Diary of Apcar Leslie De Vine, 1915 - Part 4 of 7

26/4/15 Heavy bombadment comenced 
this moing by the battleship the 
Queen Elizabeth 15" guns opened on the 
Turkish battery which were silenced 
in about 1½ hours, noise of guns vy
deafening, went 5 times to the trenches 
with amunitions, report of vy heavy casualties   
from all Batts, was under shrapnell fire 
the whole of the time in the trenches 
our artillery placed in position today 
on R & L of beach vy well concealed 
vy good of gains made, 1 Batt Turks 
repoted captured & 9 machne firing 
of  the New Zealanders also reported 
that the English & French troops were 
near, two spies caught & brought in 
to headquarters blindfolded 
one had papers on him & both 
were wearing our uniform 
repoted that the Turks abused
the white flag on our R flank
shot a lot of our men, but we 
shot evy man we caught
holdg our own alng the whole
of the battle front fought with the 
2' Batt all dy 4^th Ryolilad tonight 
  
27/4/15 The dy opened at dawn  
with a hevy fire from the 
warship with great effect on the 
trenches, made several trips to the 
trenches with food, amunition, water 
we are lucky our own vy well. 
Vy heavy on the L flank, went late 
int night to the 4^th Batt, mouted 
guard for 1 hour because we 
expected a surprise attack by 
the Turks, it did not come off

28/4/15 Day opened vy quietly 
the warships only firg a few 
shells, made good progress today 
& held our own all along the 
line, the L flank was hard 
pressed butt held, took 
supplies to the 4^th on the R flank 
under heavy fire, got lost for a 
while but found the track 
again, large force of RMLT 
landed tonight, got a great 
reception from everybody they 
went at once into the firing 
line, shell fire on the beach stopped 
today, their guns must have been 
disabled by battleship fire 
  
29/4/15 Rather quiet day tody 
holding our own all along the  
line, up to firig line several 
times today, vry heavy. Shelled by 
shrapnell while in the "Vally  of 
Death" no one got hit, good 
morng landed tonight, shrapnell 
ceased from midday 
  
30/4/15 Heavy dy tody attacked alog 
the line, shifted our headquartrs 
to the Batt Headquartes, 4^th Batt 
leave the trenches tody for the first 
time since Sunday, men vy exhausted 
got dug in & made a bed suddenly 
called out in fightg order had to 
reinforce the centre, & sty in the 
reserve all night, continuous firing

all night we were not realiv, got vy
little sleep. Gen Bridges wounded Shrpll Gully
  
1/5/15 Reserves vy heavy shelled
by shrapnell this morning, still
waitg in reserve 1 & 2 platoon went into 
the firg line, but were recalled in
about 1 hour the No 3 had to get
water for the firng line, went into
the firng line about 11 o/c, heavy
hail of shrapnell, many casualties
had a machine gun turned on me
but escaped, improved the trench  by
digging all nght, on watch for ½
hour & 1 hours rest (taken up by
digging, during night The Turks came up
in hundreds in front of our trenches
& swarmed over the skyline, but
did not attack, had some good sniping 
  
2/5/15 Sunday Have been ashore
one week & continously under fire
had a fairly quiet night, vy cold
sleepg in trenches, W Oakes hit
alongside me ths morng by machine gun 
turned on us, I escaped, Capt
Coltman hit & several men, vy 
warm time, things quietened down
after middy, at about 6 o/c the
naval guns opened on the hills
that were infiletng our trench
on the L, with great effect, saw
the whole of the action from
the trench, the navy gave them
vey heavy shell firing, yesterdy eveng
we lost a trench held by the RMLI
plenty of snipg all day, which cost
several men, dead men left
unburied & put over the rear of the
trench cause vy bad smell 

3/5/15 Day opened as usual with
heavy shrapnell fire, no one 
hit, was put with my compny
this morng, had previously been
with D Coy, at dawn the Turks
made an attack on our trenches
they came on in hundreds, we did not
fire untill they were about 50-60 yds
off then let them have it, we beat
them off after about ½ hour stiff
bef fight, no one on our side hurt
they advanced with fixed bayonets
but did not fire, placed as
observer with periscope all the
afternoon, on observation again 2 hours
at night, & 2 hours sapping, very tired
had to stad too & man the trenches
once, [[sepped]] to save wounded men
left exposed for 3 days & get them  
  
4/5/15 Heavy shrapnell fire Morning
did not last long, vy
quiet day tody, got a whole
days rest the first since we landed 
all digging stopped, letters arrive 
today got a O.C from Mother
Had a large feed tody cheese
onions & tea the first since 
we landed feel much better 
for it, get the [[tlgors]] later
left trenches for the first time for
2 hours to make some tea & stretch
our legs. plenty of shrapnell
burstg in the gully, much safer 
in the trenches

5/5/15 Shrapnell as usual at dawn
had to stand to arms once durng
the night, false alarm, vy
quiet dy did not fire a shot
got 2 hours leave from the trenches
& went to the beach & had 
a bath the first since I landed
also a good wash,  took boots
off & changed socks for the
frst time, 2g tin of tobacco
issued tody, went to beach
to find my Pack, evythg lookd
could find nothg, evythg lost
a vy cold night, tot of rum
issued tonight 
  
6/5/15 a little shrapnell
fired this morng, not much
gun must be silenced only two
werking, vy quiet day did
not fire a shot, could see
the Turks sapping towads us
300 yds away, & firing q f gun
did not leave trenches tody
had to shift my position
along the trench, section today 
up another position, some artillry
dropped into position tonight, terribly
cold tonight, my feet like ice
could get no sleep, read my letter
from Edith tody, & parcell from mother 
7/5/15 Plenty of shrapnell tody
Turks must have bought in fresh
guns, we placed some heavy guns
in position & the Turks shelled

them knocking over several men
left the trenches this afternoon for 2 
hours to make some Bovril &
fry a bit of bacon, quite a 
feed. nuttg day tody
Turks placed a machine gun in
front of us & are continuing
sweepg the parapet thy have got
the range exactly, stones & dirt
fly evywhere have to keep our
heads down, several times
neary hit while observing, some 
more of our guns dragged into
position tonight, expected a 
night attack but it did not
come off

