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William Malone

William George Malone was one of New Zealand’s outstanding soldiers of the Gallipoli campaign. Born in Kent in 1859, Malone was 21 years old when he arrived in Taranaki to join his elder brother. He served with the Armed Constabulary at Ōpunake and Parihaka before taking up a farm near Stratford.

Malone was active in local affairs as chairman and member of several boards and councils. In the early 1890s, with his family expanding, Malone studied law at night after farming during the day. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1894.

It is for his military achievements that William Malone is best known. During the South African War he helped raise the Stratford Rifle Volunteers and served as captain. By 1910 he was a lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer of 4th Battalion, Wellington (Taranaki) Rifle Volunteers.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914 Malone was appointed to command the Wellington Battalion of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The oldest man in the battalion, he was ‘fit, hard & well’, almost six feet tall and of solid build. He had spent 15 years reading military history and strategy, and was achieving a lifelong ambition by going to war. In training in Egypt in late 1914 and early 1915 he drove his battalion mercilessly, working his men harder and longer than those of any other battalion in the New Zealand infantry brigade.

Following the mismanaged landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915, Malone immediately began to impose order. He consolidated and secured the ANZAC Corps perimeter whenever it was threatened. His diaries over the course of the campaign chart a growing disenchantment with impractical British regular officers, and a growing love for his men.

On 8 August 1915 Malone’s battalion seized the strategic heights of Chunuk Bair. There Malone was accidentally killed by supporting artillery fire. The tenacity displayed by the Wellington Battalion in the face of the overwhelming odds they were up against that day embodied the spirit of their commanding officer.

Adapted by Matthew Tonks from the DNZB biography by Christopher Pugsley

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George Malone memorial gates

Stone war-memorial gates in Stratford commemorate Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone, a local farmer and lawyer who commanded the Wellington Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli during the First World War. Although the Gallipoli campaign was ultimately a failure, Malone's troops achieved some notable successes. However, Malone was killed (possibly by friendly fire) shortly after his men seized the heights of Chunuk Bair.

Transcript

Intro: A lone bugle plays an excerpt from the The Last Post

Narrator: Of the thousands of war memorials throughout New Zealand, few are dedicated to individuals. An impressive exception can be found a short distance from Stratford’s main street, at the Fenton Street entrance to King Edward Park. Here stands an elegant stone gateway to the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel William George Malone, Commander of the Wellington Infantry Regiment [sic] at Gallipoli. The memorial was erected by his men soon after the end of the First World War.

When the Great War broke out in 1914, it was expected that New Zealand soldiers would fight on Europe’s Western Front. However, they were sent to Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula in the hope that they would capture it and clear the way for British ships to attack Istanbul.

Though born in England, Malone was described as a ‘typical rugged New Zealand pioneer’. He hacked a farm out of the bush at Stratford and was also a successful land agent and lawyer. An ardent support of the British Empire, Malone was 56 years old when he arrived at Gallipoli. In May 1915, at Cape Helles at the southern tip of the peninsula, Malone and his soldiers overran the Turkish trenches. His diary records his pride in his men:

Malone (actor): My Battalion advanced 1200 yards under shell, machine gun and rifle fire, crossed several trenches which must have been most tempting to stop in, kept their intervals and never fired a shot until they were within 200 to 400 yards of the Turkish trenches. They lost heavily but advanced as though they were on a Parade Ground. It was splendid.

Narrator: Despite the bravery shown by the New Zealand troops, the Gallipoli campaign was a failure. Malone believed this was largely the result of inept British command and a lack of organisation and equipment.

Malone (actor): The war is a ‘JOKE WAR’. Our howitzers are short of ammunition, our eighteen-pounders don’t seem to be able to get in to action, and the naval guns can’t talk soldier gunnery. If it were not so serious, the penalty, one could roar with laughter at the preach and no practice. The Briton is a muddler all right.

Narrator: On August 8, 1915, Malone and his men, facing fire on three sides from the Turks, who were led by a brilliant young soldier called Kemal Attaturk, gained the hilltop of Chunuk Bair – the highest point on the Gallipoli Peninsula. From here the men could see the Dardenelles and the route to Istanbul. That evening, during a lull in the fighting, Malone stood up briefly to survey the terrain, only to be killed by Allied artillery fire. Soon afterwards his regiment was replaced by British troops, who failed to hold the hilltop.

