Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/26A/1 - April - May 1915 - Part 4

One of the 3rd Bn men had a trench next to a New Zealander - Capt (or
Lieut) Cowan. The order was passed along - prepare to charge. They
charged - the N.Z. man went furthest - although they could not see any 
Turks to charge. The N.Z. party got wiped out officer and all. The
message was passed ^ verbally to the officer o /  3rd Bn. 
This officer was in first place by now on the right of the brigade - Johnstons
Jolly or Lone Pine. He crossed it later to the North &
finally withdrew not Southwards but N.W. to the remainder of the battalion
wh he hit quite by accident - Wilsons trench - now
1st Bn (Steeles?) The men who crossed / Jolly on
their way back were knocked abt fearfully. (Everyone
agrees on this) Lear ws killed I think on Mortar ridge or the one w / hut & steps.
 

[*3 days.  Trenches*]
Tho' 3rd Bn ws on right of 3rd Bde
yet 3rd Bde H.Q. was on right of it
again - & scattered bits of 3rd Bde.

The 3rd Bn firing line had no supports.
After At first there were a few men
in a fire trench, supports in a dug outs
a little behind - 3 men in a dug out
& perh. 3 men a little behind tt.
But they became very weeded out.
Diagram – see original document

Men knew there ws no
support behind them
except the skulkers in
the gullies.

S.Bs had to go over top into trenches
unless they went all / way round from
/ left where / trench ran out eventually.
On Wed. they got commn trench
thro further down & by Thurs. they
had two more (the day they were
relieved).
[*Mond*]

Evans w machine guns on Monday
ws just behind firing line. They wanted
to get / Turks on a bit & so the order
ws given for m.guns to cease firing. The
man in charge of m.gs on left sd he
wdn't cease firing without order from 

a colonel. Evans ^ (enlisted in Syd.  Promoted at Mena) sd he wd go along & tell
him.  He went - &, as he did a came back a man
in one of the support dug outs ws hit. Evans
picked him up & carried him to safety -
& just as he got there he himself fell w 5 or
6 m.g. bullets in him. ^ Sergt Malone A.M.C. ws
by him and the bucket he ws carrying
ws hit & / bottom taken out of it by /
same xgun. Malone ws hit in 5 places
3 thro / cap, 1 thro the putty and boot,
one thro' the tail of his coat. As he worked
along half ^ a trench he wd find 10 or 15 men
to dress - by / time he got back to
/ other half there wd be 10 or 15 more -
& so it went on.

The Turks were mostly in / scrub
150 yds away or more.

Some isolated bits o / bn got
right across / gully behind German
officers trench / first day, but had
to come back.

Hospitals.
Jack was taken off to the
Seeang Chun abt 5 o'c. Their barge
ws put along side her - bumping into
her side w wounded partie men (serious
lying down cases) on board - One
man ws sick - J. holding his head -
& seemed likely to die. They shouted to
/ people who looked over / side but
took no notice - in / meanwhile
barge loads of lightly wounded were
walking on board; but these people cd not
do tt - they were / serious cases. Finally
they J. sent a note by a man addressed
to / senior doctor. He sd tt he ws a
personal friend of Gen. Bridges & a close
personal friend of Gen Birdwood, & tt
unless they were taken on board
at once he wd see tt an inquiry
ws held & tt all / evidence ws
well brought out. That finished /
matter - they were being brought
aboard within 10 minutes.

3rd Bn.                                          
Diagram – see original document
Battle outpost claims that it got 220 Turks.
Left the post on Wednesday and advised them needs to take over the post.  The trenches
were sufficiently improved to xxx do without a covering party.
[*Mond M'C. Aftn*]
On Monday when the message came along about the 29th division,
M'Clelland made them realise that they were Turks [shorthand] and shot them
They got on the sky line and there was Major Machonachie
shooting on our own men  We heard that fifty times MC
went on to 3rd brigade H.Q. and was told
I went along to trace it but could not trace it.
I didn't see MC but I saw their staff officer and they said there is not an Indian.
We are expecting Indian to be here in 2 days but not before 2 days.
[*Mond aftn*]
During Mond or Tues., at any rate when the Turks 
came along to the 3 Bn claiming to be Indians, L^t. Booth
of 12 Bn who ws there stepped out from front to see if they
were Indians & came back w / assurance tt they
were not. He ws soon after killed.

