Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/8/1 - May - June 1915 - Part 15

Either this day or / next:
As a matter of fact 6 N.Z.s were detailed to rush
from / trench, abt 6 yds, w sandbags, push in the sandbags
wh the T.s had built around the craters, throw in their own
sandbags & come back. They ran over ∧ found sandbags wdnt push pulled down
/ sandbags & found a roof over, & a wooden structure w 6
loopholes - not one. They stuffed their bags into / loopholes & 
returned before / m.g. got going. (Possibly this ws on
Monday night - I dont think so).
A young officer - MacWilliams Lt - a Duntroon boy -
boy in who ws w the Otago MR. ws killed today at No 3 outpost. He
ws in the 9^th A.L.H., a splendid chap, always cheerful. 
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were a trifle less - not heavy. I noticed that Maj.
Carter seemed very much xx struck by the size of the
casualties of the 13^th but I doubt if they were
really heavy. 
The charge made by our chaps (placed
by most observers at 8 o'c) over the crest of
our own trenches is spoken of by everyone as
fine. They stood outside the trench taken by the Ts &
shot down or bombed all the men in it & then
jumped down into it. Only one Turk ws wounded
- tt ws / effect o / bombs (our bombs are like
jam tins & seem to make a frightful wound).
Sunday May 30th (cont from see p.127.)
We had to rush the craters opposite Quinns today.
Monday May 31. The N. Zealanders lost
their trench on the left last night. I believe Col.
Skene ws just on / way w reinforcements when
they withdrew. Gen Birdwood ws asked for leave to
withdraw. There ws no vital objectn, so he
let them withdraw if they liked but he didnt like it.
Diagram - see original document

The Ploughman
The fight on
Sunday
(yesty)
132
The N.Z. people were being attacked in this trench
when I ws watching it yesty. They It seemed a pretty hot
corner. The Bullets were flicking dust clouds from the parapet
every second or two. The enemys shell ws not bursting
over / trenche but behind it in / scrub. Suddenly
a blue flag appeared & waved from / trench: "...Have not
yet got in touch with....." read the man beside
me. "... by one squadron strong enough to reach
Capt. Chambers..." Bullets flicked near the flag.
A figure suddenly appeared in the scrub on / edge o /
hill beyond / trench. It ran along full height, w its
rifle - & dropped into / scrub again. We thought
he must be sniping that signaller.
Out beyond there is a strip of
ploughed land running between / hillfoot &
/ sea - / other side of a red poppy field. I
ws not sure at first tt it ws not a trench
- it ws so narrow; but it proved to be an
unfinished ploughing. The only civilian Turk
we have seen (if he was a civilian) had started
ploughing there a week or so ago. He had one
white ox & one red, & he did not seem to do
too much hard work. He continually stopped
& messed around his plough. A few shots
warned him off & I he hasn't been since seen.

----
The impression I again went up
Monash Gully & got the strength o /
fighting at Quinns wh I missed yesty. 

133
Diagram - see original document
On Sunday night the Turks somehow crept
or sapped out into two potholes caused by
explosions of our mines countermines,
& put up bomb proof shelters there w sandbags
- the big Turkish sandbags wh are just abt
3 times as big as ours. They build their
trench parapets of these & ammunitn
boxes. These two formidable erectns
were seen opp. our trenches on
Monday morning at daylight & it
ws decided they must be demolished.
Two parties of the 10^th L.H. were
therefore ordered to go out & take the
trenches, to be followed by two digging
parties if the first lot established
themselves. The artillery ws to support them.
Col. Pope's plan was:
Two parties of ∧10^th Light Horse were to go out
to assault - each of 30 men ∧of 10^th & a Sergt -
the one to assault the right crater ws
under Lt Kidd; tt to assault / left
crater ws under Capt Lt. Colpitts. If
they succeeded, a party of 15 men and ∧Sergt
Sergeant ws to follow. Each man of assaulting -
party carried one ∧percussion bomb. The digging
parties were to be from / Canterbury

