Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/10/1 - June - September 1915 - Part 11

96
A fierce outburst of firing for 10 minutes
at abt 10.30 p.m. Evidently a counter attack 
at Despair Post (wh we took last night). 
The Turks have  A lot of R.F.A. guns
have bn arriving here - an order has gone 
out tt owing to aeroplane visits 
all guns _^ etc are to be concealed. When I 
went up to Reserve Gully yesty there were 
all the R.F.A guns  in tt neighbourhood 
out on a phel white path without an 
attempt at concealment - there were 
a few sprays of holly on / limbers but 
guns and gun carriages absolutely uncovered 
& obvious. 
A Taube flew over tonight towards
Imbros & then turned towards Helles. 
A Fr. & a British aeroplane - 2 of them - 
almost immediately appeared here &
sailed over us to / N. for abt ½ an 
hour. Our men, thinking tt one was / 
German, thought they had got their
long looked for air duel at last! 
The water scheme was handed over to / 
Royal Engrs after / first filling yesty. It 
has since broken down - I don’t know why. 
The follg. is an acct. of last nights fighting -
fifty men from _^ each of A B C & D Coys took part in the first 

97 
rush. They were to go out as soon as the mines
exploded as follows:
Hand drawn diagram - see original document

Tasmania Post
11^th Battalion.
Bombing hles.
5, 4, 2, & 1A were extended into tunnels for 
mines - but N^o. 4 did not explode.
The distance _^ from our trench is abt 30- 40 yds on / right - abt 60
on the left.
At 7.26 the moon had just risen; a red light
ws put on / parapet. The Light Horse in / South
& the 9 Bn in / north opened fire to draw fire off
the 11 Bn; & two o / mines exploded - one at 
either end o / trench. Most o / parties at once
dashed forwd without waiting for / other mines,
but some, who knew there shd have bn 4 explosions,
waited. The third mine exploded late. The 4^th 
mine didn't explode at all. I am not sure tt /

98
3rd mine did not explode after our men had got
into / trench because I saw an Australian & a 
Turk being dug out from beneath part o / trench wh had
fallen in. It looked as if they had been there facing one another
when / mine went off - but of course / Turk may have bn
lying there killed & / Australian may have bn buried by
a high explosive shell next morning, when the m.g. ws
Turks were shelling / trench.

The right flank party (50 of A Co. under Capt.
Rockliffe) consisted like all / others of 50 men;

26 storming party; 20 workers; 4 bomb throwers.
The working party carried picks & shovels & each
man _^ of it carried 10 sandbags.
Rockliffe saw / mine _^ in front of him explode & then rushed at
once. [Some of _^ in / other parties waited for / third or 4^th 
mine to explode & so caught it pretty severely on
/ way over.] The Turks opposite Rockcliffes party
retreated into / commn trench at their end o
/ trench, waiting there for any other mines to
explode. The Aust Rockliffes party just got
into / trench as / Turks started to come back
into it from / commn trench. One of our men
ws lying, when I ws there today, right beyond /
trench, by / edge of this Turkish commn.
trench. He was carrying ammunition
for / machine guns. He was hit on /
way over & wandered aimlessly about off 
in a dazed conditn in quite / wrong
directn.

99

Rockliffes first act ws to get sandbags
across tt commn trench. Rockliffe's party
got a few bags from / T. parapet & began piling
them across / mouth o / trench when /
Turks began to return with bombs & lob them
over into our trench. Each of our parties had 4 bomb
throwers each w 8 bombs - 32 in all. 
All 4 bombthrowers got across safely - 
as they advanced they had thrown
bombs into / trenches. They v. soon ran
thro' their stock & / situatn became xx v. bad.
They didnt know what ws going to happen
when Rockcliffe noticed a box lying out on /
surface. He sent for it thinking tt it ws ammn
When he got it in he found it ws full
of bombs. The boy carrying it had bn hit
& had run back.
From tt time things were much easier.
We xxx drove / T.s back down the commn
trench where they co do little harm &
barricaded the entrance. The Ts made
one or two attacks later in / night But
these were never out of the their commn
trench & must have suffered severely.

