Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/32/1 - 1915 - Part 4

29
got into rearmost trench
& made good positn.

Sergt Maj. Milne got 5 running
Turks w one grenade. The
Ts seemed (all exc. abt 40) to have
pulled out to dugouts during shelling
- probly asleep. Some had no
arms. No great yelling - Our
own cheer probly startled
them - cheered loud to let
fellows on left know.

Were thro' to rear trenches by
9.15. No live Ts. (exc. a few
prisoners taken) until on positn
after 9.30.

There for rest of night &
till 1.30 next day.

Then went to Overtons
Gully near NZ Inf Bde H.Q.
There all tt night, till 2 am.
on 8th. 

Diagram - see original scan

[*Map here*]

[*2 guns on
far hills 
indirect 
fire. Extreme 
range.*]

30

Aug 8^th - 2 am. moved to support infy.
Remained by Bde H.Q.

Abt 9 am. ordered to support infy.
Deployed into 8s & ran across
neck in 8s. 3 or 4 m.gs on us there -
Had some wounded. Lay down
behind a saddle - (whole
regt). X There when men moved
the shrapnel got onto us. 
5 k. 8 w. Col. Chapman k. by shrap.
At abt xx 1 p.m. we moved 
to support firing line - crawling
on stomachs. We had to crawl
over a little ledge into a second
shallow gully wh took us within 200
yds of firing line. Then we
deployed & charged across
in ½ sqns. (Maj. Schofield comdg)
Fire ws high. ^We found Men in firing
line were done. The trench
ws 3 ft 6 deep. On Rt it ws
within 5 yds of T. trench, on

Diagram - see original scan

31
left 15 yds. They were bombing
- succession of attacks all /
time - new bns seemed to be
coming whole time. 50. 60.
hand grenades in air at once.
We had no hand grenades &

those in trenches had pl used
all theirs. They Turks were getting
right out of trenches & coming on 
w bombs, officers leading them -
just got over trench to make
attack & we knocked them
down - Alsopp saw at least
10 or 15 attacks all afternoon
Little shrapnel. Wounded out
in rear were getting it -
s.bs were working all night.

The 4th Sqn bringing up
rations etc ws somehow or
another ordered to charge
& ws cut up.

At little sandbag H.Q.

Signallers were sitting 
outside main H.Q. when
German officer came up &
asked signaller if he were
English or N.Z. He sd yes.
Stranger fired w revolver,
missing him. Sergt. Maloney
(N. Auckl. Sq.) picked up rifle
& drove bayonet thro. him.
Turks coming behind shot
Maloney. In night - diff to see
Alsopp saw it - came thro
prickly scrub - spoke beautiful
English - he ws not more
than 3 yds away.

You cd see / other
Turks. Capt Wood ws shot
there (sniping there all day)
All comms were cut off. Had
telephone but wires destroyed.

[*Lt Manners went down 2 or 3 times
for reinforcements.*] →

32
Fighting all night. Trying to dig
ourselves in but during short
intervals cdnt get in.
We were relieved at 9 a.m. by
Wellington M.R. & some territorials.

At roll call there were 27.
Majority had bn hit by bombs
practically everyone had some 
sort of knock. ⇡

After this ^Auck MR were out of it till Hill 60.
Then in 2nd attack.

Diagram - see original scan

Remaining 2 sqns were to
have gone thro scrub but climbed
up clay faces (enabling to cut →

33
Wellington M.R.

Started behind Auckland.
Turned (1st 2 troops,, i.e. abt 50) turned
off to right at abt 10.15 & seized
Destroyer Hill by 10.15.

