Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/198/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 8

69

went out about 150yds ahead of
Bde Hgrs & lay out in / open. Just
abt 11 am. They  got a message abt
17,000. French & British troops landed
behind / Turks _ & were waiting
for them to come thro. There were Turks
to be seen 1200 or 1500 yds away.
towds 971, but nothing to fire at
Just after / party got up there /
Germans Turks opened with 4 guns w
Shrapnel bursting low. There were
N. Zealanders & all sorts there. The
shrapnel caused a lot of casualties
& men began to get back to /
shelter of / hill. Howe as hit thro
/ Shin w. Shrapnel & / N.Z. man
beside him ws k. by / same shell.
Howe got back abt 50yds &
found a bit of trench.
M.G. fire had opened up by this
time. After dark Howe went down to
/ aid post just behind "Gertie"
Butler dressed his wound. A great
many wd were there. Things were bad
 

70

after dark. Turks got up close  &
made things willing. word began
to come in to Gerties Post. Gerty
ws on top. most o /  night, with
s/bs conflicting wd. Towds daylight
Howe, who ws laying on mud &
v. cold & hungry, knowing there ws
Turks up in / trench went back
there & got a pozzy in / trench just
before dawn. Before he had bn.
there long / Turks attacked. The
Turks seemed to be trying to
work their men forward in rushes
to get up close. The arty fire ws
severe. But all day / Ts didn't
get to within 200yds.
Between 2 & 3 pm Everything
slackened & got v. quiet. From
then on they were simply sitting in
/ trench.
On / left was coming
down / Chess board. The right
was hidden from them.
[It is possible tt this was
the time when Irvine & Mach. were
 

71

killed.]
this Tuesday there was 
tons of amun & / fight ws v.
willing / whole time? From 9 till
2 they were shelled pretty constantly.
Howe thinks now tt. Abdul didn't
try to push / attack there.  On /
left he attacked much more
heavily. On / right front he seemed
to come up to abt 500yds.
The T.s came on in soad formation up
to abt 300 -500yds away - but
didnt have a chance ahead of tt. There
ls too little cover & / the fire too heavy,
That night H. went down to /
aid post as his leg ws stiff. The
s/bs picked him up & sent him
to / beach.  Early next morning
(Ap.28) be ws sent to the secang
Chun. She w several destroyers
& some cruisers went up / coast
to make demonstrations &
returned to Anzac 2 or 3 days
later.
on May 1 (Sat) they were shifted
 

72

to Mashobra. She was packed w
wd - lying everywhere-no
blankets in many cases - no
tucker. They were sent straight
to Alexandria. Howe managed to 
get some tea & bread & butter for
himself & a badly wd man next 
him.
IN Alex. they had a feed.
in / train from the Red X & ate
all way up from Alex to Cairo
Went into No 2 A.G.H at [Gezinch?]
for 3 wks & got back to / Peninsula
on June 6 or 7 to find 30rd Bde
on / right where they afterwards
remained.
The first time they went out
after tt was as covering & digging
party for Silt Spur.
                        

Copy ^ env to here

 

73

Diagrams-see original

 

Sat there for a while & other

troops of odd units

joined. 

Cd see men at X

of 12 Bn w heavy

shrap on them.

 

Then got into

trench at Z

in which there were 

Turks. They 

had to rush this

& Ts were shot &

bayoneted ( at 10 or 12 dead Ts in it)
[  (?)  ]

A gun at S

at once 

got onto them

they got into 

the C.T.s

they cd

see our

troops

moving at V.

Cd see Turks at Von [?]

while they were

firing at them. others

came from A (971 direction).

Our men started to lose heavily from their rifle fire. They

started right to join our men at V. ( this ws abt 5pm) They

crossed the narrow pt o / gully, having suffered v. heavily ( more dead

men than alive). As they got to J they cd here a lot of Turks calling out

and coming at abt Z. They wanted to see who they were. One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkish offs came & stood on skyline to a pair of
glasses 150yds away. Howe rested his rife on a
bush & dropped him. Then the two ducked across /
gully where it we narrower looking for / men at
V. Abt 5 were together o / pty now. They, cdnt
find / men at V so they started back towds /
Nek. At / Nek at P they fell (before they knew it)
over 2 Auckld & 1 Canterbury m.g. within abt
10 yds radius - scratched in. Howe got beside
one. The sergt sd - "you are in a damned bad
place"  He asked  if he knew anything abt a gun.
He did. They were the By dusk there were abt 50
men at P & abt 60 digging in on
a straight line behind, mostly NZ. They
were doing nothing but / sergt went over
to them & told them to dig in. All / fire
ws coming from Z. 