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battalion. Maj Row, & Capt Houlker to command
trenches from wh they assaulted. All other support
& fire trenches to be lined as thickly as possible
& other troops to be in communicatg trenches w
bayonets fixed. Supporting fire, bombs etc from
every possible point. Courtneys & Popes Hill
wd support (so did 1st Bn. & artillery). [[shorthand]]
issue at 1 p.m. in afternoon. Reports to ∧H.Q. at end of
telephone line - (order issued at 11.30 am to all officers
of Quinns Post).
Artillery made v fine practice for
¼ hr - only 3 or 4 shells were burst short.
At 1. p.m. the two parties charged over. One of our
shells had blown a Turk machine gun up just as we started to charge - it
blew the sandbags up first; then blew the gun to bits (so I am told).
Kidd got into the work opp. him. It ws
full of Turks. They stood outside threw bombs,
bayoneted shot down T.s most of whom fled.
Took one prisoner - gave him cigarettes & 
biscuit. When He ws so grateful that when
T.s came back the prisoner grabbed the rifle of
man next to him & shot the intruder dead. 
Kidd came back w all his men, very
dazed (but without the prisoner - (they say
they tried to make him understand but
cdn't, & they had to come back hurriedly)
abt 5.30 p.m. T. artillery opened & they
had bn under showers of bombs & were
many of them deafened. They didnt seem to have
done very much.
Colpitts went to the left. Two men were
[*out of 22 in Kidds party
20 were wounded.*] 

135
killed. At abt 2 o'c a message came from him
in a cartridge case: I have 7 men left. No sandbags
want support but think it is only sacrificing
more men to send supports. while Will try to 
dig in & hold on leaving it to you to decide
re supports, Good Luck. Ten casualties.
Col. Pope replied: Am sending ten men.
Do as much damage as you can. Retire
when you can do no more.
That ws a 2.15 at 3.15 a
note came: Please tunnel through as far as possible.
Wd rush back but dont like the idea of
abandoning my wounded Suggest you have
plenty of support to give to our a? counterattack
wh the enemy appear to be preparing. Have
done all damage possible."
This counterattack came off almost at
once but no Turk who jumped out of trench got thro'.
A tunnel was made, but abt. 10.30 p.m, before it
ws completed, 6 men relieved the post, going over
the parapet. The tunnel ws finished abt 11.20
p.m.
Kidd's men who got back abt 5.30 or 6 were
all wounded, & all very rattled. xxxx 
Colpitts some of them came over the
parapet before tunnel finished. The. 6 men
who were put in are still in the post.
Abt midnight an order arrived

136
to demolish or occupy this works. Col. Pope sd
"I went up with Kidd to show him me the spot - 
the big work. But it wsn't there. The Turks had
taken / sandbags down & there was no trench. 
The T.s threw 5 sec. bombs (they 
have 5 sec. & 2 sec.) Our men fielded them
- all exc. abt 3 out of abt 40 & threw them
back, just as if they were cricket balls
I got particulars from Col. Chauvel of the attack by ∧2nd L.H.
under Maj. Graham on a Turkish trench opp. Quinns
on / night of May 14-15 (Friday-Saty). The attack ws made
very early on the Saty morning. I do not think tt any o /
officers concerned had reconnoitred the ground - at least I
am told they hadnt. The story is as folls:-
One squadron of xx Light Horse ws ordered by
Gen. Godley to make a sortie from Quinns Post on 
this particular night.
C. Squadron of the 2nd L.H. (Queensland Mtd. Inf)
was chosen - under Maj. D.M.P. Graham - under
directn of Lt. Col. J.H. Cannan commanding Quinns
Post. The hour ws to be decided on by Maj. Graham.
The object ws the filling in of a communicatn trench.
Half the squadron ws to rush / enemy's trenches,
using the bayonet only. The other ½ squadron ws to
take picks & shovels. They were to fill in / commn
trench, demolish / parapet o / trench, & be back
before daylight. Courtney's & Popes Hill were to 
cover them & they wd be supported by garrison of
Quinns Post wh however ws not to leave the post.
Maj. Graham chose 1.45 as the hour.
The fire tt met them as they jumped over / parapet

137
ws so heavy tt few reached / trench. The Turks left /
trench & enfiladed them from both sides - Nearly all / party
ws killed or wounded. The digging parties helped / wounded back.
One or two Turks were bayoneted & some attempt ws made
to demolish / trench. But / fire from machine guns, rifles,
bombs ws too heavy.
By 3 it ws all over - / party, such as ws left,
had come back from its attempt w its wounded. Two
wounded Light Horsemen were observed lying outside /
Turkish trench and / questn o their rescue ws considered.
But before it ws decided on / Turks opened fire on
the two men & killed them both.
Pamphlets were given to / party to hand
out to / Turks. The party went forwd from No 3 section.
The Right Party          30 men under Capt Birkbeck
Right Digging Party  15     "         "        Maj. Graham.
Left Assaulting Party 30    "         "        Lt Ogilvy
   "    Digging         "       "                          Lt Potts
Five stretcher bearers, some messengers 
etc.
Of the Right Party: Of 15 men who rushed out to /
right o / communicatn trench 2 reached the
Turkish trenches. As there was nothing they
cd do they were ordered to start get into /
Communicatn trench. They crawled along /
Commn. trench, dragged / wounded back into
their own trench under a heavy fire. The stretcher
bearers rushed out almost to the Turkish
trench & got the wounded.
The digging party's were not to start till assaulting
parties were established in / trench, but wh & signal given.
Signal never ws given. But Maj. Graham
when he saw attempt men falling so fast jumped

