Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/229/1 - December 1918 - February 1919 - Part 3

Jan 30. Sailed in Princess Ena

an old Southhampton St Malo

fol packet which has

been running ferry trips

between Salonica & Mudros

for two years.

Jan 31. At sea all day.

Feb 1. Arrived in Evening at

Suda Bay, Crete. The old

Minnewaska is on the rocks

Feb 1. All outside - the ship I

landed from at Anzac.

Feb 2. Sailed at 11 a.m. from

Suda Bay.

Feb. 3 At sea all day. Reached

Mudros at dusk. Stayed

on board all night.

Feb. 4. Rest Camp at Lemnos

near site of our old No 3 A.G.H.

walked to Thermac.

Feb 5. Walked to Varos - after

seeing graves at E. Mudros.

On return got a wire phone

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message from M.LO ^Capt Woodruff to say

we were to go straight to

Princess Ena sailing at 6pm.

Feb. 6. At dawn this morning

we were off Imbros -

going round the N. Side

of it. Round foot of Peninsula, past

old breakwater ships & River Clyde into Dardanelles.

Many 8 gun forts. L At Chanak, where our party

landed, Wilkins & I left them & went

on to Constantinople to arrange obtain if possible 

details details of Turkish side of campaign

Feb 7. at Constantinople. went to G.H.Q. - Maj. Cameron helped
us.
Feb 8. ^went to Turkish War Office - Col. Murphy & Col. Crawford promised to

help.

Feb 9. Woods SangDined with Harold Woods formerly of Anzac Corps

Intelligence

Feb 10. ^Saw Gen. Deedas

Feb 11. Wires- ^sent to to Eng. & Australia. Embarked on board Kapurthala

Feb. 12. On Kapurthala

At our Camp near K. Bahr a cemetery of

3000 Turkish graves incl 3 Germans of

Pioneer detachments k. in Aug. & one

Greek doctor

Feb. 13. Sailed on Kapurthala for Chanak.

Feb. 14. Arrd at Chanak. Found messine

crossing today with 5 horses, limber & 4 mules

& working pty of 8 English soldiers provided

by 28th Divn (at Chanak) & G.R.O. Kilid Bahr.

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Feb 1x  Stopped night at old
- Turk hospital near Cham

Burnu where 7^th L.H. were camped last month.

Feb. 15. This mor Last night near

our camp we noticed four crosses.

We went over & found a cemetery

Went to Anzac passing camp

of Lt F. Hughes, Anzac Field Troop,

Aust. Engrs (& Sergt Woolley his

Asst). We Camped in Legge Valley.

Feb 16. Went over cemeteries

with Hughes.  Result of this

is in xx reports wh I

sent in wrote tonight for

cabling to High Commr & to

Austlia.

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Feb. 17. Party went over the

Track followed by H.V. Howe, 11 Bn, on Ap. 25 1915.

Party went to the N. side of Ari Burnu for its starting

point & Buchanan marked the following points on his

map at my request.

(1.) Landing of Howe's boat (one of Drake Brockman's 
tow). This boat struck the shore N of Ari Burnu

coming in the direction

shown. One boat (left ofboat 

covering force) was still
Hand drawn diagram - see original document

further left (N) by abt 100 yds. Howes party threw

off its packs & started up the scrub immediately

climbing one of the underfeatures (marked by

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Buchanan's tracing) of Plugges Plateau.

As they went up they saw one or                        

2 Turks moving on skyline.

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

(2) Position where these Turks were seen.

(3) Position of shallow Turkish Trench

(photographed by Wilkins) which

was first trench met with. One

Turk lying down in it captured.

(W photographed the shore from this trench to show view wh. Turks had).

(4) Where Howe understood Annear to have been killed - on parapet

of shelte Turk trench on summit. Howe got on top about (2).

[Turks were then running back towds right on Plugges Plateau

but 10^th & 9^th were reaching top of Maclagan's Hill & these

T's were left to them by D/B. orders.]

From where Howe reached the top, two Turk trenches ran

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in direction of Wire Gully - which shows from here as a

break in the ridge

across Shrapnel Valley.                   

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

Plugge's Plateau rises markedly to the N.

Towds. left top corner of the plateau   
Hand drawn diagram - see original document                   

two Turks jumped up, shot ^Pte Batt

beside Howe & ran off.

Howe went on this way & reached the edge of Rest Gully

looking down on it from a high scrubby point just

on the inland side of the knife edge ridge connecting

it with Walkers. Here D/B began to reorganise the

11^th Bn. There were two Ts here, one dead, one badly

wd with brain hanging out. D/B tried to give him morphia.

Turk ws reaching for his water bottle & one man put it

in his hand.

Evidently 

Sketch A

xxx 233/1

C.ew.B.

7/8/47

At this stage it was light. Turks were moving

at Wire Gully. Our men, Howe thinks, were

by this time (½ hr later) moving up the Northern

face of M'Cays Hill - advancing

Hand drawn Diagram - see original document

D/Bs Coy moved down from Plugges by a winding

path (There are two paths - this was the Northern

most) (see sketch in field note book - taken from (6))^X

(5) Turk tents.

(6) Where D/Bs Coy reorganised under edge of Rest Gully

They were ½ hour at 6.

28.

From here they moved up Shrapnel valley. (Near the

Pick handle stuck in ground - wh men thought a mine -

at junction of Rest & Shrapnel valleys - someone gave

Howe a box of ammn to carry).

In Shrapnel Valley salvoes of 3 shrapnel shell

from direction of 971 began.

(7) Point where Howe found Maclagan on 2nd Day

(later 5^th Bn HQrs. Maclaurin ^later k. just above it and

few yds to left).

At corner where Shrap. Valley turns into Monash

Gully    
Hand drawn diagram - see original document                                    
(past gully on left

which is unnamed)

200 men were

sent off to look for

Snipers who were thought to be on / spur marked ↓