles. River Clyde.
Barbed wire etc.   Diagram – see original document
Periscope
Smelly gully. Shells bursting
Enemys artillery & trenches near Kaba Tepe
Think Turks close at Battery & moving into trenches
Men passing all yesty thro Anafarta.
Diagram – see original document
Map of firing trenches at
time of Monash's attack.
Sund May 2. 1915.
Batn. in firing line!
Well supported by ships.
Plan as I saw it next day Mond May 3.
Diagram – see original document
These trenches being
gtly improved
Precipitous slope
in rear.
Overcoat /men
Artillery officers & camp of 4 tents. Deserted. Our men
went over 1st day. Probably many got beyond. Dead Turk sitting in front.

3
then at 5.15 (acc. to Monash) "whole of our artillery
opened on ridge held by our men. They got in 3. eight pdr
shells & 5 mtn. guns shells - wh burst right in trenches
& blew men into air. (Close inquiries have been made into
this & Col White tells me Monash is wrong. The guns
were guns of the enemy behind his right flank.)
[*600 casualties
face of cliff fell away*]
The whole face of the cliff _^ of nearer hill - which yesterday was covered with bushes
is today bare & along the top of it our dead can be seen
lying like ants shrivelled up or curled up, some still hugging their
rifles - about a dozen of them. The face of the further plateau is
also edged with our dead. Monash at first took it that these
shells were Turkish. But Presently the mountain battery officer who was
observing said "I believe those are mountain gun shells". That seems
to have settled Monash in this impression. As a matter of fact there
is a battery of small Turkish guns which I saw myself today on the
ridge opposite Col. Rosenthal's battery making very fair shooting.
These shells burst right in the trenches the 16^th had dug & lifted the side
of hill off. (The 5 mtn battery shells were a little earlier). Our men
cd be seen rolling down the side of the hill at once. Part of the
line near this fell back. The R.M.L.I under Gen. Trottman
(and _^ R. Marine Brigade) arrived when it ws broad daylight much too late
to be put into the trenches. They had reached the valley below at abt 3.30.
When Blamey & I went up this afternoon we found Monash's
men still hanging onto part of the rods ridge to the left which
we had won, but not to the plateau. The place is the head of the
Eastern Source of The Big Gully. We have never had the head of it
except on the first day when perhaps some of our men reached it before
falling back on the trenches.

Diagram – see original document
The position today as our men fell back was   Diagram – see original document
We cd see the Turks throwing up earth as
they dug on the plateau at X
& our own men digging at Y. The Turks were sd to
be just on the edge of the ridge beside them. Monash
seemed to me a little shaken. He was talking of "disaster" 

1st R. Navy Brigade
Deal & Nelson } Mercer.
                            } armed motor machine gen corps. 
R. Marine     Chatham      }  R.M.L.I.
Brigade        Portsmouth }  Trottman.
                         Hxxxxx.
German aero goes out
after balloon. Balloon spotted
brigade of artillery agst Brit & put
Q.E. onto them - from litter on ground
inclined to think all wiped out.
Adrianople A.C. here.
Think Turks must have heard we are intending to land at K.Tepe.
Q.E. Outed transport in 3 hits.
Can see Goeben.
Ball. ws hit by piece of shell.
One gm. gun tried to get her but
she steamed in w 12 pdrs & outed it
in 10 shots.
We often wondered why Balloon had to go way.
Col. Brand of 2nd.
The Sniper gully clipped
Have to
bayonet
These are in lines
As if someone
batting
on a little [[shorthand]]
Men busy
coming into side
of hill
Some chap deafened from a [[shorthand]]
Howitzer this morning are closer to the beach
I can hear his shell every now
& then like an escaping steam
without the burst. First shot
fell in the water. Since
then other side of the hill.

and said our men would certainly have to retire from the
part of the new ground which they still held. Then the Turks
wd get a machine gun on the head of the valley & make the
gully untenable. I'm sure I cant see why they shd. The only
reason may be that they have been there since the afternoon of
the first Sunday & Monday - 7 days, without relief. Monash
had been urging the taking of this ridge ever since Tuesday. It
was planned for Sunday & I think Saty also - & put off. "They've
tried to put the work of an Army Corps onto me" he sd yesty.
He had only two bns & the N.Z. people on his left, who were going for
the main hill but failed.
The same night the Turks managed (acc. to one a/c) to get one
of the marine battalions to advance. It charged & found a Turkish
trench unoccupied. This seemed a good place to hold so it stayed
there. In the dawn two machine guns opened on it, one from
each end of the trench. That is the story. I dont know if its true.
On Friday night some RMLI sentry fellows in one of the trenches
held by them got very nervous. The colonel - Bessell or some such
name, & Col. McNichol (of our 6^th) were coming along a communication
trench when they shot them & afterwds bayoneted them by mistake
for Turks. This Colonel was killed but M^cNichol fortunately, after
coming to the beach for a dressing was able to return.