Bayoneted abt 20 Turks, 8 were

taken prisoner; many ∧were in dugouts -

It was done v. quickly. The Trench
was on top - ∧they went thro the dugouts first.
-----
(map in here)

⇡ Commn betw. Old No 3 & T.Top. They
zigzagged up / end ∧o / gully. When ∧they were half
way up, Turks threw a flare
on ridge between Old No 3 &
T. Top wh set fire to scrub &
raised a big flame. Men
were just then digging zigzag
steps in clay face NW of Table
Top & were clearly visible.
They stopped a moment -
thought might be visible from

[Wellington MR were
on top of T. Top
by 10.55 p.m.
Possessed trenches by 11 pm.
Telephoned to H.Q.
at 11.5 tt hill taken] →

(:X: Take in this passage
where marked :X:
4 pages ahead)

[On Table Top ^this morng Elmslie saw 200 Turks
at Rhodo come into Otago Inf.
w hands up. The Otago men
some of them sd: "Let 'em have it
boys -" & shot abt 40 of them -
Rest ran off clear. Elmslie 
came along overwhelmed w
indignation to Meldrum & sd
"If I ever see such a thing again
I'll go straight to the Division
(i.e. H.Q.) & hand in my commission."]

34
/ ridge to the W of them (Old No 3) but
no fire came. Got up to top
abt 20 ft below crest -
went over ridge - surprised
& bayoneted a few Turks
(possibly picket) & got in rear 
of trench & took it from rear. ↑
Turks had gone forward along
ridge to Old No 3 & Bauchops
in Chailak where fighting ws
taking place. Trenches
werent held at all - no
one in them - & no one stayed.
Turks started coming back
along road on N face of 
ridge (road there ws built 
by Turks) we put picket
there - sent out few scouts.
One w order not to fire.
One ws moving down N
slope of hill when officer

35
suddenly appeared in front. Gen
Our man sd halt & presented
bayonet. Officer made dive to
side & got away - thick 
scrub - (our man cdnt 
reach him).

Within an hour we got
abt 20 [[? prisoners]] on this rd.

In early morning we got 
abt 60 in one batch
retiring abt 1.30 in front
of our infantry - came
thro' our picket (they
were marching easy abt
2 abreast). They had no
idea we were behind them.
We were therefore all stricter in
keeping silence.
Maories got into N end
of Old No 3. They cheered,
so did Auckld.

36
Immediately started to sight
a trench at N. end of hill
to prevent any attempt by
Ts at dawn. No one Turk came
down from tt end.

About dawn (4.30)
3 Coys of Otago Infty came up /
road on / N.W. corner o /
hill under Maj. Statham
(this same rd / Turks had come).
He sd he ws not quite
sure where he ws &
thought this T. Top ws
unoccupied & thought he
had better take it & 
then ask for orders.

We sent him on to top of
Rhodo Spur wh is
connected w T. Top by a
Nek - told him there were

There ws a gun on /
farm but we decided
not to go for it. →

37
no Ts. on it at / time
(we had sentries covering the
party digging our trench opp).

→

4.45. 4^th Coy Otago w
Col. Moore came up onto hill.
-----
(:X: Take in here passage from 4 pages back)

Jacky Hughes had taken 
two trenches on lower Rhodo.
He then got onto steep S side of
Tabletop & finally onto S side
of Neck where ^he met Meldrum.
-----

Otago were a little in 
front of & to left of
Canterbury.
Auck ^(Young) & Wellington ^(Malone) were on / left of
Otago. Went up Chailik
Dere & got a little further than
our infy are now at / Apex.

Well M.R.

38
During Saty ^we cd see / head of
each column.
Abt 10 a.m. abt a col ^They cd see a column of abt
2000 men
At noon - 4000. abt 1 mile out
of way.

You cd see / heads of 4 different
columns to N of us.
Auck Wellington took possn of Chunuk
during early morning (3 a.m.)
We saw them there. There
were a few Tommies there.
Later at abt ^10 am we saw some men apptly
breaking thro' without arms, 
& men in trenches were
turning round & shooting
them down.  Abt 10 a.m.
They wd be Glosters.

8th  Sund morng. Orders to
report at 5 p.m. w 2 sqns to / 
Bdier. Reported at 5 pm
started 8.15 p.m. 10 pm took