Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/8/1 - May - June 1915 - Part 3

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fortnight or per 3 weeks? Even if they got Achi Babi
there’s a huge job in front of them in the Kilid Bahr
Plateau (Pasha Dagh) - worse than Achi B. I shd.
think. Even to pass the two & join hands with
us leave a very big job ahead.
They have taken every aeroplane away from us -
they promised, I believe, to send some but none have come.
use We see the balloon abt once a week - they have
left one little balloon instead. The German aeroplane
roams over as exactly as it pleases. The Turkish
artillery is more troublesome here - by far – than
down South; it has as from both sides & we cant
alter our gun positions. They have taken our reinforcements
- the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade for the South. They have taken
our artillery for the South - they must have 120
guns by now including 16 Australian& 4 N.Z.
They have landed 2 ^big howitzers here but they are
stopping ammunition from coming to them only
130 rounds, so I hear, for both guns. They cannot
shove through with all this because they have not
got enough of the class of infantry, which is
capable of shoving through - so they have taken
two of one brigades - who made the one solid
fighting advance which has bn made there for
a week & sent them back when they had no
further use for them i.e. when ours had lost 40p.c.
of its men & the N.Z. Brigade 30 p.c. in doing the
work which ^very few of the troops down there could not do
- that is advancing straight upon the Enemy in
the face of a very heavy fire.
and what is it all for. Ian Hamilton sends
 

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letters to our army corps telling them that they are
doing magnificent work of the most useful sort in their
role of containing force - they cant see every move on
the board, he says, but it is all working to the right
End etc. But xxxx He may be right - we are holding
up a big no. of Turks here. But the position is that
whilst we are doing s & sending them every
help & going short in artillery, aeroplanes ^gun ammunition
to help the show which the big guns are raining down
there, they are not pushing on apparently bec. they
cant push on. The fact is that while most of
the materiel for pushing on is down there
most of the personel which could push on is up
here. I dont think our min here wd be sufficient
to push through from the S. but they are the only
class of troops that cd do so. The British regulars
(& the Ghurkas) are the only troops that cd go ahead
with them down there - (if the lot were there &
well reinforced they w do it at a cost I have no
doubt.
I don't know enough abt it to say whether
we cd push thro here. But with someone to
hold our trenches we cd get 971 - & once
there the Turks wd be in a parlous difficulty
as to their communications.
For a change one of our aeroplanes came over
yesty. The first for a fortnight nearly. Also the big balloon went up.
Tues. May 18..
The Queen with No 2 squadron under
Adm. Thursby is also leaving us for other
fields. wonde if this is Europe means the Channel
- they say there's a move there.
 

Turks threw over. (I think dropped from an
aeroplane) a proclamation telling us to come in &
surrender within 24 hours - that they had some of our
prisoners & were treating them well [we have had photos of
T. prisoners taken in armchairs - G. Lloyd wrote to Cairo
asking them to do this - & they took it too literally &
put them into actual armchairs & the photos had to

be ^sent back & taken again]. Our men (3rd Bn) put a message
into a cannister "Expect 5000 men to come across &
surrender this evening" and tied the cannister to a
string & whirled it round a flung it a little in front of
Turkish trench. The Turks fished for it for an hour (?) with
a long bamboo pole & finally hauled it in.
 

