The Diary of Leslie Kerr MM

4th Brigade Section 1st Signal Company


Transcript of the personal diary of the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign

Leslie Sim Kerr, was a 21 year old electrician when he enlisted on 23rd October 1914. His next-of-kin was his father, Andrew Kerr, who lived at 215 Ascot Vale Rd, Ascot Vale Victoria. He was enlisted as Sapper 656 in No.2 Section 2nd Divisional Signal Company on embarkation and later was transferred to the 4th Divisional Signal Company before going to France in 1916. He left overseas to return to Australia on 21st April 1918. During his service Leslie Kerr was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the Military Medal.

Transcribed from the original by Glenn McIntyre.

1915

11th April
Left Heliopolis for Alexandria.

12th April
Saturday arrived Alexandria at 5PM. Embarked on Sian Choon.

13th April
Left Alexandria for somewhere unknown.

14th April
Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, numerous men sick. Passed Patmos Island.

15th April
Arrived at concentration port. A large number of warships at anchor.

16th - 24th April
Still on troopship at Lemnos, spending a very quiet time but an anxious one. During that period I spend a very quiet 23rd birthday.

25th April
Moved away from port & arrived at Dards early about 4.30, ordered straight away to get ready. During this day Aust effected a great landing, but were fighting for dear life. We had terrible casualties.

26th April
Our section landed during this operation. I was put out of action & returned to troopship. Chas Murfitt of our section also wounded. Our boys doing great work. Hard fighting.

27th April
Our section established HQ near trenches. I am still on ship as she leaves for Alexandria full of wounded. I am pretty right, so on the trip I take charge of handsport & signalling on board.

28th April
Incessant firing, heavy attack by Turks. Help was rendered by the Royal Marines but was not very effective.

28th April - 1st May
On board troopship going to and coming from Alexandria.

1st May
Landed on Peninsula. A very exciting experience getting up to our Bde HQ.

2nd May
Sunday and things are still as lively as ever. 1st Bn attacked & took Dead Man's Ridge from enemy, but were obliged to vacate owing to lack of supports & being shelled by our own artillery.

3rd May
Early morning saw us back in same position as before the charge, but the 16th Bn lost about 800 men in this charge. This morning saw a terrible sight, large numbers of wounded & dead were lying between ours & Turkish trenches. Monash Gully was one mass of stretcher bearers with men aboard.

4th May
Capt Quinn & small party recaptured from the Turks one of our machine guns. Very heavy firing at night. Our section doing good work.

5th May
Position held by our forces, Sapper Rolls severely wounded. Sapper Redpath wounded while laying telephone lines, attached New Z man missing.

6th May
About 10PM. The Turks made a heavy attack at head of gully with loud cries of Allah but were repulsed. Snipers very busy. Weather very cold at night, have not had a blanket since the landing. 1 officer & man surrendered to us.

7th May
Day warm & very quiet until evening when shrapnel livened us up, number of wounded decreases & number of Turkish deserters increases.

8th May
Search for missing New Zealander, fruitless, things going on as usual. Sgt Jay wounded.

9th May
General Godley paid a visit & conferred with General Trotman & General Monash. General Trotman wounded today. At 7PM I left HQ with telephone & reported to 15th Bn at 9.30. Everything was ready for an attack, but owing to the enemy making a demonstration we delayed our operations until 11PM, at which time the 16th & 13th Bns assaulted the enemy's trenches. I took part in this attack, keeping up communication with HQ.

10th May
We gained our objective & after repulsing several counter attacks until daylight we were forced to evacuate position won owing to late arrival of supports. During this charge our men used dead bodies for cover while our digging parties made a trench. Arrived at HQ just before breakfast after putting in a bad night. Casualties for this affair were 420 men & 20 officers. Turks lost heavily.

11th May
Enemy snipers busy. Linesman killed, our section having a stiff trip up till now.

12th May
Rained heavily during night. Still without blankets. Light Horse arrived.

13th May
Joe Duncan killed while returning from troopship with blankets.

14th May
Things very quiet, our section had a rest day.

15th May
English troops at Helles have advanced. Warm all day.

16th May
Turks working hard on Razor Back but our artillery upset their plans & result of their labour.

17th May
General Bridges wounded severely. 2nd Bde & New Zealanders returned from Cape Helles after doing good work but losing very heavily. Turks using Jack Johnsons but are not very effective. HQ cook wounded.

18th May
Enemy's big shells burst near our HQ, few casualties & continued bursting all day. I took some good snapshots. Turks attacked & were treated very badly.

19th May
Enemy again attacked but were repulsed after some very hard fighting in which the Turks lost very heavily. Enemy's artillery heavy. Jack Johnson (sic) still calls. Our casualties 117 wounded 22 killed.

20th May
Snipers at it again. Started to use 6" howitzers but were ineffectual, 3 out of 10 exploding. NZMR captured 5 trenches.

21st May
Reports that enemy are massing for an attack, but our warships fire soon dispersed & cut them up.

