Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/198/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 6

under I Turkish bags. Howe had Lieut

Farr lying beside him (F. ws new to

I Peninsula). Howe wanted to pass

I word along to advance, (when he saw

the men of 9 Bn advance to the T. trench)

but Farr stopped this. It looked as

if 9 Bn ws attacking the T. trench.

9 Bn cd be seen all along I Gully,

&, further S., the L. Horse. The L. Horse

did get into I T. trench down near

Twin trench - our destroyers were

shelling them.

 

It looked as if the Ts had left

their front line this day - certainly

some got out.

 

The 9 & 11 lay out I whole

aftn till abt 4.30.

 

Before this, abt 2p.m. There

ws a gap on I left of A Coy 11; possibly

C Coy had got into our trench. Lt Farr sent

Howe back to Maj Brockman to get

some reinfts to the New Support Line. By

this time the New Suppt. ws full of wounded

& other men. Brockman thought there were

49a

 

X ^ Next Page. though I Ts had bn shelling practily from I start of I

attack. There ws HE. bursting on I ridge from I moment

I attack started & H.E. started at once. Our

Arty fire (wh ws excellent on I Gun Rudge tench) kept

the Turk m,g, fire down very helpfully.

 

About 2 p.m. Lt Les Parry, Capt La Nauze,

&Lt MacDonald (of C. Coy) were k. by a shell.

 

still men on his left. He came out with

Howe & had a look. They took 17 men

out w them. These filed along into

positns on I left - one here, one there

behind isolated bits of coves - hummocks.

H. & B. came back & Brockman gave

Howe another 18 or 20 men to take out.

They The Ts must have seen I first

pty going out for he turned on shrap &

m.g. wh very heavily - bursting

shrapnel low. Most of I first pty

wh had gone out w H & D/13 was

back wd. by now. Howe put th

second lot down in well scattered

positns, & rejoined Farr. They 

decided to pass I word along to dig 

in. (This order ws questioned by someone

further down).

 

The rest o I day ws spent digging

& firing till abt 4.30pm.

 

The order then came : "All men who

were in I covering pty last night are to

come in."

 

On I heels of this came: "All come in".

50 a

X As soon as the Coys came in th evg

the Ts turned their arty fire onto the old firing

line & a big heap of picks & shovels went up

with force ^hit by a HE shell.

 

This was I only occasion on which "Bull" Williams

went over the Top.

 

The Turkish m.g. fire from the Pine & from

Gun Ridge was very heavy. All I time

word ws being passed to the old trenches

"Cant you shut up the M.Gs on the left?"

 

It ws just a rush in.

 

M.G. fire had caused most o I casualties.

A Coy had abt 21 killed - 6 k. in Howes

section.

 

X Things now quietened down. The

rest o I daylight ws spent in getting

wd & a few dead from I ridge & from

down I Gully. They ^S/Bs wd crawl out &

roll them onto a stretcher & drag them 

in.

 

After Howe had his tea he went

down to I Beach & off to the Hosp. ship

Arcadian to see Dr Mole - a mate who had

bn badly wd. Spent th night on bd & got

ashore in morning.

 

There was a spell this day - June 29 -

& they didn't have to do any sapping. Howe 

ws ordered to take out a party of 6 men & drag

in some 9 Bn men from in front of the bags

Turkish bags where they had seen this 9 Bn

party. This ws done in I ordinary way

by slinging a strap round their two feet

& dragging them in - they made the

devil of a noise, rattling cans as they 

came. But I Turks did nothing; it

it is doubtful if they I Ts. were in th trench

yet.

 

The next day June 30 they had to

bury these men on I sky line at Shell

Green. Just as I burial ws finished

Olive Grove opened - no one ws hit but

they were chased into their dugouts. Other

men were hit on Shell Green.

 

Howe ws hit before the Silt Spur

Line ws finished - the Ts followed I

covering pty in one morning & threw a

bomb into the heap of mullock just as

Howe curled up in his blankets there.

 

When Howe got back on Aug 8 th our

silt spur trench were finished. There ws

further tunnelling from here - 3 narrow

tunnels thought ^by I men working on them to be mines - going

under the valley for I rest o I time

at Anzac.

                  ________________

Late in October to early in November-

about I time of the fighting w I Light Horse at

Wilson's Lookout, 2 Coys of 11 Bn were

lined up & given their rations & told they

were going to attack. They were taken

-some to Beach Post & others up I 

Hill to I left in support to Light Horse.

Orders were th they "were to hop over

"& take (they understood) the Twin Trenches

"when the whistle went."

 

They were kept there till it ws

light eno' for Gaba Tepe to see them

going home, & then marched home again

much to their relief.

