Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 16]
These groups offered a splendid target to the Colonials when they surged forward to the assault shortly after three am stop this attack from the top of Monash Gully was repulsed with heavy loss by four am stop a series of attacks against various points were now delivered being directed with special severity against Quinns and Courtneys posts but these faded away beneath our rifle fire delivered at close range piles of dead being left in front of the trenches stop
at five am on the nineteenth as soon as it was light the Turks opened up a very heavy bombardment on our trenches the beach and the interior of the position bringing into action twelve inch nine point twos howitzers and field guns and most of the casualties suffered during the action came from this fire for the Turkish rifle fire had little or no effect on the well made trenches stop from six am until nine thirty am the Turks made a series of desperate attacks against Quinns and Courtneys posts but the Colonial line never yielded a foot and not a Turk, ever set foot inside the trenches although hundreds lie dead within a few yards some even on edge of the parapet stop
by ten am the enemy began to give way and to retire under deadly fire from our field guns and howitzers which inflicted terrible losses and the enemy retired to their trenches unable to face the rifle and machine gun fire any longer stop throughout the morning the Turks kept up their incessant bombardment and heavy rifle fire but it was obvious at 11 am that the impetus of the attack had failed stop at 3 pm there were evidence of a fresh movement but it came to nothing and throughout the remainder of the nineteenth and up to dawn on the twentieth the enemy contented himself with an incessant fire and sniping stop