Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/64/1 - November 1916 - Part 2

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open to contributions
Accession number:
RCDIG1066829
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 6

it took th were a0 our old t hold But te wereo 9000 on lift th 10 elve Co 6000 bad by witdraw 3000 hisapp Hp fulker allacks £12 7the L.H 1X at too other Turk witde 5 place w. a mazan25 les as. But 4 t ot th
0 Sept. Our Eih behind the turks bet treaches the his But he retued in tn in tereos septem redo bt ake co of it fit tre 4 54 fert got onr gd when him lark 55 if 2o0e 81 tpure surrounded l batteries) co 6 ight rend ec. ofthe be in e t But to
as 2 6 Al its Wark l beween 20 the 10 t The 2 ith T now b We i to be there
bk De as did w ne lft t of Aane of b won la al i th ntt S t we pt 2o des 50 Che t 10 Att th 1 pa 12 by t 2H
14 C altogetiin 2 rou 5 also lef The me ag t0 d follow as to hard, we going through are sand 0f atothe Lo ol shot a ws uston who ires at him Jerman flaghad for white after man shot up. this H6 himself he wo badly ferman won lit not FVrk buket aga ight Te ferman
15 in chas le Fart wh pn up White flay ws up for Court bu Martial Jea Marra washed the pocledings Wite right but I deress E can't see ferm wast proceedings 9 had bn commted Ffence the even if it were a no ofence all they w at in an the Shoo a

65
10
B-A- & it looked 
as if they were going to 
hold their old lines.
But there were only
9000 of them left- the
Ts sd so themselves. 
They had lost 6000 - &
3000 had bn withdrawn
or disappeared. 
After further attacks up
to Aug 12 by the L.H. & 
other mounted troops, the
Turks withdrew.
They had an outpost
at some place w a name 
like Mazan- 25 miles 
E or S E of us. But we 
raided this abt the 

 

65
11
20th Sept. Our L.H. 
got right behind the Turks
- & intothe trenches behind 
him. But he retired
into an interior septeur 
of redoubts - & we 
cd not make a 
trench fight of it -the 
L.H. were nothing like 
strong eno’ for tt. 
So we got our guns 
onto him (when I saw
first rose & / Turk ws
quite surrounded - the guns 
(2 batteries) cd not be 
used bec. of the light
being in / gunners eyes.
But later they hammered
 

 

65
12
him. We withdrew / follg
night & so did / 
 Turk. There are
4000 now at El
Arish, but none
between. We have / 
rly to Bir el Abd
 now & Divl H. Q. of
the Anzac Mtd Divn 
is by the rly there.
The Germans have 
an aeroplane wh visits
us every day- probly
from some aerodrome 
a little off the Central
road. 
 

 

65
13
The Turk has played / 
game as he always
did.When he retired
he left, over / graves
of some of his dead b
was Cholera. message
warning tt this man 
died of cholera. We 
thought it might be buried
ammn at first - but 
it ws not so. 
We got the cholera 
late too- the 10th L.H. 
especially. Abt 12 deaths
 

 

65
14
altogether have
occurred from it.
The Ts also left 
messages: “Do not
follow us too hard ; we
are going through soft sand.”
0n the other hand Col.
Onslow ws shot by a 
German who fired at him
after / white flag had gone
up. He shot this man
himself - he ws badly 
he ws badly 
wounded by / German
bullet & will not be fit
to fight again. The German
 

 

65
15
Sergt in charge of 
party wh put up / 
white flag ws up for a
 Court Martial, but 
Gen Murray quashed the 
proceedings. Quite right
I daresay; but I wonder
to  can’t see / Germans
quashing / proceedings if 
the offence had bn committed
by us - even if it were
no offence at all they wd
shoot the man. 
 

 

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