Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/8/1 - May - June 1915 - Part 4

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we had communicatn thro' the supports. But the gap is
now left. Jacob. is on the left of this & Simpson (son
of Judge Mr Justice A.H. Simpson of Sydney) a very fine officer - is on the
right. From this right trench you can see the
slopes under Quinns Post - the most awkward corner
we have. It is Monash's (3rd) section. The Turkish
communication trenches from the gully below lead up to
it. Quinns is the right trench in the gap at the apex of our
lines - we hold the sides of the gully there, the Turks the
head of it.
Diagram - see original scan

We merely hold the jaws &
squeeze them out.

The place is the most difficult
in our whole line. They have
a picked Turkish marksman enfilading
our trench at 300 yards - & the Turkish trenches are only 30 yds
away in front. The Turkish communication trench must come
up,  I think, from the gully here abt where I have marked the
long zigzag. Anyway from Simpsons trench it looks like
this.
Diagram - see original scan

28

On ^Along the top of an ^the hill this side of the hill with the communt trenches ran a trench. 
The Turks were lying on this nearer hill or hogback more
thickly than I have ever seen men lie - the fight The trench
in which we had seen the wounded was a little nearer to
us. At the hour when we were there (a little before 12) there
had just been another Turkish attack on Quinn's post, xx 
although we did not know it. Men were hopping back along
the communication trench - our Maxim getting into them - 
& creeping down the trenched hill. They were also bolting
round the corner of the Hogback hill, evidently from some
shelter the other side trying to reach the cover of the gully
this side. We must have seen 20 or 30 of them coming round that
corner. Some were fully armed & an officer seemed to be trying to 
urge them on (Blamey sd he cd see his sword - I saw him too)
Others were simply bolting round like rabbits, without weapons or
kit or even tunics - in some sort of undergarment & trousers.
Our men were very slow onto them for a bit.  But by the
time we left each man had to run a ready gauntlet. I saw
perhaps two hit.
Our men were now being regularly organised into
snipers & observers. Loopholes when not in use had to be
blocked with a sandbag; & they all ought to be blinded.
When they are not it is easy to spot them & lay a
rifle in rest on to them & then shoot thro' them at
night.
The 1st Bde ran 1st - 4th - 3rd - 2nd.
[I asked Simpson of the 4^th what the cause of the
charge on Monday 25th was. He sd it is shrouded
in mystery.  It ws abt 4 in the afternoon - They had
had a night attack the night before.  The General
came round next day & whilst there he thought that
two platoons had better go forward to straighten out
the line. He waved them forward with an undersweep
of the hand.  The word went along - no one
knows how - that there was to be a general advance.
We weren't up to German dodges then & Simpson

29
advantage was taken of this moment by someone
to lead us on. The whole line advanced - they charged thro'
the Turks with the bayonet, over a near ridge and onto a
further one. Here they came out under fire of some Turkish
machine guns, a battery (at abt 1000 yds) & rifle fire. They held
on for 5 minutes & then the order ws given to retire. They cd
not have held the positn.  Col. Onslow Thompson ws killed & 
MacNaughton wounded during this charge.] The "Pimple" on 400 resulted from this charge.
The enemy had had a 4.2 gun on the trenches
yesterday evening & this morning - & they got the range
of one of our trenches in the 4^th Bn lines to a nicety.
The poor Four shells were landed with a few yards of one another
& the trench became a heap of tumbled earth 
Diagram - see original scan
instead of 
Diagram - see original scan
It was quite awkward scrambling
over them at one point. This was the
only place, however, after a hard days enemy's shelling
where I saw the trench broken down - &
even there it was rapidly being sandbagged
up. The dry hard smoke baked appearance of the earth
just around the hole of the explosion showed what
a fierce explosion it must be.

