Lt-Col (temp Brig-Gen) William Meldrum, CB CMG DSO mid(6) WE; 28 Jul 1865 Kamo – 13 Feb 1964; single farmer of Hunterville; 11/675, OC WMR, later OC NZMR Bde; WWII HG 1940–42.
Maj-Gen Sir William T. Bridges, KCB CMG; 18 Feb 1861 Scotland—18 May 1915; married soldier; OC 1 Aust Div; former OC RMC, SA War, Insp Gen, IGS; DOW Gallipoli.
WGM was mentioned in dispatches twice in the supplements to the London Gazettes of 3 Aug 1915 and 28 Jan 1916. History Sheet, WGM P/F, ANZ. Because the DSO is an order it cannot be given posthumously. It is probable that WGM’s DSO never eventuated because he was killed before the necessary administrative work had been completed.
Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915, on Turkey on 21 Aug 1915 and on Germany on 28 Aug 1915.
Maj William F. Levin; 6 Dec 1879 Wellington – 25 Dec 1915; married farmer of Greatford, Rangitikei; 11/787 2nd Refts WMR, later Beachmaster; DOW Egypt; SA War.
Originally Ida planned to leave Denis and Barney in New Zealand.
HMS Triumph was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine, U-21, off Gaba Tepe. Casualties were 73 out of a complement of 800. Malone did not note that another battleship, HMS Goliath, was sunk on 13 May by a Turkish torpedo boat. Corbett, vol. II, pp.407–408, vol. III (London, 1923), pp.29–30.
A member of a Russian Trio, the Cherniavsky Brothers, who were touring New Zealand, Auckland Star, 11 Aug 1915, p.9.
Capt (later Maj) William J. Hardham, VC; 31 Jul 1876 Wellington – 13 Apr 1928; single blacksmith of Petone; 11/661 WMR; later with 35th Refts NZMR and OC 2 Sqn WMR; WIA; NZ’s only SA War VC winner.
Hamilton was a British observer with the Japanese Army during the war and wrote a popular book, A Staff Officer’s Scrap-Book: During the Russo-Japanese War (London, 1905), which WGM had read. 1909 military notebook, notes on Russo-Japanese war actions.
HMS Majestic was torpedoed by U-21 off W Beach. Of her crew of 672 about 40 drowned, entangled in her torpedo nets which were deployed at the time. Corbett, vol. III, p.31.
French, as it should be.
This group were the first New Zealand Army Nursing Service personnel to be sent overseas. Anna Rogers, While You’re Away: New Zealand Nurses at War 1899–1948 (Auckland, 2003), pp.50–59.
Tire out.
Louisa Sanders [née Malone], WMG’s sister, known as Louie.
Jessie Malone’s (née Trimble) family.
French, very troublesome, irksome.
Chapter 5
Sgt Hugh M. Parrington; 31 Jan 1894 Hawera – 25 Aug 1915; single engineer of Hawera; 10/785 Orderly WIB; DOD Egypt.
Col (later Gen, Sir) Henry ‘Harry’ G. Chauvel, GCMG KCB mid(10) CG Nile; 16 Apr 1865 NSW – 4 Mar 1945; married soldier; OC 1 ALH, later OC Div and OC corps, Australian CGS 1923–30.
Well-designed mortar which fired a large high explosive bomb, Bean, vol.I, p.614.
Page 52 (containing part of the entries for 1 and 2 June) of the manuscript in the Alexander Turnbull is missing, but the passage is in the old diary transcript and this version is inserted here to complete the text.
The sniping party established by WGM was commanded by a noted marksman, 2/Lt Thomas ‘Army’ Grace. The Wellington Battalion squad was first properly organised and highly effective response to the threat posed by Turkish snipers. C.E.W. Bean, The Story of ANZAC, Volume II, from 4 May 1915, to the Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (Sydney, 1924), pp.248–49; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.237–40.
A town at the northern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Lt (later Capt) Leslie S. McLernon; 7 Sep 1891 Gisborne – 8 Aug 1915; single clerk of Napier; 10/1079 B-Coy WIB; KIA Gallipoli.
