Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/8/1 - May - June 1915 - Part 5

[*It ws a point where They cd come particularly close*]
Hamilton (also a Duntrooner) ran up & from
3 saw T.s jumping into trench.  Began firing
w his revolver (2 empty cases in revolver)
& ws shot by T on top of parapet firing down (at 3).

Maj. Rankin heard a cry of
"officer wanted" & detailed Crabbe
to go into trench & see what ws up.
(Boyle had put his head round corner
& got clip in l ear) (4)

Jacka shouted to Crabbe. "Look
out. Ts in there" - I asked wd he
charge that trench if I could get men in to
back him up. He sd yes. I want 2 or 3.
I found them at (5). Howard ws
in front Poliness next, De'Araugo
(pron Darroosh) all 3 Bendy's men.
I sd. will you [[?]]. Its a tough job, will
you back Jacka up.  Poliness sd
"its sink or swim" - They volunteered.
They fixed bayonets. Jacka ws still in his
place - I pushed them in. J did not leave
his place bec. moment Howard put his head round
the wall they fired & got him in 3 places -
not K. We dragged him out by feet.
J. had bn holding them for a long time -
He jumped back from 2 to 4.
He made his way round y-y.
We fired threw 2 bombs & fired sev.
shots at the wall to make them think
we were coming tt way. Jacka
ran up x------------x & there down from
the fire step firing up / trench. He
got 5 & bayoneted 2.

Two more Ts were waiting to
crawl in or were some how on the
parapet. These were shot by Poliness.
& rolled out of reach.

Out of the 7 2 men of ours [[bexxxx?]].
Then 7 Turks - 2 still alive on top, were
dropped out.

Just barely daylight.

Book 8 - x x 36.
Re Pte L/Cpl Albert Jacka "D" Coy
14th Battalion A.I.F.

___________

On the morning of 19th May
an attack was made - against
Courtneys Post which the 14th
Battn had galvisoned  from the
28th April.

"A" and "C" Companies were in
Reserve and as the Attack
developed were moved up to
support.

At 3.35am. 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, and

-2-
in so doing saw M^r Hamilton
in a sitting position, his
back resting on Wall of
Communication Trench. Dead.

It afterwards turned out
that Lieut. Hamilton actually
saw the Turks jump into this
portion of the Trench, & fired
twice at them with his
revolver. One Turk however
seeing the opportunity
shot Lt. Hamilton at about
20 yards distance through
the head.

On advancing further
up, I heard a cry "Lookout!"
 & saw L/Cpl Jacka crouching
behind. Traverse in Firing
Line. He said, he was

-3-
the only one left in the
Trench (the remainder having
been rendered Casualties by
the bomb which the enemy
threw before rushing this
portion of the Trench) & that
he had been holding the
Turks back from advancing
further into our Trench
for a quarter of an hour.
He also cooly said that
Lt. Boyle had been hit
just near where I was
then standing.
I asked Jacka
would he lead a Bayonet
charge the Trench if I
got a Party, & on his
answering "Yes", I got

-4-

xxx 3 Volunteers from
"A" Coy as follows.
L/Cpl.  W. Howard
  ""        S. De Arango
Pte       J. E. Poliness

and strange to say these
are 3 Bendigo boys men too.
I got them all to fix
Bayonets & charge, but
same was rendered futile
on account of fact that
immediately we rushed the
Turks opened fire &
wounded L/Cpl Howard
who was behind Jacka
thereby blocking up Trench
for remainder. We go
 Howard out & Jacka also got from his risky

-5-

place (Incidentally we
afterwards counted 12 holes
in the Wall of the
Trench where they fired at
us).

I then told Jacka we
would engage them at
this end, as if we were
going to charge again.
We threw 2 Bombs over &
fired into Wall of Trench. -
Under cover of this Jacka
who had made his way
to other entrance of Trench,
by support Trench, rushed in
& shot 5 & Bayoneted 2
of the enemy.
Pte Poliness was the
first to enter at this

-6-

end & he shot 2 who
were crawling over parapet,
but unfortunately they
managed to roll just out of reach.
The Trench was in
a terrible state (literally
filled up with Dead) &
the 7 Turks were lying
on top of our Boys who
had been killed by
the Bomb the Turks threw
before advancing rushing.
And there was Jacka
o with an unlighted
Cigarettes in his mouth
who simply said "Well
I managed to get the b______rs Sir". His
face though was flushed
by the tremendous
excitement he had
undergone during the
previous hour.

We then dragged
the Turks out

K.Wallace Crabbe Lt.

14th Battn.  A.I.F.

Dear Br. Smith.

Having a few minutes to spare,
& with the aid of
one De Arango, have
endeavoured to do
more justice to Jacka,
than as verbally
given yesterday.

K.Wallace Crabbe Lt.