Though he commanded his men brilliantly, the British commanders held Malone responsible for the failure at Chunuk Bair. Perhaps the reason for their hostility was because he regularly refused their demands to send his men to certain death for little gain.

Two of Malone’s sons were wounded at Gallipoli. He dearly loved his family, as his last letter to his wife Ida, shows.

Malone (actor): My sweetheart, I am prepared for death and hope that God will have forgiven me all my sins. My desire for life – so that I may see and be with you again – could not be greater but I have only done what every man was bound to do in our country’s need. Your loving husband, William G Malone.

Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2011. Part of the Roadside Stories series

Archival audio sourced from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives
Sound files may not be reused without permission from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives (Reference number C293)

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Chunuk Bair pine cone

A mounted pine cone brought back from Chunuk Bair by Meg Craig (nee Malone), the granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel William Malone. Malone commanded the Wellington Battalion at Gallipoli and was killed during the battle for Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.

The engraved plate on the front reads:

Whence came this cone?
From the trench of Malone
On the heights of Chunuk Bair
His courageous band
Held that land
But too many remained -
Buried there

See also: biography of William Malone at DNZB website

Credit:

National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1994.362
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Shrapnel-damaged bugle

A shrapnel-damaged bugle belonging to Bugler George Bissett, Wellington Battalion, who was killed in action on 27 April 1915.

Bissett landed with the Wellington Infantry Battalion at Anzac Cove on the evening of 25 April. Two days later, during the Battle of the Landing on Russell's Top (Walker's Ridge), he was killed alongside Lieutenant Edmund Robinson Wilson. On 4 May, Lieutenant Colonel William Malone, Commander of the Wellingtons went on one of his reconnaissances, possibly looking for Lieutenant Wilson's body. He wrote in his diary:

I went on a little scout by myself, on our left. I took a rifle and slithered into the scrub. Found several dead Turks about, poor devils - been there since 25 April. Not pleasant to look at ... Unfortunately we can't bury lots of our men, poor chaps. We can see them here and there, but it is almost certain death to go out to them. There are two I would specially like to bury. Lieutenant Wilson and a bugler lad - Bissett from Hawera. He lies with his bugle on his back face downwards, shot in his tracks.

Malone got his opportunity to bury Lieutenant Wilson and Bugler Bissett during the 'Armistice' of 24 May 1915. Bissett is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli. His bugle was retrieved from Gallipoli and is currently on display at the National Army Museum in Waiouru.

See also: biography of William Malone at DNZB website

Credit:

National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1987.1693
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Gallipoli biographies

Find out more about some of the New Zealanders involved in the Gallipoli campaign between April 1915 and January 1916. Each introduction links to a page with further information.

Charles Begg (1879-1919)

Charles Begg was New Zealand's most decorated member of the Medical Corps during the First World War. He played a major role in organising the evacuation and treatment of the wounded at Anzac Cove during the Gallipoli campaign. More...

George Bollinger (1890-1917)

New Plymouth-born soldier George Bollinger kept a detailed diary while on active service. His accounts, particularly of Gallipoli, document superbly the experiences and shifting attitudes of a New Zealand soldier during the campaign. More...

Evelyn Brooke (1879-1962)

Evelyn Brooke was matron on the hospital ship Maheno, which sailed from New Zealand for Gallipoli in July 1915. The Maheno made five trips to Anzac Cove in August and September. In extreme heat, while bullets raked the decks, Brooke and her fellow nurses tended tirelessly to the sick and wounded. More...

Alexander Godley (1867-1957)

General Alexander Godley commanded the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. At Gallipoli, he was in charge of the New Zealand and Australian Division that landed on 25 April 1915. He found it difficult to adapt to the battlefield at Anzac, and earned a reputation amongst the New Zealanders as an aloof and ineffective leader. More...

William Malone (1859-1915)

Stratford lawyer William Malone commanded the Wellington Battalion at Gallipoli, and was killed during the battle for Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915. An outstanding citizen soldier impatient with the incompetence of his superiors, Malone has come to symbolise the New Zealand experience at Gallipoli. More...