2/Lt James R. Cargo; 12 Feb 1892 Auckland – 3 Jun 1915; single bank clerk of New Plymouth; 10/740 C-Coy WIB; KIA Gallipoli; former 11th Regt.
Chaplain 4th Cl (later 3rd Cl) Rev Charles J. Bush-King, VD; 3 Mar 1875 Wellington – 1 Nov 1950; single curate of Dunedin; 2/626, att NZFA, later with 9th, 35th and 41st Refts. Long-term TF chaplain.
4th Reinforcements, left NZ 17 Apr, 2260 men.
Maj (later Lt-Col) John ‘Jackie’ G. Hughes, NZSC, CMG DSO mid(2); 12 Mar 1866 Bluff – 23 Jul 1954; married soldier of Wellington; 15/2, OC CIB, later Asst Mil Sec; SA War.
Capt (later temp Brig-Gen) Charles H.J. Brown, NZSC, DSO mid(3); 8 May 1872 Christchurch – 8 Jun 1917; married soldier of Greymouth; 15/14, Asst Provost Marshall, HQ NZ Div, OC CIB, AIB; KIA France.
Rabbit, rock hyrax or dupe.
Maj-Gen A.E.de L. Joly de Lotbinière, CB CSI CIE, Chief Engineer ANZAC.
Lt Godfrey C. Wells; 27 Oct 1890 Wellington – 21 Dec 1965; single farmer of Taringamotu; 10/608 C-Coy WIB; WIA July 1915. Lt (later Maj) A. Hugh Carrington, mid CG; 28 Jul 1895 England – 1947; single soldier of Christchurch; 10/2386 4th Refts WIB; WIA Gallipoli.
Now Ayduncik.
Vice-Adm (later Adm of Fleet, Sir) John M. de Robeck, Bt, GCB GCMG; 10 Jun 1862 Ireland – 20 Jan 1928; married, sailor 1875–1924; i/c RN Dardanelles in HMS Queen Elizabeth, later 2nd Battle Sqn, CinC Mediterranean Fleet, Atlantic Fleet; previously Capt HMS Pyramus.
Henry Nevinson, author of The Dardenelles Campaign (London, 1918).
23 July.
Lt Kenneth Munro; 7 Jul 1891 Patea – 3 Jul 1916; single law clerk of Stratford (in Malone’s employ); 10/1930, 4th Refts WIB; KIA France.
Probably the memo referred to as ‘most insubordinate’, see WGM to Richardson, 19 Jun 1915, p.248.
L/Cpl Francis A. Haynes; 16 May 1894 Pleasant Pt – 2 Jan 1988; single mechanic of Timaru; 6/471 CIB.
On 7 May the liner Lusitania was sunk in the Atlantic with great loss of life, by a German submarine.
Bulgaria entered the war in October 1915 on the side of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey).
Probably referring to memorandum reproduced on pp.243–44.
Hart’s DSO was officially announced in the London Gazette of 3 Jun 1915.
Hart and Saunders appear to have spent money in England helping WIB wounded.
‘It is magnificent, but it is not war.’ Maréchal Bosquet referring to the charge of the Light Brigade.
The pro-Allied Prime Minister of Greece.
French, a writing desk with drawers.
Mrs George Vasey? A relative of WGM’s.
Latin, in person.
WGM was the most senior of the New Zealand battalion commanders. Gradation List: New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1914.
Advantage or influence.
WGM is referring to the withdrawal of the British Army units in New Zealand during the later stages of the New Zealand Wars and their replacement with locally raised units.
A rag gatherer.
Bridport, a market town in Devon.
Sunbury-on-Thames, 24 kilometres southwest of London.
An idler.
L/Cpl Adrian Winter; 18 Aug 1886 England—29 Apr 1915; single bushman of Wanganui; 10/541 A-Coy WIB; KIA Gallipoli.
Extracts from this letter and another he sent to Harry Penn on 24 Jul, despite stating that the contents were ‘strictly entre nous [between us]’, appeared in the Wanganui Herald on 22 Sep 1915, p.6. The ‘letter’ published in The Dominion on 20 Jul, said to be sent by Malone to Harry Penn and describing events from 25 Apr to 12 Jun, appears not to have survived or is a montage of comments from other letters to him, or possibly diary entries.
