Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/20/1 - November 1915 - Part 7

59
level then reached by / sea - 
I doubt if it has a ghost of a chance
unless they cement it & give it
a breakwater. Nothing else at
all except wreckage, & a few
swamped piles of boxes - small
relics - remained on / beach.
After dinner the storm broke into
torrents of rain. I went out agn.
to see / worst of it. Our little
gully - 300 yds long, ws a rushing
stream 3 inches deep. Things had
settled on / beach - there were still
lights in / A.M.C. dug outs there.
I looked in & found some AMC
men sitting round a brazier w holes
in it - glowing - w an Indian.
They were snug & sd they thought
/ place wd last out / night now.
Anyway if it didnt they cd clear
as soon as / waves began to break
in. Along / beach was a fatigue
party from / trenches from some
regt looking for bombs “I've
got / mules - where's / man
we get / bombs from," "He's
not here." "Well get in and tell
 

60
im / mules are ready." "I told
im but he wdnt come." There
were / mules ankle deep in
water huddled into / cliff.
"Get the interpreter!" sd / corpl.
in charge - he wanted to say
something to / mule driver who
had gone to shelter in a dugout
beside / mules. "Here Johnny!"
he went on - & began to
interpret for himself. I didnt
wait to see / finish but tramped
on round / point. The seas were
still roaring in. The long line of
Indian carts seemed always to
be there - w / Indian driver
standing under / shelter of his
mules - the Turks snipe this
corner. The mud ws over my
ankles - I stumbled along /
tramway - half of it further
on ws in / sea. A driver ws
dropping / harness from
two dea mules tt had just
been shot - one dead / other
wounded - A man had bn
 

61
shot too. I plunged along /
mud - "Up heres better mate"
sd a friendly Australian - so I
got up on / sandy bank below
/ cemetery - & at last reached
Williams’ Pier. A light ws in /
dugout of the Naval Transport
Officer.
The Gaby - the tug w / mails
on - he sd - had sunk - crew
aboard, but ^all saved. She ws towing
out 2 lighters but both her lighters
were sunk. All / steamboats
exc. two, & all / lighters had
bn sent away - I saw them
trooping off abt 9.30 in / morng
like a congregatn leaving
church, babies in tow of
their parents, - but he ws very
anxious abt how they had got
on. Two pinnaces were under /
lee o / Milo (the breakwater
steamer) & / Keravnos - but
the Milo had broken her back in 2
 

62
places & ws breaking fore & aft.
Her crew had bn got off w
difficulty - didn't know how
long she wd stand; ws going
to signal the Keravnos, if
she ws in danger, to beach
herself. [God is good - sd an
Australian private who saw
the other stranded tug / other
day. He thought she ws made
of wood - of fire wood - but
she ws unfortunately all steel
exc. / paddleboxes) ws afraid
/ two small steamers wd
go too.
The Gaby sank w most of
our Xmas mail on board
- the outward mail. [I had written
20 letters]. 
The N.T.O. sd this storm gave
no warning. We had not one
word from outside - no meteorological
warning of any sort. At 7.30 he
noticed a swell along / beach [at tt
time I thought it ws so fine tt I
 

The night before the navy sd tt
1000 troops cd not be taken
away as well as 1200
landed ('5' & 6 bns). The Army
Corps insisted - & it ws done
by 10.30 - when I passed at
tt time all, / troops were gone
& they were waiting for / last load
of baggage off / trawler.
 

63
had decided to go to Imbros &
Cape Helles]. He sent along to
say tt he thought there wd be
no shipping tt day. By 9.30
altho' / sky looked fairly clear
/ blue & white flag w / red
pennant below
[Sketch- see original scan]
ws replaced by the red
pennant alone. The Barometer
had dropped then & so they
knew / storm ws on them,
I suppose.
But / N.T.O. tells me tt if
this is what / winter is like
we shant be able to stay here &
tt / Navy has sd so all along.
By providing facilities it cd be
done; but / British attitude
has always bn: "You maynt
be here in 2 months time." The
N.T.O.
 

Why did they sink the
Arumba at Imbros.
 

64
provision of a decent breakwater
can be made. But here are two
moderate gales in a week - and
only one days work possible.
A ship full of cement
wd probly be better. The Milo
has only sand inside & when
she breaks it will probly
wash away.
All over / lines I now find
people digging / "funkholes" agst /
big German shelling. But /
difficulties will be
(1) Landing stores if / weather
is like this.
(2) Protecting stores & ammn
agst shelling (unless they are
dug in)
(3) Protecting mules agst
shelling. If mules cant be landed
& can't be sheltered theres a
risk of heavy losses in them.
 

[Sketches - see original scan]
 

Diagram- see original scan.

(These are my numbers 
not / official ones)

All this has bn obvious
since Aug. 14 or 21 at
any rate. A decision
must have bn arrived
at by Sept 6 or 7. There 
have bn 10 weeks since then.
Why has not something
bn done.
 

66
Nov 18. My 36^th Birthday - opened 
mothers & fathers two delightful
parcels.
The storm has made a
clearance of our beach - one
pier only ^Williams standing & / 2nd bay of
tt gone - the Milo broken in
half; the Keravnos beached;
the two steamboats gone - they
dont even know where they are - 
No sign of Anzac pier (no 2)
& only the stumps of Walkers
pier standing. All / lighters
here sunk, & 2 water lighters.
Commr Gipps sd to me tt we had only
40 hrs water at Anzac. "How
do you think we're going to get
on in / winter?" I asked -
"The winter!" he sd. "I think
we're within 2 days of a disaster."
But of course ∧I think we cd see /
old Anzac wells after this rain.
However we haven't eno' wood to
boil it for long; we havent eno'
fodder for / mules. We have
only miserable reserves of food
compared w what we might
have had - Our lighters will be
sunk by every gale tt blows from /
S.W. & we have no reserve of them
or of small boats - we never have
had eno', & no pier for them to
 

67
shelter behind. Why didnt G.H.Q.
resign, if it cdnt get these things,
& force / Govt to get at them.
The fact is part of GHQ doesnt
care & most of it hasnt /
imaginatn to see. Even if we
get a few fine hours occasionally
you cant do anything in them
if your lighters are all away.
The motor lighters at Mudros
are all urgently required, probably
for Salonica.
The result of all this will
be - probably - a sort of Crimea.
I think we can hang on, in a
sort of a way - but at / cost o /
utmost suffering to wh our past
trials have not bn a fleabite by
comparison. Gellibrand & I
have bn talking this over & we
are in absolute agreement
as to that. The fault happens,
in this case, to be purely & simply
/ hopeless weakness, want of
imagination & above all, want of
moral courage, of / British
staff. They haven't an idea beyond
/ present (many of them say so -
"We cant think of reserves - weve
 

68
all we can to keep up present
supplies" - and those that do
haven't / courage to let the
people know. The British troops
here & / Australian & N.Z.
Army Corps are sacrificed
to that pure British incompetence;
it will cause / utmost bitterness
& - worst of all - the bitterness
is absolutely & entirely & up to
/ hilt justified.
Birdwood wanted to land
from a cruiser this morning. It
looked fairly calm; but I noticed
/ swell ws such tt occasional
waves were washing over
Walkers Williams Pier. Commr.
Gipps ^at / telephone by / pier sd. “Its impossible to land."
H.Q. sd: "He says he intends to land."
Gipps: "He must swim ashore
then - tt's / only way he can get
here." Gipps then telephoned to
White - (who I knew ws out) tt
every engineer in / place wd have
to get to work on Williams
Pier - "Its / only pier we have.
There are 10 Australians on the