Horace Moore-Jones (1867-68?-1922)

Sent to Gallipoli with the New Zealand Engineers, Horace Moore-Jones soon began sketching topographical maps of the area. Towards the end of 1915, his drawing hand was injured. While recovering in England, he somehow managed to produce almost 80 watercolours of Gallipoli. More...

Paul Silva (1897-1974)

Paul Silva enlisted under-age and was just 17 years old when he landed at Anzac Cove with the Auckland Battalion on 25 April 1915. He overcame the loss of an eye at Gallipoli to compete successfully in national woodchopping events for more than 20 years. More...

Francis Twisleton (1873-1917)

Yorkshireman Francis Twisleton landed at Gallipoli with the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment in May 1915. He wrote a number of letters about the reality of trench warfare on the peninsula, including a vivid account of the bloody assault on Hill 60. More...

Henare Wepiha Te Wainohu (1882-1920)

Henare Wepiha Te Wainohu was a chaplain in the Native Contingent during the Gallipoli campaign. Respected by the soldiers to whom he ministered, ‘the padre’ helped carry out the wounded, distributed water, and comforted the dying under fire. More...

Search the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography for other New Zealanders involved in the Gallipoli campaign.

Stalemate

By 29 April, the battle of the landing was over; both sides had fought themselves to a standstill. While the New Zealanders and Australians had established a beachhead at Anzac Cove, they had failed to capture Mal Tepe, let alone the north-south road. Yet the Ottomans had failed to throw the invaders back into the sea. Further south at Helles, the British and French had established a tenuous foothold on the peninsula but failed to achieve their other objectives. It was a stalemate.

Early offensives

View up Monash Gully

In the aftermath of the landings, the Anzacs spent time consolidating their position. Unit commanders restored order and discipline. Men dug trenches, unloaded stores and established lines of communication between the front line and headquarters.

Malone and Quinn's Post

Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone commanded the Wellington Battalion at Gallipoli. In the weeks after the landing, he helped consolidate and secure vulnerable parts of the Anzac perimeter. At Quinn’s Post, where a small advance by the Ottomans would have threatened the entire front, Malone established an almost impregnable defensive position. He died on Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.

Once the perimeter was relatively secure, ANZAC commander Lieutenant-General Birdwood attempted to take the offensive. On the evening of 2 May, the New Zealand and Australian Division, supported by four Royal Naval Division battalions (recently arrived from Helles), launched an attack on the dominating Baby 700 position. The plan called for Australian units to attack from Quinn’s Post while the Otago Battalion advanced out of Monash Gully, north of Quinn’s, and secured the seaward slopes of Baby 700. Australian troops would then move forward to take the inland slopes.

Poorly prepared and badly coordinated, the attack went badly from the outset. The Otago Battalion’s move from Walker’s Ridge to the head of Monash Valley took longer than expected, and it was not in position when the Australians launched their attack. When the Otagos finally charged out of Monash Gully, 90 minutes late, the forewarned Ottomans mowed them down. At daybreak, the exposed nature of the New Zealand and Australian positions became apparent as they drew heavy fire from Second Ridge. When they withdrew, units of the Royal Naval Division tried to continue the advance, but also suffered heavy losses. The failed assault cost the Anzacs a thousand casualties and gained nothing.

Battle of Krithia

NZ infantry at Helles

Unable to break through at Anzac, Hamilton focused the MEF’s energies on the Helles sector, targeting the village of Krithia (Alҫitepe) and the hill known as Achi Baba (Alҫi Tepe). An attack by British and French forces on 28 April – the First Battle of Krithia – made little headway and cost some 3000 casualties. To offset these losses, Hamilton dispatched the 29th Indian Brigade and British 42nd Division to Helles from Egypt. Another French division arrived shortly afterwards. The Ottomans matched this build-up of forces and on 1-2 May launched a major attack on the Allied line, which only just held.