Admitted defeat?
Clumsiness or unbalancedness.
French, between ourselves (private).
A variant spelling of ‘sideling’, a slope especially one along the side of which a track runs.
Latin, all leave the stage.
Same word, i.e. June.
Driver (later Gunner) Philip C. Clemow; 2 Mar 1894 Stratford – 21 Oct 1920; single clerk of Stratford; 11/537, WMR; WIA Gallipoli, Invalided 1918, DOW in NZ. The Clemow family were neighbours of the Malones in Stratford.
A village near Reading where Ida Malone had rented a house.
Staff Nurse (later Sister) Elizabeth B. Young, A
RRC mid SSWar Sam; 28 Apr 1882 – 3 Feb 1969; single nurse of New Plymouth; 22/93 NZ Army Nursing Service 1915–19.
Chapter 6
QM-Sgt Peter A. de Loree; 4 Jun 1877 Kumara – 3 Mar 1939; married soldier of Taihape; 15/34 HQ NZ Div; Invalided 1916.
Pte William C. Hughes; 11 Jul 1884 Dunedin – 12 Jul 1961; single engine driver of Taumaru; 10/405 C-Coy WIB.
Long strips of material wound from ankle to just below the knee for protection and support. Part of the NZEF’s uniform.
Hon 2/Lt (later temp Lt) Robert T.R.P. Butler, RE, MC mid; 4 Oct 1883 UK–?; single British soldier; att No.1 Fd Coy, later Adj NZE.
French, the setting or surroundings of an event or action.
The rations issued to the Allied troops at Gallipoli were it appears seriously nutritionally deficient and undermined their health. Nick Wilson, Nhung Ngheim, Jennifer A. Summers, Mary-Ann Carter, Glyn Harper, ‘A Nutritional Analysis of New Zealand Military Food Rations at Gallipoli in 1915: likely contribution to scurvy and other nutrient deficiency disorders’, New Zealand Medical Journal, 19 Apr 2013, pp.12–29.
‘Lobiniere’ is probably a play on the name of Maj-Gen Joly de Lotbiniére, the ANZAC Chief Engineer who had designed one model of hand grenade.
Sgt Robert R. Nairn; 21 Jan 1891 Auckland – 2 Aug 1915; single farmer of Auckland; 4/654 4th Refts NZE; Accidentally killed Gallipoli. Official History of the New Zealand Engineers During the Great War 1914–1919 (Wanganui, 1927), p.34.
I have not found any documentary evidence that supports this comment by WGM.
A small hill inland from Gaba Tepe.
Pte (later Lt-Col) Benjamin W.H. Smart, MBE; 1 Mar 1896, England – 24 Nov 1959; single clerk of Palmerston North; 10/1659, 3rd Refts, WIB.
Maj (later Lt-Col) Ivon T. Standish, CMG DSO mid(3); 31 Feb 1883 New Plymouth – 11 Sep 1967; married soldier of Palmerston North; 2/283 NZFA, later OC 3Bty, OC 3Bde NZFA, postwar OC CMD; SA War.
The London Opinion, a humorous weekly publication.
Postscript
Wellington Infantry Battalion (WIB) War Diary, 5–6 Aug 1915, Appendix 128, operation orders, No.128, 5 Aug 1915, WA 73/1, ANZ; Benjamin Smart diary, 5–6 Aug 1915, 1989.369, KMARL; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.270.
Minutes of the Regimental Fund Committee Meeting, 4 Aug 1915, WA 73/3 item 1, ANZ; Watson to Hughes, 15 Aug 1915, NZC15/10/14, Lovegrove papers, Wanganui District Library.
WGM diary, 14 May, 4 and 5 Aug 1915; Tim Travers, Gallipoli 1915 (Stroud, 2001), p.114.
Robert Rhodes James, Gallipoli (first published 1965, Pimlico ed., 1999), pp.235–58; Travers, pp.114–117; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.268–69; Robin Prior, Gallipoli: The End of the Myth (New Haven, 2009), pp.160–68.
Recollections of Cpl Leonard Leary, recorded 6 Oct 1960, MS papers 4022, ATL; Smart diary, 10 Jul 1915; Cunningham et al., p.62.
