Diary of Herbert Vincent Reynolds, 1914-1915 (second diary) - Part 9










June 1915
Sund 13th A cruiser disturbed us early this morning which
was shelling the enemys trenches from a position
off Kapa Tepe while another was firing away
inland from a position off Cape Suvla, they
were both well escorted by TB Destroyers &
steamed away at about 7 am. A new type
of aeroplane being fairly large & having its
propellor behind instead of in front of the
wings put in an appearance here about
6 pm & dropped 3 bombs over the enemys lines
Things have been very quiet locally, but very heavy
firing could be heard at Cape Helles all day.
At about 7 30 pm while a church service was
being held in our camp, the enemy observed
our infantry supports crossing Dawkins Point
on their way to the trenches, & imediately shelled
the area very heavily for half an hour, fortunately
only two casualties resulted, & though the service
was being conducted only 20 yds away from the
shelled area in a sheltered position it was not
disturbed except by the noise. The sunset tonight
was as beautiful as I have ever seen, the islands
of Imbros & Samothrace & the wide expance of
sea with the beautiful colouring in the sky
as a background made up in reality a picture
no artist could paint. We had a bread ration
issued today of ½ lb per man & it was indeed
extremely welcome as we have had only hard
biscuits as a substitute since the landing.
Mond 14th A TB Destroyer went in close to Kapa Tepe
this morning & shelled the enemys trenches for
a while, she returned again this afternoon &
shelled the enemy away inland, on this occasion
the enemy fired at her with their field guns
from behind Kapa Tepe but did not succeed
in hitting her. I managed to buy 3 tins of milk
@ 1/- each from some sailors on the beach, we
get very little here other than our rations which
June 1915
are bully beef Biscuits cheese & bacon, so any thing
is very welcome as a change. The sea has been rather
rough today. At about 11 pm some of us sat &
watched the heavy action down at Cape Helles from
the tops of the ridge above our camp, the flash of the
guns & explosion of the shells proved that the artillery
on both sides was very heavily engaged & the star
shells & flares illuminated the whole ridge from
Achi Baba to the Cape.
Tuesd 15th One of our aeroplanes flew over in the direction of Maidos
at about 8 am & returned about 10 30 am. A large
sea plane was circling about for nearly 2 hours this
morning. A monitor was shelling the enemys positions
on Achi Baba very heavily this morning. An extremely
heavy artillery action was in progress all the morning
down at the Cape. A rather rough sea has been
running all day & shortly after midday bar^rels of
wine & spirits began to float ashore, needless to
say no time was lost in rolling them into the shelter
of the cliffs & getting to buisness on the contents
water bottles water tins & any thing that was
capable of holding liquid was filled & carted
off to the trenches & dugouts with the result
that the troops began to get very merry in
no time. When headquarters became aware
of what was occuring, steps was taken to
smash all barrels as they came ashore & empty
the contents into the sea. Just before sunset the
enemy shelled the No2 ASC Depot very heavily
Heavy rifle fire can be heard down south tonight.
Wed 16th Rain has been threatening all day & it has got very
cool. Late in the afternoon my three mates went
up to Capt. Goldsmiths station where we are on
duty tonight & left me to go round to the cove
for water, while there the enemy made things
very lively by shelling the depot & forcing us all
to take shelter among the piles of stores, one chap
was killed & several others wounded near the clearing
station, after getting the water when things got a
bit quieter I made off back to join my mates,
but when near the No2 ASC Depot, the enemy
turned his attention to it & I found myself in
another warm quarter for a while, however the
shelter afforded by the steep bank along the beach
gave fairly good protection for getting to Victoria
Gully, but when near Dawkins Pt a shrapnell
burst almost overhead & an infty lad with
me at the time got wounded in the leg, we
got close in to the bank & got his wound bandaged
up & one of his mates took him back to the
clearing station while I went back to our post
to find things extremely quiet in that vicinity.
A bread ration was issued again today.
One of the mates cut my hair today in the latest
army style.