In one dug out there four officers were standing &
one man sitting when an unexploded shell came in
thro' the roof. It passed between the ^standing ones (the place ws abt 6 ft square)
& went through the man who ws sitting down, passed along thro the
earth 3 ft into the next dug out - & lay there on the floor of it unexploded. I believe the chap there was sitting down
up & so didn't get it on his chest.
Just S. of this the 3rd Bn holds the trenches. They are
sapping out across a slope & the 2nd Bn is sapping to meet them
Diagram - see original scan
tho' we hold the trenches at the back
This is the sap where we saw the
marching tapes & wounded
on the parapet. One Turk here got his bay hold of the
[*One man ws buried & cd not be got out for ½ hour. He ws dead
& knocked abt. Two others were buried but got their heads left out fortunately*]

[[?]]
Guns
Maj. B. Brown's Battery ws in firing line at this 
time. They were smothered w shell during afternoon.

(I met Brown bathing & he told me so) & during evg. even
more so. At night he ws standing w. Col. Brown of 3rd
Bn. when he saw 2 Turks jump into sap & T. officer
on parapet. All 3 were killed, but Brown had the
breech blocks removed from his guns & taken to /
rear for a bit until things cooled.  Both his battery
(being in / pimple) & Phillips (being / one who commds
Quinns) have had their dug outs hit agn & agn -

- broken beams, smashed gun shields being a common
incident.  The 1^st gun which landed is now composed of
bits of 3 different guns. It is extraord. how the guns
of Phillips battery have been plastered - hit agn & agn
& still remain in action.

Sergt. Wolsely 3r Bn told me that you cd see a tall Turk -
prob. N.C.O. with a stick driving a part of men out of one
trench. An officer made our men wait till they have got out
o / trench & then a maxim mowed them down.  The officer got
the tall man himself, with a rifle.  The Turks wd rush up
in dozens or so & the lie down & let their people
shoot over their heads; then rush on again - the nearest
here got within about 10 yards. After a bit they didnt
come on w / same dash - just stumbled ahead to be
shot down (see also Notebook of Ap 25-28 under 3rd Bn).

30
bayonet of one of our men & held it. The N.C.O. who's
bayonet he held lunged at him & stuck his bayonet into
a sandbag. They shot the Turk & he lay with his body
across a loophole. It had to be pushed away to allow our
men to fire.

There are one or two saps further down - to
command gullies & get cross fire.  They are all well
sandbagged & so are most of our trenches now, but 
not concealed - neither are those of the Turks. We
couldn't hold the positns we do, on outer slopes, if 
they had much artillery.  They baste away at our
sandbags & destroy parapets but they cant get much
damage done during the day with guns they've got.
Our loopholes are not well blinded yet. Those of
the Turks are - its hard to say if they are holes in the 
sacks or loopholes.

In one point, we have made two a little
tunnel gallery with a T in the end & two
further galleries into the outer face of the hill,
under the scrub, & two men can snipe from
here so as to make a trench opposite them
almost untenable.  The Turks are working for
dear life putting traverses in that trench.

After the 2nd Bn came the 10^th & then the 11^th.
The 11th had a sap running down a spur from which
they cd get a fire right down the valley leading to Kaba
Tepe.  

Diagram - see original scan

The Turks - abt one battalion - 
came along rather late (abt 4.30)
retook debouched from under a
near ridge, crossed the gully, & 
tried to come up the ridge where our
trenches are. The men in the sap
got onto them & killed a great number.
The New Zealand & Austrln Division was

Opp. 3rd Bde (12^th Bn.)
[*Monday 20*] Message recd by 12 Bn from 3rd
Bde at abt 7.5 p.m. "The Turks are apparently massing
behind their lines. They are to cover their advance with
white flags"
A very hot bombardment folld. & Col.
Smith sent to Col Maclagan: "Wd not advise
staying in sap whilst bombardment is on."

Opp. the 9^th the ^front row of Turks had no rifles but only
white flags & front line is sd to have
advanced holding up its hands.

12^th Bn cd clearly see the Turks massing
on Kilia Ridge, before bombardment started,
with white flags.