After defeating the Ottoman attack at Helles, Hamilton decided to launch a new offensive towards Krithia to take advantage of the ‘weakened’ Ottoman defences. He looked to Anzac for the reinforcements needed for this second attack. On the night of 5-6 May, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade were ferried down to Helles, along with one New Zealand and four Australian field artillery batteries which had been unable to get ashore at Anzac.

I watched the 12th Nelson Company make an advance over open country called the Daisy Patch. There was absolutely no cover for them. They lost their commanding officer, and several men were casualties. Ray Lawry then came up and led the 2nd Company over the same place, with a good dash. He got through safely, setting a fine example of courage to the men. He is a plucky beggar.
Our turn to go across came next, and we went over the top in good order, with the best of luck. At once we were greeted with a terrible fusillade of rifle and machine gun fire, which was deadly. The man on my right had his brains shot out into his face, and the chap on my left was shot through the stomach. Halfway across the patch I tripped over a root and fell down. I lay still for two or three minutes until I had recovered my breath. Then the bullets started plugging up the earth all around me, so I got up again and made for the Turkish trench as hard as I could go. I reached it without being hit, but was almost dropping with weakness. There was no room in the trench for me, so I jumped into a river bed close by and found a safe place.
Walter (Bill) Leadley, Canterbury Battalion, in Gavin McLean, Ian McGibbon and Kynan Gentry (eds), The Penguin book of New Zealanders at war, Penguin, Auckland, 2009, p. 136

In the Second Battle of Krithia, which began on 6 May, the Allies launched a series of unsuccessful daylight assaults on the Ottoman trenches. They suffered heavy losses and were unable to break through. The New Zealand Infantry Brigade went into action on the 8th, tasked with capturing Krithia. It was a disaster – the New Zealanders had little time to prepare and attacked behind a weak artillery barrage. The troops charged across the Daisy Patch into a hail of Ottoman machine-gun and rifle fire. The New Zealand infantry suffered 835 casualties and achieved nothing, an experience repeated all along the line. By the time Hamilton broke off the attack that evening, the Allies had lost 6500 men killed or wounded and advanced just 500 m.

Reinforcements arrive

Armistice at Anzac, May 1915

Following the Krithia debacle, the shattered New Zealand Infantry Brigade was taken out of the front line and went into reserve at Helles. It received a much-needed reinforcement draft of 900 men from Egypt before shipping back to Anzac on the night of 19-20 May. In the interim, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade (commanded by Brigadier-General Andrew Russell) and the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade had arrived at Anzac on 12 May. Sent from Egypt without their horses, the Mounted Rifles fought as infantry for the remainder of the campaign.

The Mounteds’ baptism of fire was not long in coming. On 19 May, some 40,000 Ottoman troops attacked the Anzac perimeter in an attempt to overrun and annihilate the enclave. In the New Zealand sector, troops successfully defended Russell’s Top against a series of frontal assaults, while the Australians did the same further south. The Anzacs inflicted enormous casualties on the attacking waves of Arab and Turkish infantry. By the end of the carnage, more than 3000 Ottoman bodies carpeted no-man’s-land. As these rotted in the sun, the smell became so unbearable that both sides agreed to a day-long truce on 24 May to bury the dead. This respite in living conditions was short-lived.

As soon as you grabbed a corpse by the arm to drag it over to a hole, the arm came off in your hand. So you just ended up by scratching a little bit of trench alongside of it, rolling it over into the trench and scraping some stuff back over the top. Nobody handled on that day was buried more than six or eight inches underground.
The stench was so numbing that the incentive was to get out of it as quick as you possibly could. So finally, instead of one man digging a hole here, 10 men got on to it and scratched and scratched, and instead of one body going into it, 20 bodies went into it. We thought, We’ll eventually have all this land, they can have reburials and sort it out. But we never took that land, and those dead were never buried any deeper. The first shower of rain, they were practically out and about again.
Vic Nicholson, Wellington Battalion, in Jane Tolerton, An awfully big adventure: New Zealand World War One veterans tell their stories, Penguin, Auckland, 2013, p. 71

Stay or go?

With Allied operations at Gallipoli going badly, the newly formed Dardanelles Committee (which had replaced the War Council) met in London to consider the future of the campaign. Should they continue with the land operation, or cut their losses and withdraw? Influenced by political considerations, they decided to persist, and agreed to send Hamilton additional forces.

