Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/9/1 - June 1915 - Part 5

47
around camp at Mena, or on / old drain along / road
are given as views of active service on / Suez Canal.
This is the sort of stuff / picture papers are supplied w - &
dish up to ^/ public. There really ought to be a law agst it. The American
papers do not lie a bit more than these English picture
papers.

More firing at 10 to 1. Evidently at some scheme of ours.

Tuesday June 22.  I must have got to sleep
abt 2.30 last night. I heard a picket boat come
:X: in puffing, & I ^thought I heard a puffing wh I think I put
down either to the wireless or to an aeroplane - I
wondered at an aeropl. being out at this time. This
morning I heard tt a "Zeppelin had passed over - 
Gen. Owen had seen it. Various Naval seamen on /
beach had seen / little electric lights at / four corners
of it."  I went down to see Gen. Owen. He sd he had
heard it - he had very little doubt tt it was an aeroplane
an airship & pretty close too.  He had lived near an
aircraft factory for 4 years so he ought to know. It
ws abt 2 a.m.  I afterwds heard tt / same noise ws
heard a good deal louder up in / lines of 1st Bde -
Col Smythe, V.C., their Brigadier, heard it, & he says it sounded 
like an old broken down motor car.  He knows the sound
of a dirigible well & he is sure about it.  The night ws
very dark, moon down, & they didn't see it although it
made the dickens of a noise.

Well It is taken tt this aircraft is a Parsefal - 
the Turks are sd to possess one. If it is true it may
possibly explain the ^reported arrival of German chemists in 
Constantinople. This has also (with one or two other signs) been
taken as indicating tt / Germans are thinking of using gas.
Possibly both are true. We have now 100 masks for each battalion - i.e. for
the men in the firing line & the supports; & the others have instructions
how to meet the gas. I dont think they're frightened of it. The possibility
occurs to me tt / Turks might use a different gas - I wonder
if tt is a possibility.  Or, realising tt there is a very fair chance
of our having them at our mercy they may refuse to use gas
at all owing to / punishment wh wd follow. It wd make our
[* :X: GHQ later
informed me
that one of
our planes 
had been over.
CEWB / Feb 1923*]
[*XXXXX
The aeropl.
404 [[shorthand]]
or [[shorthand]]
our [[shorthand]]
Get our positn
[[shorthand]] Rustin
Those [[shorthand]] officers
in Cairo. Bennett
in prac. G. G.
[[shorthand]]*]
____
[*Sunday June 30
5 H Bombs
[[shorthand]]
bec. so preconcerted.
-----
[[shorthand]]
Alex [[shorthand]]

are not
12 p.m [[shorthand]]*]

35
Friday June 18^th. Waterloo Day. Our guns
discovered what they describe as a double
company of the enemy this morning out in
the open near K. Tepe & put 25 shells onto 
them. Little Hobbs was jubilant,  xxxx
his voice fairly trembled with joy as he told us
somehow one cant help being a little sceptical
however about some of these artillery achievements.
The infantry saw a Turkish shell burst over a ridge
apparently right above its head & scatter shrapnel
all around - & not a man is scratched - &  ticant
help thinking that w It sees a hundred shells
xxx burst & sole result one man wounded - & it
cannot help discounting thinking when our
gunners talk of the beautiful shots they have got
in that the same thing may be happening behind
the enemy's hill also. Our guns fling a heavier shell
than theirs which may make a difference But
erytime the enemy bursts his shell over our ridge
self "My word - thats a beautiful shot - right on top
ht he is shelling the beach & the South depot -
since the 3rd night we were here that his artillery
ooting at night. [Next morning: His practice abt the South
pply Depot at the southern end of our position, on
st exposed place - where 40 men have already been
hit including Capt Milner - was very good indeed. It so happened
O'Gorman was down there & had started back this way with
a doctor companion, a doctor, when they heard the bump
of a gun. The shell seemed to be coming remarkably close
so they ducked & it passed over their heads & burst just
in front on the sand. Presently there ws a second bump. They
were passing a dug out w a light in it - so they dodged
in & the shell passed just where they had bn & burst. There
were 6 or 8 men in tt dugout. O'G ws sitting near / door.
They sd "You’d better move in, Sir. That end is a bit exposed."
He had just done so when along came No 3 & ripped along
the top of all the sand bags over the door. After tt they shortened
to get nearer / depot - of course they reckoned / stores
wd be going out just then & they werent far wrong. Their

47
around camp at Mena, or on / old drain along / road
are given as views of active service on / Suez Canal.
This is the sort of stuff / picture papers are supplied w - &
dish up to ^/ public. There really ought to be a law agst it. The American
papers do not lie a bit more than these English picture
papers.

