Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/231/1 - March 1919 - Part 5

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has been stripped of all her fittings – I fancy that
even her ventilation cowls are lying over some of the
dugout roofs in this camp.
The Hqrs of the G. R. U. here by a French camp not
far above the cemetery with all the cypresses. The
Turks have rebuilt all the French _^stone batments on
the side of the hill facing the Dardanelles. The French 
troops (Sengalese) are occupying all these.
We put our tent on the terrace overlooking
Dardanelles. The French have a cemetery very well
laid out in front of this camp. But Hughes tells me 

42
that the graves in it are made up like those in the
Turkish cemeteries – neat piles of earth made
up over no into a very neat graveyard but not covering any
bones at all except by accident.
March 8^th. Went up with Hughes BigWether
& Shanks of G.R.U. to the ground where our men
advanced on May 8. 1915. Rode past their old
bivouac 250yds S. of Haji Ayab Farm; the old
shelter walls of mud & grass turfs still stood. Thence
turned back to the left & took the road track which at 

This would be the Kinte Dere, but was
rs not called by the Turks "Kanlie" stream  (Bloody stream)
(Our 1915 map GSGS 4000    C.EW.B. 9/5/47
is wrong in
so naming it.)
Maltepe Dere is the Kanli Dere.
 

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abt 600 yds crossed the track leading NE to Krithia
Nullah. Just where we cut this track were the stumps
o / old trees under which the R.N.D. Headquarters
were – only one tree still standing.
Followed up this road. There is a slight swelling
on the left of it – & I fancy tt the 2nd F. Ambce
had its dressing Stn on tt swelling  Then the
Krithia stream^x comes towds the rd & begins
to have steep banks of its own. It is where
these banks become abt 8 or 10ft high that there 

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was a hollow in them in which Capt Mathieson  McG... 
medical offr of 5^th Bn, had his little dressing stn
for walking (or ws it serious?) cases – & where he ws
k. in / morning while putting on his socks after
refreshing himself w a wash after 24 hours heavy
work.
Old 2 Bde H Qrs ws not easy to spot but
we got in to within 50yds or so – Buchanan marked
it. It ws in the E bank just where it
begins to widen out to the spoonshaped 

45
depression on the rt (E) of the stream, where
the 2nd Bde deployed. Just where this
depression runs into it there is a fork in
/ stream; & on the bank or island in /
middle o  / fork the Indian troops were
camped when we reached there on May 8. 1915.
This Buchanan marked on the map & Williams photographed.
From _^near here I drew sketch B.G. It can be
read with the diary of my 2nd visit to Cape 

46
Helles (with Blamey & M^cCay), being more accurate than
the sketches there wh were from memory.
The party cut off half right up the _^gentle slope
shown in this sketch (just as M Cays Bde Hqrs
had done). On the top of that rise we first came
to two or 3 lines of trench & irregular dugout riflepits
– the third being the most important – This was
deeper than the trenches into wh I remember stumbling
at the time of the attack – & I think it is the
ESKI LINE. From there a long way over the 

47
open – without shelter of any sort – & only the low
rounded _^grey blue, & green, shrubs like salt bush with the dry light
pinky earth between them – & we came to the
"Tommy's Trench." I could pick up at
once the three _^or four wild olive trees which grew
over the Tommy's trench. As a matter of fact
one of them –  a skinny one, grows on the parados
of / trench; & two out ahead of it – tandem; &
one further behind it. This last is in a
slightly raised line of bushes along some forgotten 

48
border of a field – or hedge or road. This
I remember very well – it ws just on our
left. The ground to / right immediate right
of it is open & _^almost clear of vegetation; it has
bn cultivated.
The Tommies' trench has not greatly
changed. It is _^almost exactly as it was - with a
meaningless collection of holes behind it.
Many of these have been filled in since by 

49
burying our men in them; others lie in the
hedge like row of tufted scrub on / left – at least
two lots. Here I made drawing BH showing
this line of scrub leading up to Tommies trench.
From the Tommies trench we went on
following more or less the track I had
taken. There were many Australian dead lying
all over this area. Two C.Ts. start a little E
of the olive trees & run forward, separating a 

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bit till they reach to the line of the Australians
(Redoubt Support line): like this.
Diagram - see original document
These were later work, of course.
100 yds ahead of the
Redoubt Suppt line is another line (Redoubt line),
which I was uncertain about. I ws rather of
opinion tt this might have bn the work of
Tommies digging forward from the line we reached.
We examined No mansland in between these