Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/26B/1 - April - May 1915 - Part 10
Turks to charge. The NZ pty
was wiped out, officer & all.
The message was passed
verbally to I officer of the 3rd
Bn.
Sketch
[MacConaghy
Battle outpost
3rd Battalion
which reinforced 3rd Bde.
(on MacConaghy's Information (his position)
Battle outpost claims that it got 220
Turks. Left I post on Wednesday
& advised them not to take over
I post. The trenches were sufficiently
improved to do without the covering
party.
Sund night
(Butler) On Sunday night a
platoon under Butler got orders to
go forward & dig in 60 yards
ahead o I line.
Sunday night attacked &
digging in. Men all had
entrenching tools & would dig
as long as no target, & fire
when got target.
Monday: They (Butlers pty) lay out
under shrapnel.
(Malone) or Brown)
Evans w I machine
guns on Monday ws just behind
I firing line. They wanted to get
I Turks on a bit, & s0 I order
was given for machine guns to
cease firing. The man in charge
on I m.gs on I left sd he would
not cease firing without orders
from a colonel. Evans (who enlisted
in Sydney & ws promoted at Mena)
sd he wd go along & tell him, He
went -& as he came back a man
in one o I support dugouts was hit.
Evans picked him up & carried him
to safety, &, just as he got there, he
himself fell with 5 or 6 machine gun
bullets in him. Sergt. Malone
A.M.C. was with him & I bucket
Malone was carrying ws hit & I bottom
taken out of it by I same gun. Malone
ws hit - 3 shots thro his cap, 1 thro
I putty & boot & 1 thro I tail of his
coat & ws not wounded ^then. As he
worked along half a trench he
would find 10 or 15 men to
dress. By I time he got back to I
other half there wd be 10 or 15
more - & so it went on.
The Turks were mostly in I
scrub 150 yds away or more.
______________
On Monday afternoon [MacConaghy] when
I message came along about the
29th Divn. McClelland made I men
realise th these were Turks by
shooting them. They got on I sky
line & therefore maj. MacConaghy
ordered them to shoot at them.
"shooting on your own men!"
-some o I men wd say. We heard
th fifty times. (sd MacC. to me
telling I story). I went along to
3rd Bfe Hqrs & was td no
Indians were here. I went along
to trace th report & I cd not trace
it. I didnt see MacLagan but
I saw their staff officer & they
sd: "There is not an Indian
-we expect I Indians up here in
two days but not before 2 days".
When I Turks came along
to the 3rd Bn claiming to be Indians
Lt Booth of 12 Bn, who ws there, stepped
out from front to see if they were
Indians & came back w I assurance
th they were not. He ws soon after
killed. Capt. Wilson had a trench
just inside I edge from Steele's.
His men swore by him for his
cheerfulness. He was shot in an
advanced trench, & cd not be
got back for 24 hours. He died
on Hospital ship.
(Col. Owen)
On Monday afternoon Col.
Owen, abt 2pm., went to Col.
MacLagan to say there was an
attack along Baby 700. he
went right down to Ge, walker
on Plugge's Plateau. Gen Bridges
ws there abt 2pm Col. Owen
got I ships guns to open fire
& they put 6 or 7 shells tight
on them. Capt. Price was acting
as adjutant.
The 14 Bn arrived at an
awkward time & were taken up
by Lamb. They went up to I
right of Pope's Hill (as far as
my information goes C.EW.B.)
In I confusion & difficulty of
handling such a mixed body of
men "I found it necessary" (sd
Col. Owen) "personally to lead them
back to the right. I put them
into I trenches on I right o I
battalion. About this time
Col. MacLauren was killed & I
was ordered to take temporary
command of I Bde. Maj.
Bennet D.S.O commanded Bn
(was this then on Tuesday that 14 Bn
went up?)
CEWB.
^(Sergt Malone) On Tuesday Malone had to
relieve a trench containing about
14 men dug on the Sunday about
20 yds from any one else They
had no communication till
Wednesday. Like every one else,
they were in an odd bit at
first; & they had
no water since the
Sunday. By the
Tuesday they had
only 8 whole men left. They
had had no officer nor N.C.O.
& consisted of 3rd Bn, 3rd Bde,
New Zealand, & all sorts.
The 3rd Bn was on I right o I
3rd Bde ^(?), yet 3rd Bde Hqrs ws on
right of it again -& scattered bits
of 3rd Bde. The 3rd Bn firing line had
no supports. At first there were a
few men in a fire trench, supports
in dug outs a little behind - 3
men in a dug out & perhaps 3
men a little behind that. But
they became very Sketch
weeded out. Men knew
there was not support
behind them except I
skulkers in I gullies.
