Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/179/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 7
59
76
Lt Cook C. Coy k. before they got to
Red line – by a bullet.
Lt Putney B Coy — missing believed k. – k on blue line
A
Wd Capt Gadd. wd in / new plositn
after withdrawal
L. G. – Goldrick handed over
to him when wd.
Lt EA MacDonald
wd betw J.O. & BLue LIne
Lt Gibson –wd betwn Red & Blue Lines
Lt Tow^nsend
wd in approach march
———
B Goldrick (Capt) wd on blue line
Mailer Lt
wd in the wood (? Ang
wood) just before reaching
red line. Sniped by mg. thro left thigh
(Cox came through — M.C.)
77
Chaplain. Capt Murphy C. attd
ws wd on march up at crossing Zonnabeke Rd & Rly
——
2/Lt Watson ws wd 4 days later
(came up from Cavalry Camp) –
16 Oct.
59
78
C. Gordon came thro all right
Lt Hocking wd betw. red & blue lines
Cook killed immd. before red line
O'Connell slightly wd near blue line
ws wd in left arm –going out from blue line
but helped his O.C. out all the way.
Gordon, Cox, & Perkins alone came thro'.
2/c of 36 Bn ws acting in/c of 35Bn
during this fight.
Col Milne ws on J.O. tape at Zero.
After capture of red line he went
up to Hillside, being blown up by a 5 . 9 on / way up
? were ready to start
59
79
7 Runners were all k. or wd alongside
of him (by Bn H.Q.) in 12 hours – Hillside
Frm ws strafed all day long. Bn
recd. 10 MMs, D.C.M., M.C.
Pioneer ^ Sergt Lang got D.C.M. During
/ whole straf he ws back & fowd w rations
of water carting it thro as if there were
no war on.
——
At Messines during / first 2 days, 36
Bn ws organised into 2 Coys reserve 2 Coys
carrying.
On night of 10 June at 5 p.m. the Col.
had an order to attack / Potteries. There
were only 300 men left – All the wires
on this occasion cut to pieces by / barrage.
200 men were organised into this party at 11 p.m.
[*? were ready to start*]
80
[ XExactly ( he says) where
intended. He thinks
no one landed before them
but this is certainly
wrong].
(See pp. 84 – 88 for landing)
hand drawn diagram _ see original
Browns Turk Trench
Dip
59
81
9 Bn – Landing
(Col Milne's a/c)
Capt Milne landed furthest
south. He had told his men to get
rid o / packs under / cliffs
There ws a shell
Green just N/ of Shell green.
Capt Fisher got hit on top o /
hill with a bullet thro / leg. There
ws a trench on thier right at /
top. The left p / Coy ws near / guns
This trench- - - ?
82
hand drawn diagram - see original
Owens Gully
D Coy C Coy
Shell Green
ws firing on the Coys right. On
the left the guns crews were still [*there*]
when our men arrd ( Milne thought). A sergt [* shot *]
an offr & shot 4 Turks himself, ( He is now an
offr in 41 Bn – he ws badly hit).
There were some tents there. The offr
came out of a door of his dugout & ws
just going to put up his revolver
when / sergt shot him.
[write to 41 Bn – who is this offr)
59
83
As for / trench on / right
Milne joined / men after they had
taken this trench & got some papers in
it. Later he got across the valley
of despair. There he got (probly
from Brand) the order ( by word
of mouth) to come back. He
wanted to know / authority. It came
presently – Salisbury) wrote him an
order to come back. It ws a good trench
on the ridge (? Bottoms). You cdnt see it
commanded / valley past shell
green & at / same time commanded / slope
(see p 88)
59
84
Before they got / men in / boats
to land – a flare ws fired. M. had
250 men on / Beagle. They approached
/ land very slowly & just as / boat
ws going to pull up a flare went
up from / top o / hill probly
somewhere in / vicinity of Lone Pine
& a single rifle shot ws heard. Imd.
/ machine guns all along / face o /
hill opened vigorously. Gaba Tepe
from our rt flank opened w
everything tt had a hole in it.
59
84
aided ^by one or more batteries
tt were situated just behind / fort
towds Olive Grove. Before / boats
were loaded / m.g. had got / range
o/ destroyed & ws making things
very merry, but / destroyer ws
very high w bluff bows & most o / shots
hit the high bow before they came
along to / boats. The crews for these
boats had all bn told off & were standing
in their positns exactly as they wd
step into / boat. The boast were quickly
brought round & manned & / men stepped in quite calmly
86
hand drawn diagram - see original
steep hill (& narrow)
shell green
59
87
orderly & quietly. The order to let go ws
gn & we pulled w might & main for /
shore. The sea right across seemed to be
boiling – m.g. fire falling in it everywhere.
This, w / splash of shell & shrapnel gave
us a warm welcome to abdul's
shore. the men were quickly
ashore & formed into line ^ without their
packs wh were dumped on / beach &
we immediately made for / shelter o /
bushed. No one had landed elsewhere before
this. Many turks were in cover within
50 or 60 yds o / beach, some in trenches,
some covered in / bushes.
59
88
They kept a withering fire upon us. The
nearest lots of them were quickly killed
& we proceed up / hill. every here & there
having to diverge to one flank or anor. to
attack small pties w m.g.s wh
were still planted in positns of
effect ( as our loss of numbers
rapidly proved). But / men were fresh
strong & fit & / Turk ws no match for
them when it came to / bayonet.
(For next part of narrative see p.81. ^ to 83 Remainder follows after p.83)
The line (to Milne) when M. left them. w 5 wounded
ws lining the first ridge – (Before
they were half up / hill they had touch w
DCoy – M. ws a bit ahead of them
59
89
w both flanks in / air. But having
this trench on / flank across / gully
he had then to wait. He sent round
a party behind this T. trench ( as shown
on sketch above in touch w D Coy.
The Turks were in Shrapnel Gully
in a lot of little trenches there,
[ For 41 Bn see last page
of book.]
(Old 333 &35 ) N. Queensland or Q –
(N. Rivers) W.A. –
(OLd 34 & 36
Largely connected Gympie} ——Q—
w Rockhampton Mackay}
Centl (N. Rivers)}
{S.A. }
{(W.A).}
{[[?]] }
59
90
Messines
————— 41 Bn held front line during bombt.
[[ shorthand]]days
— 3 days 44 Bn ws attd [[ shorthand] 10 Bde next 4 Divn
— 3 days 42 Bn reld 10 Bde/ 9 June on black line
72 hrs 8 offrs 234 m. by shellfire
————— 43 Bn reld 44 on green line
— night 11/12. Had to advance
at same time as 36 Bn.
The next period in was the 18 days
went in 22/23 June, came out 10/11 July.
The line ws a 200 yds in this time
& dug. A long dug 3 lines one behind / other there.
Germs shelled heavily – one day he ws
estimated as putting into Messines
sector 5000 shells. He went to fire a number
of shells as blinds – 7 or 8 one after / other to
try & smash up/ concrete. He
wd put 120 "59" shells onto [[?Steignest]] Fm.
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