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

AWM38
Official History,
1914-1918 War : Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL 606/6/1
Title: Diary, April - May 1915
Covers events of the first week at Gallipoli,
mentions events on the beach, snipers,
differences between Australians and New
Zealanders.
[Bar code - see original text]
AWM38-3DRL606/6/1

1st week 
(cont)
X
Diary VI.6
6
Original DIARY No. 6.
AWM 38 3DRL 606 ITEM 6 [1]
DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918
The use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But, apart from those terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind.  Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep ;
also, not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.
These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing, believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sept., 1946.     C. E. W. BEAN.
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN

(They didn't tell him
of Irvine's death)

1st week (cont)
X
Diary VI.6
Diary Ap. 27 cont from Blue book with plaid cover.
- Ap. 30.
I must say altho’ this show makes you respect
the pluck of the navy their foresight & system seems
to be hopeless. (The enemy did fire a few shells on / beach, S. end.
tonight after dark).
Today at abt 4 o’c. Col. MacLaurin ws wounded & 
Maj. Irvine killed. MacLaurin had taken over from Col. Maclagan
& was occupying his old H.Q. (or rather a little further along /
firing trench to / north.) The Turks were attacking & Irvine had
gone up into /  gully to gather stragglers & bring them up. He got abt 200
& ws undecided whether to put them in on / left (where previously
waited) or / right of 3 Bn. He went up to see. Dozens of men
are sd to have shouted to him: “Down Sir - you’ll be sniped
at for certain.”  “Its my business to be sniped at," he sd.
Presently a sniper got him from / back slope o / gully up
near where NZ & the 2nd Bn are  Col. MacLaurin ws  Killed hit
by a similar shot _^ within a few minutes. He died an hour & a half later. It ws /
same sniper - or one from / same position - tt hit Jack.
MacLaurin ws commanding a composite Bde known for time as “1st Bde."
Altho shrapnel ws fierce for a time the work on / beach
went on absolutely undisturbed except for 30minutes when it
had to be stopped. A few men were hit. The enemy genly fired too
high. The dug outs were mostly finished by now & most o the / men
were in fair shelter. There were great loads & stacks of provisions
growing on / beach & they were absolute protection from a shrapnel
pellet. Offices Supply & Ordnance - were formed inside these
stacks & men and officers o / corps slept there. The hills
themselves being pretty steep formed a fairly good protection from any
except distant guns - & you cd hear those coming. It was
only where / gullies ran back tt they cd burst a shell low down
- & tt ws / chief danger to Headquarters; especially to our
1st Aust’n Divn. Genl Bridges had no idea of danger himself
& so no one bothered to make / place safe. Consequently a
fair number of officers were hit there - fortunately by shrapnel
bursts so high up / ridge tt it _^ often didnt penetrate the clothing.
During lunch as we were standing outside / old mess dug out Col.
White who ws inside it ws hit in /  sh wind by a shrapnel
pellet pretty hard & laughed as he ws hit- fortunately it didn’t
He doubled up, with / shock, laughing, & turned very red.

Lt. Benson of the 9^th told me tt on this day he & another
officer saw the Turkish sniper who ws got up as a tree - rifle &
face painted green & leaves all over him. Some of their men had just
killed him. They thought he was a tree at first.   [It is possible, but it
is possible also it was imagination. He thought it was at Quinns
wh of course was wrong  - Maclagan (he sd) put them in.]
Each o / first 2 nights & mornings someone from one of / staffs 
walked along / beach & gave / order (repeated from man to man
& shouted along / slope above / beach) “put out those fires!” Col. Skeen
heard this & came out. “Who gave tt order?” he sd. “Of course they may
have their fires - if the attack Turks can’t hit us xx in daylight
w their shrapnel they wont hit us bec. of a few fires at night -“
& / order went out tt / men were to have their fires on / beach and
in / trenches if the C.Os there considered it safe.
at discretion of Bde. Commanders.
Order to Queen to stop shelling ws not a ruse. But a naval intell.
officer tells me they had someone dressed in a naval uniform [I think
this is v. doubtful]. They are also sd to have tried to get some of our men
without an officer to advance into their trenches. A strange officer is sd to have
done or attempted to do this [Also most doubtful].
This morning after breakfast I noticed that our H.O. Officers were
many of them anxiously looking at the horizon down South off the N.
end of the point. There were crowds of ships there - I noticed them for /
first time in / haze, apparently some way up this side o / coast [I
think they were off w beach really]. Griffiths was looking at them earnestly.
[As the idea, & so directing our men, tt / French were landing.
there on / left o / British]. There ws a heavy bombardment first
we cd hear the rumble of it. It ws after this tt we cd see the
French landing in / South [of course this ws wrong - they were
not landing on the N flank o t British at any rate as I
thought they were, but on S flank]. As we watched the Q. Eliz. 
was xxxxxx off _∧ the South, & I wondered whether / excitement
ws tt she had been mined.