Aug 3. Brit. Troops landing. Shelled at night. Did Ts know
Aug. 3 & 4. Transports stand in
Aug. 5. Bridges & Birdwd wanted Maclag. _^ in May to take Kaba Tepe.
He sd he didnt want to owing to diffty of 
holding it.

Our whole attack tomorrow is a feint. White
is v. much agst the attack on extreme
right but orders have been issued. It ws to have come off yesty.
White still hopes to avoid it.
Kato k. on beach today after 14 wks 
continuous work. c.f. Col. Lesslies wk
- not more than 2 hrs sleep per day.
2 pinnaces & water barge sunk.
Jack has to charge out 20 minutes

after the first line.
Ts put up a notice today "Warshaw
as Falten" - one of our men sd. on
hearing it - Lets see if we cant make
is blood notice fall. We put up 
an answer So will Stamboul!
G.H.Q. operations have not been on
the spot at Helles. The C of S. & C.I.C. are
I believe bitterly opposed.
 

Leanes trench
Aug 5/6.
Night of 5-6.   

1^st bomb 4.35. am.

Ts came up gully
Shower of bombs on right of trench  Not so far as
Y trench. Lt Robertson ws k. in trench

Capt. Aarons was in the trench. Bomb came into a 

bay in wh 4 or 5 were. He got Others ran away.

A. grabbed sandbag & Aarons threw it on
bomb and put his leg foot on that bag till bomb exploded.
Got splinter in knee.
Turks were up on the parapet w bayonets
showing. along almost whole length of trench.  They had come up
the commn trenches. Bombs then began to be thrown
over whole length of trench.

K. or bombed / everybody in last
2/3 bays. 6 dead found afterwards including Capt
Lt. Robertson (rif. arrd. on Wed. 3 wks days before)

Turks plan 
9 Bn reported Turks massing under
end of Leanes trench at A. Party
of 30 men under Lt Hall (3 days arrival)
were sent from supports out of Oratunga
fire trench (abt 6 o'c.) charged 
across wheatfield. The got
shrapnel on edge of cliff, m.g. from
Snipers Ridge and Knife Edge at
abt 200 yds. Lt Hall fell over

Leanes trench

cliff dead - k. w bomb. Abt. 10 men were
found at bottom of cliff.
The men got into trench.
The Turks had run on seeing them come - 
the Turks were ordered to fire _^ on own men as soon as they
ran and did so (G.O.C. is said to be one prisoner to have ordered
this but m.g. officer didn't know.  This is probably not correct.)
Turks were in _^ end of trench on right for 2 hrs.
Lt. Proctor (promoted sergeant as of oldest lot) was sent out 
w 30 men abt 6 o'c. Some got onto
back of trench & stood up firing into trench.
Second charge under Lt. Franklin were sent
out immediately afterwards. 
Proctor ws k. by shell almost on
parapet. Franklin ws hit by
Shrap. in liver in crossing. 
They got all Ts out of trench &
took 6 prisoners in tunnel. 8 dead in tunnel.

We had a good supply of bombs in trench
& each party had bombs.  Bombing had been going on
from first.
Some of Proctors charge got to right 
of end of trench & were lost in front of it.
Turks had put a parapet in / tunnel
of sand bags. Pte Smith of A Coy running down
tunnel heard a click in front of him
& ran back. He had run was only

May 6. Leane went out burying Turks. 
Aft 19 May 7: Went out burying dead. Fired on
Capt. Bage (Antarct. w Mawson) went out to
sight trenches on Silt spur. He got fired
on as he started to stick in pegs. Leane
got one thro' putties.
Pte. "Klondyke" Greaves (H.Q. Cook) who was out burying
w covering party.  When they got fired on he
crawled forward & stayed in hole.
Got hold of newspaper & stayed there till dusk
Crawled in & ws nearly shot by our men.
K. & W in original attack:

Leanes Trench
one left in right section (was only one who kept his
head) & rushed back thro' tunnel to bring
up supports.
The attacking line never properly got over
the brow of hill wh is very close. A few
were k. over the top.
Past Brennans dressing station behind Tasmania
post 6 prisoners were coming in charge of 4.
Shrapnel burst & 3 prisoners were killed & 1 wounded 
& none of guard. Olive Grove did this
thro an side opening to a side trench.
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
By abt 7 the thing ws over.
Someone counted 163 dead - bombs & rifle fire from trench.
We lost 

Officers - Lt Hall k.
Lt Robertson k.
Lt Proctor died in dressing station
Lt Franklin died on board ship
W: Capt Rockliffe - shock from bomb.
w: Capt. Aarons - 
One man in early _^ 1st original attack _^ 46 before chucked back 6 bombs
Pte Lucky 11 Bn.

