Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/31/1 - April - May 1915 - Part 2

9
into barbed wire it wouldnt hurt
his legs. He ws killed on Sunday
evening fighting at this ridge. A man
ws wounded & he wanted to get
him to cover & ws k. himself.
We cd not see the sea behind us 
because Walkers Ridge stopped /
view.

That Ridge ws not held on
Friday.

In / fields around / farm there
ws a stunted wheat - hills around
it were covered w scrub except
a patch at / back o / house.
There ws a pad leading from / house
T. trench up to / trench.

There ws a little hill to our
left rear - a white sandy looking 
place on wh there ws a T.
trench which enfiladed us
from our left rear. We
noticed tt / fire from there
By tt time there were 4 officers &

10
stopped after a bit. (Possibly
7^th Bn. got in there). I think
it ws a halfmoon trench
facing seaward.

Capt. Lalor had climbed up
a goat track to / right o /
Sphinx. He got abt 700 - 800 yds
N from the 3 Turk tents on Maclagans
Ridge.

Abt 3 on Sunday afternoon
the Turks fixed bayonets &
came within abt 100 yds (we had
a bit of cover by tt time & 3
sandbags each tied on w our
mess tins. It ws a useful thing
to us. If we hadn't carried them
we shd have bn lost.

We were taken on to the
trenches opp. the Daisy Patch
on Tues. & the fighting there ws
as tough as any - tt & Wednesday.
At tt time there were 4 officers

11
above me only & we had to
reinforce the 8 Bn. (Capt Ross
took us up). The shrapnel ws
going over us on Sunday,
shelling Walkers Ridge.
Lt Basse, Helonan. Hosp
12 Bn.
Lt. I.S. Margetts A Co. 12 Bn
tells me tt when leading his
platoon in front of Walkers Nek
amidst the thyme, when he
did not know what ws
going to happen & there ws
no one supporting him or to
take authority (till he met
Lalor) he had constantly the
sweet smell o / thyme in
his nostrils. He can never
smell thyme now without

12
its recalling tt horrible day.
Left Lemnos 2 p.m. Devanha.
Off Imbros abt 8 - sailed there
direct.

Queen Lizzie, then row of
battleships (London, P. of. W, Queen,
Triumph, Bacchante, 6 destroyers, transports)
Diagram - see original document

Came out at abt 2 o'c. Q.E outside
made straight for Dardanelles,
perfect afternoon, perfect smooth
sea - Destroyers left fleet at
(1) All had bn keeping perfect.
interval - & fell came alongside
transports, one attached to
each, within hailing distance.
Tremendous cheering from French
boats in harbour as great things

13
sneaked out. "We felt quite heroes." Ancient
French covette done up as hosp ship
passed us going in - they cheered &
our chaps tried to whistle / Marseillaise.
We had spent day before scrubbing down
decks as Devanha ws to be used
as hosp. ship.

By 8 we were behind Imbros.
Before dark everyone ws brought up
on deck & put in proper place.

First platoon commdr had to
inspect every platoon. Each man had
to have 2 sandbays rolled round
entrenching tool, 2 little white bags
wh we tried to stain (boiled in tea,
coffee, cocoa, - a few condies crystals)
[[shorthand]] tied on
behind - water bottles filled - & as
each man ws inspected he ws told
to put it down where he cd find
it in / dark. That ws finished abt
6 p.m. Men were told they cd sleep till
11. Old Colonel suggested "You fellows had
better go & have a sleep." Went down
into dark cabin: [[shorthand]]
is [[shorthand]] Deck ws simply full

14
Meal at 5 - another at 10. Brigadier
had had packs fixed w 2 loops for arms
so tt they cd be thrown off immediately.

11 p.m. started getting into boats.
Skipper sd: Lower gangway – beautifully
calm - we got down in half time
onto Ribble (not / rope ladders wh
we had practiced for months) By
11.55 we pushed off. We were W of Kephalos.