4
As I write a tremendous bombardment is going on
- I fear up our _^ big gully, but it may be at Cape Helles.
(It must be at Helles. The guns shake the dug out - but out in the air I cannot hear them)
There is also a continuous roar of rifles
The Hold parties came ashore tonight as reinforcements.
The Turks admit they have lost v. heavily. One chap
sd his coy ws practically all gone. Our older troops
are now v. steady in firing & can act on their
own. One bn. of N.Z. has bn without water &
food as it cd not be reached - It is to be
relieved tonight.
I hear that on Tuesday the ships wh landed us - abt
30 of them, went off northwards & arrived about daylight sunset off
Enos. In the morning, escorted by the Amethyst & Dartmouth, Esk &
Ribble, they pretended to be about to land. Risen After a time they
put off again & steamed further East. In the afternoon they put
in again to some place further East & as there was no opposition
they actually landed a few men there. They took them off again
after dusk. That night the steamed to the head of the Gulf of Saros
& on Thursday made a pretended landing there. Three boats
were filled with men & towed in by a destroyer. They were
fairly close in when they were shelled from thea battery on the
hillside. They cd see what looked like gun positions
& the flash of guns up on the hill but the naval people seemed
to think that these were false flashes & that the real guns
were behind the hills. As soon as they close the shrapnel fell - within
abt 40 yds - they turned & made for all they were worth back
to the ships. A destroyer further out was playing abt with a
string of 9 boats all full of men, pretending to make for land.
They w The men were from the hold parties. They then The ships
(there were only abt a dozen this time) picked them up & returned 
to us. They called the Dartmouth "Tabby" on a/c of the curious
patches of paint on her side.
From the ships the bombardment of the beach on Monday
looked frightful. They had a good view of _^ the first Sundays proceedings.
In particular they noticed a heap of dead or wounded along
the beach near Fisherman's Hut. xxxxxxx When the landing 

Kaba Tepe. Night of May 3-4.
100 men of 11^th [[shorthand]] und Maj. Leane 10 engineers & officer w explosives. 6 AMC & Capt - of XI^th.
Left. 3.30. Taken in by destroyer w 2 destroyers attending. 5 boats rowed into beach
at 4.30 just daylight. As touched shore rifle & m.g. fire opened.  6 men
wounded in boats including Lt Rockliffe. 4 K. & 8 wounded on beach. Rushed
inland to cover under cliff. Wire ws half way up hill above.
It ws very stiff thick stuff w barb every inch. Wd take 1½ hrs to cut.
Above it trench with 1 m.g. & 1 larger automatic gun.
After ¾ hr signalled to destroyers that cdn't get out. The wire on beach
had bn cut to allow of retreat but cdnt cross exposed beach. M.G.
opened at once if tried. Signalled to destroyers & at once two pinnaces
w 3 boats in each dashed in. Destroyers kept up fierce fire on
crest & dust ws so gt that _^Turks cd scarcely have seen what ws going on.
"By Jove the Navy were Splendid" so the Doctor who told me.
They brought boats right up to beach. Turks didn't fire at all whilst
wounded were being put in. The men got in crouched down & then
went for were towed off. Only 3 were hit in process. Sev. of Navy
were hit bringing them to shore. Altogether - so far as I know - 4 K. 14 W.
& a few missing - perh. hit in water. It seems as if this
positn ought to have bn attacked same night as N.Z. attacked
the point to North.
Two parties of the 10^th under Lieut? Rumbolt went along
the coast to cle cut the wire on the beach. They did & lost 1
man. The
Rumbolt told me : we started at 3. & went along shore.
xxxxx Didnt cut wire till 4.30 - it ws to be same time as
landing. Wire was easy enough to cut. When They saw our party
on beach, but except for one _^ or two shrapnel they seemed to be all 
received no attention from in front - all from K. Tepe. The trench
on K. Tepe ran abt halfway across the pearl-shell shaped
hollow. There seemed to be abt 9 men in it at first, but
quickly reinforced to abt 50. The party along beach shot one of
them - saw him roll down xxx hillside, & a second threw up
his hands & his rifle. When boats came in to take party off
R's party was rather left. Leane gave his men choice of wh way they
wd retire & abt 5 came along beach - rest retired in boats.
R. went along beach to where 11^th were & searched for wounded.
Was sure none were left, but two must have been in scrub bec.
found by Red Cross party later. Prob. they thought our men
searching for them were Turks.
See also opp. p.10