Hamilton made further attempts to break through the Ottoman lines at Helles during June and July. Heavy artillery bombardments preceded small gains at the cost of 12,000 British and French casualties. Ottoman troops merely pulled back up the slopes of Achi Baba and waited for the next onslaught. With the situation at Helles seemingly stalemated, attention switched back to Anzac.

Malone Memorial, Stratford

This is the memorial arch to Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone at Stratford, Taranaki. Malone, a Stratford farmer and lawyer, was the commander of the Wellington Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli. He died on the slopes of Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915.

The lone pine tree, located near the Malone Memorial Gates, grew from a seedling brought back from Gallipoli.

Credit:

Memorial images: Jamie Mackay, 2012; Jock Phillips and Chris Maclean, c1986. Tree image and information: Graham Hucker, 2006

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William Malone at Gallipoli

Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone (1859-1915) outside his bivouac on Walker's Ridge. Malone, a Stratford farmer and lawyer, commanded the Wellington Battalion at Gallipoli.

The Wellington Battalion landed at Anzac Cove on 25-26 April 1915. Malone soon began to impose order, transforming weak defensive positions along the Anzac perimeter into strong garrisons. Between June and August, he helped consolidate critical positions at Courtney’s Post and Quinn’s Post, where a small advance by the Ottomans would have threatened the entire line.

Malone’s diary entries record his growing disenchantment with his superiors and the conduct of the campaign. His demands on behalf of his men brought him into conflict with the New Zealand Infantry Brigade’s commander, Colonel Francis Johnston.

During the Sari Bair offensive in August, Malone led his battalion in the seizure of the Apex on Rhododendron Ridge, but refused to follow up a disastrous attack by the Auckland Battalion on Chunuk Bair, insisting that he would not send his men ‘over to commit suicide’. The next morning, 8 August, the Wellington Battalion captured the summit with little difficulty. Throughout the day, they threw back fierce Ottoman counter-attacks in fighting that left most of the battalion dead or wounded. Malone excelled in this desperate situation, leading his men in driving the enemy back until he was killed by artillery fire, probably from a New Zealand howitzer, around 5 p.m.

Following his death, senior officers tried to make Malone a scapegoat for the subsequent loss of Chunuk Bair and the failure of the offensive. Historians, notably Christopher Pugsley in Gallipoli: The New Zealand story (1984), have since refuted claims that Malone failed to entrench his men to best advantage on the summit.

Malone, the citizen soldier impatient with the incompetence of British regulars, has come to symbolise the New Zealand experience at Gallipoli. He is commemorated by a memorial gate and statue at Stratford.

Read William Malone's biography

William George Malone's diary

Sunday 25th April A lovely calm spring morning. We left Port Mudros, Lemnos, at 6.10 am [for] Gaba Tepe, Peninsula of Gallipoli with other Transports, having been preceded by Advance Landing Scouts [of the] Australian Division. We towed two barges in which to land troops and horse. A lovely calm and in nature a peaceful day. But the huge 15 inch guns of the Queen Elizabeth could be heard at sixty miles distance bombarding forts etc at Cape Helles and Sedd El Bahr where the 29th British Division was landing. As we got in we could see the action. Quite a number of Men-of-War, British, French and Russian blazing away. Transports steaming in close to the shore and landing troops in boats and barges. The shells were bursting all along the Turkish position which seemed strongly held. We did not steam nearer than about six miles but with glasses could see what a great and furious fight was going on. The French Division was making a feint on the coast of Asia Minor so as to keep troops there. We sailed on Northwards and got near Gaba Tepe which is some ten miles north of Cape Helles; found that our Army was landing at a bay some two miles North East of Gaba Tepe. It had commenced landing at 3.30 am and had been most gallantly, nay recklessly, carried out. The men-of-war, Majestic, Triumph Queen, Inflexible and others were firing furiously. Transports were landing troops.