go through. We cd’nt afford to lose him of all men.
I heard a message sent in today wh seemed to
me a typically bad one: “Reinforcements wanted badly on
our right flank owing to shrapnel fire.”  If shrapnel fire
ws decimating troops lying in a position in / open, I have
no doubt & tt position had to be held, of course there wd be
no other way than to reinforce. But it wasnt decimating
/ men - it ws only shaking them because they were
tired & worn out. If they were in trenches at all / one thing
ws to keep / trenches as empty as possible consistent
w safety - not as full as possible. If they werent in
trenches / thing ws to dig them in as quickly as possible.
Reinforcements were urgently needed elsewhere - indeed everywhere.
At this time there were hundreds of stragglers on the beach & in
gullies, so the arrangements for dealing w / stragglers first three
days were not sufficient.
This night is wet.
This night Turks kept shelling onto beach (S. point)
Wednesday April 28^th.
Went out to M Cays H.Q. again this morning
& from there to Col. MacNichol’s (H.Q. of 6^th & 7^th Bns) just
to the right of the 400 plateau in a little dip. You had to
take a guide who led you up onto / top o / plateau along
a little track thro' / scrub; then ran for a short bit wh
ws exposed to a Turkish fire from / Nor NE. We found
Col. M^cNichol in / hollow just under / crest. Knight of the
2nd Field Co. Engrs ws w me & a couple of armed men. It
is / practice wherever you go about to go w one armed man
(genly 2 go together) now, as there are believed to be
snipers inside our lines - there _^ almost certainly are one or two
or have been, altho / state o / men & of many officers is such
now tt they imagine things tt dont exist - just as anyone
else wd after 4 days tremendous hard work & no sleep. I

Wed:  As Minnewaska came in this mg. The “Goeben” shells
came over just in front of her.

dont know how many snipers there are - but hundreds are
reported
Knight o / Engrs ws coming on to see abt / putting
out of wire entanglement after dark tt night outside / line
o / sixth. The question ws cd it be done by going out & planting
it there or had it better be thrown out. There ws a danger, in
/ worn out state o / men, of engrs being first on not only
by / enemy but by our own side.
We went on down / hillside a bit & up / other side &
almost at once got into a shallow trench - not quite deep and
continuous yet (neither were many other trenches). Major
Bennett of the 6^th ws in command in / trenches & he
took Knight along & showed him / place. The most awkward
corner ws some way to / right where the xx Trench
ws still being dug - there ws a gap in it around a
corner.  It came here within a few yards - perh.
15 or so - of a gully & / Turks cd creep up to this point
without being seen at all to within a few yards of our
line. There ws a Turkish trench wh issued out o /
hillside just here abt 30 yds away & at / mouth
of it were lying several dead Turks - bundles of black
& white swathings in / scrub. You put your head
up at your own risk but the situation ws interesting &
well worth it.
From here Knight decided, & Bennett agreed, tt
/ only way to fix / wire here ws to throw it out from /
Trench.
I worked down from here w Knight by /
valley at / back & found the old 3rd Bde resting on
a hillside - Maclagan just having tea on /  right Northern
hillside & / men on / left - going abt getting their tea &
seated abt & yarning in a variety of half made dug outs.
Maclagan ws clearly very very tired out - so ws
old Brand & Ross - Little Holmes ws there too as
nice as ever - offered me tea. Maclagan said gave