(19)
Last night. (May 17-18) our telephone line between
K.B & an extension to an artillery observation
stn was out. The wire was tapped. Someone
began Calling K.A. very badly. We asked "who are you?"
There was so answer -but presently, just after the
relieving operator had come on there ws tapped out
a message - very badly operated & badly & slowly
spelt as follows: "We will put you into the sea
tomorrow, you Australia bastads. Big guns we
will give you; we will give you mines, you
Australia bastads" - if I havent got the exact
words those were almost the exact ones. It was a
question whether this was a half witted man -
possibly one of our own; a German or Egyptian
who learnt Australian vernacular in Egypt or
Australia; or someone who wanted to give us a
friendly hint. It seemed to me probably an Egyptian
who hated us pretty badly.
The day ws unusually quiet-
xxxx as quiet as a lazy holiday afternoon in summer.
They gave us a shelling on the beach in the morning but
so quiet was the day – barely a rifle shot - that
Everyone was asking what it meant. "Turks are up
to some devilment I suppose," sd Watson of the Signal
Coy. Col. White answered me when I remarked on it
: "yes - I wonder what it means."
The calibre of the guns they ^had got onto us that
morning was bigger than ever before. Abt 7 am a
fragment whirred over the path outside my dugout &
struck the roof of Blameys dugout abt 20 yard on. It ws
a great flake of 10 in. shell or 9.2. Later the same day
the base of a xxxxx In the late afternoon after I had
had my swim they began shelling us again, using
big guns this time. You cd see mountains of earth
 

(20)
down just beyond the guns at the top of this near ridge.
There are 4 18 pdrs & I think 2 Mountain guns up there
& they bring a lot of shrapnel over the beach & H.Q. They
shelled the trenches all this day with their 9.2 or whatever it
was. That afternoon Col. Owen ^C.O. of the 1^st Bde. (temporary) sent
down to say tt / enemy ws getting 3 guns into position abt
400 yds in front of his lines w german officers & gunners
who cd be seen: Cd / guns or mountain guns be turned onto
them. Our artillery sd they cdn't get their guns onto them.
I saw Bessell Brown ^when bathing & he sd the Turks had him
bluffed - 4.2, 10 in, 18 pdrs all onto his battery all
day. One cant help wondering why Owen doesnt get
a machine gun onto them ^if they can be seen. He says "the situation is
very grave."
General H.Q. sent in to say that / aeroplane
had seen a division landing in 228 m - i.e. just
opposite us on the Dardanelles coast this side of the
Straits. The Triumph also saw Turks pushing up from
Krithia, & I believe movements of troops are reported
from the North.
So we shall probably be attacked tonight.
We have 2 large Howitzers now in positn.
One ws given to the left, other to right. One of them
only got in 4 shots - the first ws rather a joke; it landed
right out at see, I believe - owing to some mistake. The
second is sd to have got right on to the emplacement
down S. at wh it ws aimed - & the two remainder were hits
that is, if the yarn is correct. The xxxxxxx people
down at the Point have ordered that, I believe, that no
ammunitn shd be landed for these guns; but 130 rounds are
ashore & we are going to stick to those. They are landing
marines to show us how to work these guns, or to
work them themselves - 1 officer, 1 n.c.o. & 10 men so I
hear.
 

21
We have had most of our ships withdrawn, but have
still the Bacchante, Triumph, & I think Canopus or
Vengeance. The Majestic I saw in the Dardanelles, & the Queen
Elizabeth hasn't been here for an age.
A destroyer has gone in close to [[?]] Pt with
a searchlight today but the search light is only on in 5 or 10
minute spurts tonight. This searchlight on our flanks is
xx great safeguard.
The brigadiers xxxx have for warned to expect an
attack & to keep their eyes open.
Waters come round for a smoke & yarn. We expect
that if there is any attack it will be xxxxx when the
moon goes down.
11.3S moon down.
11.45. Bomb away in hills (sort of dull drum
thump) Turkish rifle fire has suddenly greatly increased.
11.46. Another bomb. Machine gun has joined in -
tremendous fire growing. I can hear bullet swishing over
my dugout & the path outside - pretty high.
11.47. another bomb. Machine gun going hard.
They are spraying it from left to right & back - it is
Turkish..
11.48. another bomb - more m.g.
11 50 another bomb- bombs became
frequent. Destroyer searchlight is on now. Presently
[[?]] up again.
I strolled to signal office. Gen Walker was there
in his warm woollen cap, standing just outside with
his hands behind his back. Presently he sat on a chair on the
path just in the corner by the table of the signal office.
Are to Brigades in touch w all their battalions?
he asked. This answer was for the was sent as once to the
Brigades; & the answer came back at once from Thind Bde: yes.
Presently First Bde: yes. x
The fire grew much slacker of 12.10. There
were stlll a few bombs being thrown - 4 within 12 seconds.
 