Capt Wilson had a trench just inside the edge from
Steele's.  His men swore by him for his cheerfulness.
He ws shot in an advanced trench & cd not be got back for 24
several hours. He died on Hosp. ship.

July 7th. 9^th Bn
770
1400 on pay sheet
500 rifles
3rd Bn.
25th
Moved on in dust. As each company complete it was moved off to such
places in the firing as appearing to be most pressing.  Joint instruction that the
Bn was to reinforce the left of the position of the 3rd Bde.
Enemy hotly engaged from the beginning and therefore trenches could not be made as
good as otherwise.  Fighting continued all night.  All positions were maintained
except advance battle trench.
On 26th the position was

26^th positn vigorously shelled (shrapnel and common shell)
10 a.m. Owen asked for ships guns on
238 - V - 4 and 224 K 5
as he thought the enemy's artillery was firing from there.
This fire almost ceased (ships opened at 11 am)
About noon noticed that the enemy were again coming
along Square 224 D and realising 
that it was of vital importance they should be stopped lest they should fill the whole
Valley SE of spur with snipers
I advised the officer in charge of a mixed force of 
N Zealanders and other troops who were on the spur to charge.

3rd Bn.
May 19.  Street & M C. were
in the 3rd Bn Sap - wh ws [shorthand]. M said
you shouldn't waste any of the stock.  "You buggers, go on we'll give you
allah you buggers."  3/4 Turks got on to the parapet and fired
into it. xxx Firing line at the back of the sap
M.C. "Go on xxxx they are running away they have got their backs turned"

Austin was in command of C & D.
A & B were in the sap
Machine gun in the sap jammed in a critical moment.
11 o'clock we were warned by the division that they were likely to attack.
They advertised the attack.  As soon as they came over the gully it was allah allah.
They were in full kit with blankets.
The attack lasted about a half an hour xx or ¾ hour.  Then they turned on to us
with shrapnel and we cleared the trenches a bit and allowed the supports to go
exactly like a [shorthand] hunt.  Never gave a thought to this.  Sat astride
on the parapet waving their hands over their heads.  Eggs White Cook
Backsheesh.
First lot let them.  Machine guns playing over them.  Then began to get back.
Some of them were [shorthand].  Lots had gone by the next morning.  Chap lying with his [shorthand]
[*down all day long.  They left 250 in front of our battalion. One officer went down with 30 men.  Took a bit to walk back to the Turkish trenches.
He tried to get them out but could not.  Then he came back to the little [shorthand] trench.  Presently he got up a run back from there to his trench
without a shot being fired out.
Our men were having
their tea  That was what
was [shorthand] them
at that time.
We missed a chance
at 8 o'c that day.*]
 

They appeared to have held the enemy for some time in check and to have
advanced during the day.  Trenches could not be made but 3 Bn
hung on. Trenches were weak.

[*This had been at a time
Moores [shorthand]
fired after a man*]

27. 4 pm. A very heavy attack of the enemy threatened on
centre of 3 Bn position and with the assistance of several officers
including Maj. Irvine RE Colonel Owen
covered about 200 men of various units and led them opposite the
threatened points as the threatened attack there swung round to the right and Major
Irvine came close to my position of reconnoitre.
Whilst doing so he was killed.  He had previously said reinforcements must go to the
right.
Lamb. B Co. Popes. & to right of Popes

A Co on right abt positn of 1st Bn.
C. Co. abt Courtneys. (Capt Lear's Co).

Battle outposts on N. side of German Officers trench ridge.

