Diary of Edgar Roy Stanford, 1914-1915 - Part 2

May 23 Got the mail just as we were going
into the trenches, (from Father Keith Ed S
& K.B.) The firing line seemed much
closer to home while reading the mail.
Came off at 9 p.m.
May 24 Stood to dawn at 3.30 A.M. There is an
8 A.M armistice on at present to bury the dead.
Our valley seems as peaceful & quiet as
if there were no such thing as war.
According to our own official news
the armistice the other day was a
"ruse that failed". The Turks attempted
to move large bodies of men from
some of their positions which had
been being heavily shelled by our
guns under cover of the large parties
of Turks who had come forward with
their arms up. But it was easily
seen through & they got 10 mins
grace to get back again, but
we still believe a mistake was
May
24^th made by the O.C. on our left
to let the Turks come right up
overlooking the valley.
Has been drizzling all day, but
both sides have been very busy carrying
on their work of burying. Some of our
men who were detailed for that job
& also as a sort of police report
that while there must have been a
couple of hundreds of our own dead
that of the enemy ran into thousands
in some places they were lying thicker
than one would see sheep grazing
in NSW. They also reported that a
great number of Turks who were supposed
to belong to burying parties were officers
in disguise who were out for observations.
One of our own troop reported what
he took to be a Turkish General
no less than four times for using 

May
24^th field glasses & actually taking out
a chart & marking observations on it.
Apparently taking no notice of requests
by our officers to discontinue.
Firing recommenced at 4.30 p.m. &
our regt. stood to arms. quiet night
Quinns Hill 7.30 AM to 11.30 AM. While
there ^it was discovered that the Turks were
trying to undermine us & preparations
were at once made to receive them.
dynamite etc being brought up. We
are all anxiously waiting the result.
Went down to beach this afternoon
- still drizzling - for a swim.
arrived just in time to see the last
of the gallant HMS Triumph. She
had been torpedoed & turned
turtle. I took took photos of her
but she was a good way out &
hardly visible in the "finder"
May 25.  From reports on the beach, half
her her crew were drowned, as she
capsized just 8 mins after she
was struck. It is a big loss as
she had done splendid work here
When I arrived on the scene she
was surrounded by destroyers &
all sorts of craft & cruisers could
be seen steaming up from all
directions evidently on the look
out for the Submarine responsible
for the damage but we couldn't
hear whether they got her or not.
Stood to arms 5 p.m & have to sleep to
arms tonight, "something doing"
apparently.
May 26  Had a quiet night. Stood to arms 3.30 AM
Sniper very busy about 12 being shot before 7
A.M. Heard that our boats sank one of the
two submarines which attacked yesterday
& hit the other. 

May 26^th 8 p.m. latest reports concerning the
loss of the Triumph say that about 70 of her
crew perished. Nothing definite yet
about the destruction of the two
torpedoes who attacked. — Had a
very quiet day indeed but for the
shrapnel & snipers. While in the
"briny" this morning had some narrow
escapes from former, for the enemy's
fire is very accurate at that point
Been a lovely day. Spent the afternoon
in reading Orange papers. Our engineers
were successful with their counter sap last
night & blew up a lot of the Turks
work. Sapping from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.
May 27^th — Stood to arms last
night at 8.30 & afterwards slept
to arms. out this morning a
usual at 3.30 A.M. Slept till 12 noon.
Dip in briny at 1.30 p.m. Heard that
the Majestic had been torpedoed
May 27^th  & sunk down at the point.
Officially announced today that Italy
had declared war on Austria, also
that the number of Turks killed in
their last attack on the 19^th inst.
was 3,000. Very little artillery
firing from the enemy today, & very
little rifle fire all round. Went on
sapping tonight at 5 & came off
at 8.30 p.m. Our valley is now
well entrenched, with safe roads
leading up to the firing lines which
are also being improved every day
May 28.  Wrote letters & cards home,
stood to arms last night at 12 & again
at 3.30 A M; evidently expecting to be
attacked. road making in afternoon.
enemy's shell fire very continuous.
May 29^th  Stood to arms 3.30 A M. tremendous 
firing both rifle & guns all night 

May 29^th & concluded that something was
doing. Sent sapping to Quinn's Hill
at 6 p.m & found that enemy had
mined & blown up one of our trenches
during the night & were in occupation
of two of them. Were were put in as supports
right away, just as the Turks made
another rush, which was repulsed.
Our boys then made a dash into
our trench & bayoneted the occupants [*5*]
only one or two escaping. After a
great deal of bomb throwing, the
other trench eventually surrendered
- 19 men - It was one of the; more
bombs being used than ever previously.
nearly all the casualties were from
these. Many of the Turks who got
into our trenches were absolutely
blown to pieces & presented an awful
sight. We lost about 15 23 killed.
May 29.  Later in the day the Turks started
another attack, but as most of them
were shot as they left their trenches it
was evidently abandoned. Our Japanese
bomb throwers & ^bombs were used with great
effect in this attack.
May 30  This morning both our right & left
flanks attacked & with great success.
The left — two sqdns N.Z. Mounted Rifles
charged Turkish trenches & succeeded
in taking & holding them. A good
piece of work & done with with very
little loss only one man being killed.
On the right, the infantry advanced
to the next ridge & forced the Turkish
flank back. Both advances took
place between 1 & 2 p.m. We are
stood to arms all the afternoon & 1st
& C Sqdn moved camp to right of
Pope's Hills Just as we arrived, the
& [[?indi]] reserves. 