S/Bs had to go over top into
trenches unless they went all I
way round from I left where I
trench ran out eventually. On
Wed. they got comm trench
thro further down & by
Thurs. they had two more.
(The day they were relieved).
(Beekin)
Beekin says 3rd Bn occupied Courtney
Steele's etc. Rankine (afterwds Quinns) ws
further to I left. Lamb had Courtneys.
Beekin himself was sent on Sunday
Evening (he had bn in I valley all day) to take
over an advanced post battle outpost
down I gully to I south of German officers
trench.
The battle outpost Sketch
was about 180 yds
down this gully
with a drop about
20 yards in front of it
up to which the Turks would creep. The Turks
on J. Jolly were able to enfilade them by creeping
down amongst the bushes & (?) tunnelling. (one
sergeant crept up J. Jolly one day & silenced a machine gun there).
Snipers were their chief anxiety. They were
14 hours without communication & 30 hours without
food but they had a spring of water.
The attacks they noticed were on Monday
afternoon when an attack from I left was
beaten off. Monday night was pretty hot.
Tuesday afternoon abt 4.30 a body of
Turks were seen by them coming up on
their left. Beekin thought: "We're done!" He
told MacDonald to keep down & not to fire.
These Turks came up in lines of 10 or 20,
with perhaps 20, - sometimes 5 or 10 - yards
between ^the lines. They were almost shoulder to
shoulder. The men lining I hill top (got i.e.
on Beekins left rear?) got I order to charge.
Turks immediately fled. As they went, I machine
guns got on to them (?Selby's ^machine guns - 4 of them
massed near Steeles). One officer told me that h
thought (at first) th I 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.
The same day a Turkish attach was made at
the angle of our position (Quinns, Pops etc). The Turks
were streaming down 700 & Walkers Top & down
gully behind Popes, & were firing into I backs of
our men along almost to Maclagans HQ. Col Owen
was imploring I navy to fire. Maj Irvine ws
getting reinfts up to I left -& when he got to I top
insisted on getting up with his periscope to see
what was about. About 100 people shouted to him
Caot Beam sent a note by
a man addressed to the
senior doctor. He said th he
was a personal friend of Gen
Bridges & a close personal friend
Gen Birdwood, & th xx unless they
were taken on board at once he
wd see th an inquiry was held
& th all evidence was well
thought out.
Tht finished I matter -
they were brought aboard within
10 minutes.
Hughes Guns
In the early days infantry of
10th, 9th, 3rd, & even N.Z. Batt
came to Hughes, commdr of 8th (?) Bty
for orders in th part o I line on
Boltons Ridge.
Hospital .Carriers
day of landing
Capt JW B Bean aamc., M.D of
3rd Bn, was taken off ^wounded to the
Seeang Chun abt 5pm. Then
barge loads of wounded was put
alongside her, bumping into
her side w wounded men (aerious
cases lying down cases) on board.
One man was sick - Capt B holding
his head - & seemed likely to die.
They should be I people who looked
over I side but took no notice -
In I meanwhile boatloads of
lightly wounded were walking
on board. But those in I barge w
Capt Bean could not do this
-they were serious cases. Finally
to keep his head down (Maj Brown told me this
CEW.) because of snipers on Walkers Top.
This was I same sniper who had hit Capt. Bean.
Irvine sd: "Snipers be damned!" He stood up
where I level of the crest is about 5ft above I
path. Immedly a sniper hit him in I back.
He stiffened himself rigid & then collapsed into a
dugout. He is buried up there where he fell.
Mclaurin was hit within 5 minutes, but some
distance away, near Maclagans ^old H.Q.
(Lieut Butler 3 Bn.) Tuesday night at abt
5 bugle calls going all along Turk left or
left centre. About 8.30pm two Bns appeared
coming down from Baby 700 direction in arty
formation columns (r something like our fighting columns
-with two columns, apparently in fours).
When they came under fire
Sketch (at 200 yds away) they deployed
There was a company forward with the
outpost & one platoon was with drawn away
to I left under Butler. Abt 9pm. Butler
was hit. At this time some of these troops were
lying out w bayonets for 10 hours without
ammunition. The Turks came up I Gully & down
700, but seemed to break into small parties
under fire & did not come straight
The attack was beaten off. Our outpost
was finally withdrawn. These trenches are now behind th
Turkish fire.
Gallipolli Regt Record
Book 26
Typed 4/6/19
Translation
Translation from Shorthand
of
Book 26
AWM38 3DRL 606 ITEM 26B [1]
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
(To be copied)
12Bn ) Regtl
1st Bn ) Records of
6th Bns ) Landing
7th )
3rd Bn )
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