Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/210/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 6

54f

outpost sniped them at abt 100 yds to 150 yds - getting 

19 practically the lot. A good many Ts had come 

up in / party Loutit cd hear them saying "Don't fire - 

we are indians!" & thought they were. It was only when they 

fired tt he knew what they were. They had come up 

across / flat into / gully just where Loutit had

Diagram: see original document 

crossed it. All the 4 days orders were coming down to unfix & fix bayonets, not to fire or such & such a spot as someone ws going to advance. The Cease fire orders were complied with till it became clear tt nothing came of them. There ws no C.T. to this

49

Shrapnel Gully. They threw down their rifles 

& wanted to surrender but they were too 

many & were shot. As they were going 

down / hill they met May: Brand. [[(There were 

3 or 4 tents by this path down from Plugges. 

The lamps inside were still burning - they had bn mens 

tents & our men went inside & came out holding 

up souvenirs -watch, kit & so on.) inserted]] 

He came on w them. They went on up to / head of

Wire Gully - & down Wire Gully.

As they got down Wire Gully they saw 

several guns. The party saw their guns from 

the head of Wire Gully & opened - out of range ws 

53e

themselves at / bottom o / Gully directly 

enfilading this position. They fired into / outpost 

all night. There ws no one in / Gully. But on

/ far side ws a post of 5th ? 3rd ?  Bn. They wd mutually 

watch each others side of the Gully. 

On Monday mg. as soon as it ws light

the Ts at / Gully foot had to work down / Gully

& across / same flat.  They threw away rifles

& kit & ran across / flat one at a time & the

Diagram: see original document

50

[[CO's?]] feet & / guns got away. They cd see the 

Turks put teams in these guns. The teams were

in, in some cases, when first seen. They had

only a few yds to go to get over / crest. Brand told

[[?]] tonight to keep going. He went back to / beach. He had seen that guns.

From there Loutit, & Lt Haig (10 Bn) went on past

where / guns had bn ( no dead Germ Ts there) 

over / crest / & down / gully. below them

At / bottom of Wire Gully a creek

brambled to / rt. There was a stockyard

there ws some horses still in it. This creek

ran away down to Kaba Tepl. They

got across / creek - very few Ts abt

53a

line abt 80 yds in rear. By collecting strays in /

gully / party (11 strong now) ws made up to 19.

A/wds Lt Frayne, 10 Bn joined. He had a 

two men on J. Jolly & came down to them.

They dug in there & held there till relieved

4 days later by the marines

Diagram: see original document

The [[?]] wd at A.

[[?MacCapson?]] ws directly

in left rear & Loutit cd

signal back abt 300yds to the Bde Signallers

there. Late on Sunday night when / Turks pretended to be

Indians some of them worked up tt gully & establd

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Crossed this creek, a broad [[?]] shallow 

creek, & came onto a hill in front o /

creek. Very few Ts were abt exc

snipers who were scattered everywhere

& sniper from behind and everywhere.

Loutit had 32 men w him, some

his own, some 9 Bn, some 11 Bn. They

went to /  top o this next ridge wh

ws covered w holly scrub - & stopped

just over / crest owing to opposition

54c

From there they had to cross the flat

(abt 500 yds of grass thro wh /

creek ran). As they got half way across

the Ts reached the knoll they had left

2 mins before & made it very hot.

From there the pty got up Wire Gully, taking

up a position at / bottom of Wire Gully

on / J. Jolly side of it, overlooking /

Gully & / flat at / foot. It ws then abt

11 a.m They then found there ws a formed

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from Ts ahead. Sabe Tepl ws [[back]] inserted]] over 

their rt shoulders. [[They cd see / water of Dardenelles]] inserted]]

The Ts were thick (when the pty got to crest) on another

ridge of abt equal height 400 yds  

in front. From these These Ts stopped

them there w rifles & MG. fire. They

had lost many men. A few were

k in this position. They cd see 

our men on the precious ridge,

54b

Gully ( on / top furthest hill the water o / Dardenelles

ws clearly seen. They thought this must a v. long way in.)

This ws on the Turk side of the creek (S.E.) The Turks followed

occupying / ridge they had just left. There they

met Peck. He ws unwounded - w a few

men. they stayed there ½ hr using their

rifles - it ws [[?]] warm. The Ts had brought 

up one M.G. with them. Peck ws

wd there slightly & ws taken back by 

one of / men.

behind the Gully they had crossed, on 53

both flanks  of them. some digging in,

some arising round after round posting snipers - nothing

very organise on both their flanks, but no one on / same

ridge. From there they sent back

to the paty on their rt rear on J.Jolly

& asked them to come up

& form on their rt flank. They did

54a

retire starting from / right - Ryder sent

a message along saying he ws going to

retire -Soon after he & part of their 

former position

wh they reached by going for all they were

worth down / slope.

As Loutit then retired. As The

left a sector & retired by small pties

under natural covering fire till they

got to a small mound abt 100 yds

on / Turk side o / entrance to Wire

so & turned out to be Capt Ryder 

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w abt one pln of 9 Bn - & they

got up  along side on / rt. In / 

mean time / Ts had worked to / 

left flank & were enfilading from

abt 400 yds on / left. You can't  

dig in ( even from / first - too hot -

we were lying behind / bushes firing

thro' them.) Our line ws then forced to

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Aug 8. 45 Bn.

Green line ws down / road

E of Kate & Thin Wood.

There ws one [[XXX]] crossed out]] 77 gun

in / small wood below Reginald

& Hamilton Lena Wood & [[mined?]]

in the rear there were 6.

A couple o / guns behind

/ small wood were firing

at / Bn while it ws waiting

to push off. No scrap ws

put up w small arms. The

Germans had run by / time

Bn reached them. By / time 

they crossed the Rd E of

Reginald Wood the RHA came

into actn & started to cover /

advance W of Lena Wood.

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As they passed / S E Corner

of Reginald Wood a German

M.G ws firing bursts for a 

few minutes. Then / crew

ran & some 2 were captd.

As they got into / gully before

Susan Wood a German M.G.

wh ws there mtd on an

anti aircraft mtg mounting

to protect / guns, opened.

One o / tanks settled this -

he found it himself. To here 

the tanks were of

Bn. A few stray rifle shots

came from Susan Wd. There ws

a Bn or Regt HQ in the

terraces N. W. of Susan Wood [[?]]

a major ws captd there. A

number of Germ. Arty men

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who had bn wd by our barrage

were captd here. Also one

tank had got down / valley

& mopped it up & came

back again as it cdnt

climb / hill / other side.

At this point / tanks of 

45 Bn, wk as they cdnt

climb / hill,  [[?]]

off rt to 48 Bn front.

5.9 &4.2 Hows were

captd in this valley. The

Germans had run do

round to / rear of Susan

Wd [[?]] many were captd

by 46 Bn wh had a 

[[Slaughter Course?]] & was a bit

ahead.

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There ws a thin belt of

[[?]] wire abt one foot high

along / bottom of Susan Valley

-- German

Bn ws fighting in arty

formation all / time - never

extended at all. They then

pushed to the Crucifix Rd

without opposition and waited 

there 15 mins for / barrage

to lift from the Maracourt- Harlom-

nieres Valley. During this halt

the Bn scouts pushed out

to investigate this gully, one

offr & 6 o.r. They were fired 

at by rifles & one M.G.

from rt at Caroline Wood

for a while. They went