8/5/15 Machine gun & shrapnell 
started eary this mornig
otherwise quiet they could see
the Turks sappg & extremely [[?]]
nothing was done to stop them,
sent PC to Edith & Mother,
Gang of 30 men went out to towards
the trenches in front of us tonight
at 10 o/c & came back to report 
that the trench was held strongly
by the Turks, cost two men
1 wounded & 1 missing, left
the trench for a wash today
had a shave the first since comig
ashore, not so cold tonight
had hot meal today first since landed 

9/5/15 Sunday Landed 2 weeks
today another quiet day for my
trenches shelled, no one hurt
a bit of shrapnell flying close
this mornig, not much damage

done, yesterday from the Turks
trench they flew a black flag
did not know the meaning of
it, quiet all day, slept all
the afternoon, in the evening an
interprater through a  megryphone
offered kind treatment etc to
all Turks. Not Surrender, as
captives say they were told by their
officers that the Australians kill
their prisoners, small box of 
tobacco & box of matchs arrived 
today, matchs were finished nobody
had any, only had a few loose ones 

10/5/15 Big fight started at dawn
on our left the Turks charged
our trenches but were wiped out
in hundreds, by machine gun &
maintain batty fire, they openly
returned over their hill leaveg
hundreds of dead, saw the battle 
from our trenches, the ground
is simply covered with dead
they must have had vy heavy losses
rest of the day quiet, a little  
shrapnell passed over our heads
doing no harm to us, snipers get
a few of our men in the trenches. 
otherwise everthg OK, got another
hot meal today, had to man trenches once
during the night, false alarm 

11/5/15 Quiet again today, both trenches looking
at one another, Turks continue digging have 
been doing so for about a week now, we
wonder if they are sappg, mail from England get
letter from mother, 1 blanket issued today
Our first cold & wet day drissled rain
nearly all day. vy cold

12/5/15 Quiet day today, all shrapnell
stopped, Turks still sappig, vy wet
today drissled nearly all the day & 
last night, trench vy muddy & sticky
wet through, doctor advised tote
of rum to be issued tonight, got
a hot dinner today & ¼ of a loaf
of bread, first since we landed,
baked on the transports, Colonels 
body found last night & buried
this morng, started to make  a
little overhead cover at intervalls
along the trench in case we get 
any more shrapnell, sounds of vy
heavy gun firing at sea all night
heard that the navy caught a lot of
Turks trying to come up & reinforce
the flanks opposite us, wiped
them out, everything OK along
the line today

13/5/15 Another quiet day tody
absolutely nothg doing, no Turks to be seen
anywhere, greater portion of them must
have been withdrawn to oppose the
advancing army in the rear of them.
Left trenches for two hours today
managed to get a wash & a shave
errected overhead cover in 
trenches in the evening, exceptionally
quiet all night, vy few snipers
at work the quietest night we have
had, during the night a messige on
the end of a stick was thrown into
D Cys line by the Turks telling us 
that they had defeated the English 
etc etc & offering us terms of surrender
a similar ((warning?)) was thrown into the

3^rd Batt lines. this must be in 
reply to our offer to them, through
the interprater the other night
Everybody much amused about
it 

14/5/15 Quiet dy again, a little 
shrapnell flew about this
morning, this afternoon we  
knocked down a part of the 
parapett of our trench, covered 
evybody with dirt & dust 
otherwise did no damage  
this inactivity is becomng very 
monotunus, have not fired a 
shot for two or three days, a little 
snipng this afternoon, had a few 
shots at me while observng between 
1 & 2 pm, came pretty close but 
missed, everything else vy quiet the  
rest of the dy, in the early evening 
fight started in the L & kept up all  
night. Turks threw many bombs over us 
into the trenches on the L, nothing 
happened on our front, vey quiet 
  
15/5/15  Firing on and off all dy on 
the L, things very quiet on our  
front, water stopped today one 
bottle full issued to last the dy  
our water supply was polluted by 
 the L H when they landed the 
other night, a little shrapnell 
flew over about 4 o/c & burst near 
headquarters, artilly died about 
this time, trenches held by Turks on 
the L heavy shelled, white flg  
shown yesterdy on L but no notice

taken of it, orders read tody 
respectg white flag procedure for 
the future, heavy firg on the L 
during the night & some bombs were 
thrown by the Turks, dont know 
the extent of the damge 
  
16/5/15 Sunday landed 3 weeks 
tody, day opened with an 
artilly duel, trenches on L were 
shelled, detailed as orderly man 
today, everythg pretty well quiet 
everybody resting, bombardment carried 
on attackng on L after a few hours 
only a few rifle shots the rest of the  
day 
  
17/5/15 Artilly opened on the Turks 
trenches on the L, bombarded vy 
heavy, was on an observig post durg 
one hour of the bombardmt, evy 
shell hit the mark each time, fire 
ceased at about 7 o/c comenced at 
dawn, the trench was quiet the rest 
of the dy, Turks flew yellow flag  
on L at 4 o/c, issue of tobacco 
& matches, large mail arrivg from 
Alexandria, the night watch vy 
quiet no snipg, evythg quiet on both 
sides 
  
18/5/15 Artilly gain bombed trenches 
on the L with great effect 
saw a gun & its crew blown 
boddily into the air by one shell, 
shellg vy effective, the beach