The Australians had carried the heights surrounding the Bay but instead of being content with that and then digging in hard and fast had scally-wagged for miles into the interior, some three or four miles, got scattered and so became a prey to the Turks who had been surprised in the first place and had (it is said) only some 500 defending troops at our landing place. Their troops encamped at Bijuk Anafarta and Koja Dere were brought against the scattered Australians and slaughtered them. As the New Zealanders landed they were rushed up to the heights, mixed up higgledy-piggledy among themselves and with Australians with the result, in the case of my men anyhow (in my opinion), in serious avoidable loss.

At 4.30 pm my first troops went ashore ... I went with this consignment. When we got within about one mile from the shore we got into our ship's boats and rowed ashore. The Turks welcomed us with shrapnel and sprayed up the sea all about us, but very few of us got hit. The beach was crowded with all sorts of beings, men, mules, donkeys, horses, ammunition supplies, naval beach parties. In getting out of the boats many men got a salt water bath all over. They had full packs, 200 rounds of ammunition, three days food, etc and so easily slipped and fell. There didn't seem much organisation on the shore, in fact it was disorganisation. We evidently haven't got a Kitchener about. On paper it was all right but in practice no good. Still Britishers always muddle thro' somehow or another. The heads, like Generals Birdwood and Godley plan all right, but the executive officers in the main, are no good. Have no idea of order, method, etc. They, as I put it, 'hand up everyone on the ground'. The whole Army does.

I struck Generals Birdwood and Godley and they were very disappointed when they found my Battalion (less half a Company) were still on the sea. The Naval people for some unknown reason knocked off disembarkation. I got the General to wireless to the ships to carry one and about midnight the remaining one and a half Companies in Itonus got ashore and were sent to hold a ridge just above the beach. They had no tools as all our Battalion tools were on the Achaia with the other half Battalion! I had asked to get half of them at Port Mudros so that when we landed we would be independent but it was not allowed by our brigadier. However I got some of my Headquarters detail to go along the beach and collect all the tools they could. They got quite a number and then I sent them up to the ridge to enable the men to dig in.

I had rather an amusing incident. I was going along the beach close to the cliffs where there were crowds of men sleeping, finding out who they were so as to help reorganisation of units. Quoth I to one group: 'Who are you fellows?' Lo and behold they were Generals Birdwood, Godley and Bridges and their staff. And lo and behold there were quite a number of picks and shovels in their quarters. I soon got all the tools and sent them up to my men. By daylight Hart and the Second Company off Achaia landed. We were ordered into Reserve alongside Army Headquarters as an Army Reserve. We placed ourselves up a Gully, narrow and steep, full of scrub, and remained there until 4.00 pm of the next day when we were ordered to go up the gully on to the Plateau and report to General Walker, who was our acting Brigadier, Colonel F E Johnston being ill with gastric influenza. We had an awful climb. I found General Walker and reported but he didn't know what to do with us but in the end put us in reserve.

All this time the big ships' guns were booming away. Also quick firing howitzers, mountain guns and rifles. Endless fighting. Shrapnel bursting on and close to the beach, boats and barges going to and from the ships and beach landing all sorts of men and things. In the night of Sunday I know there were some questions among the Generals of our having to re-embark. Personally I could see nothing to require it. As General Walker's Plateau was congested with men without my Battalion, I asked, and obtained, leave to take them below the crest. We got settled down into dugouts and then got an Army Order to go back into our original reserve position. This from General Birdwood himself. We had been up the hill and now down again. Still we are all philosophers now.

Next morning, Tuesday the 27th, we were sent up another gully in which two Howitzers were placed and then to a place on the beach North of Divisional Headquarters and then told to draw two days rations and march North along the beach to where a big ridge came down from the high country surrounding the Bay. Duly, away we went. Arrived at the foot of the ridge, found General Walker, and heard a roar for reinforcements coming down the hill. Irresponsible men. Australian privates, passing the word for 'Reinforcements at the double!!' General Walker told us at once to send a Company up, packs to be left at the bottom. I enquired what they were to do? Where to go? I was told they would be met at the top and put right. So away they went. No soon gone than more yells of the same sort from the Australians. Another Company of men ordered to follow the first one. The Companies were (first) Wellington West Coast, (second) Hawkes Bay. Some 450 of the best solder men in the world. They were being sent to chaos and slaughter, nay murder.

