Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/12/1 - August 1915 - Part 3

18a
10 yds. Marson (Pte) behind him had one leg
cut of [shorthand] w m. g. fire . Two [shorthand] got out together.
Bourne then gave order to stand. Had they gone
out less than 100 wd h bn holding post. Didnt
take a minute. Artillery didn't get at them at all &
G.O.T was not taken. Ts exposed themselves a lot
& we got heavy fire into them. We got 50 in front of Q. & some in front of
Popes where we had trenches enfiladed.
logan is abt 5 yds ahead of trench.
The mine ws not reported till abt
2 mins after 4.30. Glasgows
attack wd have stirred them up
by then
(1. L H R.) At first casuatlies were v.
heavy as men [shorthand] crowded in [shorthand]
trench. When Enemys bombs thinned
them out they were able to dodge.
Abt 17 left in the end. En. wd send
over bomb & roll one down
Commn tunnels - 2 [shorthand]
1st L H R sent out first
bomb throwers (Each w a
man w bayonet beside him)
to bomb out Ts. Afterwds
3 lines of bayonets. This
ws a mistake. 1st line
of bayonets ought to have
had one bomb each - percussion
for choice. (But of course Ts
have better bombs than we).
As it ws bomb throwers found
old dug outs of 13 Bn &
[*stayed there throwing bombs into 1st trench till there ws no one
left to bayonet. Bombs
were
wanted
after
when
men
were
transferring
headcover. *]
 

19
1 LHR. Popes Aug 7
^2nd line & other lines. Enemy bombed & fired but didnt
c. attack.
———
1 LHR. Popes Post. 2 Sq. of 1 A.L.H. undr
Maj. T.W. Glasgow D.S.O. moved out
from both flanks of Popes Post at 4.30
instantly. As soon as troops got into
view heavy fire opened but they reached
3rd Enemy trench

 & took 100 yds of it.
Counter attack by bomb, rifle & ^m. gun
forced Maj. Glasg. to retire after 2 hrs.
(Ts. were bombed out w stick bombs-
v. few there when we reached - Harris got
into 3 trench & got our bombs & T. bombs
also till they saw him waving his hand
over / trench. G. went on & joined him
Retired in good order, many wd. brought
back [we can see T.s helping wd. out of L. Pine])
Maj. J.M. Reid & Lieut B.R. Nettleton
missing - prob. k 25 or k, 31 missing,
Capts Cox & Holman, Lts Reid, White;
 

All / missing were dead. The
wounded were brought back
out of 3rd trench. A few were
overlooked in second trench
but an offr. a sergt who returned
from there after 48 hrs sd tt
the only missing wounded man he
knew of was dead & the
Turks had not visited /
trench. (They genly only
occupy it by day - they
have filled it in since).
Lt. Tinson crawled in
24 hrs after fight w leg badly
shot away by bomb. He
died later. So did Cox who
had leg & arm broken.
 

xxx 1 LH.R. Popes. Aug 7 20
Macmillan, Tinson, Stewart, Weir,
& Harris w 87 o.r. wd.
Harris tho' severely wd w bomb cont^d
to throw bombs for 2 hrs & (w his troop) covered
retirement of / remainder.
——
10.35 p.m. Enemy opened heavy fire (r. & m.g)
but did not [shorthand] to leave trench.

8^th. 9.45 by ruses a hot fire ws drawn
from Quinns. Arty fire arranged for but
didn't reach / trenches.
At night fire ws drawn sev. times.

9^th. 4.15 a.m. Quinns & Popes made heavy
fire demonstn. Enemy stood up to fire.
We turned on m.g & suffered casualties
did some damage.
Similar tactics other nights each
time drawing heavy fire.

10^th 11.30 m.g.s observed enemy massing in
front of L. Pine trenches – and did some
damage.
 

8 LH. Killed
Maj. Redford.
Lieut. G. Grant
— E.G. Wilson
— L.W.H. Anderson (Duntroon)
2 Lt. C. G. Marsh.
——
Lt Col. A H. White.
Lt Col. Talbot Woods
T. Howard
C. Carthew
C. C. Dale (Duntroon)
K. Borthwick
E. E. Henty
——
Wounded.
Maj. AW McLaurin
Capt F L Hore
Lieut W Robinson
 " A Crawford
 

III L. H. 21
NZ. Divl. Order 11.
III LHB.
4 lines: 8 R (Vic) 1st Line 150
 2 ———
10 (WA) 3 ———
4 ———
————————
 

All missing killed.
———
 

9 LH.  k. Lt. Col Miell.
wd. Capt F G. Code
wd. Lt A W M^cLaughry.

10 LH
Capt A P Rowan
 " V.F. Piesse
Hon Capt. R.T. Macmasters
Lt. T. J. Heller
D. A. Jackson
2nd A P. Turnbull Triple Blue }
Rhodes Sch }
L. J. C. Roscoms }
[* Received
their Commission
Day
before. *]
 

