Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/16/1 - August - September 1915 - Part 2

14
Diagram – see original document                                        

2 pink flags put up on rt one on left

Every 2 hrs.

Aug 29 (pencil)

One party of 10 LH went from N to UV; others from

K to UW. 9 LH came along from C to W. Trench was not finished

beyond M.
HJXW proved to be all one trench.
15

Grants body ws found - shot thro' chest.

NZMR first took NE ?HE; almost immediately MO
Then went on to Q & G - some certainly killed at
Q - a Connaught Ranger is there - The red flag ws up
at O within ten minutes o / start - latest lines
got it hottest eg. 18 Bn. & perh. didnt do
quite so well. Monash started a few from
ST; mostly from SD. Was met w terrific
fire. I met one of his men in KN near N.
9 L.H. I think were merely put in abt 11 pm.
but suffered. Lane ws killed near O.

Grant - padre of one NZM Regt ws shot
near J. He went down it to find a wounded NZ

16  

man but found it choked w Turks. He
dressed / wounds of one or two & went on
over them (w another padre). Presently they
heard voices. I think Ts. are in / trench - sd
his companion. They lay very still. Then Grant
pushed on - we'll just see if he's here - he
sd. Next moment there ws 'a shot' & he fell
forward - shooting began all round - savagely.
It ws hopeless for his friend to try & get
him. Bullets from every directn. A N.Z. man
went down / sap later but cdnt see Grant.
(I visited this point on Aug 28 -)
There ws a wounded Turk in / sap feeding on 

bully beef - 2 of our own wounded in a shallow
trench K-N - one poor chap dying - the other
not so bad. His head had bn bandaged & he
might live. Flies had bn at it - but he was
dressed & might get away after dark.

The trench ws not covered - you were
really only covered by the scrub.
A sniper ws getting onto the gap opposite a trench -
he saw you coming down & you had to bolt past it like
a rabbit. Then came a section of trench where you had to
climb over 6 dead men - after tt you were safe
except for the 75 wh caught many men in /
trench tt day. An 8in fell in without bursting.
The 10^th are to go in to night to clear up the
part from B to H, & B to K.
↑[*The 
page 
torn 
out here 
ws gn.
to Maj. 
Wagstaff 
when 
he saw 
it as 
I was 
returning 
from 
Hill 60 
& is in 
the Corps 
Diary 
App 37]*]

17

N.Z were instructing 18 Bn to throw bombs.
Some of the NZ officers talked to me like owls
of the Australians not doing well. "I'm afraid"-
when they meant they were chewing the cud over
it. I snapped back, "well I daresay theyll
improve even if they dont do to well in their
first fight - just as ^some others have improved."

I think they knew what others I meant
- for its going to be the limit if we are to
have N.Z. patronising our men after their
showing on the first day.
18

10 LH. Now 2 Sqns: A+B =A
Old A in front line ^Capt Fry (Fitzgeralds trench)
½ C in front line ^Capt Robertson. (Blairs trench)
2 troops B ) 2 line
"        "      C )
Started at 1 a.m.
By 1.5 in possn.
Lost 20 men on way over. 
m.g. fire from straight over on 2nd line
Trench lightly held. But continuation of
Blairs trench ws strongly held
& they bombed 2nd line of C.
Sqn from there.

These may have got away
before 9th came up trench &
joined us. 9th came along

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trench & nearly got shot -
Ran right into 10 & nearly got
shot. 2Lt. MacBean ws shot on
parapet. Capt H.P. Fry k by
bomb in morning, Lt Leake
had top of trench head blown off.
Reversed bullets.
Burgess, in charge Throstle,
Kidd Sanderson.
Throstle had 7 bomb holes
in him & carried on till
8 o'c (4 hrs later).
abt 170 went out &
"   60 casualties.
Ts c. counter attacked w day by
from both sides of
tail of Q. 

20

We put some men out
in the scrub from ?tail. to S. of it.
Tail runs to NE. but
had to fall back 30 - 40 yards.
Now digging across.
Barricades 20 - 30 yds
apart.
We can now see across to
W Hills.
9th sent in to make up ground

Connaugh lost Col
Rinell & 40 men
vanished.
Maj Scott is their C.O.  

21
8 L.H. Aug.7.
Turk Acct - of our fighting on Nek.
18^th Regt [[shorthand]] man. 3rd Bn George Pandelindes
ws on / Nek. The regt had bn heavily reduced on the 29 June.
Divl HQ & regt. HQ were near. Two German staff
officers there and 2 officers, one with / rank of
major, w mach.guns - w 20 Germ. NCOs mostly
Corpls and Sergts. The Ts are much annoyed
by / way / Germ. NCOs are fed. They get meat
at every meal and sweets and / Ts. look on
them as unclean in their habits.
They ^(Ts) use periscopes & perisic. rifles.
The Christian probly gets 
worse food than / Musselman. Any quantity o water.
Careful abt collecting cartridge cases.

The Ts. are sd to have lost heart a good deal.

They say 'we have only come here to be killed.' (It is nothing

22 

only / same as we Australians talk). They were greatly delighted

by / occupatn of ^Warsaw & believe / Germs. will

compel peace & Turkey will benifit by / terms.

The Ts like the French & hate the English (probly in Syria)

Howitzer fire has done much harm & Turks

dislike them. Field guns not effective. Naval guns
effective. Abt 3 pm: (on Aug.6) the bomdt by Brit.

commenced. Third bn ws resting in the valley - 
(Chatal Valley behind Mortar Ridge)
It ws anticipated tt this ws prelude to an attack. The bn

ws hurried into trenches bayonets fixed & whole of

men ready for attack altho' bombt continued.

