Charles E W Bean AWM38 3DRL 606/11/1 - August 1915 part 3
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At 4.30 [[shorthand]] 2 LH Regt Rushed out of
Quinns & got to 3rd trench31 LHR out of Popes
into 1st trench
3rd in [[shorthand]] Had to come
back at 7.30
3rd LH. Bde attacked on Walker's Top.
Few men got into one trench.
___________
Stated at Army Corps tt
G. Offrs Trench has bn
taken. This afterwds turned
out to be false.
22
bow guns (9.3)
Bacch. 2 [shorthand], 2 [[shorthand]] off Anzac
5.58. half broadside. 3 [[shorthand]],
Clearly bombarding for assault on 971.
or nearer [[shorthand]] x spent rifle [[shorthand]] or two [[shorthand]] over.
Someone ^outside [[3?*]] G.Officers [[shorthand]] had to be
[[shorthand]] at any cost.
6.30 Bombardment eases.
[Heard ^last night Col. Brown of 3 Bn ws k.]
_____
7 Peter Schuler [[shorthand]] from
Phillips Btty. says message just
arrd from divl. artillery: says 971 taken
white flag up on [[shorthand]] hill
we have [[commun?]] trench to
Baby 700
It must be remembered th in all these attacks
tt our troops have for months past bn worn out by
constant fatigue & no relief. The men are many of them
weak - medical officers have reported it over &
over again for 6 wks past.
Gen Skeen says:
(10 O.C.) Doesn't know if 971 [[shorthand]]
Doesn't know what [[shorthand]].
We have not Battleship Hill
We did not get G.O. Trench
We are not on Baby 700
Turks have counterattacked
on main ridge.
Doesnt know how far British
are - or whether we're in touch
w them.
23
8.45 Edgar Dores? shelling again [[shorthand]].
9.10 Firing general
____
11.30 German officer off Breslau
? Aus. off. Breslau
have bn captured & come in.
It is sd Goeben has bn torpedoed - at any rate
a big cruiser w 4 -11 in guns (Turgut Reis?)
Gorman says he has bn [[shorthand]]
warships shelling our own
men on the ridge.
The N.Z. gun on top of this hill
has completely run out of ammn
& the gun on Beach has almost
run out.! The men say [[shorthand]] / only
500 rds in Lemnos.
11.am. Turk shells are bursting
(O'Gorman says) over Anafarta
& numbers of men (prob prisoners)
are coming back past Salt Lake.
24
Sund. Aug 8.
Today is Sunday Aug
8/15 wks after we landed.
_____
12.20 N.Z. Schuler returned &
sd tt the N.Z. Inf are on top of
ridge at Chunuk Bair.
& along ridge to Rhododendron
Ridge & Destroyer Hill.
Parallel [[shorthand]] 6' E. is
Farm. Abt. 60 yds below
Farm are Ghurkas &
British. [[shorthand]] are
bursting on Chunuk
Bair - bursting badly.
NZ come from Chunuk
Bair 300 yds
along crest of
[Hand draw diagram - see original]
A yellow, steep cliffs
B Chunak Bahr. held by N.Z.
C Commun. Trench held by NZ & spur held by NZ
(Rhododendron)
D Farm
E Ghurkas
F English XIII Div 2 batns working up thickly
scrubbed gullies
G Q Ridge English objective.
H Turkish Trenches
Hand drawn diagram - see original Flags on hill showing advanced N.Z. position.
___________________________________________________________________
(Peter Schuler's drawing
for me.)
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spur running towards sea.
(Rhododendron Spur)
Hand draw diagram - see original
Ghurkas & Brit. in valleys
creeping up. Abt 250ft from
crest up gullies N of farm.
Monash got cut up badly
6 [shorthand] & ws
cut up by m-gs.
Herts & R.I.R.
have bn sent up to
[[shorthand]]
Brit. have got
Chocolate Hills.
26
Some boatloads of [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] she [[shorthand]].