More firing at 10 to 1. Evidently at some scheme of ours.

Tuesday June 22.  I must have got to sleep
abt 2.30 last night. I heard a picket boat come
:X: in puffing, & I ^thought I heard a puffing wh I think I put
down either to the wireless or to an aeroplane - I
wondered at an aeropl. being out at this time. This
morning I heard tt a "Zeppelin had passed over - 
Gen. Owen had seen it. Various Naval seamen on /
beach had seen / little electric lights at / four corners
of it."  I went down to see Gen. Owen. He sd he had
heard it - he had very little doubt tt it was an aeroplane
an airship & pretty close too.  He had lived near an
aircraft factory for 4 years so he ought to know. It
ws abt 2 a.m.  I afterwds heard tt / same noise ws
heard a good deal louder up in / lines of 1st Bde -
Col Smythe, V.C., their Brigadier, heard it, & he says it sounded 
like an old broken down motor car.  He knows the sound
of a dirigible well & he is sure about it.  The night ws
very dark, moon down, & they didn't see it although it
made the dickens of a noise.

Well It is taken tt this aircraft is a Parsefal - 
the Turks are sd to possess one. If it is true it may
possibly explain the ^reported arrival of German chemists in 
Constantinople. This has also (with one or two other signs) been
taken as indicating tt / Germans are thinking of using gas.
Possibly both are true. We have now 100 masks for each battalion - i.e. for
the men in the firing line & the supports; & the others have instructions
how to meet the gas. I dont think they're frightened of it. The possibility
occurs to me tt / Turks might use a different gas - I wonder
if tt is a possibility.  Or, realising tt there is a very fair chance
of our having them at our mercy they may refuse to use gas
at all owing to / punishment wh wd follow. It wd make our
[* :X: GHQ later
informed me
that one of
our planes 
had been over.
CEWB / Feb 1923*]
[*XXXXX
The aeropl.
404 [[shorthand]]
or [[shorthand]]
our [[shorthand]]
Get our positn
[[shorthand]] Rustin
Those [[shorthand]] officers
in Cairo. Bennett
in prac. G. G.
[[shorthand]]*]
____
[*Sunday June 30
5 H Bombs
[[shorthand]]
bec. so preconcerted.
-----
[[shorthand]]
Alex [[shorthand]]

are not
12 p.m [[shorthand]]*]

35
Friday June 18^th. Waterloo Day. Our guns
discovered what they describe as a double
company of the enemy this morning out in
the open near K. Tepe & put 25 shells onto 
them. Little Hobbs was jubilant,  xxxx
his voice fairly trembled with joy as he told us
somehow one cant help being a little sceptical
however about some of these artillery achievements.
The infantry saw a Turkish shell burst over a ridge
apparently right above its head & scatter shrapnel
all around - & not a man is scratched - & it cant
help thinking that w It sees a hundred shells
burst & sole result one man wounded - & it
cannot help discounting thinking when our
gunners talk of the beautiful shots they have got
in that the same thing may be happening behind
the enemy's hill also. Our guns fling a heavier shell
than theirs which may make a difference But
I'll bet that everytime the enemy bursts his shell over our ridge
he says to himself "My word - thats a beautiful shot - right on top
of them."
Shells  Tonight he is shelling the beach & the South depot -
the first time since the 3rd night we were here that his artillery
has done any shooting at night. [Next morning: His practice abt the South
Depot, i.e. the Supply Depot at the southern end of our position, on
the beach - a most exposed place - where 40 men have already been
hit including Capt Milner - was very good indeed. It so happened
O'Gorman was down there & had started back this way with
a doctor companion, a doctor, when they heard the bump
of a gun. The shell seemed to be coming remarkably close
so they ducked & it passed over their heads & burst just
in front on the sand. Presently there ws a second bump. They
were passing a dug out w a light in it - so they dodged
in & the shell passed just where they had bn & burst. There
were 6 or 8 men in tt dugout. O'G ws sitting near / door.
They sd "You’d better move in, Sir. That end is a bit exposed."
He had just done so when along came No 3 & ripped along
the top of all the sand bags over the door. After tt they shortened
to get nearer / depot - of course they reckoned / stores
wd be going out just then & they werent far wrong. Their
[*Mena
Way [[shorthand]]*]

46
or they'd into them w / bayonet." G. took him &
went over  / ground w him - Had he looked at / ground?
"No." G. went over / ground w him - looked our 
suitable places cover for a few little posts - 6 men
& and N.C.O. in one place & so on, so tt if they were
attacked they wd be able to keep up a strong fire
on / Turks. But tt is just / sort of carelessness 
tt loses battles - & / gross fault of some of our
officers - not of all by any means. They dont take / 
work really seriously.