22nd May
Light Horse Sigs relieved our section & were not working over an hour when they were mentioned in despatches & their OC received the DSO. This was a great knock for us. General Von Sanders, Turkish General rode into our army Corps HQ on beach re armistice abut terms not suitable. Hostilities were held up for an hour after which time heavy firing occurred. Large number of Turks surrendered. Japanese mortar arrived, placed in position on Courtney's Post. Wet morning, swamped out.

23rd May
Bad news, General Bridges died of wounds. Turkish submarine appeared in Anzac Bay but was chased away by our warships. Mail arrived today, great rejoicings. HMS Albion ran ashore but was refloated after being submitted to heavy fire from the enemy's batteries.

24th May
Aeroplane reconnoitre. We hear that Italy has joined with the Allies. Armistice arranged from 7.30PM until 4.30 PM for purpose of burying the dead. Found our missing man riddled with bullets . Attack after hostilities recommenced but was not forthcoming. Estimate enemy dead buried in front of our 4th Bde trenches 4,000. I was awakened during night by the crack of a bullet just alongside my head.

25th May
Happy & lousy. Weather fine, things quiet. HMS Triumph sunk.

26th May
Quinn's Post mined but no casualties.

27th May
HMS Majestic torpedoed & sunk. Weather fine. Bombs plentiful.

28th May
Snipers busy, they account for a large number of men near HQ. Enemy mounted gun on Ridge left of Pope's but our artillery soon demolished it.

29th May
Enemy blew up part of Quinn's & rushed the crater, but were repulsed after a heavy encounter. Major Quinn was killed, Col Burnadge severely wounded. Turks lost heavily. Artillery fire heavy.

30th May
Our boys attacked at Quinn's & captured a patent (sic) machine. We were relieved from duty today.

31st May
Weather warm. In Reserve Gully. Sea bathing, it is great to be out of the firing line. Wally in hospital.

1st June
Turks casualties 29th May were about 1500. Chas Murfitt, Geo Scott, Pip Hodgetts & 3 reinforcements joined us. General Godley delivers a speech to 4th Bde in Reserve Gully. (soft soap & honey).

2nd June
Warships bombard Achi Baba. We viewed bombardment from top of Gully. Sea bathing brings remembrances of Queenscliff.

3rd June
Thought my last had come, a bullet went into the water about 2 inches from me, water stopped the force.

4th - 26th June
Nothing of much importance. 3 boys admitted to hospital. J.Duncan's body washed ashore. First bread issue since landing.

27th June
Enemy attacked at top of gully but fell into a trap & lost 320 men killed, our casualties 50.

28th June till 30th July
Nothing startling, Ganger Henstall visited me. Had a few church parades. Macker sent to hospital. Turks shelling doing damage to 2nd Bde. Otherwise good O.

31st July
Blew up Turks, severe losses. Got my first stripe.

1st August
Church parade.

2nd August
Not so well.

3rd - 5th August
Still crook in bed. Chas Murfitt looking after me.

6th August
Got out of bed, very bad but could not stay behind when we were going to have a brawl. Moved out at 9.30PM & after a 4-mile exciting march with Ghurkhas, we arrived at our attacking point.

7th August
British troops landed at Suvla. We lost our objective (Hill 971) through lack of support & the Suvla Bay failure. A. Simpson killed.

8th August
Another attack ordered & I was to take the telephone, so we started but before going 1/2-mile I collapsed, so Chas Murfitt took my place. We had to retire after suffering a severe defeat. Chas Murfitt won the DCM, pity I was so ill. Battleship sunk by our sub in Sea of Marmora. After these 2 days battle the 15th came out with 200 men, 14th 400, 16th 300 & 13th 350. Total 1250 out of 3500, so we were cut up to some order.

9th - 12th August
Still fighting hard having a terrible time. I am getting better but still working.

13th August
NZs were relieved by Tommies who lost the ground that cost so many lives to win. Hang the Tommies, Kitchener's Army.

14th - 17th August
Things on the quiet side. Not too well, had nothing to eat for over a week, getting thin. Seaplane torpedoed a ship, novel thing.

18th August
Tommies advanced.

19th August
Heavy artillery fire. Boss going away sick.

20th August
Things quiet preparing for an advance.

21st August
Great bombardment by our ships & land guns on Turks. Then our boys advanced with NZ & Tommies. Our Colonial troops made a great advance. Sap Reeves & Neill wounded.

22nd August
Advance continued until daylight. 18th Bn attacked & occupied trench but were enfiladed & had heavy losses. Rev A. Gillison killed. A very good man gone. The 14th Bn Chaplain he was.

23rd August
Consolidating our position. Sap Reeves died of wounds.

24th August
Our bombardment caused bushfires in which some of our boys also enemy were burnt to death. Our machine gun doing very good work.

25th August
Things quiet. Shocked to hear of Mr King's death.

26th August
A great deal of sickness. Enemy aeroplane dropped a lot of darts. Still feeling bad.

27th August
At 6PM our boys advanced OK, NZ troops more so than us. Sap Hill & Heap went missing on this scrap. Our boys are just about done up, our casualties heavy.

29th - 30th August
A great deal of bombing otherwise quiet. Still feeling crook. While sitting down trying to cook, Mack returned from hospital. Something nice, I was wounded slightly on head. What with that & my sickness was done up & was in bed from 28th (when it happened) until 31st when we were relieved by the Essex. What a relief.

