8th June 1915

[michaeldr]

“Tuesday, June 8th.

I went to Gully Beach, where I found what was left of the R.F.s and stayed with them till Friday. It was so tragic. I came out with such a magnificent regiment, with such regimental pride, and such a united and delightful band of officers. Only one left, G----, the former Sergeant-Major, besides the Quartermaster. He was asleep when I arrived. There were Corporal M----, and the other officers’ mess orderlies – but no mess. The regiment had dug incessantly for five days, and then fought incessantly for three days. They had lost five out of the six remaining officers, all the ten officers who had recently joined them, and somewhere about 200 of the remaining men. Of the original regiment, including transport, stretcher-bearers, etc., 140 were left. The Sergeant-Major was still there, and seemed all right, but had to knock off work for three days. G--- was quite played out. I made every possible inquiry during the following days after Brandreth and Mundy. Two men said they saw Brandreth hit in the neck; one said he saw his orderly – since missing – bandage him up. But no one had seen his body. Mundy was quite lost sight of. Were they wounded prisoners? Not likely, but just possible. The men were wonderfully cheery. They take things very calmly, and were glad to be on the beach, where they could get plenty to eat, and plenty of sleep in perfect peace and bathe as often as they liked. Corporal M--- gave me some supper, and we tried to pretend it was the same mess. A scout party went out that night to try and discover the bodies of the dead, but could do nothing owing to the heavy fire. Dear old Brandreth, it is too terribly tragic. I would give anything to know where he is. And Mundy, too. I am only glad that J---- has got a sufficiently serious wound to keep him away from it all for a good while. I collected the regiment in the evening, and spoke to them and tried to cheer them up. I slept with G---- in his dug-out, and tried to cheer him up. E----, the Quartermaster, appeared, and was very cheery.”

from ‘With the Twenty-Ninth Division in Gallipoli’ by Rev. O. Creighton

[Derek Robertson]

Michael,

Thank you for posting that.

How many battalions suffered at Gallipoli so.

[John_Hartley]

Extract from letter to commander 6/Manchester from Major-General Douglas:-

"I am still hoping that you may be able to collect evidence of some of the special acts of gallantry by officers and men of your battalion during the assault on 4 June. It is most unfortunate that, owing to the many casualties you sustained, many deeds worthy of the Victoria Cross have not been reported. I hope that your men know this. The dash, steadiness, reckless bravery and endurance shown by the 6th Manchesters and, indeed, by the whole Brigade, was equal to the best traditions of the British Army."