I then brought up the remaining one and half Companies to about half way, which the Australian Brigadier told me to hold in Reserve. On doing this, more yells for reinforcements. I took on myself to stop the yelling and say no more reinforcements should go up in that irresponsible way. I went up myself to find out the position. A long climb along and up a ridge. I struck a sort of natural fort along it, entrenched and occupied by about forty Australians and two machine guns, one Major, a fat chap. I asked him what he was doing there sending down yells for reinforcements. He said he was passing the yells on. I asked him why he did not go himself and take his men with him. He said he had orders to stay. I went on, passing a score of Australian men wounded, lying all along the track. Finally I got to a Colonel Braund who said he was in command of the show. I asked for some explanation of the position and why he had left his own men down the ridge and called for reinforcements from the New Zealanders. He didn't know and knew nothing. Had no defensive position, no plan, nothing but a murderous notion that the only thing to do was to plunge troops out of the neck of the ridge into the jungle beyond. The Turks, of whom very few were seen by any of my officers, were lying down, shooting down all the bits of track that led from the ridge outwards; having range marks fixed, and dropping our men wholesale. Majors Young and Cunningham grasped the situation soon and told who they could to dig in. This was begun, but Colonel Braund came along and ordered the Platoon Commanders to go on and plunge into the jungle further and further. On their protesting he claimed as Senior Officer, their obedience to his orders, and so, on and on they went and got slaughtered – I made Colonel Braund send back and take all the Australians forward and to shift his Headquarters forward. I then went back to Brigade Headquarters to report and was told to bring up my remaining one and a half Companies to the fort. After getting them up I started to go forward again up the track to get a grip of things but was met by a lot of Australians tearing down the track yelling 'Fix bayonets, the Turks are coming.' I whipped back to the fort and put two machine guns on front slope with a line of best shots of the Ruahine [Company] and sorted the other men out in readiness to hold back the Turks. I really believed we were in for a solid thing and told the men we would have to stick it out at all costs. I then went forward and found that the panic, for such it was, had been stopped, thanks mainly to Major Hart, who had been sent on by me ahead of the Reserve to get a hand of things he, like the good chap he is, steadied the men.

By now wounded men by the score were being brought back and laid along the track, all sorts of wounds. The stretcher bearers couldn't cope with the number and soon there were no stretchers. I got an immediate demand from Colonel Braund for more reinforcements but sent him a firm refusal. He then said as I would not send him up more reinforcements he would have to retire to his first position. I told him he never ought to have left it.

Colonel Braund then came to see me and, on my asking why he had been doing as he had, said that the truth was he feared that if he didn't go on, his men would run away. I said that was no reason to sacrifice my men. I went and reported to General Walker and asked that the whole of the Australians be withdrawn as soon as possible. He came back with me to the position. We struck lots of Australians who hadn't moved. I ordered them up and drove them ahead, pelting the leading ones on the track when they stopped with stones and putting my toe into the rear ones.

By this time wounded men were being brought back in scores (my Battalion's casualties out of two and a half Companies, say 450 men, were about 45 killed and 150 wounded in about first hour of action) and left on track, no stretchers being available. They were all very brave. No cries or even groans. One man kept say 'Oh Daddy', 'Oh Daddy' in a low voice. Many greeted me cheerfully 'Well Colonel I've got it.' Many smiled. My men are wonderful. The world never saw better men or braver, I am sure. After the frightful murderous slaughter bungled by Colonel Braund of the Australians they hurry on, fired at from all quarters, yet unable in the jungle to see many of their enemy [and] dug themselves in.

I went up with Hart and we divided up the ground held – sent up picks and shovels and the night was passed by all hands dig dig digging. Turks firing from a distance all the night with shrapnel, machine guns and rifle. Hart, poor chap, directing operations got shot in the leg. Flesh wound only I am glad to say. He will be back in about a fortnight. He was shot by a Turk within a few yards. The Turks threw hand grenades at us through the night.

More of Malone's diary can be found in J. Phillips, N. Boyack and E.P. Malone, The great adventure: New Zealand soldiers describe the First World War, Allen & Unwin, Wellington, 1988.

Credit:

Jock Phillips and Chris MacLean

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