Bean's Gallipoli: The Diaries of Australia's Official War Correspondent
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Bean's Gallipoli: The Diaries of Australia's Official War Correspondent
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| ISBN-13: | 9781741767490 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited |
| Publication date: | 05/01/2009 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 292 |
| File size: | 10 MB |
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Bean's Gallipoli
The Diaries of Australia's Official War Correspondent
By Kevin Fewster
Allen & Unwin
Copyright © 1983 Mrs C.E.W. BeanAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-74176-749-0
CHAPTER 1
'Good luck to you boys'
21 October–3 December 1914
On 3 August 1914, as the threat of war in Europe loomed, the Australian Government notified Britain that it was willing to despatch an expeditionary force of 20,000 men should the need arise. The offer was accepted with gratitude. In September, while this contingent was still being raised and trained in Australia, the British War Office invited each Dominion to attach an official press correspondent to its force. Senator George Pearce, the Minister for Defence, asked the Australian Journalists' Association to nominate a representative for the position. The association organised a ballot of members which Bean, then writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, won narrowly.
It had been intended that the Australian contingent, named the Australian Imperial Force, with its New Zealand counterpart of 8000 men, would sail for England in early October. Bean and Arthur Bazley, his eighteen-year-old assistant, were to board the convoy in Melbourne. Bean travelled down from Sydney in late September to prepare for embarkation and took a room in the 'Northampton' boarding house, St Kilda, where his brother Monty was residing.
Several German warships, the Scharnhorst, Gneisnau, Konigsburg and Emden, were known to be cruising somewhere in the waters around Australia. Consequently, the departure of the troopships was postponed until adequate naval convoy escort vessels could be provided. The convoy was to rendezvous in King George's Sound, off Albany, Western Australia. The 36-ship convoy would be escorted to Europe by the RAN light cruisers Sydney and Melbourne, the Royal Navy cruiser Minotaur, and the Japanese cruiser Ibuki.
Bean and Bazley were assigned to make the voyage on the Orient liner Orvieto, with General Bridges and his staff of the 1st Australian Division. Another journalist, Peter Schuler from the Melbourne Age, was also sailing aboard Orvieto. His involvement had been sanctioned by the outgoing Federal Liberal Government before incoming Labor Minister for Defence Pearce decided that one pressman should represent all the Australian media. Schuler and Bean soon became firm friends.
Charles's parents, Edwin and Lucy Bean, sailed up from Hobart to farewell him. His younger brother John (often called Jack or Jock), a surgeon, was also departing aboard the first convoy as a medical officer in the 3rd Battalion.
October 21 Said goodbye to mother at 'Northampton', 27 Acland Street. Taxied to Port Melbourne with father taking luggage ... Archie Whyte and father came to Port Melbourne, and after being held up on pier managed [to] get on to wharf through Colonel Wallace and Major Dowse. Father left at 1.10 with Archie. Crowd in afternoon broke line of sentries and rushed wharf. Sailed at three. Watched St. Kilda pier for father and mother and thought I saw them waving a white handkerchief ...
October 26 Reached Albany, wind rising ... Eighteen ships were in port when we came in — in lines about 6 in each. We three made 21. Two or three arrived since ...
October 27 Moved into harbour — coaling. Spent most of day writing ...
October 28 At about 9 a.m., moving out of the inner harbour we noticed one, two, three — 13 distant ships on the horizon. They were clearly the New Zealand transports and convoy which New Zealand had demanded to bring them over. One smoking heavily moved in first, close under hills to west. She had a Japanese flag — Ibuki — a much thicker set ship than any of ours in the Pacific except the Australia — broad funnels (3?). She anchored close under the hills ...