May 30^th enemy again attacked Quinns Hill
- just on our right - & succeeded in
occupying one of our trenches only
to ousted with the bayonet immediately.
Bomb throwing was carried on very
freely by both sides. I took two
snaps.. Slept to arms
May 31^st Stood to arms 3-30 A.M. Quiet night
very little firing all day. Went into
June 1^st  firing line at 4 p.m. Had a quiet
day & came off at 4 p.m. Went for a
"dip". Heard chat it was quite true
about one of our submarines which
succeeded in entering the narrows &
sinking two Cruisers & a destroyer.
June 2^nd Our sappers blew up one of the
Turks trenches on Quinn's Hill last
night. damage as yet unknown.
Plenty of machine gun & rifle fire
during the night. Went into firing
line at 11 A.M. quiet day.
June 3^rd  Several heavy bursts of firing
last night, otherwise fairly quiet.
came out into Support trenches at
4 p.m.
June 4^th Heavy rifle & machine gun fire
during most of night which was
very cold. Not allowed our
blankets & most of us unable to
sleep. Heard a very big explosion
during night: supposed to be a
certain hill between us & Cape Helles
which we have been undermining.
Send cards to Mother & EdS. Went into
firing line at 4 p.m. Expecting to have a
charge as the artillery had been very
active all day. Between Cape Helles & us
the Cruisers & destroyers have kept up
one great continuous firing all day
& well into the night. It is a great
sight to see so many boats in action.
We had a good view of most of their fire
which as far as we could make out was at their trenches.

along the line of hills in distance. They are supposed
to have artillery & some forts there also, but we were unable
to see them.
June 4^th At 10 p.m we were told that the New Z's
on Quinn's Hill were to attack & that we
were to keep up rapid fire, which we
did ^commencing at 11 p.m until our rifles were that hot that
we couldn't hold them. Fire eased
down to "steady" about 12.30 AM & kept
at that till about 3.30 AM when "occasional"
June 5^th firing recommenced. — As far as we can
hear at present the New Z's captured the
trenches alright but were 'bombed' out of
them but not before they had succeeded
in making a Communication trench from
the captured trenches to ours, so probably
they will be retaken, during the day.
Had a quiet day & came out into
"reserves" at 4 p.m. Went for a swim &
heard the details of the N.Z attack. Four
were killed & 79 wounded. They were successful
in taking the positions allright, but
ran out of bombs & ammunition
June 5^th & had to retire. The bombs are the
greatest trouble in this "next door" trench
warfare; they have the effect of
scaring as well as hurting. Had my
first decent night's sleep for 3 nights.
Stood to arms at 3.30 AM
June 6^th On my way back from the beach this
morning was in time to hear the last
part of a church parade at the
1^st Inf. Brigade. reminded me that it
was Sunday for one day is the same
as another here. Went into firing
line at 4 p.m. used a periscopic rifle
for the first time although they have
had a lot in use this last 3 weeks, it
is a splendid idea although it draws
the Turkish fire. Had an issue of
5 pkts of cigs yesterday: Continuous
firing all night: six or seven Jap
bombs lobbed in Turk trenches to
our front & we had a good 

June 6^th opportunity of observing the effect.
The explosion is terrific & it makes a
great mess of their trenches. The
only drawback I can see with it is,
that they have plenty of time to see
it Coming for it shoots up a great
height into the air just like a Comet,
& even if we don't see it going we can
always tell for there is a lull in the
June 7^th Turkish fire at once: Their artillery
put about a dozen shots in the vicinity
of our trenches on Courtenay's Hill, which
must have done some damage early this
morning. Very little firing all day
Came into "Supports" at 4 p.m.
Sent card to Father. Another of our troop
gone today - Bongers shot in the knee -
June 8^th Had a quiet night. Stood to arms 3.30 AM
Saw by the beach bulletin this morning
that one of our Submarines had
June 8^th  sunk another Turkish transport.
Weather getting very hot now.
Took a "snap" of the Island Imbros from
our "Supports" on the right of Pope's Hill
Went into firing line at 4 p.m. We
expected to have to attack as our
artillery shelled the trenches in our front
for about two hours, but it didn't come.
June 9^th  off — Had a fairly quiet night, we
were so quiet that the Turks became alarmed
& kept firing torches to see if we were on the
move. We came off at 10 p.m being
relieved by 3^rd L.H. & shifted camp down
to the bottom of the valley below, a "rotten"
place, for we are exposed to the enemy's
sniping trenches. Feeling very off color
all day - bowel & head trouble - not very
pleasant when moving & having to dig new
dugout which I wasn't able to help in
June 10^th  Stood to Arms 3 AM. had a fairly good 

