Diaries of C E W Bean, AWM38 3DRL 606/107/1 - April 1918 - Part 5

46

No doubt an exaggeration - but 
it shows what / Pole thought. 
[*(This page = notes made Ap.20 before going S. from 1st Divn.)*]

89     47
[Total casualties 1st Divn to date. (Ap.20.
Offrs^. k.          w       or.        k.          w.          w
           15         38                 169         749        4
Very quiet day yesty. Anor Divn
11 Bavarian Divn identified some distance
to NE (2 divns away).
If driven back French Genl says will retire NW we WNW
The Germans (so the French offs  Genl. says)
are trying to get round high ground
by pushing round the low ground).
In arriving at Press Hqrs this
day, Ap 20, I heard a message
tt / Germans were expected
at any time to make another
vigorous attack on Strazeele
& Kemmel etc.
A German offr captd by the 1st Bde _^1 day before yesty told
Lesslie tt he had had to shoot some of his
men. A Pole captd / same night sd tt it ws
less dangerous to advance than to retire. A man
who went back ws set to dig his own grave & a m.g. turned
on him. J

89     48
(he has gone off to sleep there).
He talked to me during dinner.
He sd Wilkins had bn in
Strazeele on / heavy day there -
Ap 17 - he left / car there & Jack
the driver sd he never saw anything
like it. I dont wonder - it
must have bn worse than Villers
Bretonneux.
"He" (Wilkins is "he" to Joyce)
"has had terrible luck - & dont
"I know it" - Joyce said - "luck
"with duds. There ws three or four
"in / salient - one when we
"ws photographing a dead German
"in / bottom of a shellhole -
"Mr Wilkins sang out to me
"'look out!' & I ducked for
"a shellhole but it went in

89     49
within 5 yards of him - just
where it must have blown him
to pieces - he wd have got all /
issue if it had exploded. But
it went in deep and just blew
back -
"But the closest thing we
ever had was on / Somme -"
(Wilkins ws photographing several
points I gave him at Louverval,
& elsewhere Hermies; & amongst others
from a hill beyond them
overlooking Queant (where the
11 Bn & 10 BN were held up.) "He put
his camera up first on / edge of a trench looking down
/ Valley. "  One went in there right at 7
(Towds Moeuvres?)
foot of his tripod & didnt explode.
Then he picked it up & went on up / hill.
Explode.  I thought we were getting
pretty far forward tt day.  I

50
^x They were / front line supports

89     51
always know by count it by when we pass
the field guns. We passed them &
went on & on. _^'I think we'll try it from that hill, he sd, And at last we
came to some infantry in a
Sunken Road _ I didnt thought
they were pretty far up but
I didn't know they were /
front line ^x.  We went on up to /
top of a hill - there was
beautiful long grass & no shell
holes & I felt all right up there.
I stood looking down into / village
below - there were men & transport
there, & I knew saw that / men were in
grey but I thought they were
just French soldiers.  I noticed
tt he sd to me "Give me the
slide, quick".  He doesn't often

89     52
hurry himself (this ws after
we'd had tt dud go in by /
tripod - & then they started to
put shells all over us. First
one - like a ranging shot; then
salvoes - they ought to have got
us but they didn't shoot too well.'
When We ran back, that time -
he picked up his camera quick
& we ran three quarters of a mile
I think, back past that old
broken white chateau (Louverval)
- they had their heavies on back
there. When we got back he
says "I think the Germans
had a good shot at us."  "Could
they see us?" I asked "Why
didn't you see them in / village?

89      53
he said.
"And I had thought they were
French all / time. Why you cd
have seen if they one of them had a pipe in
his mouth!"
"The only other place we saw
him so close was at Nieuport -
we got into a strong post there,
from underground.  It had a
tunnel to it, & a m.g. in
it. And from there you cd see
across / river one of the Fritz’s
posts, with two Germans
sitting behind in / sun, smoking
those long big German pipes, with
little grey caps stuck on
each chaps head - and /
machine gunners never fired
- I suppose they had orders
not to."

