Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/185/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 7

84
The boys say Young did wonderful
work, knocked out m.gs. w rifle grenades
sniped m. gunners etc. [If this account was
not so inaccurate these details wd be of more value]
There seemed to be no attack north
of 15B Central. It seemed to be from
of 15 B Central to 19D Central, more Germans
cd be seen on/ road thro 26, 27 & 22
ready to come through.
When 47 started to withdraw, the
coys withdrew gradually up the spur
on towds 14 Central, falling back on /
supports, bringing back / rt flank
o / 48Bn w them. Lt Reed & Sergt Brown
went out & covered tt movement
w a small party. Capt Heard had
Lt Rose w him (from Rt) but had lost
Cooksley k.. & Ulcoq (wd early); &
Young had only Taylor w him -
Ward having bn sent to 48 Bn. By 3pm
they got on to / high ground in 8 central
& made a line on / top o / slope. The
left post of  48Bn had bn attacked
by this time. Also, instead of 46 Bn

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85
[[shorthand]] 

86
coming up to fill / gap 49 appeared
on the horizon coming S. from/ directn
of Lavieville towds Buire. Imlay sent
out & got them to join on to / right o /
47 wh had bn reinfd. by 2 plns
of 45 Bn under Capt Holman & Capt.
Davies. The total strength of 47 Bn
"as far as cd be estimated," exclusive
of runners & signallers (who were
not withdrawn as 49Bn had come
in) amounted to 5 offis & 75 o.r
Orders were to c.attack in
conjunctn w / fowd movement of
49 Bn & regain / support line, 48Bn
conforming to / movement by forming
a line to the rear E2 Centl. 8 centl.
connecting w / left of 47 Bn in
E 8D & 45^th & 49^th.
At 5.15 the barrage opened
& they went forward along /
whole line. It ws a splendid sight.
When they got over the ridge there ws

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87
[[shorthand]]

88
a devilish fire upon them – a
tremendous tattoo of m.gs. They
got over / crest o / ridge &
charged. The Germans broke
before them but their ranks
were so depleted tt it ws decided
to dig in 150 yds short o /
support trenches (i.e. probly they got into /
sunken rd in parts & took prisoners but cdn
stay there). The strength of 47Bn then
ws 4 offrs & 43 men. Lt Marson ws
killed in this advance. (? had bn hit before?)
Capt Simmons, who had bn badly
shaken by a shell, ws / only offr of D Coy
left. He took charge (sent after a rest at
Bn H.Q.) of the line when it had dug
in. The 49Bn connected w / 52nd
Bn in 194
47 Bn captured 2 prisoners &
2mgs in this advance, but one o /
guns had to be left as / man who had
it ws too tired to bring it in (probly in
Sunken Rd). At 10.30pm 46Bn came
up & took over / forwd line; 47 moved

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89
[[shorthand]]

[* Actually

Marson

had bn captd

some time

before.*]

90
back to Pioneer Trench & Bn Hqrs
Abt 15 offrs & 300 o.r were lost by
47Bn in this fight, & 21 offrs  & 504
o.r. during whole period in line
before Dernancourt
A & B Coys cdnt bring
their wounded out, nor cd
part of C. Coy. So these were
left & captured
Sergt. M^cDougall, so Imlay
says, in this fight ws working
a L. gun in an advanced positn
The gun ws pierced by a bullet, so
he crawled 300 yds to get another
gun & took it back to / same
positn. (Sergt M^cD gave no
hint of this when I spoke to
him altho I tried to test /
statement.)
Cpl. Shang who did so well at
Messines is now an observer w
1 Bn & ws w D Coy. He asked to be
allowed to stay w them & ws there durg / fight.

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91
[[shorthand]]

82
92
Capt Young sd our arty did
not, so far as he cd see, get
very much onto / crowded transport
on the Albert - Vivier- Dernanct.
Road. But he did see one of
our 6in shells get into a house
wh ws full of Germans at
about 10 A 9½ 3. The Germs
came out of it like ants round
an anthill stirred by your boot -
Germans had bn getting back
there out o / way of our fire.
(Young is a hard very wiry wizened
little Queensland pastoralist –
& his version wd be literally
exact.)
The teams of guns etc
were at first mistaken by them
for cavalry.