Directn of boats. Ap. 25
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
Voice of directing naval
officer v. loud.
 

100
Aug. 6. Shelling trawlers in morning. Many small
trawlers in offing & Ts. shelling _^ one of them.
For diary rest of Aug 6 to Aug 24
see small notebooks wh I carried round with
me.

Aug 25. Today ws to be the beginning o / 
rainy season & / weather has clearly 
changed.  It ws very muggy - I ws in 
bed w laryngitis & most uncomfortably
hot - but a little rain fell.  Aug. 23 
was the first noticeable change - hazy
w a strong E. wind.  Aug. 24 thundery
& some rain. I am having my dug out bagged
in for / winter - Bazley built quite a nice looking front wall.
Arthur Maxwell who is
now sniping - post sniper at Quinns
post, 2 in a "posy" 12 hrs on & 12
hrs off - tells me tt the Turks have
/ periscope rifle. He first saw one 
on or about Aug 19 or 20.
? Did the Tommies have them in
their trench on Chunuk Bair before they
legged it on Aug 10?
On Aug. 23 or 24 the _^ 2nd Light Horse went out of the
extreme left of our line & bagged I believe
about 100 Turks & only lost 3 wounded. It
seems almost too successful but Army Corps
is my authority.

101

Cass ws in yesty.
He tells me 1st Austln Divn is to
be relieved at last - the 2nd Divn will
take its place. Bns to be moved out at
intervals of 3 days one after other &
taken to Imbros for a month. Good
canteen to be there & men allowed 2
good beer drinks a day. 8 Bn will go 
out first into Pine trenches; 21^st or one 
o / others will relieve it; it will relieve 
2nd or 3rd who go to Imbros & so it
starts. Well, they deserve it if ever men
did. Brig. Gen. Maclagan, Col. White & Col. Brand are
all ill & on hosp. ships, so its about time we went.
[*^x 1st Div.*]
Cass says he found abt 500 yds
down Owens Gully main T. watering
place. He pointed it out to Bde - the
T. mules go there & a prisoner has
confirmed this, but howitzers wont
go for it. Afraid of wasting ammn.
Arthur Maxwell also tells me they
(he & Dunc.) who are snipers (see. E. Paper
Letter 21) spotted a m.g. but guns wont
got for it. This, if true, seems to me sheer
idiocy. One T. machine gun does abt
as much damage as one British
field gun - probably more & the
guns cdn't have a better objective.
The fighting at Lone Pine has bn very

102
interesting. Things are so close there tt we
actually have a peephole thro into a T. trench
(wh _^ peephole is kept carefully covered up). It only
shows the opposite wall & so far no one
(as far as is known) has walked along it.
The Ts have tried to mine but we blew
down their tunnel & are now countermining
or sapping at any rate.
We have three long dead end commn.
trenches A B & C. In the bombing contests
at B the Turks have come off badly. They
have some wire mattresses for overhead bomb
cover - we tried to knock theirs down & they
ours - but both failed w big guns. Then
they put we put a lucky Lotb. bomb
under theirs (the Light Horse did) & hoist 
it. (Cass has 153 effectives 2nd Bn & a
Squadron from 2 LH Bde) They then rained
in bombs & managed to shift some more
roof so tt Ts practically had to leave /
sap. All of a sudden one night before
anyone realised what ws happening Ts
brought up a m.g. into their sap & cut
a hole in our barricade - & then withdrew
/ the gun & fired thro / bags.  Our men saw
sparks coming from / bags & cdnt make
out what ws up. When they discovered
they built up a second barricade 5ft this
side & are filling in / interior w earth.