Diary of Apcar Leslie De Vine, 6 August 1915 - 17 May 1916 - Part 1 of 6

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Part of Quest:
Apcar Leslie De Vine Diaries
Subject:
  • ANZAC
Status:
Finalised
Accession number:
RCDIG0000331
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

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Pte. A. L de vine A tay 4t Buttalion 3nd Plation Noq Section The brenches Gollyolle And Alexandria e feft for Fronce Mec 23, 1916 Arrd Moreiles e left fr Styls Mur 30 and taples April 211 Left Stogle e and Meteron Apeil 10 4 Left Gollych Sept 14 -191 herd Lemris Sept 15 Left Lemros Ept 2 11 Oct 29 11 and fallyoll Left. Gallyoth Dec. 19 Dec 19 And. Lemnos Left Lenos. Dec 24 Alexandria Dec 28 and Left Alixandria Dec 31 died Gel -et Riber Dec 314 Left Oit -it - Rebir Mar L 1916 Aird Teropeum Mar 4. 1914 Mar 2211 left Serepeum
£6/15 Continue sean oober back the did not then stete kingun tat terch, I so we remained in tht jesition intill marnig He ns ves furggi, of the of themented i pet te nove 178/5 yar frm attock on over so d sert unt a ation to enfoce te Re held te 2nd Butt, He Crk actrured on us of thiitg, at down et upa fort geod fitt, b avid bots fielt next were o gavd with their, we margiato preule then ihe left Indreds of dee or fet of eve trerity h were a diffecult for the is runy of dell ea sepdia g dane ly wes a truck fu suiks who debidn fce v gerol msy all da Kna to get dogens, wos tht f a pece of bab in the I bege but it int a bey tolucesd did not hut me in the le ured te ret of the da in not We thack depositle a sife much is genable, sam loged sogettd it duiper sener t had to a sop left then there, we intiin attack at on time edany seeped for tn gilly a sercal apt of bort w alia he wh denty to each other wody a dan all the exei a of ae were abet t
1057 nattard bt it did not wre intill down, socaste am all myst 8/85 Sundas Landed 15 mth attecked nteetts hury on tte. RSt down but we drate tten off with ile fire e corls Hell hndred, t attected as we hell un pa mary borbs whth gave ish couny us may comalte, ab other wetdrew but attected at of a an wiste same set, Mer sepe Her uy with mackvg cin rifte fre o retued for wre the have. dury the intural we wee baved y MORI lade on th extrene infilated of the excued 75 pr from the Travck ah e the & bey bonby caured us to lease helf a trench wsh by hear lenes, a go mm dill just tm te gorl I ues on but basked the atte out the was se lttet cever tel Ia ever been in marellou her I marged to get on witheut a geretol ot about 119e we wre attacked you we beerf, it wevld no coult bee enccleded igei a fet ner trende werebit n for the fast to our astitty picked up their lare excrety ebust pley of evell an thn steed to am all d
ty another attark, but the in of He dy nes girit, glet Wompiy myst rg quiet Outs bed ereugh a/8/15 Marged to fird e retured to the 4th Hourt alent 10 am yur in time be an ettack oner wte heldfth 4e te wok und suly peelf pety. eged mef to et l e lecame his lastle ice t w moge et tt Hldge strof lats which I crangred net up to the le in the inawere gof h we held orbwn th attack be Bedyour long in thy attack weree not of heag as onl the linb thowee ocngill the trench. We starck of the dead, batten boddey sinl anful ceved herdf stand it, no atter mede u to the ot to be aoenive en we hee bear luest occupied m or caitin to do gytty rune teaserted out patt ped, itd i all the rewishmt f te fear p the les i dos moneyed to get a dtte rice to dy pam the Bent, alout 3 p we sort to Beyade Hages as dinetch ca t te rs Burt e extacted oe to Jedges. 4ael returee fan te trendy et sgean We po time sne didy