Cunningham et al., pp.62–63.
Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.263; Peter Stanley, ‘Whom at first We did not like ... Australians and New Zealanders at Quinn’s Post, Gallipoli’, in John Crawford and Ian McGibbon eds, New Zealand’s Great War: New Zealand, the Allies and the First World War (Auckland, 2007), p.192.
WGM diary, 14 May 1915; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.264; Waite, pp.187–88.
WIB War Diary, operations orders No.2 (No.129), 6 Aug 1915, Appendix 129, WA73/1, ANZ; Cunningham et al., p.62.
Instructions signed by Temperley, nd, appendix number 130, WIB War Diary Aug 1915, WA 73/1, ANZ; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.275.
WGM to O/C Guard Happy Valley, 6 Aug 1915, (not published) MSX 2553, ATL; Smart diary, 6 August 1915.
WGM diary, 4 Aug 1915; Smart diary, 3 Aug 1915; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.270.
Cunningham et al., p.63; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.270.
C.E.W. Bean, The Story of ANZAC, Volume II, from 4 May 1915, to the Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula (Sydney, 1924), p.576; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.271–75.
New Zealand Infantry Brigade (NZIB) War Diary 6–7 Aug 1915, WA 70/1, ANZ; ‘The August Battle for Chunuk Bair as seen by a Subaltern’ by Gibson Bishop, 76-095, ATL; Cunningham et al., pp.63–64; A.C. Temperley, ‘A Personal Narrative of the Battle of Chunuk Bair, Aug 6th–10th 1915’, pp.1–4, 95/16/1, Imperial War Museum, London; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.275–77.
Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.277.
WIB War Diary, 7 Aug 1915, WA 73/1, ANZ; ‘Draft History of the Wellington Infantry Battalion New Zealand Expeditionary Force’, p.24, WA 1/3 item 11, ANZ; Johnston to HQ NZ and A Div, 10 Aug 1915; WA20/5 box 2, ANZ; Godley, ‘Report on the Operations against the Sari Bair position 6th–10th August 1915 of the Force under the command of Major-General Sir A.J. Godley, KCMG, CB, Commanding New Zealand and Australian Division’, 16 Aug 1915, WA1, 1 box 1, ANZ; Smart diary, 7 Aug 1915; Ernest Mayo diary, 7 Aug 1915, MS-Papers-2641, ATL; Temperley, p.5.
Cunningham et al., pp.64–65.
See for example, John North, Gallipoli: The Fading Vision (London, 1936), p.111.
WGM to OC NZ Inf Bde, 7 Aug 1915, MS-Papers-11408-03, ATL; Rhodes James, p.288; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.277.
O.E. Burton, The Auckland Regiment: Being an account of the doings on active service of the first, second and third Battalions of the Auckland Regiment (Auckland, 1922), p.58; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.277–78.
Hans Kannengiesser, The Gallipoli Campaign (English Edition, London, 1927), pp.206–10; Travers, p.127.
Bean, vol II, p.637.
Temperley, p.1.
Cunningham et al., p.67.
Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.278.
Temperley, p.18; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.278; Howe to Denis Malone, 19 Sep 1964, MS-11408-09, ATL.
Aspinall-Oglander to W.B. Malone, 3 December 1936, MS-Papers-11408-07, ATL.
Temperley, pp.6–7; Burton, pp.59–60; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.282–83.
Charles Clark interview transcript, 1999. 2888, KMARL; Smart diary, 7 Aug 1915; David Ferguson, The History of the Canterbury Regiment, NZEF 1914–1919 (Auckland, 1921), p.61.
Mayo diary, 7 Aug 1915, MS-Papers-2641, ATL; Charles Lepper to his parents, nd but 1915, H.D. Skinner collection, c2001-122, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth; Cunningham et al., pp.67–68; Cecil Malthus, Anzac: A Retrospect (Christchurch, 1965), pp.117–18; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.284; Travers, p.126.
Travers, p.127; Bean, vol II, pp.634–35.
WGM diary, 8 Jun 1915.
Harston to Denis Malone, 9 Mar 1965, MS-Papers-11408-09; C.E.W. Bean, Gallipoli Mission (Canberra, 1948), p.208.
