Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/18/1 - October 1915 - Part 6

44
little further up. & ar On / night
o /  20^th a Turk ws seen by our
sentry at / waters meet high
up this valley. They had bn heard
before. He ws fired on & ran
away. On Oct. 21 we sent up
some men at dusk to wait for
/ Turks if they came; sure enough
at 9.30 a man put his head round
/ corner o / gully abt 10 yds from
one of our sentries. The sentry fired, Turk
fired, sentry fired again & killed him
He ws dragged in - At 3.30 am.
another Turk put his head round /
corner & was fired at & answered
/ shot. He too ws found dead.
Possibly a third ws wounded.

Our men lay out for / patrol
last night but it did not turn up.
I think they are lying up in bigger
numbers tonight (one off full moon).

The Turks are very active w their
mgs & jumpy at Walkers Nek tonight - prob.
bec. the trenches are now so close. Both

45
the dead Turks were badly clothed
in light summer clothing - & they 
wore yeomanry trowsers.

(3) The Turks have evidently
bn digging (as we have) a road to
avoid / river in Mule Valley &
Legge Gully. Our m.gs from / top
of Monash Gully saw them crossing
part of an ^unfinished sap near the junction of
these two & killed hit between 12 & 20
& some mules.

Heard today particulars of / death
of Dawkins. It ws on May 12. An
uncovered pipe line had bn laid
over / flat mouth of / Shrapnel
Gully stream. He went out w a
party to cover it. He ws facing
Beachy Bill when the first shell o /
day came over & burst low,
in front of him - perh. 10 yds away.
He fell hit in 3 places, throat & knee
being two. An engineer ran up to him
& D put his arms round his neck &

46
tried to say something (so the man
thought) but cdn't on acc. o / wound.
He died within 3 minutes.

I was wrong after all -
7 V.Cs have bn give for Lone Pine,
(4 to 7 Bn & 3 to 1st or vice versa); &
I believe 1 to / New Zealanders.
These are / two bns wh were not
in / first rush. The explanation
probly is tt Col. Bennett & Col.
Elliott, who survived, (their
regiments also suffered less
than / others, even in / case of
the 7th, I think) & knew how to
report their men. Whereas
Col. Brown & Col. Scobie of /
3^rd & 2^nd were killed, & Col. MacNaughton
of 4^th wounded & utterly worn
out had to be carried from / fight
& sent to hospital. Bennett sd
before hand tt he would get
something for his men out of this fight.

Mond
Apr. 26

47
I am glad Little Shout got one -
But the 2nd 3rd & 4^th if they
get none after making / charge
alone & certainly doing most
o / work will naturally &
reasonably be unspeakably
bitter about it.
Lieut Henwood 10 Bn [[shorthand]]
Abt 12am [[shorthand]] (N.Z.)
[[shorthand]] Daisy Patch ws ~ 150
[[shorthand]] ahead. We were in a trench - 
/ faced. DP & A sort of trench [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] I got into [[shorthand]] 8am. 
[[shorthand]] I saw [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] The trench dipped away
left of us us. We cd see [[shorthand]] D.P.
& tell tt there) open [[shorthand]]
Messages were [[shorthand]] Saker.
[[shorthand]] trench.  [shorthand]]I  fancy they came from
right. [[shorthand]] he & swing 
to the left. I [[shorthand]] tt ws what we [[shorthand]]
to do before we left the trench. Maj Saker
stood up and asked for if anyone ws ready

T. Smith told his 
scouts to leave packs in boat.
We [[shorthand]]  to the top of the hill without oppositn
& killed 2 Turks in trench on top.
Cdnt see far to left & right [[shorthand]]
That ws how we cd see m.g 
on our left - we were about 30
yds away on top when it
ceased firing. It ws over the sheer
part o / cliff looking out toward
Sphinx. That ws 1st trench we
were into & we [[shorthand]] it down.
Henwood in Owens Gully
saw an officer lying wounded in
Owens Gully - he hd bn there since
Sund night - 2nd or 5^th Bn.
V. badly wounded - a lieutenant.
He ws taken in.