June 10^th night, but still feel "crook". In official
news yesterday we were very pleased
to hear of the success of one of our submarines
which succeeded in getting into the Dardanelles
& sinking 2 gunboats 2 destroyers, 1 supply ship
& one transport. Sapping from 4 to 8 pm 
at Popes' Hill.
June 11^th  Went for a dip this morning. I
don't know what we will do when
we are unable to have it, as we will
be I expect if we advance further
June 12 inland: Sapping at Pope's Hill from
4 to 8 pm. This hill is now a veritable
fort. The work that has been put
in was a revelation to me when
I had a look round today.
June 12^th  'C' Squadron "Inlying Picket" last night
C. Garrett back again from Lemnos
which is being made into a big
base. he brought back a very
June 12^th much appreciated bag of fruit
cigs, tinned fish etc.. There has been
heavy firing both yesterday and
today down at Cape Helles. Our biplane
has put in an appearance again.
Got a mail today Letters from Father (2)
Ed S & KP. also 2 papers from Keith &
mgze from Mr Gelding. Sapping at
Pope's from 12 to 4 p.m.
June 13  Church Parade this morning, first since
leaving Egypt. Swim in afternoon.
Saw full details of our intrepid submarines
trip into Sea of Marmora. Firing
down at Cape still continues.
The Turks poured a lot of shots
into our Mountain Battery on the right of
the N.Z. position within 200 yds of
our dug out, but did no damage
beyond knocking a wheel off one
of the guns. About 6 p.m. our

June 13^th  aeroplane came over again, flying
very low & running the gauntlet
of a very heavy machine gun & rifle
fire & shrapnel fire, but she succeeded
in dropping 2 very powerful
bombs in the Turks trenches in front
of Pope's. Our boys gave him a good
Cheer, which made our old valley
ring again. Had a swim this afternoon.
June 14^th Stood to arms 3.AM. quiet day as far
as rifle fire concerned but our 
artillery fired a good deal.
Went on "outpost" duty up at the
head of gully..
June 15  Good deal of machine gunfire
during the night. Came off outpost at
4 A M. Issued with boots, trousers
shirt & sox, all very good stuff..!
Sapping from 4 pm to 8 p.m at supply
depot. We seem to be getting more
June 15 artillery into position every week
now. Some new Guns "spoke" today
from down opposite "Courtenays"
June 16^th  Drizzling rain this morning
firing very quiet here, but we
can still hear the booming of the
guns at the Cape. Cut issue trousers
down to shorts, which we all wear now
partly because of the hot weather, &
also because it is easier to keep free from vermin vermin
June 17  Sapping 8 AM to 12. Very quiet all
day in trenches. Artillery exchanged
a few shots, but not much damage
was done on this side at anyrate.
June 18  Sent letters to Father & Ed. Sapping 8 to 12
Enemy artillery very busy today
firing very accurate on Pope's Hill.
Six casualties, one serious, & right
in valley close to supply depot,
evidently firing from new position.

June 18  Having a lot of trouble with teeth
last two days. Saw dentist on beach
this afternoon, who gave me a rough
time & I still have the ache worse
luck. Quiet day very little rifle
or artillery fire on either side.
June 19  At 3 AM we could hear very heavy
rifle & artillery fire towards Cape Helles
but could not hear anything definite
about operations down there.
The most Current rumour is
that our forces have taken part
of the first line of concrete trenches
at Achi Baba, but this has not
been confirmed. Our Brigadier
Col. Cheval has been sent to hospital 3
or 4 days ago & the opinion is that he
will have to relinquish Command.
Col. Raoul ^of the 3^rd is acting at present: While
sapping at Pope's this morning, I saw
June 19  some rifle grenades tried for the first
time & they seemed to very effective,
when they had the range accurately.
Our One of our airships was very
busy all day coming over our way
four times in all. once dropping two
bombs. Evidently there is some
movement among the Turks or else
she was trying to locate guns.
Wonderful the ease with which the
aero can turn when the shells begin
to come her way. Put on 24 hours
June 20^th outpost at 8 p.m. — A lot of firing
by heavy artillery down at Cape Helles
most of the night. The Lieut & rest of
party went back at 4 A.M Leaving
a Corporal & four men. Had a very
quiet day & relieved at 8 p.m. Got back
just in time to hear last of a church
service, but I didn't go. had tea
instead