(22)
one cd hear ^one of the enemy's xxxxx machine guns in the centre sweeping
from left to right & back again - you cd hear the
Swish swish Swish of bullets coming up from the right like
the ray of a light house, sweeping ^loud overhead, fading away
again - presently [[?]] back swishing overhead,
fading away on the opposite direction - & so on
Presently the Gen. having got his answer that 1st both Bde
were in touch with Bns asked ordered a message to be sent asking
if they had anything to report. Answer at once from 3rd Bde:
Nothing to report.
1st Bde. 1st & 3rd Bns: Also had nothing to report.
What w
2nd Bn. cdnt be got onto. Everybody waited
for their answer - rather anxious to get to bed after long day.
Blamey, Glasfurd; (it ws not worth disturbing White for)
Glasfurd occasionally took telephones. This was in main
signal office: next door in 2 little dugout like kennels
were two men, side by side with only sandbag wall between
them, w horn lanterns & receivers over their ears, each
very snug - rather like a dolls house, open in front. In
the larger dug out next door was Maj. Mackworth Commanding
Signal Coy. leaning over man at table. Xxx horn lantern
There was an operator & a man next him recording
messages; & in front to left on a chair, his face
outlined black agst light of another lantern ws Capt.
Watson of D.H.Q. Signal Coy. The Horn lantern on table had
paper pasted over it to prevent its being too bright.
The table ws a board resting at our end on 2 boxes
one had held "BOILED BEEF", 12 tins in case."
An Empty kerosene tin was glistening in the light under or beside
the table - used as receptacle of some sort. The light of
lantern shone strongly on their faces but interior of Dug out
ws otherwise only just visible. What cd be keeping
that 2nd Bn. At last they rang up the Operator
to asked him.
In meantime a messages had gone to the
 

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Artillery H.Q. "Has there been any of our guns firing?"
Presently message came in from some battery. to wh / same
message had been sent: No artillery has bn firing.
Then up came Parkes, Orderly officer to Col. Hobbs, with
a man carrying a lantern. "Report to you, Sir, that no
artillery has bn firing" he sd.
Just then at last they got the 1st Bde operator.
"Have you heard from 2nd Bn"? we asked.
"Just got their report," was the answer "- O.K.".
"Tell him I wanted to know whether in view of the firing there
was anything to report" sd the General.
"He says if is only the Turks firing" ws the answer.
"Any report to Anzac, Sir" asked Glasfurd of the General.
"No".
That ended it. I turned in.

May 19. Wednesday.
The attack came off last night after all.
I visited the trenches with Blamey this morning & went
thro' them from the left of 1st Bde to nearly the right
of the line
At 3.20 the Turks attacked. Our men had bn
ordered to stand to their arms at 3 o'c. They had bn there
abt a quarter of an hour when the sentries reported
there (1st & 4th Bn.) that there were men coming out of
the Turkish trenches, Fire was immediately opened.
The Turks made no noise about their first attack this
time. Afterwards they frequently blew bugles to get
their men out of the trenches, but the first attack was
 

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noiseless. They simply seem to have come out all along the line
at nearly the same moment except on the right where a
battalion probably lost its way & did not work up through the
scrub until abt 4.30. The Turks did not seem well trained.
There was no attempt at covering fire & so our men could
sit right out on the traverses of the trench or even the parapet
& shoot for all they were worth. The Turks wd lead out all along
the same path, one after another - simply inviting death.
They made two charges in most parts. But opposite
Quinns Post & opp. the 4th Bn. where the sap from the 4^th to the 3rd
is not yet quite finished they made 4 charges - indeed
at Quinns they made five or six. We did not realise
that this had been a real serious attempt - but today
from there at the saphead of the 2^nd Bn you could see, between
the two sapheads, running down the scrub zigzag, just
as it had been dropped, a marching tape such as the
Germans use in their night attacks. There must
have been 20 men still lying along it
[hand drawn map]
like this →. There were a
certain number of men
lying inside the saps
& right on the parapet
of the 2^nd Bn. trenches
xxxx xxx  abt 50 yds from
the Saphead were 5
One on top of the other. One
was a wounded officer
& when we were there
they were trying to get him into the trench by throwing
a grappling rope over him with a hook at the end. This done
a Greek, to 2nd Bde interpreter also spoke to him - looking
down thro his periscope at him - But all he did was to
push aside the rope with his hand. You cd tell he ws an
officer by his black to boots. He had a red piping down
the trouser seam.
 

