Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/239/1 - 1917 - 1918 - Part 5

(Savage ws w tt party - 6 offcrs w him)
On the way to Bijar the Armenians caught
them up.  xxx Armenian Bishops (These Armenian pulled children
off camels and got onto them themselves.
Bishops pulled children off camels and got on them.
These refugees wiped out whole Persian villages

The refugees wiped out whole Persian villages )
in order to steal their food. to steal their stuff.  Everything ws
done to help these people.  By this time the
Everything was done to help these people.
7 Glosters were up to Hamadan & Bijar,
By this time the 7 Glosters were
& after / armistice they went thro' to
off to Hamadan and Bijar and
Baku and garrisoned it.  It is now held
finally to Baku (after the armistice
by British troops.
Dr Baynes dealt with the whole lot.     Organised soup kitchen
A few finally in Baku 1st Dec. 
Nov 7 left Bijar Turks [[?]] Chief, Commr of
Police.  Headman rode out with them  45 with him.  Asked for
Sergt.  Typhus smallpox malaria
& cholera.  Russian Nurses good but
Russian doctors would not do anything.
Sandfly fever.  [Shorthand]
The whole medical work of
the mob at Bijar fell upon one
doctor - Dr Baynes.  Some
Russian Nurses w / refugees did
39 

splendid work but Russian
doctors wdnt stay & cleared out
w / rest.  There ws every sort of
disease amongst / refugees, typhus,
cholera, malaria, smallpox.
Our own people were terribly 
decimated with Sandfly fever.
Soup kitchens were organised
for / refugees, but they were most
difficult to manage.  They would
all have families of 10 or 12
children (acc. to themselves).  Finally
they had to be paraded to see
what families they really had.  A
crowd of them ws one day invited
by Hooper & Williams for a treat of soup etc
They rushed / place in a crowd;  so
H & W organised a reception thro / big
door into a courtyard.  They were to
form a queue round 2 sides o /
40 

square to get / soup as they
passed a window.  It was all
splendid on paper - but / moment
/ door began to open they all burst
thro & made a Bee line for /
soup window.  Then Williams
lost his temper.  He went for /
bigger men w a stick & lathered
them as hard as he cd.  They
simply lay down & grovelled at his
feet - but wdnt go away from 
/ window.  At last they had to
give / soup simply to those who
were nearest!
When Orders were sent
to Hooper, when our side became
successful, to get ready supplies
for 12,000 troops.  He bought /
wheat & stacks of firewood.  Then
41 

suddenly orders came to evacuate.
All were to be withdrawn.  They
didn't dare let / people know,
or / Kurds wd have come down
& / hill tribes & followed them
up.  They told / town officials
tt they were lightening / garrison.
On / day when they left
there ws a great scene.  The
chief man of Bijar, the chief
of Police (which we had re-organised),
the chiefs o / neighbouring tribes,
(even Kurds, came down from / 
hills) rode w them for a whole
day along their way - The
chief man had begged them to
let him have one offr to stay w them -
or one Sergt (one fine NZ sergt wanted
to stay).  So long as we have one
42 

we shall be safe, he sd.
They cdn't let anyone stay - &
probly some o / inhabitants were
murdered afterwds.
The inhabitants had had
/ greatest fear o / Russians
- esp. of / Russians - & o / Turks.
But, by / time / British left,
a man in English uniform cd
go safely from one end of
Persia to / other;  the towns,
wh at first were like a place
o / dead, had all their shops
open - the British had a
magnificent name all thro'
tt country.
The force had w it eventually
several little Anzac wireless
sections - w a small plant
carried on 7 mules - splendid little
43 

sets, engine & all. They
came originally from Mespot.
Dunsterforce from

McVilly.    Lt McVilly
Lt McVilly (the old former Tasmanian
winner of the Diamond sculls)
went with L^t Judge (of Sydney) &
Lt Cameron, on with Dunsterville
to Baku.  They went via the post
of  - Engeli? at the S. end o / Caspian.
They found 2000 Bolsheviks there,
well organised, who were very
suspicious tt they were trying
to resurrect the Empire.  These
Bolsheviks had able men at /
head of them.  On the Dunsterforce
attempting to sail they had 200
m.gs. trained on their steamer
& were for a time detained.
They got away in / end & reacd
44 

Baku where they found
40,000 Armenians & some
Russians (abt 1800) supporters
of Denikin (Cossacks etc).
There were an immense
quantity of m.gs. - Vickers guns
& all sorts - in Baku, &
field guns of British & Russian
make, wh had bn left by /
Russian army wh previously
had bn fighting in these parts.
They began to organise / Armenians
in August - & all August &
Sept up to Sept 14 they were
there strengthening / Armenian
resistance agst / Turks.
They had abt 1000 English
troops, Warwicks, S. Staffords?
etc.  They found / Armenians
45 

holding an irregular line of
stone parapet built up (they
wdnt dig).  They organised them
into bns & bdes more or less on
/ lines of a European army &
managed to induce them to
advance & hold a line 20
miles from Baku.  They did this
there being no oppositn; at this
time / only troops agst them
were tribesmen Kurds or
Turcomans(?)  When they formed / line
20 miles from Baku / Turks
sent down two divisions of
Turkish troops & things very much
changed.  The Turks began to
bring up guns & bombard a
little & presently att presently
attacked - & / Armenians
46

immediately retired.  The
1000 British were / only men
to fight & they fought well
enough through all this period
except when they were finding /
Turks on their flanks when some
of them became rattled by / retreat
& surrendered too easily to / Turkish
cavalry (so M'Villy says).  The line
retired - / British fighting -
abt 5 miles (the Armenians cleared
right out).  Some time later /
Turks attacked again & / same
thing happened - / Turks Armenians
vanished at once & / British
retired 5 miles or so fighting.
On Sept 14 the Turks
attacked again.  An Arab
officer had deserted & had told
47 

us exactly what ws going to
happen - tt they wd attack
at 4 mins past 4, & where
they wd attack.  We knew
everything - & gave / Turks a
bad time;  but by 4.20 a.m. the
Armenians were in full retreat
right off / field into Baku -
& / British had to retire all
day fighting until they found
themselves at dusk in /
cemetery of Baku w their
backs right up against / city.
Dunsterville at once
gave / order to evacuate
Baku tt night.  McVilly ws in
charge o / work of evacuation.
The city ws picketed.  The
48