Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/233/1 - 1919 - 1920 - Part 4
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166
Their HQs were at Z & Y.
There were some horses in /
stables there (dugout a bit).
The C-O. of this Bn ws at these
horse shelters. Z/B didnt
speak to him but ran on after
his Bn up / gully. He found the
Bn split into abt 3 parts. What
had happened ws tt at E
the head of / Bn had bn met by
some young officers coming from
various parts o / front &
one had sd : "help is needed at
Z" - another "at Y", another
"at F." The Bn had divided in
abt 3 parts & gone towds
those directions by the C.Ts.
There were 3 CTs roughly as
shown (Dotted) Z/B's Bn ws not in
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165
will do whatever you want.
T/Bey sd : Give me some men.
Z/Bey asked : What trenches do you
want them to go into.
Tefik Bey sd. I'll give you
some men. They'll take you to the
HQrs of the two Bns & the
COs will tell you where they
want your men to go.
(He ws much upset).
They went down into / valley,
much exposed to / fire down
/ valley.
By this time the 1st Bn had got
ahead of him. It ws clear tt /
trouble ws at / head o / branch
gully.
When Z/Bey reached his Bn, he
met the officers & C.O. of one Bn at X
who ws much cooler than / other.
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164
didnt want to lose time; so
he asked : Where is the C.O. Regt?
The C.O. had withdrawn into the zone
of 125 Regt. (abt C) where he cd
see well what happened.
At tt moment Z/B met
½ Coy lying down in / valley
(in the route of his regt). They didnt
know what to do. They had come
from the right - (i.e. from the side of Owens Gully) -
climbed out o / trenches & got down /
gully & were lying there having sent
to find out what to do.
Fire ws then coming down / valley
from / direction of D.
Z/B asked sd to Tefik Bey : Dont
be anxious - I have come w my
Bn wh is very well rested & calm,
from rest (not true of course) & we
31
Diagram - see original document
(1) Aout 6 a 5.30 soir
(2) — 7 Arrivee de rinforts
(3) — 8 Attacks at P.
163
no mansland in front Kanli Sirt
Z.Bey told the leading Lieut.
I am going ahead a bit. Follow
me - I will meet you in
Owens Gully. Abt A (at entrance o /
valley) Z/Bey met the C.O. of
one of / Bns wh ws at B.
Z/Bey asked : What has happened.
He sd : the situatn is critical.
My whole Bn remained in shelter
o / trenches after / bombt" He ws
very struck. He sd I'm waiting
here for the shreds o / Bn. I have
no one now under my command.
If any survive I am here to
stop them & take them under my command."
But there ws no one there. beside him. (His
name ws Mustafa Kemal - (betw Capt. & Major -
Kolasi). Z/B saw tt it ws useless
to ask for informatn from him : he
32
Diagram - see original document
162
sd: The English are getting into our
trenches. The observatn of this bombt
had gn them / idea tt / trenches
under / bombt wdnt be in a
conditn to meet repulse / attack -
there had bn much damage & heavy
loss.
At tt moment an order arrd
by telephone from M. Kemal Pasha.
1/57, the Bn of reserve, will go at
once to Kanli Sirt. The Bn ws
ready to go. Z/Bey gave / order
to go as fast as possible towds
Kanli Sirt - on / way they fixed
bayonets. They went in order of
route at the double.
While they were going - Z/Bey
saw tt all / batteries wh where
at Scrubby Knoll (i.e. beside Kemil Kemal Dere
(Essads H.Q.) had concentrated on
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161
The Lone Pine attack fell on
the 47th Regt. It had lost heavily
by bombt.
When the 1st /57 got out
Zeki Bey ws w / C.O. Regt at
Mortar R. & they cd see the bombt.
They cd see tt large & small
shells were concentrated on Kanli Sirt.
The Bn ws ^at that ^moment concentrated behind
Edina (Mortar R). & Zeki Bey
ordered the offr in/c at once to
be ready to reinf. as they were /
nearest. From the Regt. H.Q. at
back of Mortar R. you cd see clearly.
After the bombt. they heard infy
fire, a little - like after thunder you
hear / rain beginning - it ws like tt.
There ws a lot of dust. Z/Bey cdnt
see, but / observers beside them
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160
& when we did / losses were
always high.
This day:-
Diagram - see original document
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159
answer x to this; 20 - 24
shells had fallen ^tt day & abt 5
had hit the trench direct. They
had 22 wd & dead by this.
The Bn had bn very long in
/ trenches. The Bn wh ws relieving
hesitated : "We cant relieve in
this &bombt" But Zeki Bey who had
gone up there to put up the
Warsaw notice himself insisted
- it ws always like tt - his Bn
had bn there 45 days.
The relieving Bn ws Arab - 72 Regt.
(from Divisional Reserve).
[57th Bn had 2Bns (2 & 3) changing
periodically ^(every week) at Quinns, & so
1st Bn had to stick to G.O.T. Sometimes
the 2&3 had to change more frequently
because incidents occurred wh
caused gt damage. For example,
somedays we threw a lot of bombs -
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158
The 1st Coy & 3rd ) reld each other;
2nd & 4th )
at first weekly; later when the
bombs got bad, every 48 hrs; latterly
in 24 hrs.
The reserves were in shelfs
& shelters behind G.O.T. At /
end (July) ^even these came under
fire of our catapults.
Before Aug.6 Our artillery
(hows) ocassionally hit / trenches
at G.O.T. - a slow bombt - not messy
hits but v. gt damage.
2 or 3 hrs before Bn ws reld some
of these shells got in.
That day ^Aug 6 by order of Kemal
Bey, "Varsaw as fallen" ws shown
above / G.O.T parapet. They thought
tt these shells xx might be an
37
Diagram - see original document
157
rt & one on left; & 2 Coys in
rear. The other two were behind.
The sentries in / line didnt have
periscopes bec. these brought bombs;
they kept watch thro' the loopholes.
these were under the head cover & were
made by / spaces between
ammn boxes (full of earth). They found
that some were dangerous bec. we
shot into them; & so they forbade
these to / men - others were safe.
These loopholes wd get covered w
earth by day, sometimes; so they
used to clear the front of them by
night, getting onto / trenches. They found
their losses smaller in this way
than with periscopes. (They copied
periscope rifles later but found them of
no great use).
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