48

[[shorthand]] He stood up & 
asked if we were ready. Abt 200 could be
moved in [[shorthand]]. We ran as[far as
D.P. & then formed left [[shorthand]].
Saker ws k abt 20 paces out from 
trench. The sergt of A Co (Sergt Virgo)
was [[shorthand]] form
left [[shorthand]]
a heavy [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] 971 [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] on the [[?Jn]] [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] hill cowering [[shorthand]] 50. [[shorthand]]
I quietened [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] & dug in on top. We cd see

The a pause wh is a long time
- one or 2 minutes. (The blessed
old Foxhound ws letting out sparks
all the time)

We were [[shorthand]]

We touched just > S of Ari Burnu.
Bn [[shorthand]] together. Everyone
ran on [[shorthand]]. T Smith climbed
the slope a bit & shouted "10th Bn 
scouts are you ready?" We
went straight on [[shorthand]] 4 per old
coy, 32 altogether & then [[??]]
file. Then Bn. Abt 3 [[shorthand]] after
landing we started. The Ts were 
firing at the boats. We were not 
hit or fired at. (Order on beach
genly ws - Fix bayonets. Load w
5 cartridges. Cut off closed,
safety catches out - nothing in
chambers, Packs off.)

49
nothing [[shorthand]] our [[shorthand]]. Down below to the right
we could see a long way [[shorthand]] it didn't run
out onto flats. We never saw our own
[[shorthand]] there. We cd hear our own troops 
up the valley to the left & in the
night time we could hear the digging.

We got to / top [[shorthand]] nightfall &
sent on an outpost abt 70 yards
onto a small ridge in front - the 
ground fell away half right ([[shorthand]]
big valley running up to Quinns).
The outpost ws to report any enemy

movement from tt trench.

(We had heard fighting on our

left front & all Monday night we could see
Machine guns fighting & rifles spurting
flame there as hard as they cd.

After dark outpost retired the 
party & enemy [[shorthand]]
abt Scrubby Knoll in towards 
angle of our line w / firing line.

They cd hear 6 Ts [[shorthand]] & see
them - abt 25 yds away

& only this one gun emplacement 
for ammunition.

They cdnt see us till we opened 
fire Gully ws 20 or 30 ft deep &
a gentle slope.
       ________
Talbot Smith ws wounded
w / m.g. He did some [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] hit you."

T Smith had been lecturing us on
the P of W 10pm the night before.
He sketched on the breech of a big 
gun "Look out for any lights
or any signals as you are landing"
he sd. [[shorthand]] in Casements gun 1st on
Starbd side. A gunner ws [[shorthand]]
how to damage the gun the night 
before [[shorthand]] tea, He sd - ^They could easily
repair the breech block, but
not / screw inside, he sd

First shot [[shorthand]] trench ws the 1st shot.

50

- they were moving up [[shorthand]]
attacking. The people in / Daisy 
Patch [[shorthand]] & I thought
[[shorthand]] We didn't fire - Turks 
[[shorthand]] on tt positn.
On Monday [[shorthand]] bugle calls
right away by 97 [[shorthand]]. There
ws firing from the line on Maclaurins 
Hill & we cd see T. m.g. firing
thro / scrub. We [[shorthand]] till 12 pm
(nearly) when abt 9.30 [[shorthand]]
given & nearly all / left half got
up & retired. We questioned [[shorthand]]
Grills asked Virgo & Henwood
[[shorthand]] stand by him. We sd [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] Abt 12 [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] & Mr Grills acted on it.

This [[shorthand]] from our [[shorthand]])
[[shorthand]] on the right [[shorthand]]
Patrol went out at 9 pm on L. Pine

from our side in a NE trench.

