General, Sir John Monash, Personal Files Book 18, 8 May - 25 May 1918, Part 5

The Corps Commander is determined to put an end to the looting
of civilian property that has been, and appears to be still going on.
1.  All Officers will make lists of all civilian property in their
possession, stating whence they obtained it. Unit Commanders will 
make similar lists of property in possession of N.C.O's and men.
These lists, of which copies will be retained, will be sent through
Unit Commanders to the Area Commandant not later than the     May. The
Area Commandant will hand them over to the A.P.M.  After the   May
A.P.M's assisted by specially selected Officers working under them
will visit billets, camps and dug outs, and where any civilian property,
which has not been included in the lists is found the Officer or N.C.O.
or man in whose possession it is will be tried by C.M. for looting.
2.  There are, however, certain villages in the forward Area which
are abandoned and are being destroyed by shell-fire. Every effort
should be made to salve such articles of value as can be removed, and
these should be collected and handed over to the French Mission, but
chairs, tables etc., that cannot be removed to safety, may be taken
if application is made to the Officer diputed to be in charge of the
village, who will give a list signed of the articles removed and will
himself retain a copy.
Property found in anyones possession for which this voucher cannot be
produced, will be liable for trial for looting.
A list of the villages from which property may be taken, if
applied for, is attached. 

ADC

for you.
THIRD AUSTRALIAN DIVISION.           SECRET.
Divisional Headquarters,
11th. May, 1918.
OPERATION CIRCULAR No. 12
S.G. 401/37/19
Contact Patrols - Signals
1. - It has been found in practice that contact aeroplanes can
see, at a height of 1000 feet, groups of rifles laid out by troops
as supplemental to or in place of ground flares.
2. - Since ground flares are not always available and are liable
to be lost in action, the following method will be adopted in future

by    Australian Corps :-
When a contact aeroplane calls on he Klaxton Horn for
ground signals, and whether or not flares are in use,
groups of three rifles each will be placed out on the
parapet, two feet between rifles and about ten yards
between groups.
Geo. F. Wieck

Major.
for Lieut-Colonel 

General Staff.
PWP.
Distribution
A.D.C. for G.O.C.
C.R.L.
9th. Aust. Inf. Bde.
10th.      -do-
11th.       -do-
3rd Aust M. G. Bn.
3rd Aust Pioneer Bn.
O.C. Troop Light Horse.
O.C. Cyclist Platoon.
'A.Q'.  )
C.RA. ) (For information).
War Diary (3).
File. 

Personal.

THIRD AUSTRALIAN DIVISION.
Divisional Headquarters,
12th. May, 1918.
My dear Carruthers, -
I have just received your letter of
May 11th., attached to which is draft of an order regarding
the looting of civilian property. -
As you ask me for my opinion on this question, I am
bound to give it to you quite frankly. -
I always deprecate very strongly any procedure which
is calculated to give offence to or hurt the 'amour propre'
of our fine fighting men. - I am quite ready to admit that
there is a percentage of men who are morally debased, and who
are addicted to committing offences which, in civil life, are
regarded as crimes. - But I believe that this percentage is
a small one. - Each one must view a question of this kind
in the light of his own experience and, as regards the men
of my own Division, I should say that offences of this nature
are conspicuous by their absence; and that the number of
instances, - in which there has even been a suspicion of
(1). 

12/5/18.
(2)
thieving, or looting, or violence, or tampering with property, or
crimes of that nature, are is quite negligible. -
This being so, and believing, as I do, that the great body
of my troops are not only decently behaved men, but are also strongly
imbued with their sense of responsibility in regard to their duties, -
not only towards their comrades in other units, but also towards the
French population, - I have always been most careful, in framing my
orders and instructions, never to impute, or even to appear to impute,
evil propensities to the personnel as a whole. - The moral of my
troops is so high, as is their self-respect, that I judge that they
would, as a body, indignantly resent anything in the way of a
general imputation. -
For these reasons, I deprecate the use of strong terms such
as "horse thieving", "looting", "pillaging" and so on ; their mere
employment in an official regulation stings and hurts, and it does
so, especially when there is an implication having a broadcast
accusation. - effect
Take for example the recent complaint from the French Mission
about injury to crops and farm implements. - I felt that I must
issue this to the troops in such a form as would not be likely to
give general offence. - To illustrate better what I mean, I
enclose a copy of the memo which I circulated on the subject. -
Again, in connection with the question of horse thieving, in
which I was directed to issue a strongly worded order, I was very 