54
[Ap. 21. Some time ago I tried very hard to get
Wilkins his captaincy from Col. Dodds but Dodds
wdnt hear of it, tho' all / other Colonial photographers
are captains & he is the best, easily. Today
Wilkins tells me he has an offer from the Royal
Air Force to manage their photography camera
department with rank of Captain & Major within a month.]

89     55
"The Captain _^(Hurley) ws just as bad,"
sd Joyce. "We were up in front of
Zonnebeke when Fritz started an
area straf. You could Now I
knew you cd always dodge
an area straf by going round
/ edges of it - but the Captain
wdn't do it. He went straight
through it - of course we cdn't
do it quickly - but we got
thro somehow, on / duckboards,
without taking to the mud (wh
means diving into a shellhole)
I'd have liked to have told /
Captain not to go thro' tt
straf but of course I couldn't "
But neither of them cd ever come
out of another time like they had

56
1 Tunnellers. Brit ahead [[shorthand]] out.
Debois & [[shorthand]] at 30 yds. [[shorthand]]
Germ [[shorthand]] and Germ at 200 yds
[[Colby?]] fired.
Metern [[shorthand]] & Albert [[shorthand]] gone.
Germ method shoots [[shorthand]]
goes for every [[shorthand]] he can find
Orders to go on, simply.
Splendid looking French [[shorthand]].
[*keep to low [[shorthand]]
Story of Gunners [[shorthand]]
near Roisel.*]
Sleet  Jewellers [[shorthand]]
Big attack day.  French & French [[shorthand]]
Pole & going [[shorthand]]
Stephens - [[shorthand]]
The Bn accts v. diff from Divn.
2nd Bn DHQ & 1st Bde staff
sat [[shorthand]] at Amiens
[*M gunners
story*]
[[shorthand]] staff bolted. Began
at dusk for 2 hours -
one amongst men w kits
just over [[shorthand]] & Eng.
engine [[shorthand]]
[[shorthand]]
by Lesslie.

89     57
at Ypres.
It was a regular April day
again today - _^bright sun between dark
shadows - except tt / showers
were / little hard white frozen driven
snow wh they call sleet.
Gen Lesslie (who says he is /
junior Bitish Offr now left in /
Aust. force ) & who is very anxious
lest it may be his turn, next, to go -
& who I am sure is a splendid
hard little officer w a splendid
hard Bde - ) told me tt
his men - Bde Hqrs, D.H.Q
(Genl _^Walker had gone on by car) &
2nd Bn were sitting in /
train in Amiens Station &
with the kit on / platform
when / Germs (at dusk - abt

89     58
7.30pm - began to shell
/ place; The French Station
staff bolted, & there our
men had to sit. One shell
whizzed just over / engine
& exploded fair amongst /
men w / kits - German
planes afterwds came over
& began to bomb them. The
English engine driver stayed
by his engine but he sd
"I dont know / points, " Sir,"
I cannot start as we might
get into worse trouble." In
/ end Lesslie ^& others went &
hunted for / staff & found
them in a dugout. They
got them out & 2 hrs late
/ train started.

59
Ap. 21. At Beaucourt. No attack - tho our guns
gave him 100 rounds each betw
3 & daylight today.
Wilkins who went out opp. Dernan-

court says we have a complete
front trench & Commn trench there now
by the C.C.S (wh he photod); He
tells me a Corpl of 28 Bn there sat up
w head & shoulders over / top
while he gt his photos o / C.C.S.
(Wilkins himself focussed his Camera
over / top o / trench).

89     60
April 20. No attack followed today.
There was snow between sunny
periods in / morning.
We came South St Omer
& Rollencourt. All / way down we
passed _^at intervals refugees w their big
carts piled high w mattresses
chairs bedsteads tables sometimes
a crate of pigs - the _^younger women
walking on foot, the other
women riding on top o /
bundles. One man driving
a cart shouted to us to ask
us to give a lift to "Mam'selle"
- there was a girl in black walking
by herself dressed as if she were
going to church. I asked her
if she w I told Boddy to stop &
the man said: "Mam'selle peut
pas marcher." It turned out tt /