Douglas Pike’s Gallipoli Diary - Part Three: a long watch, chasing the battalion, Chocolate Hill and settling in the line

This third extract of Douglas Pike’s Gallipoli Diary finds him caring for Pte Yates, a wounded comrade through the night of 13th/14th August 1915, awaiting promised stretcher bearers, which never came.  On reaching Lala Baba the next morning RSM Chipp tells him he has missed the battalion and in the evening he sets out for Chocolate Hill to find them.  We then hear of conditions in the front line and how Douglas volunteers for a listening post.

We featured excerpts of Pte  Pike’s diary in a podcast episode a little while back, looking at the first 24 hours at Suvla Bay. After a number of requests, here is the diary in full, detailing conditions faced by men of the 1st Herefordshire Regiment at Gallipoli.  We’ll publish it in four parts.

Map references appear on the podcast page of our website.

2221 Pte Douglas Harry Pike was born in Ross-on-Wye, the son of Henry Pike a miller and grain merchant.  He was educated in Weston-super-Mare, and by October 1914 when he joined the Herefordshire Regiment, he was working with his father.