Harry Clegg was out of the fight with shrapnel wound to his left leg; he was one of the lucky ones to come out of Lone Pine.

The three assaulting battalions went forward, two lines from the forward tunnels at only twenty five metres from the Turkish front line, the remainder from over the top of the Australian front line trenches. Because of the sudden and surprise advance there were few casualties crossing No Man’s Land. What followed caused more of a surprise; an anxious moment was spent finding the front line trench that was covered in pine logs, all of which appeared untouched by the bombardment. Men, frustrated, fired through the loopholes and narrow gaps, whilst others sought ways into the Turkish trench system by finding large enough gaps, or forward saps to slip into the trench’s dark interior. Others had to advance over the front line, where they found uncovered communication trenches to the rear, from where they could enter and then fight along the maze from the rear of the front line. Inside there was semi-darkness as a bitter struggle developed along the labyrinth of trenches and tunnels.

Lance Corporal Alfred Simpson (2/AIF) recalled the attack as his battalion went for the southern part of Lone Pine:

I got a good pair of wire cutters and a couple of bombs, and I was ready. Our company was in the front line, followed by C Company. We had a secret trench underground, thirty yards in front of our firing line, and this is where we got out from. The Turks must have thought us mushrooms the way we sprang up out of the ground - we seemed to come from nowhere We sat under the ground from 4.30 till 5.30 pm while a heavy bombardment went on. At 5.30 the order was given to charge. Then we got out and ran for their trenches. The artillery had blown their barbed wire away, but had not broken their trenches in, and when we reached the first trench, where we were supposed to have stopped, we found ourselves being slaughtered, and could not get into the trench, so simply had to go on. I shot a Turk here who was firing up through a hole in the ground, but not before he had done his damage.

I got down in the second trench. By this time the artillery was playing a big part, but what Turks were alive had flown. We found our way through communication trenches until the third trench was reached and we got the Turks with the bayonet. Although I did not get the pleasure of putting the bayonet through one, I accounted for four of them. Their artillery was simply terrible, and they shelled us out of that trench. I came back up the trench and the major saw me, and asked me to go with him to bomb some Turks out of the first trench. I lit one bomb and threw it in with them and the second one I threw on top, and when the dust cleared I poked my bayonet round the corner and had a look; one was dead another wounded in the heal and the other in the neck. I took them prisoners. I should have killed them, for they shot nine of our boys dead but I could not do it in cold blood.

We fought on all through the night with bombs and, my word, the way the Turks use them! They are the most deadly weapon of the lot. They throw them in twenty and thirty at a time all along the trench and knocked the men about terribly. They bombed us out of the trench twice, but we got them out with our own bombs. We fought for hours and I could only find one chap out of our company so the pair of us threw ourselves down amongst the supports and had about three hours sleep, then had to fight on again.5

Private Clarence Kirton (2/AIF) was in the second line of the attack. The battalion was caught in the open by both shrapnel and the Turks positioned on Snipers’ Ridge, to the south, who were enfilading the advance with their machine guns.