[Diagram - see original scan]

They were / only Ts on Gun Ridge I saw in a 
good look. They were going from [[?Leyja]] Valley
The mules had been attached to
/ gun They were being led. 
The gully ran parallel 
w Gun Ridge  [[shorthand]]
watercourse at the bottom

of it - water in places
(1) 1 gun  [[shorthand]]
(3) 1 gun (w / mules)
ws blown to bits
& on wheel broken
other still on axle.
(2) another [[shorthand]] gun [[shorthand]]
Major Brand, officer of 9th &
abt 80 of our men [[shorthand]] remaind [[shorthand]]
No shields on these guns - new
looking spare parts - all one type

51
side of / gully & moved [[shorthand]] 400 [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] We waited 1/2 hour on
one place & then [[shorthand]]
abt 10.30 [[shorthand]] I again & heard 
[[shorthand]] We cd still see the [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] valley - very fierce esp
mgs. all w. ws on the left.
That [[shorthand]] after me. There seemed 
to be rather a big valley right at
/ end of / hill a good way to / 
E of us. We were withdrawn
behind D.P. (our [[shorthand]])
on W side of D.P.
     _____
Later I got [[shorthand]] 9 [[shorthand]] 10 Bn & a
1st Bde major took  [[shorthand]]
met the 10th Bn.

10th Bn ws  [[shorthand]] on Tuesday -
or  [[shorthand]] on
Tues [[shorthand]]. But
fighting at the head of Shrap Valley.
Reinforcements were wanted

extremely v burred the screw
inside the [[shorthand]]. Ten trenches [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] w these  [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] Maj Brand  [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] D.H.Q [[shorthand]]

They were Krupp guns [[shorthand]]
& just too the left [[shorthand]] ws a
dug out 7 feet deep 12 ft square
Ammunition in [[shorthand]]. The 
dug out ws roofed. I [[shorthand]]
2 tents 20 yds [[shorthand]]
Inside a lot of tobacco, a
flute & leather bags w spare parts 
having German names.

Mr Bates ws not there.
I left [[shorthand]] 6.30.

I had seen a lot of mules
& some men going over Gun Ridge 

52
always on our left.
     ______
On the Sunday Henwood - abt
3.30 - ws lying down near Wire
Gully when he saw a party of our
men who had see come up to 
E of Daisy Patch [[shorthand]] bushes
& saw ( surround abt 6 or 8 [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] in a waterway
[[shorthand]] They [[shorthand]] pushing [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] w their bayonets 
when [[shorthand]] abt 15 - 20
came over the hill behind. We kept 6
other party [[shorthand]] rapid fire at 1000
yds & our own [[shorthand]]
Some [[shorthand]] a regular 
helmet [[shorthand]] helmet. 3 or 4 / helmets
others [[shorthand]]. They ducked & fell 
back & got behind a mound [[shorthand]]
wd come up & fire & disappear agn.
       _______
Henwood had [[shorthand]] commn on his 
right this afternoon within speaking

in confusion [[shorthand]]
I went back & met 
4 [[shorthand]] 9 Bn [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] assist
[[shorthand]] killing 
we [[shorthand]]
unobserved [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] crawling.
[[shorthand]] knoll
on the Northern
[[shorthand]] We each
put in 10 [[shorthand]] & opened [[shorthand]]
There were [[?T]] in 20 -15 
[[shorthand]] We killed [[shorthand]] Turks.
2 [[shorthand]]
disabled the guns [[shorthand]]
out the breech blocks & w my

53
distance. Message came [[shorthand]] in
[[shorthand]] from brigadier. Inquire why
mountain batty has ceased firing.
(Bdier ws well on left from us,
[[shorthand]] near Whites Valley
[[shorthand]] to find out. Answer
ws "battery out of action". It had
[[shorthand]] 20 [[shorthand]] & then stopped.
One man ws k taking the message.

   _________
[* Guns on 1st day Weatherill
Lt. Bates*]
Mr Bates
Abt 6 am [[shorthand]]
Firing [[shorthand]] gun [[shorthand]]
We got over [[?G.]] & began to go into
a gully [[shorthand]]. They
[[shorthand]].  The gun)
an 18 pdr Krupp [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] an 18 pdr. The gun
ws facing [[shorthand]] There [[shorthand]] of us
[[shorthand]] men were having a look at
tents. I [[shorthand]] w 15 or 20 of wd. We
cdnt [[shorthand]]. While [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] Maj Brand came up. [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]] I picked up a pick