III L.H. 22
Compared Watches 10 [shorthand]
2 staff [shorthand] G at 2 places.
Pegs put in parapet & footholds so as
to [shorthand] flash.
2nd line gave them a leg over.
Front trench has no parapet. All entanglement
removed before midnight. Men had [shorthand]
In each line 4 [shorthand] w slabs of gun cotton
to break down overhead cover.
1st line took 2 ladder [shorthand]
M^cGarvie got back [shorthand] He got to
foot of parapet of U Y trench on rt.
Shot [shorthand]. A [shorthand]
/ wd. w him
He ws in trench [shorthand]
Turks [shorthand] parapet

Each [shorthand] had 4 [shorthand]
 

III LH 23
Good [shorthand]
[shorthand] 3 tiers
McGarvie
[shorthand] 1st [shorthand] M^cGarvie
[shorthand] 2nd
[shorthand] 3^rd tier [shorthand] waist [shorthand]
& shot from there.
Some [shorthand] in positn [shorthand]
got at from Snipers Ridge.
First line [shorthand]
[shorthand] bombs - threw [shorthand] He
[shorthand]
Some 5 or 6 got back from cliff on
left hand side where 6 lay wd. all day.
[shorthand] Gen.
wanted to [shorthand]
We had 2 shallow mines made [shorthand]
 

III LH 24
[shorthand] if we succeeded.
Signallers & [shorthand] the 4
lines. They moved into [shorthand]
Each man [shorthand] 2 sand bags
Prisoners [shorthand] overhead.
m.gs w [shorthand] & signallers.
Turks shelled us here all night.
Men in / we shirtsleeves, bayonet,
anti gas engines ready. No firing [shorthand]
man had 200 [shorthand] w him, [shorthand],
[shorthand] full [shorthand]
4 line had 2 shovels to 1 pick &
French wire entanglement.
1 Bn of Cheshire Regt ws to
make trenches good in front.
 

111 L.H.

Part of 1st line [shorthand] from sap firing line
& 2nd from main firing line.
——
Gardiner of N.Z. Arty.
——
Lasted ¼ hr.

132 casualties in 3rd line.
after flag up.

1st line ws to take 1st line of Trenches
2nd " go beyond.
3^rd as soon as in position - to go
beyond.
4th fatigue - unless held up.
 

25
2nd line is [shorthand] on heels of others.
3rd line [shorthand] 3 [shorthand] All had to
be got
M^cKenzie, Col. White, Hughes had [shorthand] in
their
hands
3 [shorthand] gave ( 3 [shorthand] to go.
At the time gave [shorthand]. word go.
2nd line 2 [shorthand]
3rd line -
2 men at end of No 8 Sap were
waiting for flag. They sent [shorthand]
Flag is [shorthand] after _x
75 [shorthand] 4 or 5 a minute into the Nek,
Bomb. [shorthand] 4.30 on tick. Last shell [shorthand] after
1st man over parapet.
 

26
Lone Pine. Aug 6. (cont)
Those who watched from left
say tt they saw the 4 men on /
extreme left of the front line as
it went across dancing the
last part o / way. Maj. Cass
tells me he saw it.
He also says tt when he got
over there be saw a Turkish
rifle w bayonet fixed lying on /
parapet. The bayonet ws broken
off short. The rifle ws drenched to /
butt w blood. The magazine ws
full but / p cut off ws closed & /
safety catch down - so tt /
owner evidently intended
to do / work w / bayonet
& bayonet only.
He after It ws a 4 Bn rifle
marked 4 Bn on / butt. And there
 

Lone P.
 

127
was a name decipherable on
sling - Mills -
He after wondered if it were belonged to one
of those men who had danced across.
It ws there it ws found & it must
have belonged to a man early in.

Signaller M^cIlroy of the 2nd Bn
has, I believe, bn recommended
for the V.C.
He carried / line across several
times during / day o / fight & ws
recommended for the D.C.M. for
that. But this ws afterwds - when
the 2nd Bn ws in L.P. a 4.2 shell
- high explosive - came in & burst
almost outside Bn H.Q.
It knocked one officer flat - he
says there were 3 explosions - &
half stunned 2 of the signallers in
their dug out - killed 2 men
& swept w flame / surface
 

Lone P.
 

28
o / sandbag parapet setting it alight.
There were also some bags on
the seat of the firestep
wh started to blaze. One o /
Signallers, M^cIlroy realised
tt these bags were bags
containing dynamite bombs.
He rushed for a shovel &
heaped sand onto the banquette
until / flame ws out. There
were 270 bombs in / bags of wh
120 had bn smashed by /
Explosion.
———
 

[Diagram - see original document]