Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/10/1 - June - September 1915 - Part 9

[This Battery was formed in 1876 as a Volunteer Batty Section of Horse
arty. (2 guns) Sir J.Forrest, Gunner, Sir Stephen Parker (aft. Chief
Justice) ws driver. Septimus Burt K.C. gunner & many others. These 
formed Batty of F.A. (W.Australian). 32 offrs & men volunteered & served in
various contingents in S.A & won 1 V.C. 4 DSOs 4 DCM.s Edwards
JW Bell VC; D.S.O. J. Decastella ; FMW Parker; D. Vernon; B.Brown; Sergt Maj.
Edwards, Tpr Burley, Sergt Barry, Tpr Corkhill. 37th Batty C.M.F; 1912 [?]
37 & 38 (left section); 37 Batty volunteered to a man - [?] of 2 Batty came - mostly
37th. 111 men in batty had recd training - 37th supplied all officers 33 ncos &
men. 38th Batty supplied 21 ncos & men. Many others in DAC & BAC.]
*3 officers of 38th went to other batteries.*
4 guns from I battery (French 75s) were engaging us 
we took them on with 2 guns. The boys knew it ws essential
to keep our burst of fire going rapidly. When our gun ws hit another
detachment jumped in and we smothered them.
Gunner Stanley Carter ws severely hit by some shell dying
within a few minutes. His first remark on regaining
consciousness was " Is / gun alright Sergt" Part of his
back ws torn away.
The three of them were blown all ways.
Sergt Taylor: after / explosion Taylor went on (Another
detachment jumped in & went on w / firing) Taylor tried 
to go on firing tho wounded. When helped away he
strongly protested tt they shd attend to / others. Look
after Lennard & Carter. They're only They're badly hurt-
I'm only scratched. Taylor had been hit in 14
different parts of his body.
*

Wills in 6th, Spence Capt in 5th, Macadam [?] section of D.A.C.
Thompson reinf[?]. 
Leschen reinf fr. 37th
No one ws left to command 
batty. Old retired 
Sergt Maj Jose came
forwd & commanded both
batteries in Australia
 and trainee boys as officers. 
They have the 37th guns.
38th guns were brought
[[?at]] line
Waggons of 37 Batty went to
D.A.C.
-------------------------------
48 draught & 10 riding
horses were Batty horses
from W.A. Rest were
horses bought in S Australia

76
Young Mirams this morning sent down hurriedly
to say / Turks were within a few feet of one of our
mines. Shd he give /  The mine ws all ready
tamped & g. cotton laid. Shd the ^ Gen. like it fired?

Gen Walker went up w White & it ws
fired. It only crumbled / ground a lot
st above it. 3 Turks were heard moaning
there afterwards.
Miriams went into / mine afterwards.
The fuses were not out of it & some caught 
fire & burnt him badly.
The Turks recently stole some more
wire from in front of our trenches - not 8 or 9
lengths like they stole before & put up on / Jolly,
but a bit of it.
They got a m.g. onto one of our men
fixing wire / other night * killed (?) him. A flare
happened to be sent up while he ws there.
*8th Batty
Thurs July 29. on 17th Gunner D. Barrett Lennard ws
serving No 2 gun when high explosive hit shield of
gun & metal driven thro' his body. He insisted
"Look after / Sergt, Sir; I'm all right. -- Well lads
I'm done - I feel myself sinking but by god you
see Im dying hard". Only 20 yrs of age - Left arm
shattered, left thigh fractured, leg torn open above knee.
Died in 1 1/2 hrs. (see opposite.)
Spent whole of this day going round first,
second & 10th Bns getting stories of 1st day.
An attack is possible tonight. The last thing is tt /
Turks have bn seen taking / head cover off the Jolly,
They wd have to do this if an attack were on, but
 

Ap 25th
2nd Bn
(Diagram - see Original)
12 o'c 6 (sh) B and & 5 and 6
& 7 Platoons of B.
Held summit of ridge arrived there
abt 2. Subj to m.g.fire in left & lost a lot of
men getting up ridge (237b & 234c)
1000 NZ came (sh) 5 o'c. on Sunday & retired
at 8 pm (sh) a company of NZ (sh) our
line. Held position all night & day [?] 
F.H ∧destroyed 11.15 at [[?]] of Stephens ? Stevens
12th Co N.Z took up from left flank to beach.
13th (sh)
No hand [[?]] on Monday
Heavy shell fire (sh)
Tues 4.30 Turks Howitzer batty began shelling ships
5am
9.15 am Reinf arrived from beach 2nd Bn. Est depot
for ammn & stores No 5 plattoon ws sent to take
T. trench at 10.30