Considerable damage ws done to / trenches on / right o / 
Turks but for most part shells went over front trenches & to /
right and did no harm to those actually waiting an 
attack. This bombt continued from 3 pm

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till ½ hr aft - sunset. Abt 2 hrs
aft sunset our hows. began an intermittent
intermittent fire, a round every 5 or 10 mins.
& continued till / small hrs o / morning.
This fire ws v. effective doing much
damage. Abt 100 were lost in this
way. They were suddenly constantly carried away
dead or wounded. The bombt in / morning
before / attack apptly did no damage & then
there ws a delay before / attack took place.
The Turks stood ready in case of an attack.
The British attack took place abt 8 (?)
The Turks on their right were weakened 
by / bombt but protected by a gully.
Those in / direct front were practically
untouched. And as soon as / British
appeared a heavy rifle fire direct
& a cross fire from a machine gun on /
right ws opened upon them & simply wiped
them out. They came on very well &
3 men succeeded in reaching / Turkish
trenches, falling dead over the parapet
into / bottom o / trench. The m.g. ws
 

bombardment continued from 3pm through 1/2 hour after sun set.

About 2 hours after sun set our Hows began an

intermittent fire a round every 5 or 10 minutes and continued

through to small hours of the morning. This fire was very effective

doing much damage. About 100 were lost in this way.

They were constantly carried away dead or wounded. The

bombardment in the morning before the attack apparently did no damage

and then there was a delay before the attack took place. The Turks

stood ready in case of an attack. The British attack took place 

about 8.? Turks on their right already were weakend

by the bombardment but protected by a gully. Those in the

direct front were practically untouched. And as soon as the British

appeared a heavy rifle fire and a direct and a cross fire from

a machine gun on the right was opened upon them and simply wiped

them out. They came on very well and 3 men

succeeded in reaching the Turkish trenches falling Dead

24

manned by Ts. No Germans were present
yet. The Ts suffered no losses & special
complimentary orders were issued to /
18^th Regt. contrasting them w the 14^th & 72
Regts wh lost their trenches in / direction
of Chatal Tepe (?Turks Hump North of
Battleship H.) Some medals were granted
& promotions for bravery made. Abt 
2 hrs after this attack / warships guns
opened & did much damage to /
commn trenches going over B'ship
Hill. The whole o / troops in / trenches
had to take cover, all movement
being stopped. Evidently large 

reinforcements were being moved up..
The officers left / trenches & took
cover at Regimental H.Q. Shells 
were bursting everywhere & men
cd be seen thrown into / air.
At this time / British troops
advanced & occupied Chatal Tepe,
& guns from tt directn began to fire
on / trench occupied by the 18 Regt.
 

over the parapet into the bottom of the trench. The mg

ws manned by Turks. No Germans were present
yet. The Turks suffered no losses & special complimentary
orders were issued to the 18th Regt. contrasting them 

with the 14 & 72 regiments who lost their trenches

in the direction of Chatal Tepe (?Ts

Hump N of battleship hill) Some medals were 

granted and promotions for bravery made. About 2 
hours after this attack the warships guns opened & did much damage

to the communication trenches going over battleship hill.
The whole of the troops in the trenches had to take cover

all movement being stopped. Evidently large reinforcements were 

being moved up. The officers left the trenches & 

took cover at Regimental H.Q.  Shells were

bursting everywhere & men could be seen

25

who now had both ships' fire
& howitzers. So severe ws / fire tt a 
Corpl. on / H.Q. guard informed /
prisoner afterwds tt / Divl. Commander
ws so alarmed tt he wired to Essad
Pasha, the G.O.C., informing him o /
critical position, stating tt they were
under 2 fires & asking for reinfs.
otherwise they wd be compelled to
retreat. Abt 11 am / fire slackened
& a working bn., mostly Greeks, ws
brought in & quickly rebuilt /
trenches & put them in order. At
sun rise next morng reinfs for
/ division arrived consisting o /
15, 16, & 17 Regts from Yalova where
they had bn resting. They had bn
sent back from Settil Bahr. Some
other troops also arrived & the whole
passed north - none reinforcing the
18^th Regt. It was thought tt at 8 am

thrown into the air.
At this time the British troops advanced & occupied

Chatal Tepe and guns from that direction 

began to fire on the trench occupied by the 18th regiment who

now had both ships' fire and  hows. So severe 

was the fire that a corporal on the H.Q. guard informed a
prisoner afterwds that the divisional commander was so
alarmed that he wired to Essad P.
the GOC informing him of the critical position

stating that they were under 2 fires and asking for reinforcements
otherwise they would be compelled to retreat. About 11 am 

fire slackened and a working battalion mostly Greeks

was brought in & quickly rebuilt the trenches and

put them in order. At sunrise next morning

reinforcements for the division arrived consisting of the 15, 16, & 17

26

tt morning the newly arrived 
troops delivered an attack on
Chatal Tepe wh he heard ws
successful, the British being
driven out of their trenches &
retiring in good order.
No estimate of total
British T. losses, but losses
were heavy.

27

the regiments from Zalova were then down resting.
They didnt send back from Seddel Bahr.
Some other troops also arrived and the whole base north
[[shorthand]] reinforcing the 18^th regiment. It was thought that at 
8 a.m. that morning the newly arrived troops [[at all?]] an
attack at Chatel Tepe [[shorthand]] which was heard was
successful the [[shorthand]] being driven from trenches
and retiring in good order.
No estimate of total Turkish losses but losses were heavy. 

In front of / Aust Divn.  16th Div:
125 in Jolly
47 in Pine
48 Pine Ridge Gun Ridge
77 Echelon trenches to K.T.
57 G.O.T
27 Chessboard. Quinns. Reserves