(3)
12/5/18.
careful to avoid the remotest suggestion that the Division, as a
whole, was guilty of horse stealing; but, instead, directed that
any animals found in the camp, or wandering into the horse lines
of any unit, or brought into the lines by mistake, or otherwise,
must be handed over to the Mobile Veterinary Section within 24 hours,
and that the officers of any unit which failed to obey these instructions

would be held personally responsible. - You will perceive
that this instruction would produce precisely the required result,
without, in the remotest degree, suggesting that the units are
deliberate "horse thieves". -
Now, to come back to your proposed method of dealing with
looting of civilian property. - Frankly, I do not think the
scheme proposed is desirable. - You call upon all officers to
make lists of civilian property in their possession, stating whence
they obtained it. - This is tantamount to saying that every
officer in the A. I. F. is a potential thief. - In plain language
you call upon every officer to prove that he is not a thief. -
Imagine your own feelings if an Army Regulation called upon you
to make an inventory of all your property and account for your
ownership of each article. - I am afraid you would resent it;
and I am very sure that I would. -
Then again the scheme of making lists would entirely fail
in its purpose, because the small percentage of guilty men would
take mighty good care that the fact that they were in possession 

12/5/18.
(4)
of stolen property was not discovered by their officers. -
Finally, I should not envy the task of the military police
in making a house to house inspection of all billets, camps and
dugouts with a view to discovering stolen property. -
The implication of all such measures is, as I have said,
that every officer and every man is to be regarded as a thief or
a pick-pocket until, by turning out his pockets for you, he proves
otherwise. -
Even, if, by some such complex process as is proposed, one
were to succeed in discovering a few cases of criminal looting,
one would succeed in the process in creating a vast deal of bad
feeling and resentment which would certainly lower the moral and 
fighting value of our troops. -
I think the true remedy for the whole evil, if it exists, (and
I am quite certain it does not exist in an appreciable degree so far
as this Division is concerned) is prevention, and not cure: that is
to say, our policing should be sufficiently efficient to prevent
private houses being entered and pillaged. - But when this has
once happened, you cannot ask a whole Army Corps to turn out its
pockets for inspection, merely because there may be a score of
thieves discovered in the process. -
I trust you will forgive me for expressing my views so
plainly. -
Yours sincerely,

( Sgd) John Monash
Brig.-General R.A.Carruthers, C.B., C.M.G.
D.A. and Q.M.G.
Australian Corps.

SECRET & CONFIDENTIAL.

G.
Australian Corps,

12th May,1918

TO BE DESTROYED
AFTER NOTING.

HEADQUARTERS,
AUSTRALIAN CORPS.

No.S/4461.

Major-General N.M. SMYTH, V.C., C.B.
Commanding 2nd Australian-Division.
Major-General Sir John MONASH, K.C.B., V.D..
Commanding 3rd Australian Division.
Major-General E.G. SINCLAIR-MACLAGAN, C.B., D.S.O.,
Commanding 4th.Australian-Division.
Major-General Sir J.J.T. HOBBS, K.C.B., V.D.,
Commanding-5th-Australian Division.
Brigadier-General-L.D.-FRASER, D.S.O.,
Commanding-Aust.-Corps-Heavy Artillery.
The information conveyed in my secret and confidential
letter No. S/4419 of the 7th instant is cancelled.
The following will be the locations to which headquarters
will move in the event of a withdrawal:-
Corps Headquarters  -   FLIXECOURT
Heavy Artillery             -   BERTANGLES
Left division                  -   BERTANGLES
Centre division             -   VAUX
Right division               -   ARGOEUVRES.
To be destroyed after Noting
CBB White
Brigadier-General,

General Staff,

Australian Corps.
Copy to -
Lieut-Col. WALSH, M.C.,
A.D.Signals Aust.- Corps. 

