Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/198/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 5

39
blown out & cdnt fire down / Gully. Then

Rafferty suggested having / main trench at 1 but

battle posts dug forward at 2 to warn the main

trench.  Afterwds Rafferty himself had

been out into the second gully with its very steep

slope & donga or creek at / bottom - _^a Company

of Turks cd come up there at a time without

being seen Indeed at Q ws the positn where /

Turks had bn ^thick during attack of May 19.

xxx The Engineers went out & took bearings;

& when the posit site o / post ws decided

Lt Rafferty went out & broke three trees & tied some

white tape on another, showing the points of /

trench site. The Engineers next day took sights of

these broken trees (wh were, as directed, on

the ridge running along / crest). The charts

were drawn up on these observations; &

the next night Rafferty, Clogstoun, Storey (Sergt of

Engrs now Pioneers) Cuthbertson (Engrs 3rd Field

Coy draughtsman & 2 others), with tapes went

out & measured the site. The follg night

again a big covering pty under Rafferty

ws sent out to near / edge o / cliff, & the

work ws begun on the Support trench of Tasm.

Post first - (C.) This night Rafferty took his C.O.

Margetts down to see / waterhole used by / Turks

40
in / Gully. There ws no interruption exc. spasmodic

fire from / Turks who may or may not have known

they were out there.

The trench ws begun; & the digging pty returned

before dawn - out agn / next night & so on; abt

? a week? later it ws occupied. This ws on / reverse

side o / slope & easily covered. When this ws

occupied, the Bn sapped out & then T-d.

so as to make the fire trench D.

It ws after this trench ws built tt

Rafferty went out to burn / scrub. There had

always been a bit of a scoop in / bank (at

F) of the steep gully, wh Rafferty knew of.

But after Tasm. Post forward line ws built

he noticed one night tt a shallow rifle pit
had bn dug leading in from it at abt G under
a fir tree from wh a sniper used to shoot
up towards Silt Spur. (One night when
Rafferty had taken out Col. Smith they came 
on a Turk sitting in the scooped out trench - 

the Col. spoke, not seeing him, & / Turk dashed
down / gully to a patrol wh he had there who
opened fire. Rafferty had Smith, Whitham,
& Steve Hart (Cpl. Later Lt k. at Meteren)
w him tt night.
The scrub ws burnt off after this. 

41
Col. Smith had come out in order to 
see for himself / pro's & cons of / argument
abt having / battle posts out. There were 
as a matter of fact small battle posts
put out in / scrub like listening posts

or sentry groups - they were going out
a little late this night (they genly got
out before dark). When / Turk patrol
fired it caught them going out & Sergt
[*Gillam*] Gillen was killed. 
After this / scrub ws burnt.
It was then seen tt / Turk (who had bn

heard seen digging but not seen) ws found to have
driven a trench - a short sap - in to
E. Before then / Turk had bn delayed
in his digging by our bombing at / 
Sound. 
The Turkish Leanes trench ws dug
later to join G & E. (it ws like coming up
& shooting over / edge of a Sunken Rd.)
At the foot of Tasmania Post Ridge,
where it flattened out towards the sea, the
Turks themselves tunnelled in from their

side & broke out in a trench wh ran 

42
at rt angles to / sea coast. (XY). He later
Diagram - see original 
put a little L shaped
trench onto this (after
we had taken Leanes
trench) so as 
to enfilade 
Leanes.
The L. Horse were 
making their trench at A B at this 
time & / Turks probly came out to 
counteract them. 

43
Monday Ap. 26.

Rafferty ws near Saker in some trenches

shaped like a big A. (where / guns had bn).

Saker ws at X, Witham & Rafferty at L.
The trench from T to Z had bn vacated

in / night by someone - 
Diagram - see original 
Gen. Bridges came round in /
morning walking w 3 other offrs . He 
saw / trenches at TZ were unoccupied. 
"They're rotten b - Trenches anyway " he 
sd. In Brown's Dip a good many of men 

were waiting. Witham had gone then. There were 
men in the trench from S to X facing the Chessboard. 
At least an hour after Bridges left there
came word from Maj. Saker tt they were to 
advance. Ross ws there also - Ross gave

Rafferty his direction. 

