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

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Friday April 16. To night I heard that a transport was caught
by a Turkish torpedo boat between Alex & here. The torpedo
boat gave her men 10 minutes to leave her & then fired
three shots into her. In the interval the boat had seen another
British ship - a mailsteamer - and cut off after it.
Presently two British destroyers turned up. They ran the
Turk ashore at Chios; but in the confusion of getting into the boats
60 men were drowned. They say they were New Zealanders.
Col. Giblin - Wilfred Giblin of Hobart – who is
in command of the clearing hospital - was aboard to night.
The field ambulances are not to take any tents & so part of the
clearing hospital is to go ashore as a "tent subdivision" of
the 3rd field Ambulance. These Tasmanians are in luck.
Giblin has been here 6 or 7 weeks - came away with xxx our
third brigade, in fact. He tells me that two days before they passed arrived,
an Austrian torpedo boat turned up outside Smyrna. The Admiral there
(I think it was Peirse) had some negotiations in hand with the xxxxx
Turkish Government - the town had been bombarded & the Admiral hung out
for more exacting terms than the Governor would accept, (at least that is
the story). Anyway, a truce was arranged pending negotiations and
this was in progress when the Austrian torpedo boat turned up outside.
The torpedo boat waited outside the & presently along came the aeroplane
ship Etta Ana Rickmers. This was a German prize which was taken
over by the Admiralty xxx for the job. She was used off the Egyptian
coast when the invasion of Egypt was being attempted; and the aeroplanes
used to fly in over El Arish & elsewhere. ^On one occasion the Rickmers landed some
 

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men & never saw them again. When the bombardment of Smyrna
started this ship came along there. Maintain She was steaming away from
Smyrna when the torpedo boat caught her. The boat fired a torpedo
into her & blew a great hole in her side. The Rickmers had
a Dago crew, & all her officers except the chiefmate captain & the chief
engineer were Dagos. These Dagos all bolted at the first alarm, the
chiefmate amongst them. They got rushed the boats & rowed off. The Rickmers
was left with her two English British officers & a number of British & French
aviators & mechanics who knew nothing whatever about sailing her. However
she did not sink. she was full of teak & this seems to have held her
up or blocked the hole - possibly the ^she was built in watertight compartments; One
cant understand it otherwise. She xxx sent urgent messages to
the fleet; to the fleet (whose orders of course are to steam away from
submarines, though I dont know so much about torpedo boats)
answered that it was ^"proceeding" and was sending a pinnace. However the Anna
Rickmers managed to get in here under her own steam. She was
moored in the harbour & was tinkered up; but during a storm
she broke adrift & ran ashore on a rock bank on the W.
side of the harbour, she now where we noticed her when we came in.
A Torpedo boat destroyer also ran ashore on this
island the other day. She ran short of coal during a heavy sea
& was put ashore on the East coast of Lemnos where she now
lies. I believe they are dismantling her. There are also some
rumours about the loss of a submarine at Smyrna - I
don't know if there is anything in them, they may be another
version of this last.
 

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Saturday April 17. Went ashore with our horses today in one of
the big iron punts employed for landing them. These punts
tow extraordinarily badly - but swinging from side to side like
a dray coming down, a hill. Hand drawn image - refer to original.
the trawlers which towed us
ashore stuck on the mud about 200 yards from the beach (and
had to be towed off by other trawlers which did the same ^stuck in the mud
themselves very shortly afterwds). One of the punts being
having guns in it stuck three times between the shore
& the trawler. Col. Hobbs & a good part of the divisional
artillery staff was on board & the picture of them directing
operations on this men ^whilst the men shoved over the side with
poles and the old mud-punt span round and round
like a compass needle & never got a moved an inch
forwards or backwards was one of the funniest I have seen
on this expedition. This happened when we were returning
to the trawler. The men had to row the old craft from
the trawler to the shore, in do most of the journey was
done crabwise. But the men are getting quite tolerable
boatmen and the ^punts & long sweeps reminded one of the
Thames barges going up and down the river opposite
Blackfriars.
Sunday April 18. Went ashore to see Bob Lowry in
the first Australian stationary hospital which has
been at Mudros - the chief village on this bay-
since the beginning of March. Col. Marshall came
 