The men were walking about on / hillside, sitting
chatting, making their tea, taking not / remotest notice of
few shells tt came over them - I didn't even notice them
turning a head to look at them.  One had bn k. by a
stray bullet while in bathing.
1
gave me a bit about the first day & Monday.
Our men on / right went out beyond / lines
& found three Turkish tents. There were some loaves of bread
some bully beef & an overcoat in it. As last night was
wet the men stuck to t overcoat. They brought in / bread & one of
our officers got the bully beef. (Some accounts make it Patē de
fois gras).
Maclagan as he sat watching his men ws obviously
tremendously proud of them.  Some shells began to fall over / hill we
were sitting on & over t men opposite. “Poor chaps”, he sd, “I
hope there wont be hit any more of them hit - they have had
four or five hit already - but just look at them - not taking /
least notice - you isn’t this just topping for them - just /
very best thing tt cd happen - poor chaps, I hope no more of 
them get hit; but isnt it just splendid. A day like this out
of the trenches - they’ll be as fit as can be tomorrow. I wouldn’t
give them more than a day - they’d start to think about it
too much.”
He told me of one of his men whom he had seen
wearing the cap of a Turk.
“Do you know the risk you run wearing tt
cap?” he said. “Its probably full of vermin."
“Oh, bless you, it cant be more lowsy than I 
am, Sir,” sd / man. “We’re all lowsy, Sir.”
“Just as you like - you’ll probably be shot by
your own men.”
“Well I wanted to get out after one of these buggers 
& I thought - if I wear this p’raps ‘e’ll think I’m
a Turk,” sd / big chap slowly.
They have found the cubby hole of a sniper - not I
am told / sniper himself - with 1000 expended rounds of
ammunition, 300 unexpended, 3 wks rations, & a little
well of water in it. 
The whole camp is seeing snipers. The 9^th, I think
it was, get leave to go out & look for a sniper who they
think has been shooting at them in their rest camp.
As I came over / hill we met them out in pairs with

2
their bayonets on guard searching the country like sleuth
hounds. 
I don’t know if they found anyone. The whole camp was 
getting the sniper mania - The men had been fighting four days
without sleep & they were almost “seeing things”. Their eyes
were often quite leaden - & I have seen men who cd barely
talk - almost as tho’ they were drunk.
When I got back to camp I found Maj. Brown of the
3rd Bn there with his face all over spots from shrapnel
or bullets bursting gravel onto him. He had been hit 3 times
& looked as if he had tumbled down a gravelly hill mostly
on his face. He told me a long story  “It was a sniper, I’m
sure, that hit me the third time - I think he was beside
me in / trench - / bullet seemed to come past from that
way - I’ll swear they were in / trench on both sides of
us - they’re brave by cripes, they are, much braver than
we are. You could see / German officers in green uniforms
w their swords at the carry walking up & down / line
prodding / soldiers w them to make them get on..” A few
minutes later he told me that they saw little or no sign of 
German officers - That made me think (although old
B. was a man whose account one cd trust agst that of
any hundred others) this must be some sort of hallucination.
I had just tumbled to it when Blamey as I walked
wise to take too seriously what a man says when he’s
in a condition like that.... I meant to warn
you.”  I had already grasped it. [Old B. was right as
cd be after two days on the beach & went back to
his bn - commanded the 2nd splendidly for a time &
afterwards succeeded Col. Owen (who had done magnificent work the
first four days) in command of his own 3rd Bn.)] 
Yesterday King, Staff Capt of 1st Bde, came down
obviously shaken in / same way. He was standing in the
H.Q. dug out at tea whilst shrapnel ws coming down &
as every shell burst he scowled at it over his shoulder &
 

One o / 3rd Bde, a private ws walking beside King on
his way down. He sd "he "ws feelin' grand."  K. asked
if he had enough to eat. He sd he hadn't had anything to
eat for 3 days. Many of the 3rd Bde cant have. They left
their packs. These were afterwds collected & stacked on / beach,
a policeman put over them, & / men came down & claimed
them. Many had been rifled of course ; but there were plenty
of spare kits those days.
I had bn told a mess tin ws / last thing to be useful
(by S. African soldiers) so I didn't bring one. It is the thing I
have most missed ever since.

3
swore angrily at it as a dog might bark at anything
tt teased it. Col. Owen o / 3rd Bn, since commanding
the 1st Bde since MacLaurin ws killed, is similarly worn
out. He ws down having tea w / genl today & is having
a rest I believe of a few days before going back. [He acted
practically as a brigadier from the first taking charge of the
left of Maclagan's position where the greatest press was
up to the head of the gully - taking command of odd scraps of
New Zealanders & all the stragglers of the upper gully. xx
Col. Monash is now up there somewhere - but Col. Owen was
really in command to start with. He naturally got worn out;
his messages were rather impassioned & I think they were
considered hysterical but everyone became inclined that 
way & Owen's case position was certainly critical. I doubt if /
work he did there has ever bn really realised].
I came back along / shore where parts o / 3rd Bde
ws digging little dugouts to / S. o / beach on / slope of the Southern
knoll [This position became too dangerous afterwds & was
used for a cemetery - it ws known on a/c of the fire there,
as Hell Spit].
[Sketch - see original text]
The beach _∧ area is becoming extended to / south there w
piles of engineer stores, mule carts, lines of picketed
mules, hay etc. right round the point.
As I got back to / beach there ws / devil of an
excitement there. Col.Lesslie was quite hoarse ordering the
mules off up / gullies - They were taken from their pickets
& streamed off amidst dust and language into / various
recesses on / hill face - where H.Q. & all sorts of officers were, so
tt you cd scarcely move. An aeroplane came flying very low
overhead following / line o / coast round / beach away to / N. of

