Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/10/1 - June - September 1915 - Part 7

bomb
Man who looked out & got [[shorthand]]
The maj 
The German [[?flank]]
High Exp. burst
aft [[shorthand]] evg sounds 
like it
double crack of [[shorthand]]
The 8 [[shorthand]] gun
Harmless Shrapnell

What [[shorthand]] cartridges,
pebbles, bits of old [[shorthand]]
aeropl. [[shorthand]]

Shells. Creak.
6 in. [[shorthand]] "Cant yer leave / spoons
alone!" Iron rations. Trenches at Steeles
ragged. Get into [[shorthand]]. The old mortar
Diagram - see original scan

Rick Bullet Diagram Double crack of Mauser

56
a great part o / supply work wh goes on
in France & at Helles in waggons has to be
done by men here. For 2 days I have watched
teams of men dragging huge iron girders &
tanks up hill to make a reservoir on /
side of Maclagans ridge. Yesty it ws / Maories
- one huge chap in front - about 5ft cubed -
with his muscles trembling under / strain.
Tonight I saw 110 men hauling one tank. All
our guns have had to be hauled by hand - we
have only abt 8 horses ashore altogether.
Almost all / water has to be carried to / trenches
by hand - biscuits, provisions of all sorts,
firewood. The carts take some o / provisions
& all / ammunition up to / depots but a
great deal remains to be carried. Yesty -
a peaceful Sundat afternoon - I listened to
the bang bang bang of musketry in / gully
below Jacks dressing statn - our men
shooting at min 30 yds. ranges within
our own lines. Some of our reinforcements
dont know how to load - try to load one
cartridge at a time.

July 20. Tuesday. I slept last night up at
3rd Section Headquarters in case the T. attack
might come off - but it didnt. They seemed
very restless to start off with but cooled down
abt midnight. I hear now / attack is
not likely to come until July 23 or 24.

57
Peter Schuler arrived today & is staying w me. I'm
afraid all my hospitality really is Bazley's hospitality -
all / work falls on him - We had 4 to dinner as old J.
came down & stayed & had a bathe afterwards. I do hope
we all get throught this all right - it will be something to 
talk of & think of afterwards between us all.

Peter told me tt Sir Ian Hamilton ws
keen to have my stuff published in England as well as
Australia - but I dont see how it can be done.

While Took Peter up to the 5th & then went
on to see Brand who knows as much abt / first
day as anyone. He sd no one ws on Gun Ridge
/ first day. Milne, Fortescue & one or two others
of the 9th & 10th may have got to the bottom of it - he
doubts it. Col. MacLayan had made up his mind
quite early tt such an extent of country cd not be
held w scattered troops, & decided to dig in on /
second ridge instead; a party at Lonesome Pine
covered their main advanced body whilst it
dug in abt the Wheatfield.

Brand showed me their saps - wonderful
works - just underground, thin eno to break
down at any moment. They were going to do so,
but / chance o / T.s attacking decided them
not to. They have a whole firing line cut out
underground - recessed & all & a sniperman
stepping on / roof of it wd break it in. They
have filled / benches below with wire & left the
thin roof - wh wd break up any Turk attack. There

Gregg. Tunnel.
Shells?
58
wd be men below waiting.

At another point I saw in D 21 our
men waiting behind sandbags with cut down T
rifles opposite T. barricade 
[Diagram- see original scan]
of a similar sort. This
was where Gregg went out
/ other day. The Turks bomb
us here, but we are digging to right & left to
bomb them. We have also two mines right below
German offrs trench w electr. lines already laid so that the person on the
button will blow them up / moment / Ts. make an attack.
This & / hidden trench
with wire must break up any attack wh comes.

These trenches are simply ragged w
/ effect o / 6 in high explosives & o / French
75 ( wh comes without your hearing it). There
seemed to be some small gun from Olive Grove
in / number today - it took / opposite 
direction in coming thro the parapet.

Our men have to talk in whispers in
these saps - they are extraodina easy for /
T.s to hear if they talk. The pick pick of
miners resounded very loud & fast in one
tunnel from wh / red light glowed.

Vehib Pasha took over command of the 
Southern Zone from Weber Pasha on July 8th.
I suppose Essad Pasha is still O.C. of this
northern zone (Bulair to Kaba Tepe). Blamey
says tt at one time as many as 50,000
troops were against us. At present probly 3 divisions
& a bit i.e. 2 divns directly opposite our front - 

59
One Divn (of 4 regts?) to the South of us connecting
Kaba Tepe with Kum Tepe ; & one Divn in reserve.

The Turks are also going to push in another
100,000 troops agst us. They have had all sorts of
ulemas, journalists , notables visiting their.
lines to see the positn for themselves. The attack
will probly be made within three days. They are able 
to relieve their worked out Divs & are doing
so. e.g. The 5th Divn & I believe the 15^th have gone,
one to Kesh Constantinople, the other to Keshan.
Of our own troops the 29^th Divn is played out &
is reorganising at Lemnos: the R.N.D. they say
will not be used again; the Manchesters 
are down to between 3000 & 4000 ; & the Lowland
Divn has been rather heavily handled in the
last fight.

