Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/223/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 8

8^th Bn Bullecourt & Pasch
Lt P. Lay 8th Bn of Bullecourt
& Paschendaele ws to /
mystery expedition to Baghdad & 

& Baku. Present positn unknown.

8^th Bn. Landing: ( Col. Trail)
8^th went up from Mudros
in Clan MacGillvray. In front of
Anzac transferred to the
Ribble - & from here onto
tow boats. Trail ws on
2nd boat of 1^st Tow & ws a

m.g. sergt (just gn his stripe
tt day). One shell dropped
almost on top o / boat at /
landing - one sailor ws K & 3
Australians wd. & a hole
made thro’ / boat. She began to
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sink. They had bn rowing
for a few minutes by then.
The next boat ws unloading.
Traills boat began to unload
seeing this, & bec. she ws ½ full
of water. Traill had to hold his
m.g. over his head. The [[fats?]]
were putting it right onto /
boats on / beach (one shell got

Into a few just as they got ashore.
Just then / Bacchante ws steaming
in to deal w this. The
Gaba Tepe guns wd have caused a
lot of casualties if / Bacchante
hadn't dealt with it.
On landing on / main beach
they dropped all / gear & went
over Brisbane point by / Nek (there 
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70a 

Diagram - see original document
 

ws an Indian offr there siignalling
to / fleet & guide at / same
time. He motiond them on.
They assembled in Shrap. Gully
on their own & then were told
to move up / gully. They
had assembled on / back slopes
of McCay’s Hill.
They moved up to Shell
Green. Crossing this they 
got heavily shelled from
quarter left - possibly Scrubby
Knoll.  Went over / top.
& on getting into / wheat
crop over / top came under
rifle fire. There they saw
a lot of Turks. They were
coming round up the Gully &
running into / crop from S.
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There they were told tt /
rt flank ws well ahead. They
cd see troops going across
Pine Ridge - they were going
forwd. 8^th were told they were
our troops (tho there ws a doubt
abt it). However they were told
to support these troops in / centre.
Col Gertside sd this & gave /
order to get on. Col Field ws
by T. & Ts gun ws in action -

Capt Sargent ws K just before going on / edge of / crop,

[*by a shell & Lt Barry wd by / same shell.*]

(The gun ^had knocked a few o /

Ts who had come up / gully
& they cleared). Bn then
crossed / gully S. of / wheat crops,
saw there some of these Ts dead, &
got onto / reverse slope of
Lone Pine. T. had 2 guns in
action there w any amt of
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targets ^firing at the Ts who had bn
coming round / gullies on / 
right, in behind / men who
had bn ^seen on Pine Ridge. The
Turkish shrap. got onto / two 
guns  agn there & made it too
hot to do anything.  They were
then in little slits of T. trenches -
infantry trenches well camouflaged 
w trenches - ^being posts for 5 or 6 men.
Abt 2 Coys of Bn & the 2 mgs
wd be there - Ammn Carriers
o / guns wd be all lost by then. The

other 2 Coys remained w Col Field
on / shoreward edge of / crop
on / crest of / hill. The reason ws
tt they got a counter order tt it
ws not certain if these were our
troops on Pine R. or not - so to
73 

make sure they kept / two
Coys there. They got an order tt
they were not to advance till
further orders - it ws well on
in / aftrn. The Ts began to
work in on the left – the 3rd
Bde ws on / left & these 2 Coys
of 8 were mixed w them &
the 3rd Bde & 8^th were getting
it very hot. Capt Possingham
then came out himself & told
them they were too far ahead &
must fall back before dark
& take up a defensive line.
This ws done - all moved abt
200 yds more rt & took up
a defensive line thro /
crop. The rt flank ws xxxx
down on / bushes where / Turkish
tents were & they joined 6 Bn there.

By then there were scatterings
of 7^th & 6^th & probly 12 Bn there.
They dug in a bit by dark
& had a pretty good line.
The shelling eased a lot at
dusk - the 2 guns had bn
silenced before 8^th left Lone Pine
because xx T ws able to get
his 2 guns into action agn
there. The Ts, before we came
back, were trying all / time
to get into / gully & were dominating
us by fire from / rt end of L. Pine
Plateau.  On the After dark /
Turks were accumulating in
/ gully S. of / crop. Fortunately
they made a lot of noise -
singing out, whistling, trumpets
going - they seemed to be rallying
75 

their men: & trying to get a
little enthusiasm into them.
We knew (from 2 scouts out)
exactly where they were.
This noise occurred when
they were rallying their men.
Presently it ws as tho / band struck
up ^altogether only all out of tune. Word ws
passed down to say they were coming.
We cdnt see them - but stood to at
once. They Ts came up in a body
at / bottom o / crop & attacked
from / far end of / crop & right
round to / right & left as far
as cd be seen by / rifle flashes
& poured in a heavy fire.
At the S. end o / crop / attack ws
heaviest as, tho steep, it gave
a splendid chance of assembling
76 

They seem to have attacked in
one long line, w 2 or 3 waves
just at this point, bayonets 
fixed (we found next day.) &
full marching order. We kept
up all / fire tt we cd, firing as
hard as cd be done. Had to
go steady w / m.gs. as / ammn
supply wasnt too good. T. used
15 boxes betw / two guns tt 
night - i.e. 3750 rounds. They
had a big effect. The rifle fire ws v.
straight. There were a fair no of
casualties from / T. fire (especially

from / crossfire from / rt). This
fire. seemed especially to be from
Pine Ridge - tt eased off when / attack
started showing some sort of coordination
There ws one direct attack a few
hrs aftr dark (abt 3hrs). Then desultory 
fighting all night. Abt 2 am. before
/ light grew they made a similar
 

attack, quite as energetic as 

/ last one. That didnt get so for
as / other, because they cd be
seen dimly - they crept up in
/ crop wh hid them well. This
attack ws repulsed in / same
way. By / mg. there ws a
Ap 26. lot of movement abt Lone Pine,
men dodging in & out of the
Tea trees, & occupied / little trenches
wh 8 Bn had bn in there - so
8th knew where to fire – these 
Ts came up / same gully.
On night of Ap 26/27 there
ws another similar attack
probably stronger in rifle fire – it
ws terrific - probly an attack
under covering fire. Also m.g.
fire. The fire ws from / trenches - not
from / troops coming upon the - they 
only fired when they got close up
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