[*Helles
(T. artillery)*]

Bye / bye, when Glasfurd was at Helles
on June 19 the T.s had mounted a new gun
(possibly naval) on / S. shore & they put in over
80 shots into H. Westons H.Q. (or very near it)
in / morning in one half / day & 80 on top of W Beach in /
evening other half - & killed a large no. of horses & mules.

If they had put in 20 in 3 minutes it
wd be more effective.
There shells cd be seen bursting on / Point
this morning.

Received another bunch of cuttings by the
mail today from England. The picture agencies
ought really to be shown up - they are a disgrace to
English journalism. There is scarcely never a bundle of
these pictures cuttings comes in but it contains a barefaced
fraud upon / public.  A photo of our men jumping
out of boats without packs & w overcoats rolled 
is given as "the first Australians on Turkish soil." The
men here take it as obviously a picture of one of our
practice landings in Lemnos Harbour. A man jumping

off / bow  It ws far too dark when / first lot landed
to take any photo instantaneous photo. Photos taken

36
shooting ws excellent, but they did not hurt any one there altho
they dropped 6 or 9 shells in all. right O'G. had just got
back to his dugout further N. when there was another
explosion just next door to him. He saw the men getting out
of it very quick - three of them. There was a 4th lying inside
& they thought he was killed. O'G sd "Lets have a look at him"
& struck a light. The man ws bleeding abt / face, but only with
splinters & ft bits of dirt - He was not bleeding abt / body at
all, but had a very big bruise on his side. The shell had
come through / roof & burst - there ws a big hole in
/ roof - / place ws only abt 7 ft by 7, & 5 ft high & there
were four of them sleeping there. They had beams across / top &
earth above the beams & their rifles slung below, & it may
have bn / butt of one o these rifles tt hit / man - the shell case
came thro but it wd probly have made a nastier wound.
He at said he The wounded man sd be felt as tho'
a knife went into him when he breathed so he had probly
broken a rib or two. He ws sent to hospital - but there
you had a shell bursting abt 5 or 6 ft over 4 closely packed
sleeping men & only one of them injured at all, & he, apparently
not seriously. Of course these are smallish shells.] The
enemy sent three old wobblers (from an 8 in howitzer
I am sure, at extreme range - the same tt has bn shelling
Bessell Browns Battery) over amongst / trawlers as I
ws standing w Gelly & Howse watching / sunset last night.
These [[?gentlemen]] when they contain high explosives do a good
deal of harm in / trenches. Their explosion has buried
a couple of men there lately - / wall of / trench being thrown
over them in a heap & sufficating them; & this the is a bit
of a shock to / troops who see it.
Our men This evening all sorts of furniture, pots, pans, plates
came flying out of / engineers' dug out. There must have
bn a fight going on in / depths of it. This is / first fight / have
heard of. It is extraordinary how our men have come
to lean on one another. When they started out they wdnt share
a tin o bully beef. But now they have come to lean on one another

45
[*In our
Divn*] 
He climbed up & got it, & then ^calmly sat on the parapet. One
certainly o / officers per saw him & sd "Here one of
your men had better have a shot at tt chap". An
officers batman asked to be allowed to have a shot.
He fired & went near him & / man hopped down into 
/ trench. But tt cdn't possibly happen opposite the
lines (say) o / first bn. There are supposed to be
snipers & observers always on / watch for such
shots. Some of these newly arrived troops are a 
long way behind / older ones in alertness or
competence. They'll improve w time. 