Johnston to NZ and A Division, 10 Aug 1915, WA 20/5 box 2, ANZ; Wallingford to son, 6 Sep 1915, Wallingford Family Collection Wellington (WFCW); Cunningham to Hughes (copy), 23 Feb 1916, MS-Papers-4192, ATL; Temperley, p.13; Cunningham et al., pp.68–69; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.284.
Smart diary, 8 Aug 1915.
‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair, 8 August 1915’, unnumbered appendix, WIB War Diary, Aug 1915, WA 73/1; draft history of WIB, WA 73/3 item 11.
Cunningham et al., pp.69–70.
‘Report of fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1; Cunningham to Hughes, 23 Feb 1916, MS-Papers-4192; Travers, pp.127–28.
Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.286.
Cunningham et al., p.71.
Temperley, pp.11–12.
Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.287–88.
Notes from the Front: Collated by the General Staff (London, 1914), MFCL. This booklet has been widely distributed among NZEF officers, NZEF War Diary 1914, p.245.
Harston to W.B. Malone, 5 Mar 1942 and to Denis Malone, 9 Mar 1965, MS Papers-11408-09 Cunningham et al., p.70; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.288.
Cunningham to Hughes, 23 Feb 1916 (copy), MS-Papers-4192; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.289.
Harston to W.B. Malone, 5 Mar 1942, MS-Papers-11408-09.
Ibid.; ‘Contour Plan of Chunuk Bair, 31 May 1921, WO 32/5867, The National Archives, London; Cunningham et al., p.73.
C.F. Aspinall-Oglander, Military Operations Gallipoli: Volume II, May 1915 to the Evacuation (London, 1932), pp.209–12, 217–20; Travers, pp.131–32.
Lepper letter,
H.D. Skinner collection, c2001-122, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth; Account of the fighting on Chunuk Bair by Lieutenant-Colonel W.H. Hastings, 5 Feb 1929, MS-Papers-11408-09; ‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1; Statement by Private R.J. Davie (a former prisoner of war), 19 Jan 1919, WA 10/3, box 3, ANZ; Clark Interview Transcript, 1999.2888, KMARL; Cunningham et al., pp.7–73; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.291–93.
Cunningham to Hughes, 23 Feb 1916, MS-Papers-4192; ‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1; Harston to W.B. Malone, 5 Mar 1942, MS-Papers-11408-09; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.295.
Wallingford to son, 6 Sep 1915, WFCW; W.D. Curham diary, 8 Aug 1915, Acc 1988-2165, KMARL; Hastings account, MS-Papers-11408-09; Accounts of the fighting on Chunuk Bair differ on how many guns were brought into action and how long they were in action for, but it is clear that only one or two guns were brought into action and that they were put out of action relatively quickly.
Hastings account, MS-Papers-11408-09; ‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1.
W.D. Curham interview, 8 Aug 1965, ID247159, Sound Archives, Christchurch.
Smart diary, 8 Aug 1915; WIB War Diary 8 Aug 1915, WA 73/1, ‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1; Pugsley, Gallipoli, p.285.
Harston to W.B. Malone, 5 Mar 1942; Hastings account, MS-Papers-11408-09; ‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA 73/1; Cunningham et al., p.75, states that Harston was sent to brigade headquarters at 3pm and returned to Chunuk Bair within an hour, but Harston’s account and the sequence of events make the morning more likely.
‘Report of Fighting on Chunuk Bair’, WA73/1; ‘Draft History of the WIB’, pp.25–26, WA 73/3, item 11; C.G. Nicol, The Story of Two Campaigns: Official War History of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, 1914–1919 (Auckland, 1921), p.72; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.297–98.
Nicol, p.73; Pugsley, Gallipoli, pp.295–98.
Hastings account, MS-Papers-11408-09.
Some sources suggest Malone was killed an hour or two later, but about 5pm seems most likely. Grey River Argus, 28 Oct 1915, p.5; Otago Witness, 3 Nov 1915, p.50; Watson to Hughes, 15 Aug 1915, NZC 15/10/14 Lovegrove papers, Wanganui District Library; Cunningham et al., p.74; Hastings account, MS-Papers-11408-09.
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