Thurs 17th The enemys artillery has been rather active at times
during the past week or so, otherwise things have
been extremely quiet especially in the trenches, it
seems to be a deadlock as far as we are concerned
at present, it appears impossible to push on any
further now without adequate reinforcements, as
the enemy like, ourselves have consolidated their
positions during the inactivity of the last few
weeks & it will mean a tremendous effort to
force him out of his positions now, however that
is part of the buisness ahead & the feelings of
everyone is that the sooner is takes place the
better, as this method of at present only exchanging
shot for shot & watching one another is getting
on everyones nerves. At about 4 30 pm the enemy
shelled the top of the ridge above our camp for about
half an hour, we have a habit of viewing operations
down south from the top of the ridge & evidently
the enemy noticed us from their observation post
on Kepa Tepe point & thought we were camped on
the ridge, however our camp is situated in the
June, 1915
gully at the foot of the hill & none of his shells
fell in our camp or done further damage than
tearing up the ground on the top of the ridge.
One of our aeroplanes bombed the enemy on Kapa
Tepe about 5 pm.
the enemys
Frid 18th This afternoon a monitor shelled the enemys
positions behind Kapa Tepe. At about 10 pm
the enemys guns in the Olive Grove fired a
few shells at our stores in the Cove, it is
unusual for the enemy to use his artillery
after dark.
Sat 19th One of our planes passed over here this morning
& went down to the Cape, he dropped a bomb about
half way down. A plane flew over towards Maidos
about 2 pm & about an hour later another bombed
the enemys trenches opposite Quins post. at
about 6 pm, another flew over & went down
to the Cape. A Sea plane has been directing
a monitors fire this afternoon on enemys
positions away inland. Just at dusk both our
artillery & the enemys got active, the enemy
concentrated on the No2 ASC Depot, a habit
they have of shelling the Depot just at sunset
lately. A couple of heavy howitzer shells from
the enemy exploded very near our camp today.
Sund 20th Things have been very quiet today A church
service was held in our camp this evening.
A couple of shells fell right in the track at.
Dawkins point at 8 30 pm, usually there are numbers
passing the spot about that time but fortunately
no one was near it tonight. A heavy infty
action seems to be in progress down south
tonight An outburst of rifle fire occured
at about 11 pm on our right flank.
Mond 21st During the night a heavy artillery action which has
continued off & on during the day has been in
progress down at Helles. The enemys snipers
who have been enfilading Brighton beach with
June 1915
rifle fire have been very active lately &
have succeeded in wounding half a doz
during the last few days, the range at
which they have to fire makes acurate shooting
impossible, but nevertheless they manage
to bag an occasional victim & make the
beach unsafe while they are at it.
At about 4 pm a monitor put in an appearance
& shelled the enemy away inland, a sea plane
directed her fire. Two TB Destroyers & our
field artillery shelled the enemy on Kapa Tepe
at the same time. Received souple of letters today
Tuesd 22nd At about 2 am an aeroplane could be heard
flying overhead but it could no be seen, one
of our new large planes flew over about II am.
The monitor appeared again at about 4 pm & we
watched her shells exploding near Achi Baba.
A report today states that the French have taken
& are holding two lines of enemy trenches at Cape
Helles. We were unable to get anything from the canteen
ship, & our money was returned to us today. The 1st
LH. Fl. Amb releived us of Capt Marks station in
Victoria Gully today.
Wed 23rd A large sea plane was flying around here at about
9 am. There were a large number of us in swimming
at the Cove at about 3 pm when the enemy began
to shell the beach from the direction of Anafata
we wasted no time in getting out & taking cover
in the heaps of stores along the beach, but thereIt were six casualties before every one got out.
Our Artillery have been shelling the Olive Grove off
& on during the day, the enemy have been quiet
from that direction their guns have not fired a shot.
A report today states that two enemy aeroplanes flew
over our positions at Helles this morning & one was
forced down in our lines & captured.