[*In N.Z. &
A. Divn*]  I know tt
some (also in a L.H. Regt) do not get up when
they are supposed to stand to arms at 3 a.m.
Now It is / officer or N.C.O who is culpably slack
in allowing this or rather not discovering it.
[*Officers -
(carelessness)*]

There is a guard over / bit gun on / beach
(near / right hand end o / beach) all / time.
It is absolutely essential in case / Turks attack
along / beach. Glasfurd went down there / other 
day. A new guard had just arrived. The officer 
had turned in w his rug.  The men were grouped around
/ gun wh a sailor ws explaining to them. G. asked
the men if they had posts out - "No."  Did they know
what they'd do if / gun were attacked? They supposed
they'd defend it. He went and woke up / officer -
/ chap seemed rather surprised at being woke up.
G. asked him where his men were. "Oh, there, around /
gun." Had he any posts out? "No." Had he given /
men any positns to go to in case they were attacked?
"No." What ws he there for? "To defend / gun." How
wd they do it if / Turks came along / beach.
"Well, they'd lie down & fire, & if / Turks still came

37
& on their officers almost like a big family. Since / first day I
have hardly heard a word except of praise & indeed affection for
any officer tt had given them a good lead. Little Lilly o / 5th who used
to be looked on as a cub - & whom I believe some rotters sd
they wd deal w in action if they had / chance - has turned into a
man whom his men all swear by. I have never seen a
more healthy relation than tt of these ^Australian men to a good officer.

I believe there ws something doing tonight but it
ws put off. Three articles finished today, abt 5000 wds.
Sat. June 19^th.
K. Tepe & Anafarta got a crossfire onto /
beach today for a few minutes, evidently by arrangement.
Tonight a man ws killed down in / engineers stores or
/ South depot - of course by shelling - shells are doing
all / damage now. One o / young engineer officers
ws brought along by Foote to my dug out for / night; it's
too dangerous down there. The whole unit is to move,
& also / Hospital & come up here. A sailor came
into / Hosp. / day before yesty complaining of indigestion.
They gave him a dose & told him if he didn't care to
move off to / ship just then he cd lie down in / Hosp.
all night & go aboard in / morning. In / morning
a shell caught him as he lay in Hospital & killed him.

News tt Venizelos has easily won / Gk electns.
I suppose tt means she will go to war when she has
made / best terms she can - unless she thinks we're in
for a licking. Anyway I think she'll come in bec. if
she doesn't collar the islands 1taly will.
{*Jack
Butler
looked
in
after bathe

& had some
tea.*]
Torpedo boat very nearly caught at / pier today -
by K. Tepe: 2 short, 1 over – and then she just cleared in time.

A flagstaff is going up on / pier, so it must be finished.

On cornflower diet for a day or two.

44
fired & / Destroyer had barely put in her two shots when
the Turks opened a very heavy fire. They showed two good
lines of fire trenches - one behind / other, very fully manned 
& at least 3 machine guns. So far as the Jolly is
concerned / Ts have not left that. Our men were to put in 
5 rounds rapid, but before they got them off the Turks were
firing & firing very straight - in fact they knocked the
earth off / parapet everywhere.

[*Snipers - ours*]

Macnaughton told me that / snipers o / 4th have what struck him on
his return ws / ascendancy / snipers o / 4th have over
/ Turks. The Turks have periscope rifles now - then they
have seen our idea periscopes over the parapet & our
snipers smashed up one yesty & another today. A big
periscope appeared over the Jolly today. Someone
- or rather abt 3 men - immediately had a smack at 
it. Down it went. Presently it appeared agn cautiously.
There were 3 more shots just by it & down it went again.

One sniper o / 4th Bn the other day ws banging 
at a man behind a loophole. This man was rather
a sportsman & used to wave a white flag whenever 
our chap missed. Initially he But once he put his hand up
a little too high & they one man put a shot through it. The flag
fell onto the parapet & lay there. The sniper kept his 
rifle glued onto it waiting for someone to pick up / flag.
Presently Gen Birdwd appeared & began to talk to /
man. The sniper turned round & for abt 3 minutes
ws yarning. Then Gen. Birdwood went on. A few
moments later some language heard on / wind made
officers Macnaughton or some other officer inquire.
Whilst Gen. Birdwd had been talking to / man, / flag
had disappeared.  The oldest Rgts are far / best at this
[*Slackness

or*]
sniping. As a contrast to this, from a trench held by a Light Horse Regt. some a Turks was seen digging a trench. As he
worked his shovel flew out of his hand & got fell on
over / parapet