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100
along to a point on /
promontory.

Burgess told Hobbs at once
- anytime tt 8 in gun fires
tell me & I'll silence him.
Hobbs They asked if he knew
where / gun ws.
"No, but I know his
O.P" sd Burgess - "Its at
Gaba Tepe".
So close was the watch
kept by one gunner on another
on / Peninsula.

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99
side, but it sometimes fell on
/ gun & tt gun learned not to
fire sometime (probly) in May.
As first the ^three observers in / Naval
O.P. asked the Bacchante to
silence this gun & she came in
but scan  her nose on / mud.
So / arrangement ws made
w Rawson (See Playfairs
sketch 3 pages back)

There was also an 8 in gun
firing a lead coated shell. This
ws never located. Burgess
thinks. But on / day o / armistice,
when Burgess ws reconnoitring,
abt 11 a.m. this gun fired a
shell. It ws an accident – Burgess
watched the horsemen halfway
down / beach. One of them
presently turned & galloped straight
for Gaba Tepe; when he thought
he ws out of sight there he ducked

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98
on / right & fired straight at
Playfair Siddall & Clowes O.P (wh
became very hot after a time).
There ws always a sign tt this
gun ws going to fire - a man
used to appear round  / edge of
this little bit of a promontory
on / beach. No doubly they were
manhandling / gun & his shoulder
and body appeared in shoving /
gun round / corner. Rawson
o / Mtn Bty  had a gun on
the top shooting in tt directn. It
was kept laid on this point
& an Indian ws left w ^his eye to a telescope
watching it all day long. Whenever
/ Indian saw tt man appear
he yelled to / Sabadar Major
or whatever his name ws - & /
Sabadar Major rushed into /
gun pit & fired / gun. The
shell often fell wide on either

82     97
several guns. Gaba Tepe ws only
2850 yds from Burgess Bty.
There were a couple of hows
there — 4.2 – wh occasionally
appeared, especially in / earlier
days, when in / evg they used to
fire along / beach. They fired
over the promontory from some
positn. Burgess got a destroyer
to go round behind & look & it
crept so close tt you cd only see
/ tips of its funnels & its mast
from Anzac. But all / destroyer
reported ws tt it could see
2 green mounds.
Towds / end it got so hot for
these guns tt they didnt fire
at all or very little.
Then in early days there
ws a gun wh used to fire from
/ front of Gaba Tepe from some
fold (as marked out previous
page). It enfiladed our line 

95
 Diagram - see original document

Guns wh need to fire from Gaba Tepe till May Bacchante ws asked to
fire at it but went aground. Rawson got a gun on it
wh hadnt much to do. Whenever this (Gaba T) gun was going to fire
a man appeared. As soon as that man appd the Indian who had his eye on a 

telescope shouted & the gunner pulled the string.
{Olive grove ws 4450. It was a section of 4 . 2s.
{Left section (also of 2./4.2s) 5800 ws used only ags T the fleet.
{These and another 2 4.2s also.
Then there were 2 old 6 in hows one of
wh fired shrap & the other HE (or? common shell)
Burgess thought both were / same gun till a
shell ws found have 3 fewer grooves than those on /
other.

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96
Gen Burgess theory is that at Olive
Grove the centre sectn ws ^finally dug ^back into the hill.
It ws originally in / open, but dug in backwrds
into the hill so Lt Miles 6 in hows tho'
many 100 lbs fired at him
cd never silence destroy
him. You
cd see his
flash
Diagram - see original document
 & 18 pdr shrap wd silence him.
[Above is Gen Burgess' sketch of his idea of
the way in which the Olive grove guns (centre
section) were dug in].
Burgess (who was the gunner who
was expert in the Olive Grove) tells me
tt there were 6 guns there, all
4.2 guns, of wh 4 used to fire on
Anzac & 2 on ships & tugs. The left
sectn (on ships & tugs) was 5800 yds from
Burgess' battery (Topps & (where I met Sluffy Parkers)
"Brighton Bty").
At Gaba Tepe there were also