Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/14/1 - August 1915 - Part 6

13-14-16.
15 in reserve.
16 in touch w Indians. We
started burial parties  & spent afternoon getting
Ammn - getting away wounded,
digging trenches & looking for [[shorthand]],
gathering arms & equipment. Consolidated positn.
Abt 5. 30 Gen Cox sent for me to
discuss their offensive next morning.
I got orders at 7 o’c to take part in
gen advance, to attack w
such troops as I cd (surplus)
up Abdul R. Spur so as
to draw enemy down
spur from attacking other way.
As I considered the idea tt

4. 30 time of
attack 

I hadnt eno’ troops & those exhausted
Gen Cox arranged for me to have 
added temporarily 1 Bn K.O. Lancaster
regiment. This battalion reported at 9 pm &
ws put in trenches at 2 am
relieving 14 & 16 Bns. My
plan ws to leave 13, &
with 15, 14, 16 form an
assaulting col. 15 advance guard
14 & 16 main body.  We
issued from trenches at 3 am
& for abt 1000 yds
marched in col. of route
entirely unmolested. But
just as the head of column reached the

turn of the spur to / S. we
reached foot of A.R. Spur - 
& came under very heavy fire. They
got scattered – lost 1000 men -
I sent back word tt I cdnt advance
any further than positn
we had reached- I required
support of at least 2 new bns or
instructions as to where I was to dig in where
I was or withdraw behind
defensive line. Abt. 5 o'c am
I got instructions from M.G. Cox to withdraw
behind my defensive line after
evacuating all wounded.
I detailed Capt Rose to

command rear guard w 4
mgs & one platoon. During advance
bayonet only. Fire ws coming from
gullies on both sides & from summit.
15^th lost at least 400.
Rose put up a splendid fight
& mowed down c. attack after
c. attack down the ridge &
mowed down enemy.
There ws a lot of bravery in
evacuating wounded & withdrawal
ws complete by 8.30.
On Sund aft. about 5 p.m.
enemy made a counter attack
on rt front of 13 Bn (&
left front of KOLR) & this ws repulsed

Ghurkas got up on Sund
morning and we put through 2 rounds and after
20 minutes saw the enemy.
(This is a note concerning
the Ghurkhas getting to the crest
on Mond. - the first I had heard
of it, I think. "Sund." is an error).
C.E.W.B. 24/5/23
 

w little diffy & much loss
to enemy. 

Since then fellows have
dug wonderfully - & lost
comp. few men - Brit.
units around them lost
heavily.
Kings own in our trenches
lost nearly 200 men
incl. 2 Majors K. in 2
days. 13 Bn didnt lose 30.

It is quite clear to me tt Monash
did not know where his bde got to
on Sund morning. Dare says definitely
tt he went up after 15^th along ridge
on other side of Kajalik Dere - on wh
Turk trenches now are - he pointed me
out the place they turned up (wheatfield)
& place the 15^th got broken at (scrub)
& place he himself got to - all on
tt spur - & he says he cd have
stayed there.
Lock thinks he led them up
Abdul Rahman spur.
Clearly they ought to have had
some one to guard their left. If there
ws any opposition at all on
the Saty from directn of Abdul R,
they were sure to be c-attacked
from there. It was a hopeless sort
of attack - utterly in the air.
Diagram - see original document

Monash used / same formatn as
had Turks when they swept over
Chunuk Bair. It was a German
formation - battalion mass
- platoon columns, one platoon in
line behind each other. The T.s came
over the ridge at abt 5 am
on Tuesday in this formation

Diagram - see original document
& the naval guns &
artillery simply
swept them away. Bodies
went into the air at every
burst. Then they came over
as coys in line - finally
in 5s & 6s - but 5 or 6 ws
enough for a shrapnel shell
to be sent at them. They

were being pounded from
the rear as well as from the
front. One battery fired (they
say) 1500 rounds. Eastwood
thinks the T's must have lost
4000 dead & certainly the
sandy slope under Chunuk Bair
is still ghostly w dead bodies.
During the day the wounded were
trying to crawl up over the
dead.
Elfect Saw a wretched little
black dog pup loping along the
beach today, in & out - disappeared
in direction of Suvla. Wonder where
he came from.
Gellibrand calculates that the Olive

Gen Godley’s
Report

Grove gun - (Beachy Bill) has already
accounted for 1000 casualties on the beach.
He cant be far out.
Attack on Sari Bair Aug 6-10.
Gen Godley's Report
13 Div of new regiment.
NZ Inf Bde.
29 (Brit) Inf. Brig. 10^th Divn
4 Aust. Inf. Bde.
29 Bde Ind. Inf. (Sikhs & Gurk)
1 & 3 Bdes Aust L.H.
N.Z. M.R. Bde.
1 Bn Maoris
with NZ & British 18 pdrs & hows - Bde of Ind.
Mountain Arty, NZ Engrs, NZ & Aust
Supply of the ammunition services

(1) Otago, Cant, Well, Auck MR. & Maoris
under B. Gen A.H. Russell (a N.Zlr) & 4^th
S.W. Borderers & 5 Wiltshires under
B. Gen. J.H. Travers formed covering force
for gen attack on Sari Bair

They drove enemy from nearer T. posts w bayonets.
Right assaulting col. (N.Z. Inf Bde.
1 Coy NZ Engrs
Ind. M. Batty)
Commanded by B. Gen. F.E. Johnston
a N. Zealander of N. Staffordshire Regt)
Left assaulting Col. under Brig. Gen H.V.
Cox (29 Ind Inf Bde, 4 Aust.
Inf Bde under B. Gen J. Monash
Field Co. N. Z. Engrs & Ind M Batty)
Both these columns after night march
thro' diff muster established themselves
at foot of Massif of Chunuk Bair
(886 ft high)
Meantime 1 & 3 ALH Bdes under B. Gns Chauvel
& Hughes had contained (by fire & bombs)
a large N^o of Ts in front of Quinns Popes
& Walkers. At 4.30 they dashed
out & "cleared out the T. trenches nearest
to them; but more than this they were
unable to accomplish & they then withdrew
to their own lines." Continued to contain