38
Sund June 20^th
Helles  Tremendous bombardment down Helles
way for a little while this morning. Glasfurd who
ws there yesty says tt since our attack on June 4
the Turks made an attack on / Jolly Friday (June 11
- when we also seem to have attacked). They did no
good. On Friday at first date June 18 They also seem to have
bombarded our trenches in quite a European style
& were preparing on a subsequent night & were
preparing to attack when a large body of them ws
seen & fired on by our ifran artillery & gave up
the attempt. On June 18 they attacked & reached
bombarded again. We seem to have attacked &
took 2 trenches but they counterattacked & took 3.
We then attacked agn & took 2 trenches - leaving us
one up on them. The French are still held up by /
redoubt on / right
Censor The Peninsula Press publishes w great scorn
an article in the Berlin "Courier" saying tt our "attack
as at present conducted is a fizzle, due to / ineffectual
bombardment of March 18^th, / insufficient size o /
landing forces, & failure to embroil Bulgaria agst
Turkey." As far as / military operatns go it seems
to me tt this statement is literally & absolutley correct.
If these operatns have brought Italy in they are
worth it at any cost - but otherwise its a far
better summing up o / positn than our official
reports give. This is / point to wh / censorship has reduced
us - tt / German official accts are far truer than our own.
Arthur & Duncan Maxwell looked in after
a bathe. They have heard tt commisions are going
in / imperial army for any suitable men. I suppose

43
i.e. the part where they are held up. [Diagram] The line
must have been almost like this before. They took
a first line o trenches but were held up by / second line.
Supports were sent up & took part o / second line &
beat off a counter attack. But they cd not get on on / 
right. They asked for artillery support on / right but
at 10 a.m. were still hung up here on / right. At 11 a.m. they
were to assault again. Before this / Turks counter attacked
again, & were still attacking, although beaten back. when
/ message left The aeroplanes were still now 
reported tt large bodies were moving up / Kereves Dere
in a N.W. direction (i.e. retiring) w / French artillery on
them & so / French were going to push forwd again.
(The French are now an Army Corps.)

Tonight firing is still At about 2.30 today
I went up onto / side of Maclagans Ridge to see
what ws happening down S. The Sergt. Maj. o / signallers
(Divn H.Q. section) told me he had just seen quite large bodies
of Turks coming over by the "parade ground" - i.e. the
W. shoulder of Achi Baba where there is a bit of
road running like a capital E [Diagram] with shells bursting
on top of them. I cd see something moving across / road
but I cdn't see what ←(---- something like this ⇣)

Tonight they are still bombarding there; & one
I cd see the British ships (I think) firing & shell bursting
on the right near / cliffs.

[*Strategy*]
I wonder whether we are doing anything to 
help this determined attempt. As I write this, at 11.20 p.m.
there is a rattle of Turk musketry - or rather a
plomp plomp plomp p-p-p-plomp of Turk bullets into / sea
(for I can hear comparatively few shots). Our ruse last night 
- so Macnaughton tells me - ws quite successful opposite them.
The two white rockets on right & red on left had just been

39

this is right. I hope / boys get them anyway. They'll
be out of harm for 6 months & with two chaps of
6 ft 4' & 6 ft 3' are very apt to stop xxx bullet
to big altogether to be safe in / firing line. But I do
feel very jealous o / British getting so many of our
best fellows as their officers, when we want them
so much ourselves. However, that's a small
narrow view. We have many good Englishmen with us.
[*Turks (in our
lines)
Sentries*]
Arthur tells me tt when his Regt ws
patrolling / top of Popes Gully - betw. there & Walkers
Ridge - one of our sentries saw 3 men coming &
challenged them. They didn't answer, so he challenged
them again. They didnt answer so he challenged
a third time. Even then when they didn't answer he
didn't shoot tho' they were coming from Turkish
territory. One o / patrol behind / sentry got up
& ran forward to ^tell him to shoot when / Turk others shot first
& killed - not / sentry but / boy man who ws
running up. Then the three men - there seem
to have bn three – dropped & made off before
they cd be shot.
He also tells me tt a man whom he is
not in / least sure about passed him going up
/ gully as he (Arthur) ws working on / second
line of trenches there. Arthur asked him who he
was, but he was too far off then. Some other fellows
however were passing him & they too were suspicious
"Dont like / looks of tt chap" they sd to Arthur as
they passed. As they all three thought / same they

42
Monday June 21st
Mails.  A mail today brought me two letters from
Alex from Jack one dated May 12; the
other May 19. In the second he sd he
wd probably be ws unsure whether to have
/ bullet removed - a difficult operatn. Of 
course this made me very anxious; & what I 
want to know is why cannot the Post Office get a letter from
Egypt here in under 5 weeks? We have letters from
Australia later than that one of May 12 from Alexandria.