CHAPTER 2A hot time in Cairo
1 January–11 April 1915
Over the remaining weeks of December the Australian and New Zealand units set about establishing their base camps and familiarising themselves with Cairo and its inhabitants. The 1st Australian Division, to which Bean attached himself, based itself at Mena, some 16 kilometres (10 miles) out of central Cairo. The Australian Light Horse Brigade set up camp at Maadi, south of Cairo, on the edge of the desert. The New Zealand units based themselves at Zeitoun, 8 kilometres (5 miles) north-east of the city, relatively near to Heliopolis and Abbasia, where most of the British Territorial units were camped. The Nile Valley and desert areas immediately outside of Cairo provided ample space for the troops to encamp and train. Bean subsequently wrote in Volume 1 of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918: 'Before the winter was over, the valley in which the [troops] had bivouacked on the night of December 3rd was filled with the hum, the bustle, the dust, smells, sounds, and the lights of a busy city.'
The arrival of the Australian and New Zealand forces was followed on 21 December by that of Major-General William Birdwood, selected by Britain's Lord Kitchener to lead the Antipodean units. Birdwood was stationed in India when Kitchener's order arrived and, to expedite things, he brought with him a number of India-based British staff officers to help him establish his new command headquarters.
It was suggested that the combined corps should be named the Australasian Army Corps, but there was a general wish among its commanders that both nations be identified, so the title Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was adopted. To simplify their work, in the weeks that followed, the office clerks abbreviated the cumbersome title into code acronyms: 'A. and N.Z. Army Corps' or 'A. & N. Z. A. C.' Eventually one suggested a much simpler term: 'ANZAC'. And so was born the word that would become synonymous with Gallipoli, courage and sacrifice yet, as Bean recalls in the Official History, 'it was, however, some time before the code word [ANZAC] came into general use, and at the Landing many men in the divisions had not yet heard of it'.
January 1, 1915 [Brother] Jack's birthday — 34th I think. I walked down in the morning to wish the old beggar the best of luck — many times to be repeated I hope. He put in an extraordinarily strenuous day and finally threw himself on his bed and went to sleep quite exhausted. That was his way of enjoying his birthday. His regimental lines are (thanks to his never tiring of getting about at any hour day or night to see things himself) a model to the camp, and he has been told so. His nice corporal ... who is such a splendid chap when sober, is off on the scoot — and went into Cairo with leave yesterday and has not returned. I believe this breaking of leave is getting a serious matter. Between 200 and 300 of our men at this present moment are somewhere in Cairo — their whereabouts are not known. I know this from conversations Peter Schuler has had with the men — to be partly due to the inexperience of the officers. In a force like this, hastily raised, there is no uniformity in the way in which the officers treat their men. A fellow who is breaking leave will tell you 'Well, look here, I got back half an hour late last week and went into camp past the main guard and gave myself up squarely — and the Colonel gave me a week's C[onfined to] B[arracks] for it. And then a chap in the next lines breaks camp and stays out two days and is caught getting in at the back of the Pyramids and only gets two days. I'm going to do something to get punished for this time.' The slackness of N.C.O.'s is another cause. Our N.C.O.'s have very little idea some of them, of their responsibility — they were all mates out back, and they will often do what they think is a good turn to a chap by giving him in as present when he is absent. But when all is said and done the chief cause of trouble is the tone amongst a certain section of old South African soldiers, and men who have been through the Imperial Service. I have noticed this myself and I have heard it on every side; so much so that if one sees a chap in trouble now, drunk or brought up a prisoner, or if one sees a dirty untidy soldier going without his belt in town or in a crumpled field service cap (which looks sloppy and is against orders) one looks automatically for the South African ribbon ...
CHAPTER 3This night is too good to miss
12–25 April 1915
The moment for action was finally drawing close. The Australians and New Zealanders were to form part of a 75,000-man amphibious assault force to be launched against the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. The objective was to gain control over the strategically vital Dardanelles Straits. It was a most tempting prize. If the straits could be taken, the way lay open for the Allies to strike at the Turkish capital, Constantinople. Turkey might then be forced out of the war, thereby reducing the pressure on the beleaguered Russians. Germany, in turn, would be threatened by Allied forces at her rear. In short, the Dardanelles seemed to offer good prospects for success and an escape from the now deadlocked trench warfare of the Western Front.