is gvten a geash peae mnyth rest te wit est tebed ice th heye on Iuie fwey thit ba sest billit a Itde fech b is not hie rythed, agh fett ginet now in ove provt 1078715 A muster of the 4 Bust tod, our tsto be de hery on &men lift cut if t aguolt by th left nty I am se on man innonted ry setien to of ony 4 ofreeslt last slyd lest Scott left yron & Col Minayster, the Bull quite unfit fe ay wetfer sennce, o long were very heary; exegity aui on our pert of witle tpn bil seyquilt, llles p wether. 11/8/15 Another quit dey, yer ine tive in isolodety our gention a deing te treld dn bugy the died of which the us a bye guity $2/8/15 whett dast with tharde ge fceg ber cauned severel despetity toe fedgs y fyt yer added to ovr streyth our Bett streyt len thy 200 out of 500 in the chare gird day. 1318/15 Seyaloh Engyall o de quidt
5 Hear gis bery silled tody sht of his extene fliz obant tody; has not herichd got bit on the mercble of tle R and so yente y ill at went ak il by of teggeegt yereter stti next to me, only stent my hand shilled a Ouk gu mee searty Bryade Hoges to mav it one shell fill all round but did not but it 5/8/15- Sunday Linded 16week Qiniteder few and slls th alult, no damge doe very few comeths occuig now the diad owhey hane in buge iu full bylly quistered dei 16/8715 tonamol eoy tineit Hedges 17/8/15 Did not hear a set fied on dy seved tive up to the prydie wut deyelds evpity excytinol Iquiet, marged to get a hin toiry 1878715 Swit day at rdges alsduty netty doiy in she pew lire, andher letter far worar tede. 19/8/15 Ver quest oein brtts must of bed everish on a little min today 3003
8115 Weth O.K.S Brale lonil tompl a glaced te t blaik ottewa medly day at all regat all alon He pry ive me all well 2/8/15 Qmit day on ever own part by advrce wa in the ts cary admh s tte 4 Ball oter uper I new the advnce of our fente oen the Not between our lift ethe sast lokes the were advacy in ofer order wich pred lyeney; e vere hrny shilled, but woll goe pger vititeo the fyte th atily dull for dont beny 22/8/15 Sindy Lorded 17 wih annt day on our pent, peper bey made on the 2 plark, exjecten & an attack on our prent tody 23/8/15 Eoytly rgquid paper still bey mode on th 1, nt much news but doin will 24/8/15. Letter from mother tecl everyt qivet capti J consolecoted on the lift 25/8/15 All quiet on Dcour pent. Ashi Becter Hevery binterded 24/8/15 Ach. Bube Weyhan laladed fe his. all quiet 003
3//815. Tey few Sills tody, anf $845 all guit on our per hih exlasive bembsong; no demage attuct in the pgien dene or ay usually, deadiant me neve Hodgnaties, eveyt great 25/8/15 Headgvertes shelled too 1/9/15 Qunt Lay nathy dong Latbeme guit day eerned tody quite a hosn 29/8/15 Sunday Landed 18 weeps Weadgil hery sbelled uith 2/9/5 Tem shill tooly another lge cFl steek invedt, heard hh Exlae stell see stol rdief i to be experten crually letter from Greevs egeent ir alat a week time tody 3/9/15 Sune dy personers teken 30/8/15 Meadquiles gan welled tiily say sht an attack is to ban tho crases several cosnaltie be exjeited the wiek end high xxlanse shell ured omen sly to picy, one men blewn to blons 4/9/15 Eexgtinall quiet week and weres on yre had side of me butI ne sellig tidg wat to a tenchia