July 21 Wednesday. Perfectly quiet day. Not one
shell either today of yesty on / beach. Birdwood has
issued an order to / men abt / possible attack. It 
begins : "Boys "...... & ends "a double issue of rum
will probably be found in their trenches."

July 27. Thursday. Anafarta gun opened today
for first time for two days.

Nevinson & Ashmead Bartlett came over from Imbros today
having heard of chance of an attack & A.B being
anxious to get the camera pictures which Ernest
Brooks had bn going to take. As he wants to see Quinns
we went up there first.

60
For / first time I went into one o / tunnels at Quinns. It
seemed to be near / extreme left. We entered low down in
/ hillside & worked up - presently downwards, lit candles, & then
past a second (?) gallery down a steep slope into a squarish chamber
in wh ws sitting a man in a felt hat. A heap of fallen earth ws in the
left hand corner. Our party & / men around them were making a good
deal of noise but when they got silence Gibbs (the inf. officer in charge)
skecs said "There they are". & you could hear a faint pick pick pick -
very rapid - as if some were tapping on wood. It ws / Turks
picking about 8 feet away. They were above us & I think
our people had ceased working. You cd stand up [Diagram- see original scan]
straight in our tunnel chamber tho the tunnel ws only (Diagram - see original)
3ft of 3ft 6 in height.

Gibbs told me he exploded a mine here a few wks 
ago. He ws a N.Z. Infantry officer (tho' a mining engr in private
life) & so they wdnt let him blow off more than 30 lbs of gun cotton.
They thought this 30 lbs enough One o / Turkish saps ws
getting close , so they put in a small charge, tamped
it down, & blew it up. It only cracked the surface. They cd
hear / Turks above them laughing & joking. The Turks cd
actually see their candle gleaming thro / crack because
when they held it up to / crack / laughing & joking
ceased ^for a time. They decided to go one better than / Turks.
They took off boots & xxxxx crept in without a candle; put
in a good big charge & tamped up a solid backing behind it.
For two hours they worked & then / mine ws ready. They
blew it up & rushed in to / crater. Where their chamber had
bn was a heap of rubble. & underneath it They cd hear no
watch ticking sound of any human being & see no movement.
But presently from u Only from underneath tt
rubble came / ticking of a watch.

Presently / Turks came stealing up to / same place.
They cd see all a shadow across / crater first - &
then / head of a Turk. They shot him ^w a revolver & his 2 companions

They say the name of the 2nd monitor is the
Roberts. The 1st is / Abercrombie. I dont
know the 3rd. Their weakness is want of
defensive armour - only 4 in. (The old monitor
is the "Humber."
There is a scheme now for our support
(see Divn orders ) by / Navy etc.
[*30 pound a day*]

61
[[?& dn.]] XXXXXX
The G Turks can hear us (&we them) talking
in those tunnels, so we have to keep silence,
We rush the craters as soon as we can - but
there is always a danger of gas. A big N.Z.
engineer captain told us tt the first sign of gas
ws when his companion fell unconscious. He
himself found his knees weakening. The next
thing he knew he was laughing out in / open
air saying to himself "I wonder how they are
going to get me out". He thought it It seemed to him a tremendous
joke - he ws told he had bn laughing all / time.
Insend. Bomb at Tas. Post 8 ft long [[shorthhand]] Anafarta
Ind xxxxx sentrys head over trench.
Legge Blamey to Cairo ([[shorthand]]) Watson. Gwynn C of S. RE.
Monitor GS04 got hit - Talbot firing at Achi B. [[shorthand]] 10. [*47*]

Humber water.

July 23.Friday. As today is / anniversary o /
Turkish Constitution we expected a Turkish attack
(the Italian Minister was our authority, I believe.) Nevinson Schuler, I accordingly
went up to a positn on Walkers Ridge where one o /
Machine guns of 10th L.H.R. used to be (the trench is
suspiciously ragged - a gun from Mortar Ridge gets
straight onto it until knocked out by our mountain
gun - it genly gets 2 or 3 shots in first). We
slept stayed there all night from 11 to 4 when it ws
quite light. Our men had bn given orders to hold
their fire - The howitzers fired ^on / Chessboard throughout / night & then
Indian gun fired star shells (we only abt every ½ hour behind
German officers hill & set / scrub on fire. Abt 2 a.m

62
there burst out a heavy fire - the moon went down abt
12.30 - & it lasted for ¼ hour. The Turks did most of it - we
cd hear their m.g. xxx The NZ&A Divn only fired
500 rounds m.g. & 700 rifles. I dont know how much
Austrln Divn fired.