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with me. The town was full of all sorts of soldiers -
Australians, French (of half a dozen different kinds) &
British, & sailors also. Little booths have gone up in
the vacant spaces along the road side & they are
selling postcards & chocolate (5/- for about 1/- worth)
figs & drinks. Almost all the refreshment shops seem to
sell cognac, beer, wines as far as one could see without
any sort of control although a British Admiral is
in command of the island. The position is rather a
peculiar one. Admiral Wemyss is in military
control & the Greek governor is in civil control.
There is a military area; & inhabitants (mostly
Greek but some Turks) have to show passes when they
move into or out of this area. A certain number
of doubtful people have been moved out. But a
couple of nights back we they found a house from which signalling was
going on. As there were only a couple of dozen
men to guard miles of harbour line they
naturally did not catch the man. The guard is
at present changed every day - a most
cumbersome absurd arrangement. Why they
haven't organised a gendarmerie to police
the whole place - why they didn't do it as
soon as we came here - is a question I cant
answer. The signalling I believe was done by
means of a window of several squared panes,
& a blind for each pane. Hand drawn image - refer to original.
 

73 96 (This is scanned upside down and out of order)
is reported to be in the valley between Maidos & Raba
Tepe. There was a tremendous scattering of Turks. 
Just as well we did not land this morning.
A hard northerly blow came up about 10. o'clock
which wd have made the job extraordinary difficult
- probably impossible. It got up very quickly too. 
 

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we dined lunched at the hospital & were shown round it by Col.
Bryant. They had orders to clean it the day before yesterday on Thursday & send their sick
by the Osmanieh to Alexandria. But They did so; but sick had
been coming in so fast again that they are now practically
full up. By 3 o'clock this afternoon 73 had already come in
today - pneumonia, measles, mumps, & one scarlatina.
The hospital was very clean & well laid out. Just below
it was a French camp. The French put up ^a neat wooden chalets
for their operating theatre - which is solid but a bit expensive.
Their kitchens are most elaborate - a field bakery of about
10 ovens each with a separate tin stove pipe chimney (and
therefore locally known as the Askold) is just left immediately below
the hospital. The ovens are built up in a standard shape
with iron sides & roof.
But when it comes to sanitation the French are
hopeless. Our people, when first the French came, & saw them
putting up real latrines & sanitary arrangements.
were horrified to see them performing all the operations
of nature just any where they chose. The sanitary arrangements
were all there but the French soldiers could not be
induced to use them. They did everything they wanted wherever
it entered their heads to do so - on the ground alongside this
bakery, ^or just beside their mess tables or in a little ravine
behind their camp. Our officers told one of their majors
about this, expec supposing that he did not know it. But he
simply stared at them as if they were idiots. What
were they complaining about? You couldn't possibly
 

73 95 (This has been scanned upside down and is out of order)
A couple of rounds from the field gun. But the 
ammunition was not there. (I don’t fancy we
carried ammunition on deck on many some of ourt
transports either).
In the meantime, after waiting
three or four minutes, the torpedo boat
fired a torpedo. It was at about 50 yards
range – or I think the officer said 30 - & it missed.
Probably it went beneath the transport. The
boat then hauled off to half a mile & fired
a second. This went astern. She then
turned round & either presented her other
side or got on the other side of the Manitou
& fired a third. This also missed – went astern. 
The Osiris (the little P.&O, mail
packet) then turned up, & the torpedo boat went
in chase of her. But the Osiris was too fast
(the torpedo boat must have been pretty slow).
Two of our destroyers & a small cruiser
turned up. The torpedo boat ran to Chios & was
beached there; & the crew were I believe interned by
the Greeks.
Fifty three men were drowned from the Manitoa,
9 of them being the crew or ships officers. I believe
one was the purser.
Tuesday April 20. I believe the Bacchante
today put some shells onto the camp of 700 tents which