 

Diagram- see original

Just after dark some one came up & took
/ men from K. word came tt they had
gone. At P the pty ws digging (abt 5 men
in a post from one lip to / other in a
Semicircle. They had a good pozzy, many
wd. & lots of amun. Att 8pm.
the Ts came from / direction marked.
They were easily beaten - He was heard
 

long before he came Allah Mohammed.
& ws let approach & easily driven back.
They sent a note back signed by ab  for
reinforcements - no one ws near.
They sd / guide wd bring them. A
man came to say "Hang on at
all costs. Reifts are on their
way" They never came.
Then Turks were found coming at
them from / rear. They were thought to be
our own  men till they started to yell.
They got right in amongst / pty & were
shot at close range. (none bayoneted)
Things got quiet. Thy had a discussion
& decided to clear back. They got abt
a dozen o / wd. & put them on
crossed rifles & then / rest picked up
[mos?] belts & / guns - all / guns got
back on / tripods, not knowing how
to dismantle them. Going back 3 bodies
of Ts. caught them up from / Nek. They
were beaten off by stopping & getting / m. gs. going.
The Ts started firing on these occasions
they got back then into an old Turk
trench at/  top of Rest Gully. The Ts came
up & started to dig in Abt 150 yds away

PTO

at
but didnt attack. We kept on firing burst
of mg. when it ws thought Ts wd attack.
Howe kept co / N.Z. Sergt all / time &  an
11 Bn S/B.   Abt am or before day light
an offs of staff came up & told them
to clear out as / fleet ws going to shell.
the trench broke into  Rest Gully. Thy eased /
wd out & then slid  out themselves.
Before they cleared / shells were into
/ place & got abt 4 0 5 men. They seemed
V. big. The bomb became very heavy on Walkers
Ridge.
(from 1 end of  tt trench  a track
went straight by / Nek & it ws on
this tt Col. Clarke ws k. abt 1/3 of way
from / Sphinx to / Nek . Howe picked up a
pack & found it ws his)  the trench 
When they for to Rest Gully they
went up / Zigzag trench again & got
amongt their friends.
Abt S stuck together. The NZ Sergt
struck a major he knew. The major took [reare?]
them him up. He explained where they
had bn. He ws taken to / Beach to explain
on a map - & it seemed to be to /  Nd
Fisherman's Hut
 

Opened on
Closed on
The Squares in this book are ½ Inch.
118. B.M.4s. E2807
33. 3304

93 

1st Bn.
on (20 Sept. we had acefo
to relieve6 to retien 1Bn &
advicaties were with the foys of a
Att pam
S (as pow) wt ap
Mackay at Bdl H When a aedon
tis
fm dioo came up (saying &
troogs on left were al ackin ru
o xt dayas hadordered
Dic
conform by taken certain
This ws a t seprisefeGrouade
glasgow. He set off for Dron bufleps
he fedent he spowed ackay whit
the

have to cancet 1selief Bdewd

we clearly i joo for Bdein
macka
liedotI. Hd. nowed
roun oestacke
pr 2 Bno. 2400 Dwn D
ct
2.
rlief
2nd4t Drd word the nomot
suited for attck because they were
pt were in an & qu
Apespest
Madkay asked t
relief
 

44
fort
rest
f5n p1on on
Kelief postsoned So4
£
15
mare
to
E6

thought out
ealady.
lef.
lid
be oman
dsport & ad easily
forwd witout rrelief.
Cop
Mackay bot arty 15de
upto p BnHg] aft 1s
met all C0s 4/10 Bdi at t
Egge Mackay tohe what
wa hapening& anfolde 1orus
verball
B.M. (as Ble tD)rawe
sdthere hd b an atterationin
lns were prepars
theys
At do one of three different
the tthere ech
(one the same attack
an adack by one Br) ToenR hes
to dorirtld
Bn tmight not be reqired. Ia
attenation orders were gu by Mt
at00 Beliphone ranexa
a the had (depinit of der Hondy a
certain plec of high oundhad