D in reserve
Street on left } Brodziac & Capt. Wilson in centre hit 28 April.
[shorthand] . }
Col. Brown had right.
M'C. on left of Brown (1 platoon of B. Co.)
Wilson on left of M'C.
Beacon        }  ws in charge of the battle outpost.
Macdonald }

(from next p. but one) to charge. Ts immediately fled. As they went the machine guns got on to them
(? Selbys machine guns - 4 of them massed on near Steeles) They one
officer told me that he thought the Turks were throwing themselves flat.  But they never got up again.  They seemed
to go down in rows. They were in grey, with longish coats.
Abt The same day a Turkish attack was made on the Apex. The Turks
were streaming down 700 & Walkers Top & down the gully behind Popes. Were
firing into the backs of our men along almost to Maclagans H.Q. They Col.
Owen was imploring the Navy to fire.  Maj. Irvine ws getting reinforcements
up to Quinns the left - & when he got to the top insisted on getting up with his field
(?) periscope to see what was about. Abt 100 people shouted to him to keep his head down because of
snipers on Walkers Top. (The same sniper that got Jack) He sd Snipers be
damned - got his head over & stood up where the level of the ground is about 6 ft
above the path. Immediately a sniper hit him in the back.  He stiffened himself
rigid & then collapsed into a dug out. He is buried up there where he fell. Maclaurin was hit [shorthand]
minutes but some distance away, near Maclagans old H.Q.
 

Evans.
There was a machine gun near the battle outpost and Brown sent him out to stop
it.  When he came back he went out to a wounded man
and was killed.
Tues & Wed the Turks got in behind Popes
Turks used to get over by Chess Bd. & behind
Popes. Col. implored the Navy to fire on them on Tuesday
They seemed to be in on Thursday Tuesday
Ap 25
Capt Lear was on Popes Quinns. (Capt Roche of 10^th there too.
Cowie ws at Quinns.
Capt Lear ws further up the Quinns Gully.
Diagram - see original document
Capt Burns was killed in front of
Courtneys the first day.
Left top of Quinns gully & dug in
300 yds in rear of where we were.
Maj. Lamb ws on left and was driving in.
We were getting fire from the behind our left shoulders.
We didn't see and single Turks.
Not so much shrapnel on that side. Walkers ridge and Popes gully they Turks were
getting down.  We saw about 1 o'clock figures in khaki
on our left rear.
Capt. Lear was killed about 4 o'clock when
ammunition was being passed up to the front line from paths wh acted
as communication trenches.
Col. Owen was practically in command of left of Centre - 

3rd Bn.

3rd Bn. Beacom says it occupied Quinns, Courtneys, Steeles, etc.
Rankine (afterwds Quinns) ws further to / left. Lamb had
Courtneys.  Beacom himself was sent on Sunday evening (in the valley all day) to take over an
advanced battle outpost down the gully to the south of German officers trench.
Diagram – see original document
The battle outpost was about 180 yards down this gully with a drop
abt 20 yds in front of it up to wh / Turks are creeping.
The Turks on J. Jolly were able to enfilade them by creeping amongst the bushes
& (?) tunnelling - (snipers were their chief anxiety) They were 14 hours without ammunitn &
30 hours without food but they had a spring of water
Attacks have [shorthand] where on Monday afternoon that an attack from the left was beaten off.  Monday night

pretty hot. Tues afternoon ws a bad about 4.30 a body of Turks were seen by them coming up on their left.
Beacom thought we're done.  He told Macdonald to keep down and not to fire.
[One sergt crept up J. Jolly one day & silenced a m.g. there].
These Turks came up in lines of 10 or 20 - with
perhaps 20 - sometimes 5 or 10 - yds betw. them. They were 

almost shoulder to shoulder. The men lining / hill top got / order

(See last p. but one)

M'Laurin was in H.Q. in reserve.
[*Mond aftn*]
Mond. afternoon Col. Owen about 2 o'clock went to Col.
M'Lagan to say there was an attack along Baby 700. He went
right down to Gen. Walker on Plugges Plateau.
Gen Bridges was there about 2 o'clock. Col. Owen got
the ships' guns to open fire and they put 6 or 7 shells right on them.
Captain Price was acting as adjutant.
[*Mond.*]
The 14th arrived at an awkward
time and were taken up by Lamb. They went up 
to the right of Popes hill (as far as my information goes)
In the confusion and difficulty of [shorthand] [shorthand] a mixed body of men I found it
necessary to personally lead them back to the right  I put them into the
trenches on the right of the battalion.  About this time Col MacLaurin
was killed and I was ordered to take temporary command of the brigade.
Maj. D.J. Bennett D.S.O. commanded.

