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[Page 57]
would have taken a good deal of shifting as their trenches were 4 ft 6 inches deep & splendidly positioned. But I guess the sight of those bayonets was too much for them. As it was the Australians got pretty severely dealt with & there were 300 dead on the beach in the first attempt. It appears that when the shrapnel started to fly the Australians became a bit demoralised & in the afternoon they started to retreat without orders, having lost most of their Officers by sniping.
Later in the evening things got very bad as the Turks became reinforced, & General Bridges informed General Birdwood that it was impossible to hold on to the positions & unless he could reinforce him, would advise re-embarking. The latter replied that they must hold on at all cost. The Infantry were then informed that they must fight to the last & they then fought on grandly & held out, but at a pretty severe cost, until they got entrenched, & now they are as comfortable as it is possible to be under such circumstances.
The Major says they are splendid soldiers & are fighting beautifully, being excellent at picking off snipers & have captured many. There have been some awful atrocities too committed by the Turks. On the beach, drifted up in front of the Turks position, are two boats with dead Australians in & owing to being exposed to fire they cannot be got at.
Tomorrow the Australians are going to take another position. They are awaiting the arrival of the Gurkhas, an Indian Regiment that should