Thurs 24th The 5th Bty City of Glasgow R F A came ashore this
afternoon with their 5 inch howitzers after sunset they
June 1915
hauled them round into Victoria Gully just below our
camp. Bill Rogers one of the mates was rather
badly wounded by shrapnell this afternoon near
the C C Station. At about 6 pm both our artillery
& the enemys got very active, the enemy have
not troubled us from the direction of Kapa Tepe
again today, though, a gun from that direction
has been firing at the TBDs & minesweepers
throughout the day.
Frid 25th An aeroplane passed over here at about 11 am, but
it was hard to distinguish who it belonged
to The distinguishing mark on our planes
is a red white & blue circle on each wing, the
enemys is the same as the germans a black cross.
At about 3pm the Lord Nelson accompanied by
a balloon ship, & escorted by TBDs, took up a
position about midway between Imbros & Kapa Tepe
point & from there fired broadside after broadside
at the enemy away inland towards Maidos, the
balloon from the balloon ship directed her fire
The enemys field guns began firing at the battleship but
she took no notice of them, they could be seen flashing
on the high ridge in front of our right flank.
At about 4 30 pm when the Lord Nelson & other boats
steamed off great volumes of dense smoke could be
seen rising away to the south east towards Maidos.
An enemy aeroplane flew over our lines at about 5 pm
& set a bundle of papers loose but the wind carried
them all unto the enemys teritory
Sat 26th Things have been extremely quiet. Reported sick this
morning with a heavy cold & extremely sore throat, which
has been troubling me now for some days. The L H Fld Amb
are leaving for Lemnos & we took over the dressing station
from them today. Every third morning we have to turn
out at 7 am for half an hours physical drill, it is by
no means a popular inovation. The 5 inch howitzers
were hauled after sunset into positions prepared for
them in Clarkes gully, it was heavy & strenuous work
June 1915
hauling them up the slopes of these hills, but
many willing hands managed the job alright.
These howitzers fire a 50lb lydite shell.
Sund 27th Feeling very much off colour & was releived of
duty for the day. About 6 am an outburst of
rifle & machine gun fire followed by heavy fire
from both our artillery & the enemys took place
& continued for about an hour A sea plane
flew very low over Kapa Tepe & dropped 4 bombs
in quick succession at pm about 6 am.
The new howitzers fired a few shells today, they
make a peculiar whistling sound going through
the air quite a different sound to the high
velocity shells from the field guns.
Mond 28th At about 9 am a fleet of minesweepers &
half a doz TBDs steamed across from Imbros
towards the Cape, followed by a light cruiser
a balloon ship & more TBDs ]. At about
10 am a terrific bombardment comenced down
at the cape & continued throughout the day, the
cruisers & a number of Destroyers shelled the enemy from
positions between Kapa Tepe & the Cape & the
monitor Humber from a position off Imbros &
directed by the captive balloon shelled the
enemy positions on Achi Baba. An enemy
aeroplane put in an appearance about 11 30 am
& again later about 3 pm it attempted to destroy
the captive balloon on the Ark Royal, but after
3 bombs failed to hit their mark he gave
up & returned to the enemys lines.
At about 1 pm our infty made a bluff attack
from our right flank in order to assist our
troops at Helles where a big offensive has been
comenced, by making a demonstration here it
prevents the enemy sending any troops from here
to reinforce his troops down south. At about
5 pm our troops retired into their trenches & things
got rather quiet again, after as being extremely lively
June 1915
during the afternoon The Light Horse took a prominent part
in the operations today. One of our mates Pte W.
Summers was killed by a bullet in the head & another
named Stroud was rather badly wounded in the
leg. At about 9 pm when it was fairly dark
a party of us went along to the barricade on our
right flank to get some wounded in along the
beach, the enemy sent up two star shells
while we were at it & made us feel rather
uncomfortable as they light the place up like
day for about 15 seconds.
Tuesd 29th Headquarters report that the demonstration here
yesterday was very successful & thanks all those
who took part in it. We suffered a number
of casualties but not what we expected.
All day a constant rumble of heavy artillery
action could be heard from Helles. At about 11 pm
a heavy dust storm sprang up & made things
extremely uncomfortable for us at Clarks Gully
station where we were on duty, when the storm
started, an outburst of heavy rifle fire broke out
but it did not last for long. A very heavy
bombardment is in progress at Helles tonight.