7th.
Galeka.  The whole battalion except A Co. und Maj.
Mason much of clan M'Gill and whole of the 6^th
all under Colonel Elliott . dropped near at 4.45 exactly
up to time
No tows. Turks commenced shelling. Lt Commander Somerville
said you must land in ships row boats. I said it was contrary to
orders. The men wouldn't know where to go but if you give me the order
we will do it.  He said we should be sunk.
I ordered B Co under Major Jackson into the boats.
The first 4 boats pushed off north simultaneously and the instructions given by himself
and Somerville were to endeavour to land on the left of the 3rd brigade.
We could see the flashes apparently half way up the large hill.
First 4 boats went off with 140 men on board and Major
Jackson in command  Capt Leahy 2nd in command.
I have gathered from them that they passed a destroyer and Jackson
asked where was the landing. He pointed to the fisherman's hut.
Jacksons boat was leading and everyone in it was
killed and wounded except xxx 3 or 4 men
He was wounded. But when the boat grounded he jumped
out and pushed it forward.  3/4 were got
 

out. The losses were caused by machine gun fire from the
fisherman's hut and men in the trenches on the foothills.  The rest of the
men remained in the boats.  When the boats got there the men
dug into the sand and the Turks almost immediately withdrew.
Chapman was mortally wounded.  Leahy was
hit twice - Jackson 3 times Heighway

was hit through the chest and had his rib broke.
2 of these boats are there still  They could not [shorthand] being
[shorthand]. Later a tow came down and J. sent 2
of them off filled with wounded. Jackson advanced and 
took up a Turkish trench 200 yards from the beach.
They sent to the nearest Americans and got some assistance.
J. sent a message round to me to say he was looking
after the wounded and as soon as the wounded were
got off he would xx rejoin the rest of the battalion.
J. later left Leahy there and joined the battalion and
all that were left after his 150 were 35 men.

7th
In a 5th boat the remainder of B Coy under Left Swift

and this boat for companies under [shorthand] Grills in which the colonel got.
We started to row across and when we got 400 yards from the
shore a pinnace came and took both boats in tow

and landed us in Anzac Cove x just south
of the north cape.  We were under shrapnel but noone was
hit. It just missed us. We got the men under
cover and looked for Maj Glasfurd or Maj
V. Stuart. I was told they were not yet ashore.
I asked for the next senior officer Colonel Maclagan
and was told he was up the gully to the left near the top of the
first hill.  I went up there   Found Colonel Macl.
and had a conversation with him.  He said the original plan could not
be carried out and told me to collect my battalion
down on the extreme right of the position under [shorthand] hill.  I
sent Swift & Grills to collect there.  As
boatload after boatload came ashore we sent them round
to form up on the south end of the beach.  I spent the longest
time trying to find Jackson
I found that Mason had landed and Glasford
had sent forward Mason and battalion to where the
 

7th
Indian camp is now.  Under instructions Major
Blezard had sent C & part of D on to

MCays hill near the Razorback

and some of the 9^th where then on our right.
We found some changing the [shorthand] of the Turkish trenches
on the Razorback post.
While we were there Colonel M'C came ashore and
took charge and his instructions were that as the 5^th Bn had not
come ashore my battalion was to take up the role of the 5^th
Bn and advance up this ridge to 971.
We started with A company leading up the valley where
the first brigade H.Q. are.  We had just reached this
and Cd see Captain Hunter on the crest in front
of us (in command of D company killed afterwards)  Col M'C.
met me there and told me there was a gap in the
line straight in front and I was to put my battalion
in there and line the forward slope (I took these up
the slope towards K.T.)  I had to fill the gap between
the companies of the 9 Bn on my right and the 10^th
on my left.
Diagram - see original document
This was a sudden change. I had A C & part of D