THIRD AUSTRALIAN DIVISION.
Divisional Headquarters,
12th. May. 1918. -
SALVAGE OF FRENCH CIVILIAN PROPERTY
On arrival of the Third Australian Division in this Area,
steps were immediately taken to protect civilian property and to
salve same as far as transport facilities would permit.
The principal items salved are shown in the following list:-
WOOL. etc. transported from Woollen Mill RIBEMONT

by supply Wagons, 3rd. Aust. Divl. Train. -
48 Loads comprising 2723 packages of wool on reels,
in bags, baskets &c. in all 49 tons valued by Mill
Foreman at       -                 -                    -                -        £46, 414.
45 Tons similarly transported by 6th.Aust.Army Fld.
Artillery Brigade, valued at                      -                  -      41,250

Total value of wool and dyes handed to representative

of Mill Owner at QUERRIEU up to 30th.April,1918      £87,694.

FORAGE salved RIBEMONT & BONNAY and disposed as

follows:-
Linseed Cake 166l6 lbs. issued as extra forage
by S.S.C. and valued at           -                       -          £195- 0- 0
Oats - 44990 lbs. issued to Units by S.S.C. and)     247- 0- 0

underdrawn at Railhead, valued at                   -)         
Bran - 37620 lbs. issued as extra forage by S.S.C.  
and valued at        -                  -                         -           188- 0- 0 
Wheat - 48600 lbs. despatched to Railhead and
consigned to Gamaches SOMME and valued at - 225- 0- 0
                                                                                           £855- 0- 0

In addition, the following quantities of foodstuffs
have been salved from the forward villages
during the week ending 7-5-1918 -
Oats, -  20,000 lbs.valued at   -                              -    £114- 8- 0

Wheat -  850 lbs.      "        "      -                              -          4- 0- 0 

Straw -  1150 lbs.        "        "      -                              -          2- 8- 6

TOTAL                                                                               £975-16- 6

All forage other than the wheat (which was consigned
to the French Intendance Gamaches) has been accounted
for by S.S.C on the Army Requisition Note. 

Salvage of French Civilian Property -2-
CATTLE. - 214 Head of cattle valued at £20 per
head were collected in the forward area

and handed in at MOLLIENS-au-BOIS -    -   £4,280- 0- 0.
W I N E.-  to the value of £667-17-0 has sold

been sold and the cash handed to O.C.

French Mission                 -                       -                  667-17- 0.

FURNITURE AND OTHER DOMESTIC GOODS. - Over 60
cazes of such articles as Clocks,
Ornaments, table ware, linen, curtains,
etc. have been packed and handed over to
O.C. French Mission, of 3rd. Australian
Division. All cases have been numbered
in accordance with lists lodged by 3rd.
Aust. Divl. Salvage Officer with French
Mission giving Nos. of billets and locations
from which the goods have been
salved.
Total value of salvage apart from furniture etc 
which it has scarcely been possible to value with
any degree of accuracy -                                       £94.472-13- 6.

Robt. E. Jackson. Lt Col
Major General,
G.O.C. Third Australian Division 

G.O.C.

THIRD AUSTRALIAN DIVISION.
Divisional Headquarters,
13th. May, 1918.
Memo for "A.Q."

Please frame a special memorandum to let the whole of
the troops of the Division know that the Field Marshal Commanding
in Chief paid a special visit to the Division a couple of days
ago in order personally to express to me his thanks for the
valuable and decisive services rendered by the Division, from the
date of its arrival in this theatre of war on March 27th. up to
and inclusive of the offensive operations of May 6th. and 7th. -
The Commander-in-Chief desired me to convey to all ranks, Services
and Departments his keen appreciation and gratitude for the work
they had done.