77
Diary (see ahead)
2nd Bn
2nd Bn 
ashore 7.30
(Diagram - see original)
near hut
first 1/2 bn. (1st & 2nd Cos) 2 plns of B. Whole of C.
2nd half landed & ws sent at once to
D Co ws sent up to (sh) the 3rd
Bde. Went up & in on left past
Quinns post. to (sh)

I picked up some N.Zs wh were retiring under
(sh)nunder
(sh) No one in trench on left.
*(Diagram - see original - )
2 Platoons w 1/2 2nd Bn sent as N.Z.s
o / 13 sent nest abt
here & withdrawn as N.Z.s
(sh)
& some of C.
There ws a sniper in F.H. on
[?], got into it by (sh)

----------------------------------------------------------------
10.10. Tues reported suspicious looking (sh)
[[?]] Turks abt 3m (sh) down main
ridge. It ws 10.30 (sh) Concannon ws k 8
Maj. Burk wounded in c line. Concannon took
T. trench (?in front of the Nek). ws taken w / bayonet
we were in (sh) w backs to sea & charged up

ridge when Ts attacked, we cdnt see them in
scrub.( (sh) in ws an old T. Trench
we advanced 125 yds forwd as C. killed.
 

2 Bn
(Diagram -see original)
1st Day 
out of / w
everybody 
exc. left 
flank
Taken by Concannon
at 8 o'c on Tuesday morning
Mond 2 same as Sund exc. for sniping & shelling
Tues. Concannon took T. (sh) abt 8.
was pushed out of it
Sat in again & ws (sh) by Harrison w 30
men.
Abt 10 we advanced from tt (sh) bayonet bec.
(sh) 125 o tried today
in Col. advanced in left abt 20 to 50 yds further 
At 4 o'c he began to retire - but some
odd men were found in the T trench & are
first vacated & the retreat was stopped.
abt 5 o'c.
(Diagram - see original)
Attack (sh) at 8 pm
w bugles etc got onto
(sh) bombs. sev wd
go & when they got near
parapet they'd call "Hassan " & bomb ed be
thrown towards / voice. We were on downslope
& cd see & hear (as they came over e line in
moonlight. One fellow cane up on (sh)|(sh) he called Dont shoot me [[Indian?]]

78
2 Bn
were bowled over (sh) & B. Co lost (sh)
& 60 men in 1st 1/4 hr - but got into
depressions & scraped up w entrenching tools.
After 1/4 hr got a little cover. Dug ourselves
in a little after night. During night the
Turks were coming (sh) bombs at /
Wellington (sh) & shouting Allah.
He touched my (Diagram - see original)
I pressed the trigger. Herrod shot him & also got
the man who should Hassan . Bombs fell
short. The chap (sh) an Indians
Abt 10 o'c Maj Hart o / N.Z. came up &
while Stephenson ws showing him round he ws
shot.
Abt 11 o'c a co. of N.Z.(sh) under Maj.
Sanderson; (sh) Boyles
(sh) 10 & 12. At daybreak (sh) 26 men
praying & we disturbed them.
The Bn never responded to T. snipers
n Sunday (sh)
(sh)
Capt Wellington ws there.
We were (sh) on Wed morning at 6 o'c.
Gen Walker arrd there Tuesday (sh) at 10 (sh)
Gordon ws between Scobie & the left.
Col. MacLayan wanted Scobie to reinforce
our left at Quinns - wh ws (sh) green.
 