7th
and had to collect the other part down below and push
the others from below as fast as I could get hold of them.
Henderson sent me a message back "been ordered to
advance 300 yards beyond the position you have assigned to me."
I could not find Jackson nor my machine gun.
The machine gun was xxx near German officers trench and I was
trying to find him.  I tried to get in touch with my
companies and wanted to know where the firing line was
and the 6^th Bn which was in rear of me was pushing
in.  I saw a [shorthand] of [shorthand] post.  As soon as I went up
on the crest to see how things were going a sniper
got me in the ankle.  Major Blez.
was shot just above the heart and seriously wounded just about the time
that Colonel M'C. spoke to me.
Grills   We advanced up to about the position of the present firing line.
We didn't know about digging in there.  All we knew was that
we were told to advance.  We were under shrapnel fire all the time going
across 400 from 971 and from the Olive
Grove.  Advance across 400 took about 1 hr.
On edge of 400 we came to a Turkish trench
facing across the plateau.  We got in there.  There were only
Diagram - see original document

7th
about 12 of us there.  We stayed in there a while sniping
and got a few.  We could see them skirmishing from bush to bush.
A 2 gun battery was firing on Boltons Green.
After we advanced across valley in xxx between xx J. Jolly and
L.P. when we could get up the other side we found another
little Turkish trench  A sniper's post which could hold about 4 or 5
men which was all I had with me at the time.  The others were
mostly at the edge of 400.  We could also see 2 gun
emplacements half way up the hill with guns in them firing.
I could see every shell being fired and the blue smoke of the
results on Boltons ridge (he means Green)  We could
see these guns 700 yards away  We tried to hit the men
[shorthand] them passing from one post to another.
The people we saw moving were in khaki.
In the meantime a group had advanced on the right and got
through dead man's ground and we could see the shells bursting over
them.  It appeared to me as though they had advanced from
that ground and then had retired and in retiring these guns
gave them a bad time.  That was 11 o'clock
About 7 o'clock they advanced again and these
same guns got at them again and they seemed
to retire again and these guns got at them again.

7th
At 11 o'clock soon after I got there I sent one
of the men back with a message to the 7^th Bn H.Q. and in the message marked the position of these
guns. At 12 o'clock I did the same  At 1 o'clock
I did the same   No results and no reply of xx our 
warships. 4 messages went back at this time. I 
wrote another message and then that I must inform H.Q.
and started to retire. We retired from Lone Pine

and then got up to the forward edge of 400 plateau
(J. Jolly) I went about 50 yards along and found
3 boxes of the 5 Bn machine gun ammunition. They were
full of bullets.  We got hold of these and were
carrying them back. As we were going back
about 100 yards from the edge of the ridge a shell burst about 5 yards
away and killed 3 or 4 men lying behind a
little knoll   At same time I was knocked over.  After
a few seconds I xx got up.  I had been hit.
I came a bit further and saw a company of the 6th under
Maj Wells. I asked if he knew where the HQ
was but he didn't know. I left xxx  I got back to find
Bn H.Q.  There was no battalion. We saw 8^th
6^th 7^th 9^th.  I slipped down 20/30 feet of
sand [shorthand]  Some signallers picked me up.  The [shorthand] of the 7th
 

7th
Henderson

handed a message in which they telephoned and the warships between 5 & 5.15
opened on to these 2 guns and they didn't fire any more.
They were guns screened by brushwood. There was no emplacements.
I was then sent to collect some of the 7^th on the right

of M'C. ridge and all I could find were about 30.
We had instructions to dig in on that line and eventually
dug in and held on to the line. The Turks made 
repeated attempts with snipers to drive us out.  They brought a machine
gun up pretty close. It sounded 200 yards away.
We had not a continuous line. About 11 o'clock they were
looking for gaps in the line to fill up. 
By the morning we had a fairly continuous line. We had 
to get into them from the top.  No communication trenches.
You could see the flashes about 50 to 100 yards away.
We held them there till morning then we began organising 

and we were called out of the trenches about 9 o'clock.
I was then told to take this party of 30 over to Battalion H.Q.
on the North slope of Happy Valley between edge of 
400 and present 3^rd brigade.
Capt Henderson was in charge
2 senior majors and colonel being shot.  He tried to secure the