The password ws Clyde - & it got us past several
very sudden sentries. The Indian sentry in / recess o /
[[?tress] next to where we were ws very doubtful as to our
bona fides. Every now & then I cd see his head appear
over / traverse & disappear again.

As there ws no attack last night an attack
is half expected this night. Col. White is very
sceptical - thinks we may be having our leg pulled.
I went up to see J. & take him some letters - His
dressing stn is very complete & ready - system
all worked out. He'll only take the serious 
cases himself - otherwise will supervise s.bs.
see wh cases are impt urgent, wh can walk, wh must
be carried, how the men are doing their work etc.
XX^Three bandaging equipments for each three of his men is ready in 3
clean bundles.

Percy Allen sent me a cutting from the Sunday
Times X which is very angry because I say the
Turks are not committing atrocities on Australians
and quotes a lot of letters from wounded men which
retail all the usual third hand rubbish we get
here.

We are going into / trenches on
Walkers ridge tonight again.

63
Sat. July 24. Last night quieter than
/ one before. The Turks did throw two or three
incendiary bombs - one at / right o / line
near Tasmania Post before we got went up to our
place (it had a flame 8ft long & burnt for
½ hour harmlessly) & one near / trenches on
Walker's Top. But all / time we were
there they did nothing at all. Nevinson
slept on / machine gun platform just under
/ edge o / parapet bec. it ws a good flat
shelf. I thought it ws dangerous - / parapet
ws low & several bays were out of it.
I woke up in / night to hear a bullet rick -
pZZZZzzzzz ---- off the top of / parapet.
I sd to Schuler, "I dont like old Nevinsons
being up there." A voice came from / other side
o / parapet "Alright I'm not up there - I
had one like tt just before."

The Turks have lately been turning their
Anafarta gun onto / beach. Today they switched
on / Howitzer from behind Scrubby Knoll wh
fired at is once or twice before, & put several
nasty shots it. As Nevinson & A.Bartlett were
leaving a couple of shells went over their
[[perinoa?]] A Bartlett wanted to get a cinema
picture of a shell exploding & got some good ones
this morning.

The attack o / Turks is still expected &
tonight seems really more likely. The

64
T.s are very restless & at abt 12.p.m. they shot
off a number good bit of ammn. At 10 p.m. reports 
came in from 2 different Bdes tt they cd hear /
Turks apparently being addressed & exhorted
in / gully where they assemble; & cheering &
excitement.

Our men want / fight. Some of them think
it a pity we fire star shell - they think it frightens 
/ Turks from attacking & what they want is
an attack.

Our ^new water scheme is now nearly complete.
There is a big reservoir of tanks up on / hills to /
facing my N. of my dug out - all hauled up by
hand by teams of as many as 110 men: & /
pipes are now connected up. There are further
sup connected tanks up at / back of N.Z. ridge on left of
their line. This point o / scheme is I believe to
begin tonight.

Gen. Legge goes tomorrow to command &
organise the Second Divn - it was to have bn
M'Cay (by / bye M'C., Maclagan, Monash,
Ryrie all get / title of Brigadier Genl by todays
orders. This is quite right - why shd they be
junior to every other Brigadier they meet. M'C.
wd have been Maj. Gen Sir J. M'C. if he had
had / luck to go in w the 2nd Divn & do well.)
Gwynn from Duntroon (R.E.) becomes C. of S.
Blamey G.S.O.2; Watson & Gould are going to
organise / signallers o / Divn. & they are takin
many clerks.

Foote tells me tt we smash as many

65
as 30 periscopes some days, & tt takes 1¼ tons
of tobacco to give 4oz to every man in /
division.

The N.Z. No3 outpost have reported tt the Turks have 
made emplacements for two guns on the point near Suvla
Bay (or rather on the round hill just inside / point). Capt. Samson
the aviator has, I believe, reported this also & I am told he 
saw the guns. They havent opened yet. The warships
found them making emplacements there abt the 3rd day of our
landing & blew them to small bits.
[*Apr.28*]

Sund July 25. The Turkish gun wh fired
down this gully abt 10 o'c. last night blazed down
it again this morning & afternoon. About dinner time
she seemed to be registering - quite like old times -
bursting a lot of shrapnel high in the air over / sea
& then coming gradually inland until she struck the
beach. Then sweeping up & down the beach very
well. She had started off by firing down the bursting at the top o /
ridge, / shrapnel pellets pattering down / gully & on /
path outside. This gun ws to the N.E. Presently
another gun - howitzer - to the E started plugging into
our gully - one shot just by the cookhouse just
missing Q.M.S. Donelly - I saw him rubbing his head
after; two or three others bursting exactly above / generals
and staff dug outs. Two guns at / NE also put in
a quick salvo down / gully - 15 pdr stuff probly.

Something like a big monitor must be
pooping off near Kaba Tepe tonight for there
have bn some tremendous heart thumps from there.

Our Divl Ammunition Column has bn
getting itself into trouble in Alex. over its
anxiety to get here. I dont know / details