Reports today state that good progress was
made by the Allies at Helles yesterday &
they advanced their lines up to 1000 yds in places.
Wed 30th We returned to our camp at 7 am & enjoyed a
swim in the breakers which were coming in fast &
heavy, it is not often there is any decent waves
here to get amongst. All the landing stages
were more or less damaged by the rough sea that
has been running all day & everything movable
was thrown high & dry up on the beach.
A sea plane flew over about 7 am. At about 9 pm
a thunder storm passed over but we got very little
rain, a good fall of rain now would be welcome, as
we are depending on the water from the boats
for our supply, the holes in the gullies are all all dry
& there is no water other than that in our vicinity
except salt sea water.
July 1915
Thurs 1st At 7 am a large biplane circled overhead for
about an hour. The sea has again been rather
rough. While swimming this evening I got a rather
bad cut on the left foot from a broken bottle.
Frid 2nd Things have been very quiet all day. One of our
planes flew over at about 6 pm. Considerable quantities
of 4x4 timber & corrigated iron have been brought
ashore lately The 5 in howitzers have been firing
a few rounds this evening.
Sat 3rd At about 3 pm a light cruiser possibly the Talbot
came on the scene, & from a position between Imbros
& Kapa Tepe point fired 3 shots at some enemy
position away inland, then steamed off, returning
after dark to the same position she fired shell after
shell away inland, two other light cruisers were
further down towards the Cape with their
searchlight trained on the land. The enemy
fired over some very powerfull shells today.
Sund 4th The cruisers were firing all night & they
steamed off just after day break. Things have
been very quiet here today. An explosion occurred
on the ridge a little to the west of Achi Baba
about 10 am, we noticed a huge column of smoke
shoot skywards, but are unable to tell what it was
Mond 5th At day break the enemys artillery got very active.
A heavy enemy gun has ban attempting to shell our
stores in the cove today, fortunately the shells all
exploded harmlessly on the ridge above the stores or
went over them into the sea where they sent up
a column of water about 20 ft into the air, evidently
our depot is in a safety zone as for as this particular
gun is concerned. Two 6 inch howitzers were landed
here today. A fleet of about 30 minesweepers have
been patrolling an area of sea between Imbros &
Cape Helles for certain periods during the past
July 1915
few days. This evening the 16 Batt embarked on
minesweepers & barges for Imbros where they are
going for a spell, the enemy gave them a pretty
warm farewell as his artillery shelled them pretty
heavily with shrapnell.
Tues 6th A large enemy shell put one of the No 9 Battery
guns out of action & killed some of the crew yesterday.
Just before sunset the enemy guns in the Olive Grove
opened fire with shrapnell on our camp, it kept
us all under cover while it lasted, but no damage
was done. According to a headquarters report today
the explosion we seen on Achi Baba last Sunday.
was caused by a 6 inch enemy shell exploding in
a French ammunition pit, it also stated that during
the recent operations at Cape Helles, a body of the
10th Ghurkas were driven out of their trenches by
an enemy bomb attack, but the position was retaken
again in an attack made by the Inniskilin Fusiliers.
Wed 7th A monitor shelled the enemy positions on the
ridge in front of our right flank. this afternoon, as
sea aplane directed her fire One of our aeroplanes
flew over about midday. Things have been very quiet.
Thurs 8th One of our aeroplanes flew over this morning. A monitor
fired over our heads at some target away inland from
a position off Imbros this afternoon A sea plane was
directing her fire. At about 6 pm. the enemys guns
from the direction of Kapa Tepe shelled the artillery
positions along the top of McCays Hill right opposite
our camp, they shelled them very heavily with high explosives
Frid 9th Things have been very quiet. An outburst of rifle
fire occured last night about midnight but it
soon died down. Both our artillery & the enemys
have been in the habit lately of getting into action
just at sunset.
Sat 10th One of our aeroplanes dropped two bombs near Kapa
Tepe this morning. A large Battleship put in an
appearance between Imbros & Kapa Tepe point at
about 2.30 pm, well, escorted by TB Destroyers, she

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