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expect men to act up in practice to all the dictates of theory.
So in the end our people gave up objecting - it was quite
useless. The French officers were exceedingly nice & hospitable.
Everybody speaks warmly of them in that respect. I daresay they
find our warm hearted cheerful Australians rather to their
liking. Our men are just like big boys; a thundering good
lot some of the of fellows with far more individuality
than most of the men here. At the same time you do meet
some awful cubs amongst them. Some young fools
belonging to the seventh battalion were on shore last
night & got drunk on beer. They were creating a
good deal of trouble & trying to create it. The young
fool got hold of a British sailor in the bar of one
of the wine shops. There were several older sailors
sitting round looking on in a pitying sort of way at
the little fool. He was trying for all he was worth to be obnoxious
"I see the navy could couldn't tackle this job by themselves," he said.
"They had to get us in to do it for them" - & tried to rub this
sneer in. The sailor said "I know you want to fight, matey, but
I'm not going to fight you," and he wouldn't. A fight between
our chaps & the navy would have set the whole town in an
uproar. xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxx. In the afternoon I walked across the island
to a point to the north of the bay in order to
 

73 94  (Upside down and therefore out of order)
In it. The weight was far too heavy for the davits;
the rope was jerked in lowering & either one
or both davits broke snapped off short. The
heavy ends of them fell into the boat; the boat
was bashed into the side & upset; & this
a good part of the crew was drowned.
In the meantime ^as much wood as possible geam of all sorts a
was being thrown into the sea – chains, even
latrine seats, I believe. Many men jumped
overboard & hung on; & they say that some
of these were hit by the flying timber being
thrown out over from the deck. In A second
boat was to be lowered with 60 men in it; but
the ships officers could not undertake to put
it in the water unless it was partly unloaded.
Eventually it was put in the water & after getting
rid of some of its occupants picked up the
majority of those who were floating in the
water – said by the officer who told the tale to
be as many as 200.
I think that some attempt was made
to get a gun ^trained onto the torpedo boat. There were
a couple of field guns carried on the deck
so but no ammunition & no a round of
small arms ammunition. I A simple well
aimed volley, so this officer says, ought to
have finished the torpedo boat – or at any rate
 

73 74 82
get a photograph of all the ships lying there. New
transports come in every day - though we dont know who
is in them. The New Zealanders & our fourth brigade seem
to be here (although I believe the headquarters of the N.Z. infantry
is still at sea). The Provence with French troops &
at least one other French transport - an old trooper - have
come in, & there are crowds of Frenchmen on the island-
Senegalese, chasseurs d'Afrique, Zonaves, ordinary
infantry. There are 90 large or fair sized steamers in the
harbour & about as many small craft. The Minnewaska
is about the biggest with the exception of the Provence.
The warships include the Queen, P. of Wales, Magnificent
Swiftsure, Canopus, London, Implacable, Euryalus, Bacchante
one other 4 funnelled cruiser, the Agamemnon, Lord
Nelson, & Q. Elizabeth - besides the Henri IV & some
the old French cruises. There are others, including
submarines & destroyers - one very large ^British destroyer
something like the Swift & many several French destroyers.
The ^(Inflexible) was struck on her starboard side. A great
Monday April 19. hole was blown in her, just about
the Torpedo flat & very near one of the magazines. The
watertight doors had to be shut at once, & so thes men there
were shut in & were either killed by the shock or
drowned, about 30 of them. They brought her into ^?Tenedos.
& then here & pumped her out - she was afloat at the
time - & about the 5^th day ^they were able to get to the bodies
these of the men there. She was sent to Malta.
  