[*Base*]
Everyone who returns from Alex says that the 
base is in a state of miserable disorganisation - that
men who want to get back cannot, men who do
not seem anxious to get back are not made to.
Macnaughton told me that they wdnt let him (or was it some
brother officer) sail ^from Alex unless he went to Cairo. I hope to goodness
Legge can straighten this out.

[*Shell*]
We have a new shell here now - one like
escaping steam coming through a fairly small pipe - 
there are plenty like steam coming through a big pipe
(generally the case turning over I think but 
sometimes perh. a big howitzer shell wobbling. [Sketches]
I think this new chap is the 75 millimetre gun - they have one
opposite us now. I believe she ws firing yesty from a
new trench emplacement on top of Baby 700. I wonder 
if she is a gun captured from the French. They got 17 
of these guns when they pushed back / French by means 
of their poison gas near Ypres.

[*Helles
- French
Redoubt*]
There has bn a heavy bombardment down
South all day - & ws going on last night too. News has
bn arriving here o / results since 7.30 a.m. After the
nights bombardment (wh began again at 4.30 this morning)
the French, at 5.30 attacked from their centre & left centre

[* [[Shorthand]]
85 -89
Helles
Snipers
M'Ns - CO
[[Shorthand]] *]

40
called out to men further up / path to stop him;
but these cdn't find him - either he had gone on innocently
or had got away quickly.
[*Base*]
I hear tt things are very much wrong at our
base. There are numbers of men there who ought
to be coming back, but nobody sees tt they do come back;
& there are numbers who are anxious to get
back but who are positively anxious not allowed to
come. ^Some of these chaps have to stow themselves away - 
to desert - in order to get here. They arrive without
rifles or kit, so / process is highly unpopular
w those who have to look after them. But somebody
ought really to tackle that Base. Its our own
fault. If we wont spare a good one of the best men from /
Division, & every one who is passed out here
is kept on there - we cant expect anything except
/ most dense sort of muddling.
[*1st Day
15^th B*]
Little Dereham who is back from Alex &
taking Hastie's place for the time tells me tt he has
found a man who ws beside Saker when he
as hit. The first day they were on the outer slope
of 400 when both got hit in / afternoon.
[*Germans*]

Glasfurd tells me he is sure he has seen
a German machine gunner up near Popes -
square headed high checkboned chap. Freame ^had told
me the same
[*Turks - cheeky*]
The Turks are getting very cheeky - actually
performing the offices of nature in front of their trenches

41
Our men sh stop this. But the 8^th Bn. (wh has taken
over from the 1st) is new to / trenches & is not keeping
down snipers in / way the 1^st Bn. did. It will learn
I suppose. It has a splendid Colonel in Brand.

[*Ruses*]
At 10.45 tonight a sudden outburst of 
firing. I wondered whether it must not be a 
Turk attack as it was so spontaneous & I thought it
ws Turk. As a matter of fact is ws ours - a
ruse to draw fire.
At 10.30 we were to fire two white rockets on / left.
At 10.35 we were to fire two red rockets on / right.
At some later moment / destroyer ws to fire 
two shots & we were to blaze away a few rounds.

It had some result but all ws quiet
agn in 15 minutes.
----
[*Turks panic*]
At Popes hill / other day we discovered
a machine gun. The Howitzer ws told &
she put 3 shells (Arthur watched them) one 
sent left - the first exactly on / gun itself,
/ second a few feet to / right, / third a few feet
to its left. The Turks immediately seemed to take
fright. They threw over bomb after bomb wh landed
abt 20 yds outside their trenches (wh are 100 
yds from ours).

Quiet - quite like a Sunday today. V. few shells.
I counted 404 men bathing or sunbathing 
Monday June 27 on the beach today & a lot more sitting down 
there half dressed, browning their back, & dressing or undressing.
Many of these chaps are much darker than Turks. The Turk
prisoners latrines are not far in front of our ridge, on the next
ridge, & I have excellent grounds for saying tt many Turks are
as white as Europeans. That accounts for all officers being put 
down by our men as German officers.

ARITHMETICAL TABLES

[not transcribed]