The military landings had been decided upon only after repeated attempts by British and French warships in February and March 1915 had failed to neutralise the line of Turkish forts guarding the narrow seaway separating Europe and Asia. The landings would be made by a combined force of British, French, Australian and New Zealand troops.
April 12 This morning early, when I woke up, we were coming up a strait between two lines of hills covered with green grass. I suppose I ought to call them 'bare' hills because there were no trees on them. But one simply cannot bring oneself to call any place where there is grass 'bare'— that is the effect of four months in the desert. Everyone was delighted to see the green. 'I'm coming back here to take up land', I heard one officer of the 1st Battalion say to another as they looked over the rail.
There were three or four ships following us and ahead of us were a sloop or yacht of some sort and a torpedo boat. We followed round up the harbour entrance — and there inside we saw some war ships, some other ships, and a village. On the hillside near the village were some tents. A fine harbour opened up, larger and larger as we went in ...
This was Mudros Harbour, Lemnos Island, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the entrance to the Dardanelles. By 20 April more than 200 ships were assembled in the harbour ready to carry the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to the beaches of Turkey.
April 21 A wild wet night; raining and blowing hard this morning. Shortly after breakfast quite a considerable conference was held in our saloon. The New Zealand staff came over from the Lutzow or wherever they are. Our own staff ... trooped down with naval officers, the staff of the army corps, the commanders of our artillery brigades. There was a map on the wall and as a lecture of sorts was evidently going to take place I cleared out to the divisional office in the lounge upstairs ...
CHAPTER 4On Turkish soil
25 April–5 May 1915
By 8 a.m. on 25 April, 8000 Australian troops had landed, but it was clear that the ferrying operations and landings had not gone as planned. The first boats had neither landed at the intended location nor in the planned order. Generations of historians, including Bean, attributed this mix-up to strong currents pushing the boats north of their intended landing site. But recent researchers tend to agree that the landing spot was probably changed at the last minute due to strong Turkish defences at the designated beach and the relative protection afforded by the steep cliffs at what became known as Anzac Cove.
These problems had delayed the landing of the main force. General Bridges and the 2nd Brigade should have been ashore by 5 a.m. They did not actually set foot on the beach until 7.20 a.m.
The attack had met with mixed success. Due to the difficult terrain, the Turks had few troops protecting the small cove just south of Ari Burnu point. Consequently, the first Anzac units ashore made significant headway, but reinforcements were slow to arrive and the picture soon became confused. By 8 a.m. significant Turkish reinforcements were arriving; the Anzacs' advantage of surprise had gone. Some Allied guns had been landed but the steep terrain was delaying their deployment. The constant booming of the naval guns undoubtedly bolstered the soldiers' morale; however, in reality, the ships' guns were largely ineffectual due to their flat trajectory. As Bean prepared himself for the short boat trip to the beach, the fate of the troops ashore lay in the balance.
April 25 8.30: The second destroyer (Ribble) is alongside — she has many wounded on board — men come to me and say that her decks are a sight — simply slippery with blood. I didn't go to see — somehow if that sort of thing has to come it will come of its own accord; no need to go and look for it. They don't seem to be hurrying about loading the Ribble — not a man is getting on to her although lots are on board waiting. I wonder why ...
9.20: Another burst of firing on hills.
The ... Ribble is alongside. Put on my packs (i.e. overcoat and 1 ration and towel and [waterproof] sheet in an infantry pack; 2 rations in brown canvas satchel which Myers gave me — also most of my papers and some chocolate; rug and leather lining to overcoat in roll). Went down onto foc'sle deck with Capt. Griffiths — got the packs slung over into the destroyer and then climbed down rope ladder.
9.40: Moved off. Waved goodbye to Bazley ... Most of the batmen with our sleeping bags, horses, grooms, the French interpreters' motor cars, Maj. Watson and the pay office people remain aboard until our landing is established. Some say they may be off in 2 days — some a week. Of course the horses may be longer.