2 Bn
Scobie went up by a tree I believe to be Steeles
A few NZA were there & were retiring.mkmj
1st 3 days losses of 2nf Bn
 17 Offcers
477 (sh)
--------
494.
Tuesday ws heavy all day long.
Richardson w 16th G charged at 12 o'c on Sunda. He
ws told to go across left hand side of gully. They
(sh) R left before So. climbed / hill.
There were Turks in / valley & top o /
Gully at (sh) we only saw 20or 30 shot my first Turk here. retreating
as we came along. We went over a ridge on
left hand side of gully & down into gully again.
T.s retreated in small parties to a ridge abt
80 yds way. We were enfiladed in on left
front & right front. We saw our troops on
a hill on our right advancing up the gullly.
So Capt. Richardson ordered fix bayonets &
charge. it ws part of our own Pon under Lt
Jones (then Leut to W.Coy. w 14th G) The Ts on our front seemed
to hesitate ^ as we charged/ gully(we were in [[?Strimp]] (sh) heavy casualties).
On seeing our rush they made off. They were 80 yds
away. The last man ran when we were abt 30 yds. We took / position
- when we got there we saw the retiring Ts, perh
50 or 60. We flopped down & shot abt 20 of them.
We remained there some time till some
* Capt Brown
They went to the right of Popes.
The big hill ws on our right & / gully separating us from our own troops.

79
2 Bn
NZ reinf came along abt 2 o'c/ The Turks were
only lying under cover & shooting. N.Z. went forward
on our left - their officer ws wounded - & they
came back.
Lt Stout ws on our left when we started from
Maj. Scobie. When ordered to go up hill we went
round on Stouts left. We went forwd before
Stout did. Stout ws w Col. Braund on the right
 of 2nd Bn.
When NZ came back we picked up some stragglers
& decided to work to rt & connect up if possible.
* Capt Richardson ws wounded just before
Corp. Kennedy joined us.
We went to our right front & charged on seeing Turks coming in on our right flank. Corpl. Kennedy w a small
party xxxxx ws 30 yds on our right from D Co 2nd
Bn. He had come up the other gully. Remained
here till ^ nearly dark on top out of sight of gully.
We sent back for reinfs, but they didnt arrive.
After being cut off and not being able to get in touch
we retired abt 150 yds to a small gully
abt 100 yds ahead of main gully.
*Mond
Tues
We cd see our men across gully on right
(prob they were in gully ? X of [[?]]).
Late We came down & joined Lt Barton
& remained there till Wed. We got int an
old T. trench across top pf ridge. Lt Cowie
& Maj Lamb joined us we saw Maj. Lamb there. - Cowie took up on 
our left - Lamb [[?]] [[comm?]] (sh) line on our right.
we held till reinforced by Maj. Steele who took
charge on Tues. Attacks made all Tuesday night.
On wed aft we rejoined our Bn.
Mond morning there ws an attack
on our right flank. They belted in at us.
*Steeles NZ trench dug in during night on our right
 

2 Bn
No ships guns these. Mond aft there ws an 
attack beyond our left. We cd see NZ under
Major Dawson on our left on Monday
The fleet ws shelling on Mond afternoon another
?Chessboard, heavy rifle fire (not too like
Chessbd then).
*Chessbd. Start w ws on our right front finally on our left front Col Monash w know.
Cowie had bn driven in from our left front.
Lamb came from our left front Lamb ws in charge of this part of the line.
There ws an attack on our right on Tues.
afternoon & we were sent to reinforce by Maj. Lamb -
we went round but attack petered out & we
came back. There ws a valley separating us
from / NZealanders. No Turks ever got in betweem
us & never looked like it.
We got hit heavily in tt valley.
Capt. Richardson ws wounded soon after the second
charge. Brown ws in middle of 6 men over where
shrapnel burst.
Corpl. Craddock ^ before 1st charge ws (sh) legs.
His mate went to take off his [[pulter?]] but C. ordered
him to go on into firing line. (in gully where [[?]] up
falling). This gully ws in front of big gully & ran at
right angles to it. We lost very heavily there.
When Scobie told us to reinf on the left we
went round the other side o / hill in order to get out of
way o / shrap. & one is forward qickly.
In our first position at Steeles we were
we were firing across rear of Courtney at Turks
behind Popes. The Navy dropped 3 shots into our own
men on Popes ridge.
*It ws Popes Hill where we were
We were at Steeles Point.
We were (dis..?]] from NZ on our right.