30/7/15

[*It ws a point where They cd particularly cl*]
Your back Jacka.
Its sink or swim - They xx [[?]]
place - I pushed them in . J did  not leave
his place bec. moment Howja put his head round
the wall they fired & got him in 3 places -
not K. We dragged him out by feet.
J. had bn holding them for a long time -
He jumped back from 2, to 4.
He made his way around y-y.
We fired threw 2 bombs & fired sev,
shots at the wall to make them think
we were coming tt way. Jacka
ran up x———x & thence down from
the fire step firing up / Trench.
Two more Ts were waiting to
crawl in or were some how on the
parapet. These were shot by Poliness.
& rolled out of reach.
Out of th T 2 men of ours [[b?]]
Then 7 Turks - 2 still when [[?]]

Just barely datlight.

36

rifles alone it - stabs 3 foot long into /darkness, this
time; they were not shooting at us, but towards the 1st Bn,
so it ws not l pinpoint flash of Krithia. You saw an
occasional flash from one trench on the left also -
it made l skyline - Between them & running behind them
in / distance ws / dark shape o / big hill up wh we
have bn fighting, 971. The mists of night were just
rising fading its sun crest all except / summit.
In front of / Turkish trenches there ws a bright fire light
& then a streamer of dense blue smoke. Some sd it ws
a smoke behind wh they cd and  retire from tt trench;
others thought it ws a flare sh had bn put out.
Down /l length o / trench a light ws moving - like
/ light of a lantern. Curious showing a light to us.
I dont know what / light was.
The smoke disappeared; / light grew; heads
began to come down below / parapet. And as there
had bn no attack & ws no prospect of one
I left / trench at abt 5 as there ws then no chance
of an attack
& shrapnel
wd presently
be due in the
gully. Our guns
began to fire at 4.30.
I believe they did hear / Turks shouting last
night whilst I was asleep - but nothing came of it.
Thursday May 20. _^Back from trench up at 5.30.  German aeroplane came
over about 10o'c. None of ours were abt
to answer her - She dropped a bomb aimed
at the Ewreyalus off Saba Tepe but missed by

37

100 yds.  Our balloon ship came in very close
to the beach today but was shelled out at about
12 o'c by the Battery in the Olive Grove near Gaba
Tepe.

The N.Z. Infantry Brigade came back today. We
were very glad to see it - we are all Australian &
N.Z. here now & it is wonderful what this means to
the men - they have / utmost confidence now in /
people on either side of them. They never really felt
that confidence whilst the Naval Brigade xxxxxxx
so called marines were here - nor at Krithia. xxxx 
x Up to 12.30 today we only had one or two
big wuzzies - the men call them Jack Johnsons
but those I have seen at 8in. and I believe 9.2.
About 7 prisoners came in yesterday.
Several more - perh. a dozen odd - have come
in today.  They got that poor officer chap who was
lying by his wallet. He was dead by then. He had
an excellent contoured map of the part we are fighting
over, on him.
The Turks today came out under a white
flag & began burying their dead - It was in the
afternoon. Gen.Walker ( a team man - but not such a
good administrator as Gen. Bridges - wh means that
Col. White is kept in his office all day inst. of getting into
/ trenches) ws up in l trenches w Casey (who is his A.D.C.
when they noticed a white flag being waved from / Turkish
lines. Gen.W. & Casey were looking thro' this periscopes
when it appeared. Presently a red crescent flag appeared
there & a red cross flag on our own parapet with
Capt. Thompson (1st Bn) standing by it on/ parapet.

38

Gen. Walker sent Casey along / trench at once
to tell our people tt they must tell  Turks tt if /
ambulance came out it must keep to its own
half o / ground whilst we attended to our half; &
tt it must pick up wounded only & not touch / dead.
Casey went along & when he got to / trench he found
a red crescent man already there. He had bn right on
/ parapet o / trench if not into it - our people
had already got in one wounded Turk. The Red
Crescent man ws going back to his lines - Casey
told them he must be stopped - he had bn into our
trenches & cdn't be called to go back. They sd - oh, he
was only a Red Crescent chap - didn't matter.
Casey told them that they mustnt think of letting him
go - so they called him in & sent him back to the
beach.
Several doctors had by this time left the
Turkish trenches & were moving about looking at
the dead - men in decent uniforms. There were
v. few wounded  - poor chaps they had mostly died.
The General had given a message written by an
interpreter to the Turkish Red Crescent people
that they must stay in their own half - the same
as he told Casey. But as xx because things looked as if
they might get irregular, or when because it was becoming
late he decided to go out himself & meet them.
He left Casey behind with orders to keep him covered
in case of treachery & went out over the parapet
to meet them. There were 3 Turkish doctors & a
lieutenant (Turk) who had come out. They stood
chatting, our General handing them cigarettes.