Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/38A/1 - 1915 - Part 3

Western bank - had been told to
firing at these shrubs & what was
behind them. But some of the cross
men who had launched those boats
had never had time ^or courage to retreat up
the bank at all. They could be
seen. Most of those empty boats
floating lightly along the bank
sheltered a number of figures
lying at full length under the lee of them,
or crouching on the A level beach which ^or shelf here for
half a mile fringes the waters edge low
the Eastern down under / bank on
/ Eastern side o / Canal. It ws
along / edge of this tt / boats were
floating, light & empty except for
the figures o / men ^who had bn shot in them - thrown about
them, heaped up, piled over / side
Behind The boats From the west

bank / boats seemed to be abandoned
& deserted. But as a matter of fact,
low down behind xxxxx them, crouched
crouched low down on / beach th
behind / shelter of ^most of them, were little groups
of a few Turks. The torpedo boat 
went. Several Three boats had bn sunk in
/ crossing, to Two boats had crossed,
three had bn sunk in / crossing & these
others had given it up. The torpedo boat small warship
went slowly along sinking riddling with her
bow gun one boat after another.
to make sure tt they cd never be
used again. Up They were easily
settled. But up ^high one V-shaped gully
in / bank - one of those gullies
down wh / boats had bn brought
in / dim light - cd be seen /
nose of another craft wh had
never bn launched. They could

only see the ^galvanised iron bows of her showing
over / edge o / bank & the bows
seemed good enough. So the captain
decided to climb land and put some
holes into her. He
He pushed off in the tiny dinghy from his command w two
from his command or three seamen in the tiny dinghy
wh she carried; rowed across to /
shelf of beach. Left / dinghy there 50
^yards from / gully - walk crossed / beach & climbed up / gully towards /
boat. When He reached / top
xx close to / boat , & just as he
ws in The first thing tt he saw ws,
just behind / boat, about seven
yards from him, five Turks lying
on their stomachs w their backs
towards him. They were all
looking intently in / opposite direction
preparing to fire at / small ship
wh ws floating out in / channel
where he had left her. They had no

idea of his presence, "One. two,
three, four, five," he thought. "I ought
just ^about to be able to bag the lot." He
was raising his rifle when, exactly
under his right elbow, xxxx crouched
into / ground and looking up at him
w an amazed sort of stare he saw
a man. The man had a rifle & was
the end man in a row of
about a hundred men all crouching
close together in a trench which
ran towar curled like a big snake
outwards to / canal bank & then
wound along / top of it through /
sand hill out of sight. All / eight
or nine men in / near part o / trench were
looking up at him ^open eyed w / same half
horrified stare. They had begun to
fumble w their rifles. Their rifles

were pointed over / sand ahead
of them but whilst he looked down
at them. They were beginning to
fumble with their weapons clumsily
as if about to point then up at him.
There passed through his mind the
suspicion - these must surely be
Indians - when the nearest man in
turning over showed a white band on
/ left arm. It came through the skipper's
mind that he had seen that band
on / arm of every Turk - alive or
dead - down there amongst / boats on
 / bank . They apparently used it to
help them to see one another & keep their
 xxxxxxx formations marching through
/ dark - we found white marching tapes
afterwds near / edge o / canal.
As / man ^under his elbow turned toward him he saw this
white brassard & / truth flashed on his
men Those brown men must be khaki. They
were fumbling w their rifles. The boat,

grey boat, he cd see from where he stood
above it, had been up bullets holes
through it in plenty. The men in / trench
were fam. It was not / time, ^he judged, even for try
bagging five Turks. So He let out a
whoop & dashed over / sum edge o 
/ bank. He had bn too close for
bayoneting & they had only his little more than
his heels to shoot at. xx A few shots
went wide & he & his seamen were
run tearing in more or less safety
down / bank listening to the
roars of laughter from New Zealanders
natives Indians & others who were
had bn watching from positns on /
Western bank. The lines over there
all let fly at once to cover his 
retreat & prevent Turks from
popping up their heads & shooting

at him. The Turks xx started
firing all a firing spread all along
/ Turkish line in reply; & so as
they flew down tt bank a veritably with a
diabolical uproar going on broke out above
their heads. As they ran over the
fifty yards of beach w /  ^they cd see bullets
chipping little spurts of dust all
around their feet. But somehow
they got to their boat, & rowed off &
reached / warship before anyone
without one of them being hit.
The next act
The Dreadnought once being reached,
the captain decided to repay the
Turks for his discomfiture. He
ordered put / engines ahead
& steamed slowly down / canal
past the Turkish trench, right under

the para sandhills on which they were the
trench was situated, perhaps forty
yards away from it. Occasionally
a Turkish heads would pop up
& bang at down at her decks
but it was a risky proceeding.
After He had passed gone reached a point slightly
past where he had himself had bn
standing on / bank & from wh he
knew he wd be able to enfilade
the part o / trench wh had run
from there towards the bank. Sure enough
from / canal below he cd see
cd be seen a line of dark
bundles all lying one behind / other
close torpedo packed into / sand.
He got his popgun onto them &
sent one, two, three, four ^tiny projectiles
straight up / length of them. At each It was

sixty yards range . x At each discharge
discharge / bundles cd be seen
rolling over, thrown into / air. Then
a man at / near end o / trench
raised himself a little above /
x sand parapet to fire take aim. The
shell wh ws then in / gun blew
him away. But by this time /
rest o / trench wh ws not enfiladed
but straggled just above / warship along /
bank, ws aware o what ws 
happening. Bullets were spaltering
/ deck. x  One hit him in /
thigh. xxxx xx It was fired
from high / bank above & it travelled downwards
& came out through / leg. Being
first at about 50 yards range it made
as clean a hole as possible. & within
a wk / admiralty ws enquirung when
he wd be fit for service again. His
But he cd not handle / gun. His sub

17
entirely of boys of 18 & 19 - of whom the
youngsters of 18 would not, in actual under the completed
scheme, have formed part of the active army
at all, but would have been the first reserve
of the regiments with which they were training
The auth It was xxxxx were disappoi
The Australian authorities were
enthusiastically in favour of the new scheme,
& it was a disappointment to the
whole people that it could not be
tested. But obviously it was impossible
to draw the force for service abroad from
[*?*] an army of which more than half was
under 20 years of age. ^Even the first batch
of military young staff officers trained at the
Duntroon College had not quite
completed its four years training. The first senior
batch was in its fourth year & was
nearly due to go abroad for a years
experience with ^the British regiment in army in great
(see next notebook