There ws a line ahead of where 
Rafferty was - those from X to S & possibly from 
Brown's Dip. The Turks on seeing it move
got onto it w shrapnel. There was a lot 
of wavering ^there - rush fowrd - rush back - 
rush forwd. Then this line in front went 
on. It ws understood as being a general
advance - the word simply came: You 

44
are going to advance " - Everyone
ws prepared to do this, but not one seemed
to know where without knowing where 
they were going to. 
On Sakers order the second line
went advanced & mingled with the first - 
Rafferty trying to get sections organised.
They went across the Daisy Patch swinging
left towds the Chessboard.

The ground on / right ws broken
with little knolls etc. On the left it ws easier.

They went easily 700 yards 

45 
Particulars from Lt Howe, 11 Bn (then Cpl) of fighting of 
Howe. June 28/1915
A/ 11Bn ws holding Silt Spur ^XY & doing / 
sapping for the line A B. The line ws on
Diagram - see original 
/ reverse slope
& they were
tunnelling through
to open the line 
AB up from
below with
T heads to / 
tunnels. (It was 
eventually made a continuous trench) There 
was an isolated O.P. out ahead into
wh 2 men got before daylight. The
covering party of 11 Bn used to lie out
all night on / front slope without 
any cover, covering / digging pty. 
Abt 3 men were lost each night. They
were not allowed to dig - once or twice 
a Turk patrol came up & slung bombs 
at them. Twice "demonstrations" on our 
part occurred while / party was out. 
The Ts used to sweep / ridge w their m.gs.

[*Copy*]
46
The ground was scrubby - the Ts had bn
buried from at l' Armistice.
Abt 16 or 17 June word came 
round for 120 men to fall in at
dark. It wsn't known what / job was.
They were handed out picks & shovels &

marched out thro' / first sap on / 
right o / Pine. This sap ran down &
opened out into / gully (Allah gully).
The party lined up on / rear slope o /
ridge on / far side o / gully & were told 
to get down by morning. They had to 
work with kit on in case of attack.

The ground was hard but they were well
down by morning. They couldn't come
in so stayed out digging all day. The  
newly dug line cd have bn seen from
X Twin Trenches - & sniping was started
by Ts but no one ws hit. This ws /
only night (of / early ones) tt no one ws
hit on this job.
That same night a party came
in (sapping ply platoon of same coy of 11 Bn) & began
to cut the tunnels forward ^ 2 plns of A Coy went out for 

[*Copy8}
47
tt night for a rest - came in next night
& so on by 2 pln shifts to / end. On
D/B's Coy.  ( One pln in Support line
A Coy          ( One pln in old firing line
11 Bn.           ( One pln sapping (from New Support Line)
                     ( One pln covering (spend day in New Support Line).
The coy didn't like the covering work & 
so the men were averaging 11 ft tunnelling
in each sap each 24 hrs. BCoy One 
pln of B Coy ws brought in to sap one
night & only did 4 ft - A Coy covering.
A Coy asked to do / whole sapping itself
(in order to bring / covering pty work to an end)
On June 28 abt midday (11.40)
Howe took / telephone from Ernie Higham 
(k. at V/Brett). He got at once a 
call to All stations. A message came: 
"All ranks will have finished dinner
at 12 o'c." H. called Higham back to 
/ phone & had his dinner & told 
Lt Macfarlane abt / message. 

Diagram - see original
※ This man & / officer went back & had a pow wow
on the parapet of the Turkish trenches. 
Most of the party lying out there ws probly killed

or wd. 
[*Copy*]
48
At 11.55 a.m. the order arrived

- prepare to advance. There were 
in / covering pty 36 men (i.e. 3 pties
of 12 men each). At noon they
went over. All they were told
ws "to get out in front & ^ line / ridge & lie down."
The Ts were shelling / ridge before they
got out. 
Later the rest o / Coy came up
& lined / ridge w them. 
They were then at ZZ overlooking
/ Ts. just on / crest & / ridge. 
C Coy of 11 Bn came out &
went on A Coys left (PZ) [some at 
any rate went there]
2 Coys 9 Bn came out into
the gully on the rt flank (T.J)
some of them got to the bottom of / 

slope below / Turk trenches on the 
next spur (S). One man ws seen to
walk up, lean over the Turk parapet
& look along it. He went back to an 
officer^※ & the whole party went & lay up