[*This was from Col. H. Smith. I think this must describe
12 Bn. What happened on May 20.
C.E.W.B. 30/5/22.]

[*May 19*]

Attack began as soon as bombardment
ended - i.e. they advanced from Kilia ridge
direct W, & across valley to S. & then N

But the real attack did not begin till
daylight. In the wheatfield it ws pushed
right up to / trench.

During fighting the supports (who were handing
up rifles) were some of them almost crying
for a place. They were offering 5/- for a
place (of course, not seriously ) - they'd have
given £5 with pleasure).

B. Browns Batty ws must 

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also attacked last night. ^I dined with Shaw of the N.Z. staff & Col. Braithwaite gave
me the facts for this section:
At 4.30 pm a.m. shelling; 8 eight in. shells fell in
Monash Gully. In afternoon enemy began shelling head of
Monash Gully. An 8 inch shell broke in parapet of
Courtney's Post & wrecked the dressing statn.

45 shells landed - 15 casualties, 4 killed.

At 10. p.m. we were warned tt guns & troops
were being moved from N.E. of Krithia, & tt staff had bn
seen making reconnaissances. All warned to be on 
/ alert. to stand to arms at 3 a.m.

3 a.m. 12 p.m. Machine gun & rifle fire agst
Courtney's post - hottest yet experienced.
At Daylight a heavy attack agst 1st Australn Bn.
4.30. 2000 Turks reported on road abt Kuchuk Anafarta.
8.8  Navy sd they put shells amongst them.
5.30 Taube aeroplane passed over Bivouac
As we have no aeroplane she was able to work
with impunity.
Their big guns immed. after shelled the shipping.
6.30  500 Turks in front of No 4 section.
8 & 10 am. Strong attacks at Quinns.

At 10 am. Strong attack agst Quinn's left.
All guns brought fire to bear including howitzers. Col.
(5 a.m.) Chaytor ws wounded. (A.A.G. N.Z. staff) on Plugge's Plateau.

10.45 am Quinns Post very hard pressed.
At 9.30 am an extra pair of machine guns
was sent up to Col. Chauvel. Another pair at 11 a.m.
All guns & Maxims were turned on ground to left
of Quinns Post.
11. a.m. Rifle fire continues.

One of the men is sd to have shouted as some o / Turks
went off - Goodbye, Saida, play you again next Sunday.
May be a yarn.
It ws this day, May 19 tt one o / most gallant actions
happened tt I have yet heard of. The 21st Ind. Mtn.
battery ws in action & all except two of its native
complement were under cover - when one o / enemy's
guns started reaching for them & exploded a shell near
them. One of these Indians ws in / communicatn trench
to / observatn post, / other was near / gun. They were
passing / observers orders down verbally - 
the man half way down / trench acting as intermediate
station. Presently a man passed up / trench
near him & noticed tt he had his hand over his eyes.
"Whats the matter, Karm Singh?" he asked. "Oh, 
dont you worry - I am quite able to pass messages"
ws / answer. The man went & told a native 
officer. They thought nothing of it at / time but a
considerable time later, came back - & found, now 
tt / work was done, tt a shrapnel pellet had
gone thro both Karm Singh's eyes. They sent him
to / hospital. There he asked: "Sahib, shall I have
my sight?" The doctor knew he wd not; but he sd,
"Perhaps, after a time, w one eye." "It is nothing
Sahib," ws the answer, "Have I not eaten your salt
& taken your bread?" (They weren't expecting any gun
to open at this time. They were waiting for K. Tepe & this ws
a new 2 gun battery. That shot hit both the Indians.

32
11.15 Great numbers of Turks w bayonets fixed
retreat from trenches opp. Quinns Post.
12. noon. Swarms of Turks in the Gully. (? in front of
Quinns P. & to right of it.)

As there was a chance that this attack wd be
renewed I spent this night in the trenches.

The N.Z. people were to make an attack at 7

this evening on Baby 700. The warships gave the
place a bombardment, rifle fire ws opened  - 
nothing came the attack was countermanded.