5
was well established & things had settled down they saw two stretcher
bearers start out from our left (Capt. Kane's ? dressing station) with a
stretcher. They reached the crowd of wounded, picked one man up, put him
in the stretcher & turned homewards. Presently they began to run. Fire must
have been opened on them. One of them Then they put down the stretcher &
changed ends, & started to run again. Then quite suddenly both fell
down. (They lay there till night. A maxim, I think, in the gully there had
got them. One ws killed & one mortally wounded).
(Yesterday one officer sd to me: "Dont forget the stretcher bearers; by
God they're great.")
The ships shelled Fisherman's Hut near wh this happened (I am
told it had previously been rushed by some of our men from the
3 boats along the beach. Lots of men during that first morning
must have got to positns far beyond our present lines &
stayed there. Some of 2nd Brigade got onto Ridge 400 & onto ridge 224 S
(- I believe into a Turkish gun emplacement there & hung on till after
dark. A Turk came running thro - they just saw his bayonet gleam in
the moonlight outside as he entered it. Then one of them "collected" him }
This is true unless the officer telling it was too shaken, & was romancing    }
Sometimes this is the effect of the heavy strain of three or four days of       }
sleepless fighting such as we went through. Col. Giblin sd to me last           }
night "I am convinced that the stories brought down by the
wounded are absolutely valueless as evidence". It certainly is
so with shaken officers. One officer in the 3rd, a hardy man too, had
the idea that snipers were in the trench all around him. He had
several bullets or shrapnel scraps thro' his clothing & his face
was scarred all over _^ either with splinters or scrub. He sd he had seen the
German officers in green with their swords at the carry going along the
Turkish line prodding up the men. Next minute he sd he hadnt
seen an officer at all).
Well to return - the ships shelled Fishermans Hut the first day
& you cd see men bolting from it (or rather they cd see them from the ships).
Blamey & I on our walk up the gully to the 1^st & 4 Bdes.
had a very uncomfortable time with Turkish shrapnel.
From The moment we turned over the neck of the Battery Knoll at S. end of
Beach a shrapnel began to fly case flew very low over our heads.
The way up the gully is along the sandy winding creek bed which
runs down it. Water has been comes down this in driblets & 
was most useful the first day; but it is too filthy for words
now. In parts the creek bed has been churned into thin
flat yellow mud ankle deep. An Indian battery is
camped on the back of the hill over so _^ in the middle of the lower end of the 
gully; and dead mules (probably water carriers) lie 

I dont quite know what date - but 2 platoons of marines
made themselves one of their shallow trenches near Jackson's post. Maclagans HQ.
- in front of our present line - & tried to connect up with their left by a 
trench across / gully (the gap w / wire, now June. 4) & got cut off. Two platoons
of the 3rd Bn. (some say 4^th) went to their rescue & stayed w them
48 hours until the 4^th Bn cut a sap thro' to them. In another
portion of trench 3 men of the 3rd stayed w them 48 hours rather
than leave some wounded men. The 4^th Bn was thanked for
this by the Gen. commdg the marine Bde (Gen Trottman).
There were Turks in / same trench as tt in wh these wounded
men were - only further along it (acc. to Col. Owen).

6
- three or four or five of them right in the water course. A pipe
line leads up the gully to a dam labelled "Reserve of water."
This holds a muddy yellow liquid. - all right boiled, no doubt
Above this, fair in the stream, is a dead mule. Several dead
men lie on the side of the creek - I dont know if they are Turks
or our men - possibly Turkish snipers who have been bayoneted.
They are in our uniform but it is hard to tell from that of the
Turks. The smell of the dead animals in this valley is
very bad in parts. About ½ mile up it the path splits & we took
the right hand one to reach Gen. Walkers H.Q. It runs between
to small sub hills of a small ridge which divides the valley
(a sort of minor subsidiary partition between the two main spurs
of the main ridge). Some guns of ours were on top of the
Southern hill; & as we came up the enemys shell was trying
to find them. It ws dropping short & just for the moment the
bottom of that passage was a very hot place. Two comxxxxx 
percussion shell dropped there _^ together, & then we were within 100
yards of it & threw up dense little geysers of earth & _^ black smoke.
When we passed the place we cd see the spatter of the Explosion.
Shrapnel cases are lying everywhere in that gully. We
went on, past men xx carrying up water tins, & Indians with
mules blocking the path - mules always do block the path.
Blamey seem who was in India for a couple of years
gave them a dressing down in Hindustani, but it didnt
seem to do much.
We found Gen Walker not far from Maclagans old place,
- a little further down, in his shirtsleeves & gold laced cap. He
had had very little sleep but was is always a nice fellow. He is
constantly in & out of the line. There was only his extreme left
that he was uncertain of. There Col. Dobbin of the 1^st was a little
separated from him, but was and he wasn't quite sure how the
trenches ran. We went down to find out for him. We went up
the main gully again & found Monash & M^cGlynn with
Gen. Trottman (who had now taken
command as his Bns. were sent up
to reinforce. The Naval Marine Brigade
seemed to be still in support. The
16^th & other bits of the 4^th Brig.
were gradually coming down off
Diagram – see original document

