Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/26B/1 - April - May 1915 - Part 8

of them abt 60 yds away.
It was continual sniping
all / night & we had bayonets
fixed awaiting an advance.
On Wednesday we relieved
Capt Coltman of some other Battalion.
On Tuesday reorganisation
began. On Wednesday night or
Tuesday night I got orders to
relieve Coltman. The field of fire
in front of me ws very short.
Turks assembled in / valley
for attack tt night. They didnt
charge. They came up to / top of
that ridge, & snipers got to within
a few yards of our trenches,
& blazed away all they could.
One Turk got up behind a small
pimple in / trench.
——/—

Layh - 7th Bn.
Landing.

7^th Bn. was ready. Naval
officer gave us instructns to
land to the N. of the 3^rd Bde.
Three platoons of B Coy who
were put in / row boats &
told to row themselves ashore,
to land about one mile
North of the 3^rd Bde.
We started off & saw the
Red X Flag of the 3rd Bde put
up on / beach, & we made
to / North of tt. We made for
Fishermans Hut. We could see the
knoll & we made for that. We didnt
know it was Fishermans Hut, but
we went to / knoll for cover.
As we got close / Turks

opened fire with machine guns &
rifles. We could hear / firing &
see / shrapnel opening over / other
boats.
From ahead of us & over the Knoll,
500 yards to / south, there was a m.g.
there. They didn't get on to us direct.
They were cutting / water up ahead
of us & we were rowing into it. We
were 200 yds from / shore. It was
abt 5.45 a.m. I think. It was a
long row. It seemed as if there were
more than one machine gun on us &
certainly a lot of rifles. I thought 2
machine guns.
When we got under fire, 5 out of
the 6 rowers were shot down, but
others jumped to / oars & / boat
did not stop. I was in / bow o /

boat looking down into / boat
trying to cheer / fellows up. I
saw Lieut. Heighway, who ws
at the tiller, sliding forward into /
boat & starting to kick. We just
hit the shingle at that moment.
I sung out to / men to disembark.
I threw myself down at / side o /
boat & got shot through / hip.
I turned again to see if / men
had landed & was shot in / leg.
I made for / little sand hummocks
on the beach & took cover behind
them.
I thought we were done because
when I got under cover I called, &
all / men I could get to answer
(out of my boat) was only six. They
were pouring in a heavy fire at

us. The fire was coming from
the knoll above Fishermans Hut.
There was a trench above the
knoll.
The trench was so old that on
the overhead cover there were bushes
growing - probably put up in
the Balkan War. We thought / fire
was coming from the Hut because
we cd not see the Hut. We poured
in as heavy _^a fire as we could, &
I was afraid they were sure to come
down & attack us. I ordered /
men to fix bayonets & show them
above / sand hummocks. We had
hardly done this when / fire
ceased. We mustered up our men
& found we had about 30.
Maj. Jackson went along

[Hand drawn sketch, please see original]

Big green patch to the South. We
saw some men try to advance toward
us from this, & they were shot down.
—————————
the beach to ask the Field Ambulance
to send Stretcher bearers to help our
wounded. Mr Scanlon & myself
went forward & occupied / trench
tt / Turks had occupied above
Fisherman's Hut, & occupied / trench
on / rear slope o / hill in case they
should come back at us. The
ambulance asked us if we wd
hold / hill until they got all /

wounded away, & we promised
to do it. We sent away 2
boat loads of wounded. a Trawler
came & towed them away. The
stretcher bearers came &
carried / remainder along /
beach to / field ambulance.
I sent message: 7^th Bn.
—————
2 officers & 30 men are holding
Knoll above landing place until
wounded removed. We'll then
join battalion.
S. H. Layh Capt
B Coy
There was one white boat further
South.
They got as many o / wounded
as they could. At abt 2.30
or 3 the Turks opened fire again.

& started to attack that hill.
They attacked us from /
front & started a flanking
movement round / hill to get
between us & our force.
I decided to try & rejoin
/ battalion, &, with this purpose
we retired down / gully on
/ northern side o / hill, back
on to / beach. They followed
_^held us up there w a machine
gun. for two hours before
we could move. We gradually
worked along / beach & got
back to this ?hospital about 8p.m.
I then reported / party (about 18
left). to Maj. Glasfurd who instructed
them to go back up & reinforce
the 3^rd Bde. I went to / dressing

station & was sent out to /
Hospital Ship.
——
In / afternoon we saw our
own men retiring back along
/ beach.

Casualties: 1st Day:
2k. 3 died of wounds. In / boats
Chapman
Henderson
Duvee 2k. 3 d.of w. 14 wd. (22)

78 killed. 368 wd. 70 missing.
29 Officers came ashore.
——
To July 7 Bn has lost
35 offrs & 850 men.
6^th has had 16 offrs killed
—————————
At Helles 7^th ? had

The Marines. Wed. Ap 28^th
Glasfurd saw the
marines in / trenches on
Wednesday afternoon, their
first day. He told them to
dig in. They were between
the 13^th (?15^th). & the 6^th, & had
dug some extraordinarily bad
trenches. They had just a hole for
each man. You had to jump over
/ surface between & get down into
each hole – So Glasfurd is sure tt he
told their men & certainly their officer.
But they didn't improve their
trenches. They didn't work at all
by day, & were shot at when they
tried to work at night. Their
Officers & N.C.Os suffered heavily