73 93  (upside down therefore out of order)
telegram, over the head of our staff, to the minister
in Australia, or written to my friends on the
Australian press to take the thing up, I
could have pulled a political string which
the xxx would force the xxxxxxx ^war office or the Admiralty
to put up with me whether they like it or not.
It could have been done in three days. 
I heard today the details of the stopping of the transport
Manitou.
She is a smaller ship of this line – Atlantic
Transport ^& she was carrying British artillery of the XXIX^th Divn. She was about a day out of here when,
at 10 o’clock in the morning, a torpedo boat overbombed
her. She took it to be a British boat as there
was no ^idea knowledge of any other ^warship boat being
abroad, It came close alongside, about
30 yards away & then a voice shouted from
the torpedo boat: “I give you two minutes to
^leave the ship get away & then I shall sink you.”
The call “abandon ship” seems
then to have been blown. Part of the crew troops
were paraded on deck at the time, &
the others were shortly to come on parade.
(It strikes one the call may have been “stations”
& not abandon ship). However, wthe
whatever happened, the boats were swung out,
& one of them began to be lowered with 60 men
 

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Monday April 19^th. There is a stir in the ship today;
A conference of colonels & brigadiers aboard here
& a conference of the higher authorities on the Arcadian.
All this week the staff has been at work down in the
Saloon & up in the Divisional H.Q. & Army Corps H.Q.
offices on either side of the top of the staircase (formerly the
Lounge & the Drawing room) working out on maps the
position of the enemy's trenches as reported to us every
day by aeroplanes. The enemy of course knows we
are here (we are only a few hours from Greece &
Bulgaria & in sight of Turkey itself) and knows
pretty well who are here. At least an Interpreter
read out to Col. Giblin a Turkish account of the
troops on this island some weeks ago & it seemed
to be accurate. In a Greek papers of last
Tuesday which I happened to pick up it said
that two warships (I forget which) had arrived
well day before at Tenedos at Tenedos on whatever
was the date of the message. We know that
the Turks are entrenching; for all they are 
worth; every day you hear of new works, &
of their progress, & then that they are
completed.
Well this morning it really looked as
if the start was to be made tonight. I
am quite sure the majority thought so. The
 

73/84
Compositn. 1 Brigade of mtn art. added
to Corps troops - came fr. India.
March 23. 107,000 [[*shorthand*]]at Bosphorus & Constple  43000 [[*shorthand*]] Dardanelles17000 [[*shorthand*]]  Keshan?
Chanak  
Balair [[*shorthand*]] 7.9.(11) [[*shorthand*]] 11.12.(N)&72.[[*shorthand*]].26
Basph. [[*shorthand*]]W. 1.2.3.[[*shorthand*]](I), 16.19. 24? 26? a little N N.
Bosph [[*shorthand*]] E. 13.15.26? (V)
Also 6^th Divn [[*shorthand*]] 6^th at [[*shorthand*]]
Divn Lule Buhgas
At / end of Feb, / went at / command of D.K. to / Dardanelles to inf him whether
[shorthand please see original document]

 
73 76 85

[[*shorthand*]]
[[*shorthand*]]
[[*shorthand*]]
3rd Cav. Bde. 4.7.'15. 6HA (3btys.) 3rd How. Bn (2 btys) [[*shorthand*]]

84
[[*shorthand]]
Turkish Divn 1 Rifle Btallion.
3 [[*shorthand*]]
6-9 Batteries, 24-36 guns.
 

Keokan. (II)
[[*shorthand*]]
Const. (I) & I
(III)
(V)
Fedais & [[*shorthand*]]
[[*shorthand*]]
 

73 76 85

[[*shorthand*]]
[[*shorthand*]]
[[*shorthand*]]
3rd Cav. Bde. 4.7.'15. 6HA (3 btys.) 3rd How. Bn (2 btys) [[*shorthand*]]