1st September
In our new position. Our brigade very weak, our strength about 900. So the move on the left was disastrous to us, losing over 3,000 men in less than a month.

2nd - 11th September
Nothing very much doing in new position. We are going to have a holiday at Lemnos. I did some good cooking during the last week & lived on custards.

12th September
Left Hay Valley on transport to go to Lemnos.

13th September
Arrived Lemnos. I am in a terrible condition, I go about 9 stone 6 & as thin as a rake. I had a "L" of a time.

14th September until 30th October
We had a great time on Lemnos Island. I met Willie Crow there. I picked up a lot, living on eggs & milk. I soon got fat & when we left for Anzac I was my old self again.

1st November
Arrived Anzac but could not land owing to the rough weather. On board Osmanieh all day.

2nd November
Landed at Anzac & took up our old position in Hay Valley. Nothing to eat, borrowed a few biscuits & bully beef from pals at Div HQ.

3rd November
Narrow escape, Mack & I, for a Turkish shell landed only 3ft away from us both. We were tapping into telephone wires at the time. It shook us up.

3rd - 7th November
Things very quiet. Pte Reesan hit otherwise all OK. Weather good.

8th till 25th November
Div HQ shelled, but few casualties. Weather cold. Turks hit up in small engagement. Otherwise good O.

26th November
Orders not to fire a shot for 3 days to see if the Turks will attack. They did but were cut up.

27th November
I was awakened to go on duty at 4PM & was very much surprised to see the ground covered with snow, my first experience. I came off duty at 8PM & had a great feed. Mack & I had to go out to overhaul 2 telephone lines & we found they were broken. Oh the cold snow, we did do a perish. We fixed up the lines. Our OC made us take a bottle of rum with us.

28th November
Ground frozen as hard as the devil.

29th November
Ditto.

30th November
Wally Drain wounded. Bad news, he has my camera with him.

1st - 8th December
Good O. Weather on the cool side, otherwise OK.

9th December
Macker admitted to hospital. All alone in my big dugout. Made cakes. Heavy bombardment.

10th - 11th December
Everything first class.

12th December
Promoted Corporal.

13th December
A lot of troops & guns have left the Peninsula. Wonder what is in the wind.

14th December
Some of our Section in charge of Corporal Harrison left the Peninsula. We were told that they were going away for a spell. We doubt it. Pte Palmer wounded.

15th December
More troops & guns left. We have suspicions of our evacuation.

16th December
We are sure that we are evacuating. A bad shock for us. I wonder if the Turks will jerry?

17th December
I have orders to remain until the death knock in charge of the communications. Things very quiet. If an enemy aeroplane comes over we all run out into the open & play football.

18th December
A large body of troops left last night & tonight only very few left. Will the Turks take a tumble?

19th December
The boss was ordered to stay behind with me & told me to choose a pal to help me in my work. Chose Tiny Small, a good signaller. At 9 o'clock tonight the second last lot of troops & all guns that were going went away. General Monash was with us right up till o'clock tonight. Our brigade only had 150 odd left to hold our line, things very dicky. One thing brightened us up & that was reports to the effect that the enemy were strengthening up the barb wire entanglements & defence works so they must have been expecting a Christmas attack. I had been on the telegraph instrument since 8 o'clock this morning excepting for an occasional relief that was necessary.

20th December
I had all my gear that I was able to carry ready in the signal cabin to put on. About 12.30AM the bullets were pretty thick. We thought for the moment the Turks were firing at us. Our telephone line was cut & I had to repair it. At 2.20AM. I disconnected at our switchboard & we got our gear on & started off. We had to cut all our wires here & there for about a mile. Before I had gone a mile I had thrown most of my gear away. (What was not necessary of course). We arrived at the pier beneath Walkers Ridge & we got aboard the lighter at about 4.10AM. Then we sailed out & got aboard the Prince Abbys bound for Lemnos. We arrived on Lemnos Island at 5.30PM & we had men there to carry our kits. We marched up to camp amidst great cheering & General Monash gave a rousing speech & ordered 3 cheers. We had 2 bands to accompany us. We were dead beat so as soon as tea was over & I told the boys all about it I peeled off & got into bed. I can tell you that I slept that night as I have never slept before.

21st December
First thing this morning the Brigade Major sent for me & took my name & particulars & told me that I was to be recommended for the work that I did. I had an easy day that day.

22nd - 24th December
Everything good O. Received our Xmas billies.

25th December
Xmas Day we had all sorts of good things. I am quite over my excitement.

26th December
Received our Xmas puddings.

27th December
Getting ready to leave for Alexandria.

28th December
On board SS Cardiganshire.

29th December
Left Lemnos for Alexandria.

30th December
Having a good trip.

31st December
Arrived at Alexandria after a good trip. Left the boat at 8.30 New Year's Eve & boarded a train for Ismalia. Just about midnight my die hard pal Tiny Small fell out of the train but was unhurt. That is how I saw the Old Year out & the New one in.

That's the lot
Les.