138
on trench & rushed forward. He helped to bring
in / wounded - but in doing so ws mortally wounded
Lt Potts reported aftwds tt a heavy fire started
immed. they left / trench. The men were keeping low
The digging party cd hardly be prevented from rushing
forwd to assist. A messenger came back to say tt
Lt Ogilvy had given / order to retire & try & bring in
/ wounded. The whole affair ws over in 20 minutes.
The stretcher bearers & messengers went forwd
to help / wounded. Those in trench saw heads
coming back along communicatn trench - ∧they were exposed to
our side - Orders were given not to fire as it ws
not clear whether they were Turks or Australians.
Turned out to be Lt Ogilvy & 2 men.
Six men in the left assaulting party got out
without casualties Graham helped 4 men before
being wounded.
I hear that Col. White & Col. M'Nichol have
each got the D.S.O.
Tuesday May June 1st After visiting Quinns today
I went up to the 1st Bn to get particulars
of a very brave action which Casey & the General
happened to see during yesterdays attack.
The ∧machine guns of the 1st Bn had to cover the attack.
One gun seems to have been ordered to cover this
side - they are nervous abt Quinns & doing all
they can to cover it - but the instructn had
not bn carried out. The General when he went
up found that the gun emplacement ws not
prepared. The attack ws almost due to 

139
start. Bags had to be hurriedly shoved into place - the 
emplacement (wh is on the in side of the valley - ws not a
good one & rather obvious - they say also it ws given away
by the L.H. bringing an m.g. with an iron screen there
& not screening the screen) and the gun ws only just
shoved into positn before the covering fight started.
The guns crew consisted of Corpl. Bint, Pte T.
Arnott (No 1) Pte R. Cumming & others. Cumming
started firing but as Arnott ws No 1 he ws presently
put on.
They knew where one o / Turkish m.gs was 
& Bint presently put him on to another. The moment
our assaulting party went over / top he started to 
fire - on / m.g. wh he cd see. He blew / whole
crew out of it. Bint put him onto / other gun - 
showed it to him. The T.s got a new crew & started
in at him again. Presently ∧one of their m.gs - you
cant say wh - got onto him. It felt all round
/ loophole for him - down one side - across /
bottom - up / side again - across / top ripping the
bags to pieces & finally toppling them over off /
parapet. For 2 minutes tt T. gunner must
have kept his thumb pressed on / trigger. 
They must have bn feeling for him 5
minutes before they got him. He had never let
it affect him in / slightest degree. He had
his whole chest & head exposed when they got
him - reaching over so they say to put something
right w his gun. Five bullets entered his
jaw, blew all the teeth on one side away & 

140
almost cut his face in half - but didnt
kill him. Pte Sharp another member o / guns
crew also ws hit. The crew managed to get
the gun safely down & so saved it.
Arnott ws carried round to / Dr. As he
lay there Gen. Walker went up to him. "My
lad, that was a fine piece of work," he sd - "I
intend to recommend you for the D.C.M." The
youngster - he is a Balmain boy, only 20,
a trainee of the 29^th Battalion, pulled himself
together & saluted faintly - as best he cd.
Cumming ws also a trainee o / 29^th.
The crew ws under Corpl. Bint.
Tuesday June 1st.
I saw General Birdwood last night - 
He was in his dug out reading the paper after dinner
with his spectacles on his forehead. He wanted to know
if any of my articles had yet appeared. We got yarning
about Clifton & about things here. He told me that the 
Navy had originally thought they could get thro' without
assistance - or else with the mere assistance of x 
landing parties. Kitchener accordingly sent him
up to get an opinion. He came up in the Swiftsure. 
Carden, who was Admiral in command then,
was evidently a man who had not really the
independence to oppose the impetuosity of
Winston Churchill, & when Churchill wrote to
him in his impetuous optimistic fashion he wd
be the man to chime in. Birdwood saw that the fleet
had blown the forts at the entrance to pieces but
had not even begun on the Narrows - The howitzers
were firing on the ships - & they had no idea where
they were; there were not only mines but, they
say five lines of torpedo tubes. The rocks in there