181.1

 

The Official War Historian of the Commonwealth 
Government (Dr. C. E. W. Bean), after his study of the 
collection of private war records preserved in the Australian 
War Memorial Library, wrote :- 
"The private diaries in this collection furnish some of its most 
valuable historical records, but, like all private memoirs which were 
not compiled with any historical purpose, they should not be 
regarded as first-hand evidence except where it is certain that they 
are so. The diarist is almost always sincere in his desire to record 
accurately, but he is subject to no obligation or inducement to 
indicate whether he is recording his own observations or incidents 
told him by friends or heard at third or fourth hand at the mess-table. 
Thus, in some of the diaries in this collection, scenes described with 
vivid detail, and without any warning that they are told at second 
or third hand, have been found to be completely inaccurate in 
 important details. A certain number also have been written up 
or revised long after the events, though doubtless usually from notes 
made at the time. In most cases the student must rely on his 
experience and on internal evidence to guide him in judging what is 
and what is not likely to be historically accurate." 

 

Pte. A. L de Vine  
A Coy 4th Battalion 
3rd Platoon 
No 9 Section 
  
The Trenches Gallipolli 
Arrd Alexandria & left for France. Mar 23.1916 
Arrd Marseilles & left for Staple Mar 30 ,,  
Arrd Staple April 2 ,, 
Left Staple & arrd Meteren April 10 ,, 
  
Left Gallipoli Sept 14 - 1915 
  
Arrd Lemnos Sept 15 - ,, 
Left Lemnos Oct 27 - ,, 
  
Arrd Gallipolli Oct 29 ,, 
Left Gallipolli Dec 19 ,, 
  
Arrd Lemnos Dec 19 ,, 
Left Lemnos Dec 24 ,, 
  
Arrd Alexandria Dec 28 ,, 
Left Alexandria Dec 31 ,, 
  
Arrd Tel - el - Kebir Dec 31 ,, 
Left Tel - el Kebir Mar 1 1916 
  
Arrd Serapeum Mar 1 1916 
Left Serapeum Mar 22 ,, 

 

6/8/15 Continued from other book 
___________________________ 
who did not know that we 
occupied that trench, & so we 
remained in that position untill 
morning, the night was fairly quiet, only the 
cries of the wounded in fields  to be heard 
7/8/15 Heavy pressure & attacks on 
our R so I was sent with a  
section to reinforce the R held by 
the 2nd Batt, the Turks advanced 
on us very thickly, at dawn & put 
up a fairly good fight, they used 
bombs pretty freely, & were very 
good with them, we managed to  
repulse them they left hundreds of dead 
in front of our trenches, we were 
in a difficult position as running at 
paralell to ours & only separated 
  
by same Coys was a trench full of 
Turks who bombed us freely, got 
very good sniping all day & managed 
to get dozens, was hit by a  
piece of bomb in the L brst but 
it hit a box of tobacco & so 
did not hurt me in the least 
used the rest of the dy in makg 
the trench defensible, & safe as 
much as possible, sand bagged the 
parapett & dug it deeper, after 
removing the dead to a sap & 
left them there, we expected an 
attack at any time & were always 
prepared for them, gettg a good 
supply of bombs, we could hear 
them shouting to each other & 
making a noise all the evening 
as if they were about to make 

 

an attack, but they did not 
do so untill dawn, stood to 
arms all night 
  
8/8/15 Sunday Landed 15 
weeks, were attacked 
heavily on the R at dawn 
break we drove them off with 
rifle fire & bombs killg hundreds, 
they attacked us very hotly usig 
very many bombs with good effect 
causing us many casualties, they 
then withdrew but attacked 
again at 9 o/c . am with the 
same result, after choppg them 
up with machine gun & 
rifle fire, they retired for 
about two hours, during this 
interval we were bombed very 
  
badly on the extreme R, & 
infiladed by the captured .75mm 
gun from the French, this & there 
heavy bombing caused us to leave 
half a trench with very heavy 
losses, a .75mm shell just missed 
the post I was on, but knocked 
the others out, this was the tightest 
corner that I have ever been in 
marvellous how I managed to get out 
without a scratch, at about 11 o/c 
we were attacked again very 
heavily, they would no doubt 
have succeeded in giving a party 
in our trenches, were it not 
for the fact that our artilly 
picked up their range exactly 
& burst plenty of shrapnell amongst 
them, stood to arms all the day

 

expecting another attack, but the 
rest of the day was quiet, plenty 
of sniping, night very quiet Turks had 
enough 
  
9/8/15 Managed to find & returned 
to the 4th Batt about 10 am 
just in time for an attack on our 
centre held by the 4th & the L 
Turks used bombs pretty freely. 
reported myself to Capt Lloyd 
& became his battle orderly, 
had to carry messages & attend 
Batt Hdqrs for the supply of bombs 
which I managed to get up to 
the Coy in time as we were 
running very short, we held 
our own & the attack was 
repulsed, our losses in this 
  
attack were not very heavy as 
only the bomb throwers occupied 
the trench, the stench of the 
dead, rotten bodies simply awfull 
could hardly stand it, no attempt 
made up to the present to bury 
or remove them we have been too 
busily occupied since our occupation 
to do anything, rum & tea served 
out pretty freely, that is all the 
nourishment I have had for the 
last 3 days, managed to get a 
little rice today from the 3rd 
Batt, about 3 pm was sent to 
Brigade Hdqrs as dispatch carrier 
to the 4th Batt & attached  
myself to Hdqrs. 4 Batt returned 
from the trenches at 5 o/c pm 
the first time since Friday