As we are going ashore some heavy battery fires a big shot at the P. of Wales. A monstrous fountain of foam rises beside her. Second shot at P. of W. Then 3rd big shot right over the Queen near the Hessen. They'll be sinking her if our people don't look out. I believe i.e. quite expect to lose a transport or two and it looks as if any minute we shall see the beginning: 4th big shot alongside Hessen — she's a German steamer, too. I wonder when they'll get her moving — they're frightfully slow. No, she's thrashing out at last — screw very high out of water.
Then a big shot — 5th — close alongside Minnewaska.
Next a shot close alongside a destroyer — it seemed to explode on touching the water — wonder if it went through her — it would sink her surely. You can see a white powdery patch on her black side, where the explosion dried the spray on it, I suppose. A sailor went straight to the side and looked over to see if any damage had been done. If it had she'd have been sunk by now — so I suppose it just missed her.
CHAPTER 5As brave as most of them
6–16 May 1915
Anzac Cove was not the only place where the Allied forces had met stiff resistance. The Anzac landings were part of an eight-pronged Allied offensive launched by General Hamilton on 25 April. Soon after the Australians had gone ashore, British and French warships pounded beaches around the foot of Cape Helles, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the Anzac sector. Five landings were made during the day by British troops at various beaches on the cape, French forces staged a feint landing on the Asian side of the straits, and Royal Navy ships massed in Saros Bay at the extreme north of the Peninsula to encourage the Turks to send forces there in case yet another landing was attempted.
Several of the Helles landings encountered little initial resistance but others were met with murderous fire from the Turkish defenders, most notably at the beach where the former British collier, River Clyde, was driven hard into the shallows and British troops expected to charge ashore from special openings cut in its hull. When its doors opened, the Turks directed furious machine-gun fire against the old ship. So great were the ensuing British casualties, the sea was soon stained red. The Turks had planned their Cape Helles' defences well, so even where the Allies made initial progress, by the end of the first day the defenders had stabilised each front and retained control over all the high points.
Hamilton had been led to believe, mistakenly as it happened, that the Anzac attacks of 2–3 May had made the line at Anzac Covesecure. Accordingly, he decided to transfer some units from the cove south to Cape Helles to help consolidate that front. These battalions would assist in an attack on Achi Baba, the dominant peak of the Peninsula. Bean decided to attach himself to the Australians undertaking this new endeavour.
May 6 Well, long before 9.15 the first lot of troops were ready in the boats — but no destroyers to take them off. We waited all night. I waited with the staff in Monash's A.S.C. mess for a bit, and then curled up under some flour bags in my sleeping bag and slept on the beach til 2.30. The first lot of boats was just moving off then. At 3.45, in daylight, we were taken to a trawler in a horse lighter. They were very nice to us — let us have our kits in a cabin where I am writing this. The troops take 2 days' rations. They had been very cold all night. The A.S.C. mules were sent away from the beach by our staff in order to make room. Some other staff officers ('beach officers' I think, taken from the Egyptian service) sent them back. This happened three times; three times the mules were sent up the road; three times they were ordered back.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Bean's Gallipoli by Kevin Fewster. Copyright © 1983 Mrs C.E.W. Bean. Excerpted by permission of Allen & Unwin.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword Major-General Steve Gower (Director, AWM),Acknowledgements,
List of abbreviations,
Introduction,
1 'Good luck to you boys' 21 October–3 December 1914,
2 A hot time in Cairo 1 January–11 April 1915,
3 This night is too good to miss 12–25 April 1915,
4 On Turkish soil 25 April–5 May 1915,
5 As brave as most of them 6–16 May 1915,
6 The dead were very thick indeed 17–24 May 1915,
7 These little half-hearted shows 26 May–23 June 1915,
8 Like lemonade without the tingle 24 June–31 July 1915,
9 'I've been hit, Baz' 6 August–10 September 1915,
10 Sticking to the truth 11 September–2 November 1915,
11 The Silent Battle 7 November–11 December 1915,
12 No one can foretell the ending 14–31 December 1915,
Epilogue,
Biographical notes,
Notes,
Bibliography and further reading,
Index,