[*Night in Trenches*]
As there was a chance that this attack wd be
renewed after trying hard to catch up with this diary
I went up to the 4^th Bn. trenches. A flag was
being sent up - a big yellow flag which when waved
to & fro by the Turks apparently means: "Our
artillery is shelling our own men." This can be
done when they shell us.
I found ^The usual mules ^were coming down all down the
path. I got into the 4^th Bn trenches past a 
rather suspicious sentry to Lieut Osborne - & he
(as he was having 2 hours duty - 10 to 12 - kindly let
me have his bunk in the trench side. 9 These
dugouts in the trenches are just like bunks
of a ship about 12 inches off the ground.
Diagram - see original scan

Opposite was a little bastion observation 
post. This particular trench being a sap & not
meeting the opposite sap has to expect 
Diagram - see original scan
the enemy on both flanks - sides. There were two
sentries on a low shelf looking out just to my left,

Rt. Central
From signals: 3 am several bombs exploded. Gen attack began. Heavy
rifle fire.
1^st Bn. on left received first attack in force; very little movement
in front of 4 Bn. Nothing in front of 3 Bn.
4.27 am. 1^st Bn easily repulsed attack & were holding their own.
4.30 4^th Bn reported enemy retiring but large body on J. Jolly
4.50 4 Bn reported enemy's trenches being reinforced.
5 a.m. 2nd Bn reported enemy had made several determined 
attacks on them wh had bn repulsed w great loss to
them & very little to ourselves.
5.10. 1^st Bde report situatn in front of them satisfactory, but
trenches being heavily shelled. 1^st Bn were being heavily
shelled asked for reinfs. up 2 coys sent up from 2nd Bde
wh in reserve
5.25 Enemy advancing in Gully betw 1 & 4 Bn (? Scotts Post) Assistance
from artillery asked.
5.45 2 1 Bn holding own; 4 Bn saw 600 Turks moving across
their front exposing themselves badly.
5.50. 4 Bn reports Turks made a real attack but
exposed themselves to our fire wh confused them. Quite 100 killed
in front of 4 Bn H.Q.  Other Bns easily holding own.
No 2 (?) Sectn:
[*Rt*]
4.45 enemy making series of attacks agst 11 & 10 Bn. but
situation well in hand. Enemy got up to wire entanglements of 9^th.
5.20 10 & 11 Bn reported front being rapidly cleared - enemy
loss apparently heavy.
-----
Ramsay says ammn began to get low (down to 47000 rounds) in
3rd Bde & difficult to get it up to them. He suggested
getting it from 2nd Bde. To take it round Hell Spit ws
almost impossible owing to artillery fire there.
Some 12in shells landed near beach. and on hilltop.
----

Enemy got a gun some way round on our left - &
seemed to bring up every available gun. One big shell got
into our ASC depot and knocked out 400 lbs of beef.

33
& two in the observation post opposite looking out
on the other side - all through loopholes. The
enemy kept up a constant fire - this continued 
all night. One man in every 3 is a sentry - & two
sentries stand together. The men seemed perfectly
contented & were inclined to tell one of what happened
during the morning. They had their greatcoats on & I

The only one who seemed to be in the least nervy was
a sergeant or sergt-major - a Scotchman. He thought
he had seen a Turk fire thro' the loophole of the observatn
post. As two men were in it this was quite impossible - 
they had their eyes glued to the loopholes. He said he
had seen the flash come thro' the loophole - of course
they clearly didnt believe it. Later in the morning he
went down to the bottom of the trench & threw a couple three
of bombs into the scrub of the gully outside - one
didnt explode, but two did. I'm sure he was
a bit These are all the usual signs of nervous
strain. But not one of the other men shewed the
least strain - except sleeplessness. They were in 
splendid form - just what you would want
troops to feel like before a big fight; cheerful, contented,
willing - only hoping the Turks wd come at it.
I yarned to an n.c.o. - a capable little chap who ws
looking after that part of the trench - until nearly
12 p.m. At the hours the different men were waked
& relieved the sentries - and one can see how when sleep
is so precious an unselfish chap ought to go straight
to his job on the exact hour, & not pray ask the sentry whom
he is relieving to wait half a second until he has a
drink, etc. xxxxx gets into xxxxx
At 12. Osborne turned in & Capt. Simpson took
over. As he was to be up for the next 2 hours he

