Charles, E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/4/1 - April 1915 - Part 2

62    9
7.43. Moment our men started to
land shrapnel ws on to them again.

Bacchante gets in at them again.
Gun only fired one.

7.50 Same gun fires agan - just over
disembarking troops
Swiftsure getting in South
side of point. Bacchante on N.
[Diagram - see original scan]
Euryabus firing shrapnel.
Probably gun crew dashing into gunpit.
Firing on shore a little abt 7.30.
Men on crest of high hill to left.
Did you ever see a more bizarre scene.
8-8.15 more firing.
8.30 short spell of firing v rapid
8.45 - getting down shoulder of hill
9.

10
First 2 boats lost 50% .  Turks got on to them
with a machine gun.
[Diagram - see original scan]

(see also next page) →

62      11
(sounded as though covering an attack)
8.30. Swiftsure firing - cant see shell so
prob. dropping in valley.
2nd destroyer alongside. (Ribble).
[Diagram - see original scan]

62      14
[Diagram - see original scan]
62      12
[Diagram - see original scan]

13       62
49 trawlers
 

62     14

[Diagram - see original scan]
Perfect day
9 o'c. another tow going ashore when shrapnel
right over it.
Our H.Q. on 705 passed at abt 7.30
Balloon coming in closer.
9.25 another burst of fire
9.45 Heavy 1 near battery 2 near P of W.
2 near Hessen 1 VDL behind queen.
Rapid machine gun firing on ridge
Next near Minnewaska
As we were going ashore same gun fired
Explodes .2 2

62      15
[Diagram - see original scan]
^x indicates positns on which I have
seen our men at 9 am.
10 am. Continuous fire
MacKays brigade
[[Shorthand]]
Mountain guns just landed
10.30. Derfflinger away.
Filling up wireless stn.
Little gully forwd
On getting ashore at 10.15 found
D.H.Q in small gully where
shrapnel had been dropping thick
Gen. White, Glasfd Blamey Howse Foote.
Signalling arrangements were not very good
Fixing up of wireless to ships ws rather
slow
By 10.30 wireless was up
with engine running.
Boys digging out place for H.Q.
Turkish prisoner being examined

62       16
12^th Col Clark wounded
Col. Hawley. wounded
11^th Capt Annear killed getting into trench
Lieut M Donald slightly wounded.
Sergt. Seccombe old S.A.
killed on the beach
Corpl.
Lieut Walker wounded severe.
Co. 2.m. Sergt McCubbin wounded
Sergt Wilson wounded. Knee landing
1pm 25^th 1st New Zealand rifles
landing.
Left flank
2nd Brigade signalled for
reinforcements.
Gen. when he landed had a
man hit next to him & killed
Firing much closer on left.

So far in first operation I
hear there are abt 250 killed and
wounded.

62    17
Ammunition supply for 10^th

Message sent to troops from
D.H.Q. Heard incidentally the 23rd brigade
is getting on.
Engineers making road
Queen ws shelling
Signallers look out seems rather defective.
1.30 shelling beach where N Z reinforcing
Our left being pressed N Z 2nd Bn
attacking
2nd B. going to attack on left now
2 o'c. machine gun going heavily on our
left.
Tremendous [[shorthand]] from Triumph
Bullet has quite a soft whistle
first I heard thought were bees
Some have a shriek like
shrapnel
Fellow with wounded eye
tells us they were nearly
cut up round left flank
Now Reinforced.
"I'm an unlucky bastard"
2.10 heavy firing on left.
Heavier firing on left 2.30
only one ship firing at a time

18
If I am plugged & anyone
gets this diary theyll probably
think that I was _^ either tight or
something very unnerved when I wrote it. The
fact was it was written by
night when no candles were
to be had & I had to do as best
I could in the moonlight. On 
some nights the moon sky was clear
& one cd see fairly well.
On others I simply had to place
the lines by guess work & many
of them are written over one
another. I have been thro' the
worst of the notes since with pen
 

62        19
bec. diff of finding targets.
Firing getting more & more to left
Shrapnel shelling ridge.
Queen getting at them.
Big gun on left hear burst before
2.38 Very lively Cross fire shrapnell
& rifle fire.
String of wounded men returning
Turks shelling 2 [[Shorthand]] destroy
landing. Observing well
done
Enemy worked round our left flank.
This was reinforced by N.Z. &
2nd Bn. - The guns in some
gully to the N of us cd
not be located & all the afternoon
they were pumping shrapnell into an

20
Sniping all night. Some very fiery
attacks - especially on McKay on left?
At 2.15 we had lost communicatn
They had to charge with the bayonet
several times. Casualties I bel.
abt 1200.  Some transports refused to take
off
 

62         21
unfortunate party on the furthest 
ridge. The N.Z. brigade had landed
& was in the firing line before enemy.
The 3rd brigade had suffered heavily.
Col. Clarke dead. 2nd in C
wounded. Swannell of the 1st
I believe fought like a tiger.
By evening we were holding a
We held 2 ridges & one which [[?]]
[Diagram - see original scan]
There were very steep gullies
in between. The 3rd brigade hung on
splendidly all day But was very
heavily tried.
Sir Ian Hamilton hopes they'll dig
The Australian sailors have just got a
submarine through the Dardanelles & torpedoed a
Turkish ship.

62          22
Warships were firing all night. We
heard that the 29^th divn had landed
but not made very much progress.
We got no guns ashore exc. one
& the Mtn battery. One of the 
Mtn. battery guns lost its
English officer & 2 native officers.
About 4 o'c my old brother Jock
was hit by a bullet.
Col. Howse tells me he
thinks it was not severe.
The enemy positn ws taken xxx communication
trench of
the Turks. Their
Oppositn to the landing was
from a blockhouse on a point.
As the Destroyers landing the 1^st x
N.Z. Brigade came in bn destroyers two
Turkish guns made very pretty practice
Bursting shell after shell
over them from behind the hills.