Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/15/1 - August 1915 - Part 3

15 Bn
on Aug 8
22
slope. 14^th got too far to rt 
up gully ending w d in Abdel
not slope ending w A as intended.
16^th followed 14 into head of
gully. Ts tried to outflank us
to rt. There was little digging.
Seeing it ws done J told our men to keep back
under cover of gully of Asma Dere
Men who crossed field were hit -
but not men who kept to N of it.
A.R. Spur ws not much dug in at tt
time.
Cd hear Ind Bde abt
4.50 but didn't hear of Tommies,
Never saw barbed wire
& never saw a trench. Only
gorse wh is very nearly
as good.

15 Bn.
Aug 8.
23

XV
Started 850 on 5^th
Had 280 on 8th
120 of them missing.

-----
Started w 26 officers
Finished w Col. Adjt. Dr. Padre & one other
all others were k. w. or m.

-----
15 men under Youden prob. surrendered
The Col. ws abt broken & done up
& his bn seems to have bn dead
fagged. I believe some of them are
sd to have thrown themselves
down too tired to fight or run
away. Turks are sd by a
wounded man to have stripped
these men & then shot them - but
the man ws badly wounded
& scared.
Cannan doesnt think they
were on the Kaiajik  - He thinks
it ws Asma.

24

18 Bn.
The 18 Bn. landed Aug 21^st or 20
ws ordered out in evening abt 2.30
or later on morning of Aug 22. to
round off Col. Russells positn on
Knoll 60. Everyone wanted "these
new Australians" - great big
cheery fellows whom it did your
heart good to see - quite the biggest
lot I have ever seen, & such a splendid
cheery contrast to our tired old fellows -
They were all eagerly asking questions
& they had two good points 1 an order
ran quickly down / line & 2 They
were quiet. For two days one ws
continually passing them going out
towards Bauchope's Hill where
Col Holmes had his H.Q. very
inquisitive as to how things were
going.  This night at 2.30 they
were ordered out to the left to
take trenches marked in map

25

That map was wrong. The C.D
trench certainly curls round the
Western side of Knoll 60

Diagram - see original
& I think it has two branches,
one going to the right & the other
bending back 

Diagram - see original
I am told by
Maj Grigor that trench JL goes to
a dead end. JK is held by
Sikhs Connaught Rangers &
Gurkhas & the 19^th Bn
has been put in on left
of Ghurkas to connect up
w / British who after
coming up excellently on
Aug 21 just to meet the
Sikhs suddenly fell back

26

1000yds. Goodness - I don't know / reason.
They had an enormous
artillery preparation & we had
none for our charge of Aug 21.

----
The 18^th had to come thro a
gate between Sikhs & Gurkhas
to deploy - arrived there 6.30
open daylight & deployed
under fire & charged up hill.
The first line ws led by Capt
Goodsell. They reached trench
& were going along it down
N. slope of hill when m.gs
got onto them. They came
out of tt part. Maj. Pope Lane
however still held part of
trench; but there ws T. trench
abt 20yds  away & he

27
ws attacked w bombs. The men
knew nothing abt bombs & gradually
withdrew down trench L.J. It seems
to me they met two unforeseen
trenches, but this may not be so.
Col Chapman  I went out on Aug 23
& found them being withdrawn
except small party of 50 who
were connecting NZ with Sikhs
in NZ  trench. The men in / trench
had / Maoris next them. As I
got into trench there ws a good
deal of firing from our men on
right - Maoris I think were
nervous. Every Australian ws
looking anxiously along his
bayonet at the scrub - and an
officer in spectacles ws saying
"- Quiet boys - quiet lads - I
dont want any of you to fire

28
unless he can actually see something
to shoot at." I told them I thought
the shooting ws simply panic.
They looked a bit anxious
but they weren't firing - & for
men who had been at it 36
hrs & who had never seen
action before tt wasn't bad..
The Ts might for all they knew
have been creeping up - or
might have rushed them any
moment out of the bush (wh acted
as their head cover).
I saw their Col. He clearly
hadnt the remotest idea of
what they had or hadnt done -
He ws saying in front of / men
that they had lost their confidence
that it ws wicked to put them in
tired as they were (why they were

29
"bucking their packs off"
as Milner put it compared w
our men. He ws sure they had bn
shot down by / N. Zealanders,
murdered by m.gs. They didn't
know the look of a bomb - 
they hadnt bn given time – it
wd have bn better to put them
in & tell them nothing (wh I
rather suspect is just abt
what the Colonel did for he
didnt seem to understand his
orders - "And now - they're blaming
me for this!" he sd in front of
them – clearly / first thing to
be done for the good of a good
regiment like this one is to
sack Col. Chapman. He sd
he wdnt act on orders

30
like those if he got them again.

-----
I saw Maj. Grigor in the
trench & Capt Blair outside
of it. Grigor told me he had
brought his men over but cdn't
find Dare when he got over
Kaiajik. He had to face a
very hot fire - but charged trench
& got a few Ts in it.
Some of them worked up /
right Commn trench into a
second trench - (those were /
fellows I thought were the 13^th.)
They went along with bombs
but the 13^th wd not up with
them & they didn't hold tt
part o / trench - Abt 12 went

31

on & they think some were cut
off; but two got back - I
cant help thinking the 100 men
of 13 & 14 cd have gone on.
The N.Z. ^men with them were withdrawn
& put in lower down - I must
find how this ws done. It
ws probably hotter where 13 &
14 crossed than where NZ
did - N.Z. seemed to think
it ws a very hot corner.
NZ  finally took not quite
up to / Commn. trench.
That night an extraordinary
thing happened. Abt 2.30
300 Turks were seen coming
out o / bush w rifles slung
- They stopped & a few