                ___________________

The chances taken (from GABA TEPE).

Early in Nov. a large batch - many hundreds

of reinfts to 1^st Bde were landed.

They were marched round to the beach at

I bottom of Victoria Gully & halted there

for abt an hour in full sight of Gaba

Tepe. Then they were moved off, still

round I beach to Clarkes Gully &

up onto Shell Green & halted there

-somebody there addressing them.

The light Horse Brigade came out &

put a short end to this.

also see pages interleaved with 43 45

11 Bn Landing. Howe ws in Brockman's

Coy. Before they got to I shore they

saw a flare from G. Tepe either before or

after I fire started. No flares on I

hill in front of them.

 

Lt Morgan ws in Howe's 

boat. They were ?2nd boat in I tow.

They were going in & I boats started 

to get in together, The Naval

Officer in the tow on their right

shouted: "Bear away more to

the N. You're spoiling the whole

bloody show!"

 

Just after he sd this a lot

of sparks came out o I funnel

of his own picket boat - a stream

of them. Then Abdul opened up

with m.gs. The tows wd be abt 200

yds off at this time. Just after this

you cd tell you were in shallow water 

by I colour o I water. Howe

picked up a broken oar & started

to try & sound it. Just after this the

picket boat on I right cast off

its tow, ran in to I beach, then

began to sweep I beach w

m.g. fire.

 

Just after this the picket boat

of Howe's tow cast them off also.

"Combo" Smith (always ^senior Pte in A.I.F.)

shouted to Howe: "Come on Snow" &

they hopped over. They had bn told

th I bullets (when first under fire)

sounded "just like little birds" & 

when they heard them they were to

keep their blocks - Ayling the pln

sergt told them this (A. ws the first D.C.M.

in 11 Bn & got sent twice back to

Aust. but his reputation was not

tremendous in the Btn). Combo

as the first bullets whizzed over

sd "Just like little birds, aint they

snow" & set I whole boat laughing.

 

It ws abt waist ^chest deep where

they got in. One man had jumped

over in deep water & someone

hung onto him till they were in

shallow water - towing him. Another

got his kit caught on a rowlock.

The fire seemed to be coming from

right in front - you cd see no

flashes. [The first shell Howe

saw from Abdul ws when he

ws in Rest Gully].

 

Howe's pty just dropped

their kits & went straight up

inland without waiting for

anything. Howe wd in ^met a man

named Porter (later 44 Bn) on I

Beach; & a man named Batt.

As you went up I hill you cd

see our men moving everywhere.

Abt half way up I hill ws

a bit of a T. outpost trench. In

it Howe & a man of 9 Bn

grabbed a Turk prisoner who

ws trying to run. He xxx jumped

up like a rabbit, threw away his

rifle, & tried to run. Howe's rifle

ws full of sand. H. tried to bayonet

him & got him thro a haversack -

& stopped him - 9 Bn man hit him

on I head w I butt of his rifle &

knocked him down. They ratted him

but all he had were some raisins &

cigarettes in a bit of newspaper & a

big red flannel scarf around his 

stomach. They yelled out "Prisoner here".

The only advice they got from men passing

was "Bayonet I Bastard". They cut his

buttons off & then gave him to a wd

Tran to take down.

 

They pushed up I hill. Just as

they got to I top 2 Turks  -on I flat on

top - jumped up from behind a bush

& fired. They were 5 in Howes Party

Batt (Morgans Batman) dropped

(on I flat). The other 4 rushed the 2

Turks & they ran. (Batt died on the

Mashobra Hosp. Ship). The Turks 

split - Howe & another chased the

left one. Just as they got him another

Australian stepped out from a bush

& bayoneted him under I arm &

out thro I shoulder. The other T. ws

shot just as he ws abt to go down

I slope in Shrapnel Gully.

They then got into I trenches on

top. D/B ws beginning to reorganise them

there. They were in a trench just

at I top of I zig zag path - A Turk

ws lying on I trench dead w another

T. mortally wd in I brain.

 

From there they were firing at 

I Ts across by Wire Gully at abt 1200

yds - these Ts were clearing. While

H. ws with D.B. about 6 Turks were

seen clearing out across I plateau

S-wards. D.B. wdn't let the men

follow them - the rt wd deal w them

he sd. Our people were coming up

Maclagans Ridge to S. now, all along.

No one ws yet down Shrap. Gully as

far as H. knew.

 

Here Brockman went away.

Everet & Morgan were then in/c. & they

were reorganising the men w them

in Rest Gully. (An Australian Maltese

named Bonavia here came up & told ^asked

Du Mole for water - he had drunk his

own, he sd. D.M. told him to fill his bottle

in I creek but he wdnt. He wsnt seen