Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/207/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks
 

Item number: 3DRL606/207/1

Title: Notebook, 1915 - 1918
Covers the 11th, 13th and 49th, 50th, 51st and
52nd Battalions, Gallipoli, Domart, Etinehem and
Stormy Trench.

AWM38-3DRL606/207/1
 

N
50 Bn
Mouquet,
______________
Typed
209-228
SR
Original
DIARY NO.207.
AWM38
3DRL 606 ITEM 207[1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C.E.W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But apart from these terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half-asleep;
also, not infrequently what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing believed. Further, he cannot, of course vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sept., 1946.                   C.E.W. BEAN

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
30m 11/17
 

13 Bde & Etinhem.
The reason wh the Bns went in
in the order laid down ws tt
51st had / hardest time &
suffered / most casualties at
Hangard. The 49 had gone
in last there & ws strong & fresh
- so had / most difficult job.
50^th had bn digging the night
before oxx moving to Chipilly -
they were not so fresh but less
knocked abt than 51st. So they

got the second job tho' tired.
The 51st was to be first in whole but
only one coy was actually committed
in order to have something in
hand as there ws no other
reserve - & xxxx / coys held
back eventually carried out
the 2nd attack.
13^th M.G. Coy was split amongst Bns
& lost heavily.

ANZAC.
Landing
________________________
Louch - N.C.O. 11th Bn, landed
- not knowing where he ws to
go or what he ws to do or
anything. Most o / men
were in / same condition,
he says.
He saw a flare low
down on / beach as
they came in. Then
the knock of rifles - a
relief - They xxxxx
landed N. of Ari Burnu.
Turks were firing at them
from the left - what looks
like the foot hills of
Walker's Ridge - 500 yds
away. They cd see this. He
took cover & Col. Johnston
ws beside him - squeezed they sat side
by side till a Turk bullet hit the
1
 

ground between them - from the
enfilade on the left. Then they lay
up very close to / ground banks both
of them. They were not
allowed, by their orders, to
load & fire. Louch asked /
Colonel: What are we to
do Sir - What do you think
we had better do.
old Johnstone said: "Oh
I dont know I'm sure -
everything is a terrible muddle" - I
dont know They waited
there & then saw men
rushing up / hillside
S. of them. These everyone
took for 9 Bn (tho it
may not have been) bec.
it ws to their rt where 9
Bn ws to be. They decided
tt they had better go on up
/ hill. They pushed inland
2
 

S of the Sphinx & then
up the steep hill on their
right (S. side of Reserve
Gully). Louch had a
mate w him carrying
ammn. The Turks
were still shooting at them.
The way they got up ws
up a bit of a watercourse
N. of Ari Burnu & then
up / very steep slope.
On the way up
louch's mate ws slightly
wounded. That ammn.
box was awfully heavy.
At the top they
crossed / plateau & got
into some old Turk
trenches. While they were up
3
 

here the first Turk shrapnel
sang over & there was
still sufficient dusk for /
shell to spark flash brightly -
& / shrapnel fell in /
water off / Ari Burnu
point. The men were
fascinates watching these first
shells for a time.
Then Louch ws pushed
off behind Crowley, Croly down
/ steep slope past some
T. tents w a pick handle
sticking up wh everyone
advised them each other to avoid.
Then up a steep slope opposite
(Brands) then down into
a watercourse. Then up
another slope & over / top into
4
 

Wire Gully.
It ws at / top of
Wire Gully - some way down
/ slope tt Louch & party
stayed. Crowley ws somewhere
to / left. There were Turks
(no one knew who they were
at first) to / right front.
On that evening the
Turks came up saying tt they
were Indians. Louch was
in a pothole w a man
named Thompson, (an? old
Indian soldier?, I fancy, who
spoke Hindustani well.)
Thompson sd he wd go
out & see if they were Indians.
He hadnt gone 10 yds when
he ws shot dead, Louch cd
5
 

hear Crowley swearing away
on his left tho he cdnt
see him. Crowley too ws
seeing if they were Indians.
About 3 ^of the Truks came up
opposite Louch's pozzy -
not far away - he only saw
abt 3 of this lot.
On the follg afternoon
about 5 p.m. little H.W. ?
Goldring of the 3rd Bn
came down / valley saying
"We've been ordered to go down
here" - there had apparently
been a post further down
/ gully & some o / men had
bn killed, & MacConaghy of
3rd Bn had given / order to
reinforce the post (at any rate
6
 

he ws in tt part. They
movex Goldring grabbed the
7 or 8 men near him - &
they all went down w
him - "Come on you seven!"
he sd. All but two were
hit on / way down.
Goldring had just reached
the post below - they had
just seen the potholes &
were diving for them
_- & Goldring ws flinging himself
flat when he was hit across
/ chest & abdomen. Louch
& another man (Clark, I think)
& a 3 Bn man were in the who was there
already were down there
- Clarke? & Louch in /
same pothole. One cd stand
7
 

up while / other sat. So
they took it by turns.
Goldring got delirious
soon after & ws calling for
stretcher bearers. Soon
after dark however, when
they had given him up,
(Louch tried to dress his
wounds) he seemed to
wake & said sensibly:
"Well if you wont get a
s/b I'll walk in myself."
He got up & began to walk.
They got the 3rd Bn man
to help him & the two xx
went up over / top o /
Gully. Goldring had tried to
take some morphia; but
Louch ^not knowing if it were
8