34

made me take his bunk in the H.Q. of his company.
There was another officer sleeping there but I crawled in
under the blankets & slept with that constant peck! peck!
of the Mauser & the swish of bullets abt 6 ft overhead.
I woke at 3 a.m. - Simpson had promised to wake me at
2 when his watch ended, person but he turned into another
dugout. The men were just abt to stand to arms so I
went down into the trench again. This time where the two
sentries had stood there were three men & presently a
fourth joined them, ^all with fixed bayonets. They stood
up on the shelf - their heads opposite the loopholes
and below the parapet - They cd see our front &
rear by standing up ^or on tip toe. We started yarning
at first - how some good chaps had been shot by keeping
their heads over the parapet when it was too light for
it - some were shot also by lucky enfilading shots - you
are always liable to them. Of course a lot of the best of
the men (& officers) go first by being too daring.
Presently Simpson came along & made the men all
stand up & face the side from which they expected the
enemy, the right. As the ledge was narrow & a squeeze
for four, one of the chaps offered me his dugout opposite.
I climbed in there & watched them - I cd see under
the doubled up waterproof sheet their legs &
overcoats &, by lifting it, their round forage caps.
They stood there occasionally two of them yarning, the other
two looking through the l all with their backs to me like

schoolboys standing agst a wall, shifting their legs
occasionally, two of them yarning in a low voice about
Sydney, about their mates, about the war - absolutely
contented. They seemed such simple frank chaps - light
hearted - fresh with all the fascinating freshness of Australians

35
playing their game there just like children. All the time
the enemy was firing away over our heads. The only
shots on our sides were from sentries - occasional bangs
like a big heart thump, with the flash at the same time - 
you cd see the haze of the flash over / parapet line. They
were allowed to blaze an occasional one at shrubs near
them or at a loophole from which sniping came so as to
make the Turks keep their heads down.
Then In / midst of this there was a scuffle of
earth & clothes & one o / men before me came tumbling
backwds - He fell right onto his back in / bottom o /
trench. I thought he had bn hit - the others only 
looked over their shoulders at him - but he picked
himself up - "That's what happens when one goes to
sleep" he mumbled quite contentedly as a scrambled back onto / shelf.
Presently dawn light began to grow in / sky. Word
had come along (from the Third Bn) "Keep a good look
out on your the right; / enemy has bn seen
massing in front o / Third Bn."  However, nothing
happened - just then / sergt stout sergt, who I think
is jumpy, threw a bomb - you cd see a fitful
sputter of a red spark (the fuse, no doubt) just
beyond / parapet - then bang & a blue smoke
presently floating by.  I dont know why he threw
it - suppose he thought there were Turks there. But
this sort of waste must make / enemy imagine we
are gone in / nerves.  There is v. little of it in our
lines.
The light grew & I watched / enemy's
trench occasionally. You could see the flash of

Jacka
May 19

Diagram - see original scan

Steeles
Abt 3.30 Turks began attack & threw in about 8 bombs.
4 men were hit. (Trench held 10 men - 2 k -
4 & Sergt went out)
Jacka ws at 1. Capt Lt Boyle who had bn
hit came out saying "theyve got me" Turks are in the trenches
Jacka heard this jumped up on fire step 
& ws protected by [[?Garvie]].
P.T.O.

 

Support.
At 3.35 a.m. there was a cry of
"Officer wanted on the left" &
Major Rankine D.S.O. in charge 
of the Post sent me into the
trenches.
I worked my way up
Communication Trench, &

 

at the Euryalus off Gaba Tepe but missed by