80
2 Bn
Lamb at abt ? 9 o'c . sent Bartons platoon
straight up Steeles. W. Jones went on up gully to
rt of Popes to try to find rest of Coy. He went to 
head of gully & found 1/2 dozen N Zealanders. 
I went in there to / top o / ridge to the left top
corner o / Chessboard. When on top there I saw
several of my Company well out to my rightthere - on Baby 700 or over it - A Corpl. o /
MZs reported to me tt a party of Ts ws moving
on this side of Baby 700 towards Popes ridge
cutting the Coy off. Not being able to see anyone on
left I moved the men back to / right of
Popes Hill to the right o / Chessboard. There I
met Lt Campbell (2nd Bn) and some officer of 3rd Bn
(Capt. Lear). We held on there & were driven back.
We were 400 yds ahead of & to left of our
firing line. I moved along to right to Lt Barton
in firing line. We retired thro some N.Zealanders.
Jones from where he got to cd see the sea & a farm house.
We stood on top o / hill & saw F.H.  & the "railway".
The platoon under Richardson ws to their left front.|Capt Brown can remember seeing / sea.  Jones cd
see the Turks coming uo by / farm to attack Brown
at abt 3 o'c.
Where Brown charged ^ first time there were many no Australian
dead; but where they charged 2nd time there were many.
That was after we had retired - when the N.Z.s had
just bn reached on our right near Quinns.
One man w his arm right left hand shot off ws lying
next to Sergt Maj jones when firing w right arm
- he ws a NZealander - He wd prop / rifle on / ground
agst his elbow. He ws shot thro / head presently.
*Cant make anything of this.
(Brown & Jones had evidently bn talking it over & their ideas were mixed thro' this).
 

2 Bn
3rd Bn battle outpost ws directly in front of Clayton
& Magee - [[?]] were [[?issued]] not to interfere w / 
battle outpost. 
Machine gunner N.Z. w Col. Braund by him worked 
his gun with one hand shattered. Braund had to 
tell his men to fix bayonets & charge 4 or 5 times
in/ night.
20th May. 2nd Bn fire at end of blind sap
ws held & opened under perfect control,
when wanted to let a body of Ts come up Capt Brown
told men (who were turning on them) to continue
to fire on front till they got 50 yds over
the surface & then switched off suddenly onto
them. Only 2 or 3 of 50 got back.

81
2 Bn
Lt Moreshead of 2 Bn told me : went forwd & ws near
(now Maj.)
1 Bn abt Popes gully. ws near Swannell when 
he ws. k. (Swannell ws k. abt Old Turk
H.Q. on W side of Popes Gully). Gordon reached top of Walkers
Ridge & was taking dispositins - trying to place his men -
when he ws shot thro' ( I think) the head. He ws just
saying something to his men when he ws hit - exactly /
sort of officer the T. snipers were lookingout for -
a fine square tall man, brave as they make them.
Moreshead went on - always on
left, & thinks he made gradually across head of
Malones Gully & down spur either on N or S side
of it to / beach. He met Lawler there (see 12 Bn notes).
& saw him killed. Afterwds they got a message from
behind them telling them N.Z. ws there (& he thinks had
bn firing at them). Col. D.Stewart o / Canterbury
sent him a message to retire ; but presenty he
got a second message "stay where you are; we
will come up to you". A little later a 3rd message 
telling them to retire again to retire (the shrapnel
had bn tremendously heavy in / interval) &
Col. Stewart ws almost immediately afterwd killed.
Moreshead's party retired down a
spur to / beach. The 1st Bn they thought were
somewhere on their right. They Themselves were 
never on / [[?]] crest at any rate of Baby 700.
 

82
10 Bn
B & C Co under (sh) Oldham & Capt Jacob & Bn HQ
Scouts under Talbot Smith (sh) Ionian to P of W
on 24th Ap (sh) at [Imbros?]]
A & D Coys under (sh) Beevor & Capt Herbert
(sh) & M,g, section Foxhound & [[?]]
This was done off Imbros (sh)
3 am. 25th B & C Coys & H.Q. & Signallers
(sh) P of W in P of W & Bucchante (sh) by wooden
ladders specially made. Moon ws down - cdnt
see land. Men were sleeping on half deck mess deck
& Capts Lobby (sh) hot coffee & cocoa in the
(sh), pyjamas
Nos. sd they wd be up all night.