& sent them back. As they
came back T.s [[shorthand]] thought
we were landing troops from
Hosp. Ship ([[shorthand]]) &
shelled / boats wounding a
lot & killing 3.
[[?]] we have not eno'
Hospital Ship
___
4 pm. One of new two flea power
punts for landing British troops
has just bn landing mules
on Anzac beach. It ws quick
enough but of cou in unloading
but of course ran aground &
was shelled. A picket boat
had to come in and get her
off in considerable danger -
for enemy had her
bracketed with 2 shells
27.
Aug 8.
not ten yds away.
I have just seen as caddish
an act as I ever saw in my life.
Abt 100 Turkish prisoners including
& 2 Germans were sitting ab in the
______
[9-7 pm gun fired somewhere - heavy
distant rifle firing imd. begun ^(bombs)].
pen built by / [shorthand] Divn opposite my
dug out. Shel There is an incinerator
within a few yards. Some chap had
poured out a tin of kerosene onto /
ground in front of it & laid a trail of
kerosene. A number of men in
British helmets were sitting round
& / bomb factory ws next to it. Some
chap put a light to the trail - it
flared along & when it reached the
kerosene there was a huge flare
of fire very uncomfortably close
28
- if not dangerously - to / Turks.
The wretched prisoners rushed to / far
corner o / pen like a flock of sheep rounded
up by a dog & / fellows looking on laughed.
They know / Turks are afraid of being
cut to pieces when taken prisoner &
this piece of bullying ws taken as a
joke. There were both Australians &
British there amongst / onlookers. I
wondered someone hadnt the decency
to hit the man who did it straight in
/ face. The same thing exactly was done
yesterday.
The treatment of these prisoners
makes you blush for your own
side. They are under / control o /
Army Corps police & A.P.M. (a temporary
man - the permanent man, Bowler,
is away but never showed any sign
of being more capable). They have
put Indian sentries over them who are
29
abt as capable of keeping off the Australians
who crowd around to stare at them
as an old woman w a stick wd be.
Three T. officers are among / lot. So
far as we know they have treated our
captured men & officers excellently. These
3 officers were sent off under an Indian
sentry to a vacant shell of a dug out
in Australian Divisional lines
They were sent there in / morning &forg absolutely forgotten. No food or
water ws sent to them. Our divisional
interpreter happened to be passing when
in / afternoon when these Turks told him.
He went to the A.P.M. of Army Corps
whose business it was. APM sd
he ws too busy - would the interpreter
get some other officer to do it?
The interpreter saw another officer
30
who sd he wd have bully beef & biscuits
sent up. Interpreter sd he wdn't take
bully beef & biscuits up - the T.s wdnt give
our officers bully & biscuits if their own officers
were feeding better. HenThe officer saw
things in this light & sent up a decent meal.
The T.s had some tea - but no one provided
them w any water. Interpreter had to
go round for that & cdnt find any.
They are there now in a bare dug out
no blankets, no w.p. sheet, no comforts
of any sort.
These officers as they were coming
to position saw abt 20 of our men being
taken in as prisoners by / Turks.
This partly confirms a yarn
from an officer o the 15th who ws
told tt some of our men had
surrendered. He sd tt when th The officer o / 15th
sd he had bn told tt when our men
held up their arms / Turks shot them
down. I don't know if this is
dependable. Our men have sd they
have shot Turks who wanted to be made prisoners
Sund Aug 8
31
so I dont really know tt this other is improbable.
9.7 pm outbreak of fire to N.
9.25 pm. Long rumble sounding
like a mine - may have been
a heavy shell. Fire continues.
9.55. Another heavy outbreak of fire.
to the North. One of our guns
consistently firing abt every
2 minutes.
Bullets occasionally fall on our
dug out roofs now tt / firing is
further away. These [[lisping?]] bullets
are dangerous now & were so /
first day Ap. 25. It makes one
all / more certain tt there ws fighting
a good way up 700 that first day.
11 pm more firing.
11.45 more firing, at Quinns this time
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