We didnt see transport at all after tt.
Abt. 5 minutes after leaving her we
found other destroyers - prob. 7 in all.
We came along S. of Imbros - no lights - 
all as except in wardroom where were
Col Clark, Col. Hawley, Adjt, Margetts,
Elliott - had cup of cocoa - cdnt find
space for packs so mostly wore them. Men
were mostly on deck - 2nd tow on
mess deck etc of destroyer. Two old sailors
were getting men cocoa all / time. Lt Commr
Wilkinson from bridge - You fellows can
smoke & talk quietly - can pump ship
over / side; but ∧I exp. all lights to be put
out & absolute quiet when I give
/ order." The moon ws shining mostly
behind clouds.

15
We came very slowly.

Wilkinson sent a message down
to Colonel Clark - "I have just got a
message - (by buzzer, sure to be, w only
few miles radius) tt they have started to
transfer troops from / battleships."
This ws before moon down, at abt
3 a.m. At abt 3.30 a.m. moon
was going down & Wilkinson sd:
"Lights out men & stop talking. We're
going in now." The speed increased,
ship throbbing.

Just after this we suddenly saw
great dark shape of warship - (anchored 2000 yds
off shore)
Cd see all / destroyers all in line
going in. We passed in between
them.

At 4 a.m. (warship time) when we
cd see flat county to / N. & dull
shape of hills in front we heard first
shot, then succession of shots. There
we no cheering heard . We were towing
6 boats. Next thing Each for 36 men.
(2 naval men were in charge o / boats)
We were getting under shots at tt time

16
Wilkinson sd: Bring those boats alongside.
Each destroyer had improvised little
wooden landing stages like step outside
a train. Men stepped Order "Man /
boats, Men-" Push off, Pinnace coming
back from 1^st tow sd: Can we give
you a tow? Picked us up, but only
got away w one boat. Came back.
This time we hit anchor and
carried away our rope. Came back
again & picked us up.

It ws just after 1^st tow (wh landed
almost straight in front of Sphinx)
Gaba Tepe gun fired - towards
rowing boats. We cd see / flash o /
gun & burst of shell. (When 1^st tow
got ashore cd see a man at abt 20 yds).

We had to wait for boats to come back -
seemed ages. In one boat as soon as
boat touched shore they let oars go
& Lt Birt had to wade abt trying to
pick them back up. Some boats had 3
seamen in them - one man out o his
depth hung on to back of boat & is sd to
have bn dropped off - Margetts saw him.

17
One boat in one o / tows is sd to have
bn dragged over going in from destroyer.

Presently pinnace w big naval
cutter came alongside. We didn't wait
- Commdt sd: "Here you are, you
can get into tt." Four man had bn
hit waiting. Got men in & just shoving
off. Sublieut. ∧standing at side ws saying 
"Good bye & good luck"
when he fell back hit thro head.

On cutter ws young middy - standing
up - w 4 sailors. Did one a world of good
to see him standing up there - had gt effect
on our men. Seamen had heads well
down in boat & our men cd have
taken cue from them. As soon as
we were close in pinnace slewed
round & we got oars out & sd Row.
Rowed v. fast but 3 men hit before
we touched. Boat v. deep & struck
a stone. I at once gave order to
disembark. 1st man over bows
went in up to shoulders - I went
in up to neck & head under -
bugler went right under (5 ft 2)
but his pack seem to float him.
Shots very thick. Some of missing

Stripped packs & dropped
them - Loaded 10 rounds - cut off
open - fixed bayonets - safety
catches back.

18
may have be lost in water. Shots
coming from S. Stones made men fall
in water & it looked as if were hit.
Everything ws wet- Clothes frightfully
heavy - There ws a ridge on inner side
of beach. Got men lying down - the other
men were still on destroyer & had to come
along w 3rd tow. We cdnt wait for
those. Col. ws betw. Ari Burnu &
Sphinx on N. side of small knoll - I
Saw him standing there. He saw me
& sd. Bring your men up here.
We were under cover on beach - for abt
2 minutes. We went up to Colonel -
men coming up in Indian file.
Climbed knoll by Colonel & tried from
top to see if cd see anything to shoot
at. It ws just dull grey dawn.
Field glasses were wet & had nothing
to dry lens with [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] theories [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] hankf.
Patterson ∧(Duntroon) ws there & w Col. on hands