Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/230/1 - February - March 1919 - Part 7

^X or better,
"The fact that the
losses were much
xxxxxxxxxxx
greater than the remains
xxxxxxxxxxx would
xxxxxxx indicate.
can only be accounted
for . . . . . . . " C.ew.B.
12.11.46.

57

bn buried by / Turks & dug up later by someone.
we cd find no Bn badges. There Xxx  were odd men
scattered about all thro the scrub. Not eno' to
account for / days losses. These ^Xcan only be
accounted for by / Turk having buried them.
From between the left & right of the line we identified I
made sketch BA, We can showing the position from wh the
m.gs. fired on them. The left o / attack had
passed a big cornfield, on / slope exposed to /
enemy. Beyond it were one or two smaller open
spaces.  On the reverse (N) slope o / hill were 

58
several dead Turks, whether k. in this c/attack I
dont know. 

We went back by the Turkish M.g. positn
from which I made sketch BB. The attack had been
evidently made up / slope between Kaiajib Agha Dere
& Asma Dere.

We went back by 971 in order to see if we
cd find any further traces o / Ghurkas.  Pretty well
every question wh we came here to solve has bn
settled exc. this one.  Most o / _^few traces of British kit
wh exist have been found _^just S. of Q. North.  We went 

^X Shorthand
for trench
C.ew.B.
6.2.47
 59
to this pt. & descended into / valley from there.  The scrub ws
very thick.  It ws scrub all / way down.  Buchanan went
pretty well to / bottom & I went a good way down
– further to / left – & neither found / least trace of any British
kit.  I worked to / left abt ½ way down the hill; & on
rounding the shoulder of Q. found a ledge on /
lower end of wh ws a trench.  Part of this trench
ws old & seemed to have bn used by us as it
had _^little dugouts on / Turkish side.  On / right of it
ws a shoulder up wh / ^xtrench ran.  The Turks had
built several. trenches on his ledge also.  I went up / 

^XMajor Allanson
6^th Gurkha Rifles
C.E.W.B. 6.2.47
60
hill from there - found one bit of British kit near /
trench.  The slope ws by no means impossible.  The Summit
Diagram
had bn heavily shelled.  The
gully led you up to the S. shoulder
of Q South, next to Chunuk
Bair.  The Tommies must
have bn on the next under feature
to this – somewhere about A.
The shelf & / trench _^there correspond somewhat,
if I remember right, to a point in Allisons^X acct of this 

61
fight - The Gully wh Buchanan went down, below
Q North has no such shelf.  Also, the Turks
have only a tradition of our having got onto Jonk
Bair (as Zeki Bey called it).  On the whole I think
Q South fits Allisons description better than Q. North.
Diagram - see original document
& I think the
Gurkhas probably
got on top at 1, &
not at 2.  Allisons
account, now tt we have this knowledge, ought
to settle it. 

62
March 4 5.
Went out with Rogers to see some old gun
positns on / extrem Pine R. wh may be those
mentioned by Hunter of 5^th Bn. in the first days fighting.
We found 3 old gun emplacements by an old trench in /
last valley on / right in Pine Ridge as you go S. down
Legge Valley.  They were undoubtedly old – part of the old
Gaba Tepe defences, connected with 2 trenches wh ran across
Legge Valley there
Diagram - see original document
One of these old trenches wandered
across Legge Valley & then up the W. Side thro a sort of shelter – probly 

Sk, B.F apparently
made on this
Search.
C.E.W.B. 10/2/47
 63
not a gun pit _^& stopped there; & in the valley W. of it on / side o / hill were
/ trenches shown in sketch B E.  In the Gun Pit lowest down /
hill / gunpit did communicate by sort of ears (tunnelled)
w / trenches on both sides
Diagram - see original document
but / gun pits were all really
outside / trench. 

The cap wh we found / other day (marked 19)
on Pine R. ws by / upper end of this same trench, 300 yds
nearer / sea. 

We also found a group of 4 or 5 men, dead, on
a knob at / end^(X) of the second or third knuckle of Pine R.
S. of L. Pine - just above Legge Valley. The Ts. (or a Turk) had been
firing from / edge o / knob, 7 or 8 yds away.
Diagram - see original document

Sk. BC.
C.EW.B.
10.2.47
64
They were 6 Bn men.
On my way back I made a sketch of Leanes trench
from the Sniper's Ridge - to show the washaways. They are
not so precipitous as one had expected. N. of the wheatfield
there is a tremendous collection of bones in a similar
washaway - probly men k. by Rosenthals guns in / wheatfield
in / first few days.  The washaway is white with them.
I found the men, probably, of 9 Bn who were k.
on June 28 just outside the trenches on Snipers Ridge north
of the Knife Edge, abt 20 yds N. of the nek between / two.
(Peg 32 here). 

In / afternoon I went S. along Gun R. from
Andersons Knoll, to see if I cd find traces of Plants party.  Plant

65
of 9 Bn says tt he went till they were looking over open
country - "a hell of a distance" - but cdnt be sure tt there
ws any part o / Dardanelles seen from there. Balfour found one
of our _^fired cartridges on Gun R. opposite the foot of Pine R. & a little
beyond (S x of) it, / other day. 

Anywhere from abt 50 yds S. of Anderson Knoll
for 500 or 600 yds a man not quite getting over / skyline
wd have this view _^(i.e. open country but not Dardanelles water); & on / S. shoulder o / Knoll he cannot
see / Dardanelles even when he is on the crest. You
cannot see _^over green fields anywhere exc. from this section
of Gun. R.  I think Plant sd he ws looking towds Kilid
 66
Bahr. 

As Gun R. _^(See sketch BD) there is only 700 yds from / point wh
Hunter (who landed much later)_^probly reached, it is probable
tt Plant & a party of 9. Bn did reach this part of
Gun R. before being pushed back. Several clips of cartridges
had bn fired by Turks near / top o / ridge (on / Maidos or SE
Side of it) near / guns S. of Anderson Knoll. They may have bn
fired at someone either a little S. of / Knoll, or 600 or 700 yds S. of it. 

I found two lots of gun positns – one at /
head o / valley S. of Andersons Knoll; (the firing ws near
there); the other at / head o / next valley further S.
near point 87.  These had bn built to fire towds Gaba
Tepe, apparently I fancy & aftwds swung round towds Boltons Hill.
Both were near / Gaba Tepe rd on / Hill Top.