Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/233/1 - 1919 - 1920 - Part 9

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^※  Possibly, he thinks, they turned

round & attacked their own troops

by mistake - / trenches were so involved.

if it got involved in a panic 

which happened on / left ^※

The troops reinforcing ^ (? at what period?) had

to pass up the valley (Owens

Gully) where the Turkish dead

were laid out 4 deep -

they saw this column of dead men.

At / top end of it were some

Australians including a

lieutenant ^ or sergt - a splendid looking

chap of very great stature lying

there ^ (they had got well down into the T. positn-) - & the sight "knocked the
stuffing out of them". When they

got to / top of / gully there were

/ Australian periscopes looking

over at them. (From a positn wh

we lost afterwds, he thinks -

& I think so too). They - the Turkish

privates wanted to know if

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Diagram - see original document
 

the left.

Diagram - see original document

But as

soon as the Turks went to the

C.T. on / left (at x) to dig

they were shot by a m.g. of ours

wh ws right on / top at / very

front - 8 or 9 fell dead back into

/ trenches & they came back.

Either on this or another

occasion, as our their men entered

this trench a gun of ours on Russells

top saw them: we had artillery

flags up & our guns knew exactly

where to fire & put several

shots straight into these Ts.

Next day Zeki Bey sent a

company to attack, & it disappeared

altogether - he doesnt know if

it ws captured - or killed - or

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80

himself & found that there were

no troops in / trenches on Lone Pine at

all. There were 3 lines there,

& some C.Ts.

Diagram - see original document

Our men held all the trenches

exc. the C.Ts; there were T. posts

in the C.Ts & these & / fire from

J. Jolly were holding our men.

But there were our periscopes

looking over / top down onto /

gully where the Turks were
massed (Zekis Bn) & rolling

over bomb after bombs murderously

(? ws this the 2nd day, Aug 7)

On Aug 7 Zeki Bey wanted  to make the

attack on the left - cutting thro

a portion of C.T. into some trenches on
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81

his men (what time? within a very short time - at once) into

the valley below the monument.

They came under fire the moment

they turned into Owens Gully -

from our men at / valley

top. The only place there ws

shelter ws in that hollow

behind ^ where the monument now 

is. (They lost most heavily there next

day.)  They Zeki Bey went on

to the officer commanding the

Regt (45 or 47 ?) wh had reld

them & asked what had happened.

The offr sd: Oh we're lost, we're

lost! Zeki sd: I want to

know what the position is &

what you want me to do -

"Oh we're lost!" ws all he got

But the  Z. pushed on

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82

offr wdnt & the offr ws

shot by a Turkish soldier.

"A very brave man", he sd.

He wd have liked to take him

prisoner.

Lone Pine.

Our slow bombt. of Lone Pine

had been very heavy on the men

there. Z. Bey's regiment ws holding

it ^x & ws suffering so heavily

tt it ws withdrawn for rest.

Zeki went up to / trenches himself &

there was / head cover blown

in & the men ^ lying smashed up &

dead - "I ws very frightened," he

sd.  The garrison ws withdrawn

& 2 hours later was summoned

back suddenly.

Zeki Bey went up - brought

 [^x My
note 

is
wrong -
see
later 
they
were
in
G.O.T.
CEWB 

6/10/27 *]

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83

men appearing with bayonets

after a sort of bombardment;

& then a message came from

Division to Zeki Bey: What are you

going to do?

What do you mean, he asked

There are troops in yr

trenches, they sd.

He went up & finding the Coy

officer in the line hadn't the guts

necessary he pushed on straight 

himself & got to / front line

& found our men in their trenches

or in / crater just outside 

them. He went to / place

himself & found our men getting

back into the crater, & a

young fine looking officer. He

told / officer to surrender but /

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84

was down but the attack was 

on the initiative of Kemal solely.

Enver ws ^ a bit displeased as he

didnt see the object of it. One

Bn & a half were lost. The

first report ws tt they had

got our trenches - but later they

never heard from / men who got

in, & they dont know today

what happened. Some men took

our front line, they knew. It was

a "black" night - there were the

wd, crying in Nomansland &

both sides rolling out flares &

no one helping them.

When L^t Greig with a party made

a "demonstration" into G.O.T.

the reason for this greatly

puzzled the Turks. They saw first

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85
 

by / initiative of our men

(Zeki Bey says); the Turks cd

not have held it.

Zeki Bey returned a few

days after May 19^th & ws gn

command of the ? 15^th Regt.

opposite G.O. Trench. In hospital

he had heard tt / trenches at Anzac

were only 5 or 7 metres apart.

He wdnt believe it as it ws

so different when he left. When

he got back the idea at first

was "Why dont we attack &

shove these Australians off at

Quinns?" He went straight up
to Quinns to see. After a short

time he became convinced of the

impossibility.

On June 29 Enver Pasha

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86

attack his men were

scattered & it ws only possible

to get at a part of them. But

the guns were able to do

good work. They cdnt fire on

the beach because it ws too

steep so they fired down the long

slope on our troops.

Kemal (who was a Salonica

Turk) had command of the whole

front till Essad took over for

the attack on May 19^th (wh 

ws made by 4 divisions &

one regiment (on the S.) ) & in wh /

Turks lost 10,000 men. After

tt attack the Turkish command

knew tt they cd do nothing at

Anzac by attacking & reduced to

3 divns. The position ws only held

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87
※ They might have done better, but

the Regiments on their left were Arab

(? 77^th & 72^nd) & they panicked &

came running round behind the 57^th

Regt.

They repulsed The 2 Bns of Zeki Beys

Regt drove our advanced troops

back from Battleship Hill. ※

These troops retired to the

sea shore & remained there

covered by the fire of their

warships. The Turkish troops

got about to the Nek.

Zeki Bey with 1st Bn lost

one offr dead one wd in

his first Coy.

The fight ws critical. and

Zeki Bey was wounded

that night afternoon & was

sent away to hospital. The fighting

had become severe in the afternoon.

It was a very difficult

advance, he sd, because they went

straight across country thro the

scrub & when Kemal told him to

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