We moved along w / ship. Then
Tows left ship, 2 tows from each side (sh)
(sh) but all 4 got into (sh) 12 boats not
incl steamboats wh (sh).
We steamed (sh) Brighton Beach & then
turned N at least 100 yds out - possibly more.
Col Weir sd "There's no sound." The only
thing we cd hear ws the splash o / oars after
we had cast off (sh) & we (sh) 50 (sh) or 30 (sh)
(sh) when Capt Lorenzo heard a yell. Then one
shot rang out from Ari Burnu Knoll - we
saw the flash - we cd just see the outline of a 
hill. Then (sh) started. One m.g. ws (sh)
in front, one on left, & one a good bit away
on the right on slopes of hill.
 

83
We had to row another 15 yards.
It ws 4.15 when / shots (sh) by navy
time. We got out of boats into 3 (sh) of water -
stoney bottom slimey wh upset many (sh) who
made inland c a word. The bullets (sh) knocking
sparks out of the stones (sh) explosive bullets. 
Some men (sh). They flopped down on
inshore side o / beach to loosen packs & fix
(sh) We shd have got the m.g. if we had had no
packs. A few (sh) hit lying down. Turks (sh)
to get scared bec. we were making no noise.
9.10.11 pretty well mixed. I ordered
an advance. "Fix (sh)" Men sprang to
their feet & all 3 bns (sh)
hill. There were a few (sh) in the trench & the
little hut & The Turks were firing from (sh)
We stormed that straight. - Annear (11th) ws killed
getting to top - Maj Robertson of 9th ws killed
wounded there. No Turks waited on top -
The rifles were loaded after taking Ari Burma
Knoll. so (sh) They
retired SE & we naturally followed them
to Shrapnel Gully.
Should By time (sh) A & B
Coy from the destroyers had (sh) beach. It ws
fairly light & Gabu Tepe guns had opened
on them w shrapnel.
All the Turks who were k. in first
trench - 5 or 6 - were bayoneted. All
 

84
way over after tt they were passing odd Ts
dead or wounded.
When we got on Plugges Plateau we
cd see Turks found Turks firing from across
the Gully to our right front. Had no means of
saying how many. We lost a few men. We

went straight down Shrap. Gully & up the
other side. The Turks fired on us from 400
plateau. We came across the 400 plateau losing
some men & there were men moving in & out
on / skyline (sh).
Our job ws to take 9 (sh) on Gun
Ridge. There was a hill - we werent getting much
firing when we got to the near top of J.Jolly.
The Brigadier ws in T. Trench on Razor Back.
We reorganised for the L on G. Ridge The
enemy started to put troops in. Our left ws
in the air. D Co. we put in on our left abt
wire gully & C. Co on Jolly - next A.Co on
our rt ws B Co & then 9th & 11th Bn mixed.
We were in postition abt 6.30. We were
the only bn pretty well whole. We had till abt
8 digging in. Abt 6.30 to 7 we cd see troops
on Gun (sh) & our patrols in front down the
creek were driven in. They reported tt the
banks o / Ck were very steep, abt 30 ft
high, & undercut by rain. Lots of good water
 

85
in it. They cdnt get up / other side & so
worked S. The enemy seemed to have a lot of
his troops in Gaba Tepe & these were
working up round into Gun Ridge.
We reported on strength of this to 
Brigadier tt 9 guns on Gun Ridge cd not be taken.
Brig told us to dig in.
We fought across 400 Plateau all / morning.
The enemy didnt seem to get along beyond Gun
Ridge. until midday. Abt midday we
saw a great number of troops moving to our
North over Gun Ridge - we cd tell them principaly
by the dust [ Later in the day betw. 3 & 4 they
came over the E Shoulder if Baby 700 abt 2000
yds away in close formation over the hill.
- in what looked like company column, & extended
when they got over the hill. They were too far for us
to get at w / rifle. they deployed, got out of
sight & attacked us abt 4 o'c. in(sh). They
had shrap. on us all / morning but in (sh)
before 4 o'c it ws N bad. This shrap came
from N.E. we cd see the flashes.
Maj. Brown ws on our left - Before
big attack on Sunday afternoon we cd hear him giving
orders all night long. The attacks came at us from
N. E. Heavy lines of Turks coming uo to within
400 yds from NE. We got at them after they got
onto skyline of J.Jolly. We had another counter