Q.E. said to be hit in bows and guns
all likelihood of refit.
This is the warspite.
May 4. 11.10 Aeroplane.
2ce v. grave over fleet
to Warspite.
11.30 QE fires a broadside

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the further heights. Monash & M^cGlynn gave me the acct. I have
written above & B. & I then climbed the hill on the further side of the
stream gully to where the 1st were - a signaller guiding us.
I must say the view up the valley from Monash's H.Q.
was an object lesson in covering fire. All our communicatns
at present run up that gully - or practically all. Across the
end of it is a flat ridge running obliquely like the roof of a 
penthouse, slightly dipping to the right. The Turks are on this
in twos & 3s, & have been creeping across the gully to the left of it &
up onto the edge of the ridge to the left & in front of it. And yet
we hardly got a shot down there. Our
machine guns & rifle fire was making the
Turks keep their heads down & it was
too risky for them to come over the edge
& shoot down the valley. All they cd do was
to fire from behind cover at the skyline.
Diagram – see original document
xx The first bn were improving their trenches for all they were
worth with sandbags & deepening them. There is a narrow
little communication path along the rear back The back of
the hill is cut sheer away in a steep loose sandy slope. In 
that Along the top, just below the crest runs a little narrow
path; walking along it sometimes you have to take the utmost
care not to fall. From it every now and then there runs
into the top of the hill a narrow communication trench about
5 or 6 foot deep; & from there earth was being shovelled as if
from an ant heap. On the reverse slope; dug into the side of the cliff
were officers & men's xxxx dug outs where the cooks were at work. & the
signallers, the regimental H.Q. & some supports. On top of the bank
in a nick in the surface   Diagram – see original document  was the machine gun with two
men working it, crammed up into the hole..
Diagram - see original document
I went along into one
of the trenches. Men were
shovelling earth out of
the communicatn
trenches & in about
10 yards I came into
the firing line. They
were building up a
loophole to get at
snipers. Sandbags were
being piled on top of the
parapet. A corporal had 

8
his periscope up searching the country in front & I did the same.
It was a flat heath land - there were ridges gullies through it; but we
looking through across the tops of them cd scarcely tell that they
existed - the country seemed a plateau. It was covered with
low scrub, & small bushes. Just Away some distance across the
top of it was a low white object - perhaps a farm. X Nearer in,
quite close under the trench I could see the Bde. a s cove or two of
pretty white flowers - white with a yellow centre rather like a
wild rose or a very large strawberry in the scrub thirty yards in
front of the trench. Further out ran a white line - like a path - 
through the bush. Nearer was another path - some like or line of
new dug earth. I knew what they were. They were Turkish trenches.
There was one quite close to us, a deserted digging of about
3 ft deep a little in front of our own trenches. (I saw one the
other day abt 30 yds in front of the 6^th or 7^th - the end of it
comes out near the edge of a gully & there were half a dozen
dead turks lying around it - some with white clothes wrapped
round them, others in khaki - just outside the end of it.
The gully here comes up to within 30 yds of our trench & snipers
were lying here & there in it, shot by our men).
The Corpl. who was searching thro his periscope sd.  "I cant
make out that beggar there - I think he must be dead".
Under the bushes just down the edge of the nearest gully was
a brown object lying perfectly still.
"Better give him one to make sure", he sd. One
of the men (Bill by name) got up & sd - "I'll have a go at him."
He stood up and peered through the loophole.
"Look out, Bill, you'd better have some head cover
said the Corpl. "Theyre coming in there fast. We had two
fellows caught this morning just where you are. We'd
better put a little extra sand sand on there. So they
piled on another sand bag to make the back of Bills
head safe: He peered through the sandhole.
"By jove,' that's xxxxxx pretty good," sd
Bill instantly. A bullet had struck the edge of
the loop hole xxxxx ^x (I simply had to have an hours
sleep when I got to this point in the diary. I fell asleep
so many times writing it)
"That's the beggar", said Bill - nearly got me
that time. "If you stand with your head as near