The aeroplane - or rather Sea plane - ws hit thro a 
float & a motor boat hurriedly brought it in to /
seaplane mothership (Ark Royal).

2 battleships went over - Majestic & P. of W -
Maj. lay inside the point. They pasted / place w big
shell & an observer stn ws found wrecked with 15
dead Turks. [Next morning a party ws landed from 2
destroyers very early & found lots of telephone wire
& this observation station & finally smashed it up.

4
us - the Turks rattling away at her. She turned back &
flew 3 times over / same coastline. It ws just after this
tt there ws this terrific straff haste to clear / beach - at abt
4 p.m. Then the battleships went close in to Nibrunesi point
one (I think Majestic or Canopus) around it & other this 
side of it or off / end & they gave it a most terrific basting.
[Sketch - see original text]  The point they were getting
at was a hollow just
behind / main hillock on / point, in a sort of lap rather
difficult to get at - & they gave it a frightful hammering.
It turned out tt / aeroplane had reports tt / Turks
were getting a gun or howitzer into positn there, or at
any rate were making emplacements for a battery of
some sort. The aeroplane flew very low down as it ws
important - they cd fire slap into our backs from there.
The only thing tt prevents them is tt it has to be approached
over a very long narrow neck flat plain. Open all over to naval
guns & I suppose they cant ask their men to face it -
most likely for us tt both our flanks are on plains
of this sort. Some
The aeropla [ Some people sd they cd see a gun go
up after this bombardment & the "naval man on / beach"
ws sd to state tt the navy had blown up 2 guns. As a
matter of fact I ws told afterwards by / navy tt there were no
guns yet there.]  My note of what was told me is:
Landed Battleship went round point : landed some
men : found 4 guns : 2 knocked out. This ws sheer
latrine rumour].
The beach ws clear within a quarter of an hour or
so. I walked along it round the N. point & quite a
long way till I found Capt Kane (2nd Bn's) dressing station.
A little further on was the _∧ sandy spur running down to / beach
/ narrow crest of wh / New Zealanders were holding. Along

(This isn't quite
correct. see
Notes on Battalns)
5
/ beach were 3 boats of wh Kane told me / history. He sd they
were 3 of / first boats ashore. There had bn 9 wounded in them
from Sunday morning to Monday evg. The 2 Bn sent along two
stretcher bearers. Both were shot, one killed, / other mortally
wounded, from / gullies inland. The wounded didn't dare to
stir. The boats are still crammed w _∧ dead men, but some
alive. The wounded were taken from them after dark on Mond.
evg.
On / beach near Kane ws / 2 Bn. bathing. The men
were out o / trenches, relieved by the N. Zealanders.
I went on up / cliff ridge.  There ws only one place
where it ws awkward - you had to run down about
10 yds exposed to / Enemy's snipers, a very steep bit;
the rest ws well under cover, & entrenched all / way. The
N.Z. infantry were holding it. I found Major Brereton
(Canterbury) there who gave me in Egypt / story o / Suez
Canal. I went on to / top where / trench got narrow &
shallow & finally turned to the right & seemed to go back along
/ ridge a bit. I had thought there ws a continuous
trench along this way but they told me there ws a
gap there not filled in yet. I passed a N.Z. machine
gun wh had a Turkish m.g. opposite it making / place
a warm corner if anything showed above / trench.
The trench ws abt 8 ft 6 w a foot of parapet so you
had to bend all / way & it seemed to run thro a more or
less flat scrubby top. I got to / end of it & they told me
it ws a run of 20 to 40 yds along / top before you got to
/ next trench. With / machine gun there I didn't think
it worth it & decided to go back / same way.
The N.Z. boys in / trench had an outspoken admiration
for the 2nd Australian Bn wh they had just
relieved, & took no made no attempt to hide it." [[?]]