 

was given a good feed & 
2 nights rest the first rest I 
have had since the charge on Friday 
was hit by a snipers bullet in 
the R cartridge pouch but 
was not hurt, very tired, everything 
pretty quiet now on our front 
  
10/8/15 A muster of the 
4 Batt today, our losses have 
been very heavy, only 8 men left out 
of the original C  Coy that left 
Sydney. I am the only man unwounded 
in my section No 9, only 4 officers left 
Capt LLoyd   Capt Scott   Capt Sympson 
& Col McNaughton, the Batt quite 
unfit for any further service, our 
losses were very heavy, everything 
quiet on our front very little 
  
sniping, Turks very quiet, letter from 
mother, 
11/8/15  Another quiet day, spent 
our time in consolidating our 
position & deeping the trenches, also 
bury the dead of which there 
is a huge quantity 
  
12/8/15 4 Batt back in the  
trenches again for 48 hours 
carried several dispatches to their 
Hdqrs. 7th Light Horse added to our 
strength our Batt strength less than 
200 out of 500 in the charge. quiet 
day 
  
13/8/15 Dispatch carrying all day 
very quiet 

 

14/8/15 Head Qrs heavy shelled 
today, plenty of high explosives 
flying about today, was not touched 
got hit on the knuckles of the 
R hand from splinter of shell, that 
went into the leg of telegraph 
operator sitting next to me, only 
slightly cut my hand, shelled all  
day, Turks guns were searching 
for Brigade Hdqrs to knock it out, 
Shells fell all round but did not 
hit it 
  
15/8/15 Sunday Landed 16 weeks 
Quiet day few odd shells 
flying about, no damage done 
very few casualties occurring now, 
the dead are being buried in huge 
pit fully 
  
16/8/15 Everything quietened down 
to normal. easy time at 
Hdqrs 
  
17/8/15 Did not hear a shot 
fired all day. Several times  
up to the firg line with 
dispatches everythg exceptionally 
quiet, managed to get a swim today 
  
18/8/15 Quiet day at Hdqrs 
absolutely nothg doig in the 
firg line, another letter from 
mother today 
  
19/8/15 Very quiet again Turks 
must of had enough, only 
a little sniping today

 

20/8/15 Everything OK. 5th 
Brigade landed tonight & placed 
on the L flank, otherwise nothing 
doig at all, reports all along 
the firg line are "alls well" 
  
21/8/15 Quiet day on our 
own front, big advance made 
on the L, was carrying a dispatch 
to the 4th Batt Hdqrs, when 
I saw the advance of our 
infantry over the flat between 
our left & the Salt Lakes 
they were advancing in open order 
with fixed bayonets, & were heavy 
shelled, but made good progress 
watched the fight & the artilly 
drill for about 2 hours 
  
22/8/15 Sunday Landed 17 weeks 
Quiet day on our front, progress 
beng made on the L flank, expected 
an attack on our front today 
  
23/8/15 Everything very quiet progress 
still beng made on the L, not 
much news but doing well. 
  
24/8/15 Letter from mother today 
everythg quiet. Captured position 
consolidated on the left 
  
25/8/15 All quiet on L & our 
front. Achi Baba heavily 
bombarded 
  
24/8/15  Achi Baba very heavily 
bombarded for 48 hrs. all quiet

 

27/8/15 All quiet on our front 
attacks on the L progress 
made 
  
28/8/15 Headquarters shelled today 
otherwise quiet day 
  
29/8/15 Sunday Landed 18 weeks 
Headquarters heavily shelled with  
high explosive shells, several 
casualties. Letter from Greaves & Grant 
today 
  
30/8/15 Headquarters again shelled 
had two escapes, several casualties 
high explosive shells used, main supply 
blown to pieces, one man blown to 
pieces on right hand side of me but I 
was not touched 
  
31/8/15 Very few shells today, a few 
high explosive bombs only, no damage 
done or any casualties, decided to 
move headquarters, everything quiet 
  
1/9/15. Quiet day, nothing doing 
1 egg issued today quite a bonus 
  
2/9/15 Few shells today, another 
egg & 1/2 lb stock issued, heard 
that relief is to be expected 
in about a weeks time 
  
3/9/15 Quiet day, prisoners taken 
today say that an attack is to 
be expected this week end 
  
4/9/15 Exceptionally quiet week end 
no shelling today - wrote to Di West

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Jacqueline KennedyJacqueline Kennedy
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