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 cases

men who had launched those boats

had never had time ^or courage to retreat up

the back 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, leaped up, piled over / side

But it 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 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 /

xxxx of  another craft wh had

never bn launched. They could

only see the ^galvanised iron 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 from his command w two

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 the 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 baws 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

formations marching through xxxxxxx

/ 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

chirpping 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 anti It was x x this were disappro

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

Dunston 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