Most of the Turks out there were dead. The T. trenches
were abt 200 yds away - there was a sharp corner in
it. the new turned parapet made it very clear
[sketch]
There were ^dead Turks thick all through here & the green field
- one cd see one, or possibly 2, wounded officers lying
out there (or dead officers). One young wounded officer
when spo the interpreter (Hough) spoke to them a little.
Some of those 5 Turks under the parapet had frightful wounds
in the head - half the head blown away.
I saw one head wound like a star or [sketch]
a pane of broken glass; an other more or less circular
you cd have put your hand into either. This does away
with any conviction in my mind tt / wounds sometimes
talked of by the doctors in our A.M.C. must necessarily
be caused by dum dum bullets. We know there are dum
dums bec. I have seen those picked up where the bullet ws
has reversed & hammered in agn. But all these terrible
wounds are not caused by expansive bullets.

We first went up this morning – Blamey & I - with
(?) Nickless, one of our interpreters. A report had come in
that some of the wounded enemy were in a trench close by
& were likely to surrender if spoken to - so we gradually
inquired our way up into this trench – Capt. Jacobs of the
1st Bn. was in command of it. Through the periscope you
could/see about 20 yds away a Turkish trench running at
right angles to us. After some of their attacks failed the
Turks had crept in there for shelter from their own men & ours.
Many of them were dead - & some wounded just moving. One
or two, quite unwounded had been seen getting away to
the trenches in the rear. [Some of the Turks during to morning
when they tried to retreat to their own trenches had bn kicked
out by the men already there.]
[sketch]
The interpreter shouted
out to these men but
they did not answer. We
 

26
heard after from one who came in that they did hear but what
was the use? if they came in with rifles our men wd shoot
them; if they came without rifles their own men wd shoot them.
At the same time Lt Hough - an Englishman who ws in the
Consular serice at Jerusalem and was sent out as interpreter
went to the 3rd Bde. to do a similar job there. He got into the
trench with a periscope, a megaphone & shouted out to the
Turks. "Comrades - ^if you come and you will be kindly treated.
We are friends of the mussulman. We give our prisoners
good food" And so one. One prim old Turk was lying out with
a rifle &, every time Hough spoke, blazed at his periscope.
he shattered it twice. " The Turks trickled in one by one -
the young officer,  just a a kid still in the military school,
first. He was awfully shaken. He ws wounded in the face.
He prayed xx to have himself taken off in a ship at once.
The Turks were going to attacks us - what they were going to give
us wd be twice times as bad as far worse than anything that had happened
so far.
[Aubrey Herbert M.P. (Capt Irish guards) is acting
as interpreter for the New Zealanders. He has a great
way of describing what happens when he goes round
their trenches shouting to the Turks. This sort of thing:
"Brothers, we love you! (bomb). We English are the
friends of all Mussulmans (whizz-whizz]. If you
come in we will ^find you & give you cigarettes (shrapnel)"].
To return to last nights attack. The trenches of
the 4th Bn run in two portions & are divided by a
slight gully in which it is very dangerous to have a man a
trench at all. There was a trench there in the line
when the [[?]] Bn held it; but if was so often abandoned
or had to be supported that we withdrew from it &
simply filled in the gap with wire entanglements (as in
sketch.) We hold bot sides (A & B)
our trenches being on top - &
{sketch]
A B
H.Q.