Diaries of C E W Bean, AWM38 3DRL 606/107/1 - April 1918 - Part 8

89  83
ricochet into l crops.
The British troops are too
much afraid of their officers
to do this - but if there are
Australians abt our men
go out & get food for the mob.
An English artilleryman was
calling out to these two from
a distance to tell them where
the hares were.. I have
seen 4 of our men strolling
across a dip in I hills on I
Somme. Last year the authorities
wd have protested & stopped this.
Now tt our men are doing so
much for them in the war they don't
seem to let them have their own
way for I moment - & our own
 

89  84
officers, I think, wink at it
in order to keep I men in
good spirits.
Talking of spirits, in
spite of the snow showers w wh
the last few bright days have been
interlarded, the men ^Australians are well
& fit, in I North especially. The
Tommies, our men think, have
become thoroughly depressed; & our
officers are inclined to blame the
present British offr rather than I men for
this. "You'll find time hang
heavily on your hands I fear,"
sd one of them to I Australian
who relieved him at Armentieres
lately- "an ^occasional game of bridge ^at Hqrs is the
only passtime. Myself, " he added
 

89  85
"I keep silkworms." The offr
who relieved him relates this
solemnly & another who was
there supports it. This sort of
chap gets his commission by
the right of an Oxford accent.
Our men manage even in
I snow & rain to keep moderately
dry, in I supports at any rate,
by digging holes into I banks,
lining them w straw, covering
them w waterproof sheets (or
turf over boughs if nothing
else). One wd not believe
it possible to be dry outside
I villages (& many live in I
villages, wh are dangerous).
Indeed Bill Dyson tells me
 

89   86
tt one officer & several
men have bn sleeping
nightly in the old C.C.S.
huts which are practicaly
in Nomansland.
Ap. 22. No attack today -
we again fired a lot of shell in
I hour or two before I dawn
in case I enemy were
assembling. Tonight we
are firing heavily again,
from 9pm to 10pm I fire
has bn very hot continuous.
The weather has bn fine for
3 days tho' cold - but it
looks rainy tonight. The
moon is nearly full.
Whenever a German
'plane goes over at night
 

89   87
- wh they occasionally do - there
is a wild chatter in I night
& about a dozen machine
guns round about send their
beautiful white tracer bullets
into I grey clouds after them -
I have seldom seen anything
prettier.
Yesty an aeroplane came
low down on I slopes o I Somme
Valley near Corbie - a Lewis
Gun near some of our batteries
opened on it. There had
bn confused fighting in I air sky
over Villers Bretonneux
where two slow old Australian
planes (RE 8. of No 3 Sqn)
were photographing - one of
them had to go a good way
 

88

(they think ^one of I triplanes
fell but are confident it
ws not I one in question).
 

89  89
past I line & two German
planes had swooped on them
& they had just managed
to scuttle away ^x - after wh
a ^British naval sqn of our "camels"
ws scrapping w I German
triplanes in I air. One o I
Camels ws driven low by
a triplane, his gun jammed
when he tried to fire back &
I triplane came diving
after him -
- in I course of all this
^fighting a triplane came to Earth
crashing, when low down,
near Vaux Sur Somme.
They went over to it - a
fairhaired rather good looking
pilot lay dead in it - &
 

89   90
amongst I papers wh they
took from his clothing pockets
was one w I name
"Cavalry Captain Freiherr
M. von Richthofen."
His Squadron ws the
1^st Pursuit Squadron - wh
von Richthofen used to command -
His body & I place were taken
last night to the aerodrome
at Bertangles - & it proved
to be the great von Richthofen
right enough; the man who
has put down more
planes than any other -
79 I believe it is now.
Gen. Cannan is convinced tt
it was our Lewis Gunner who
 

89   91
shot him down; & the British
Wing Commander was convinced
also until I doctor pointed out
tt I bullet passed through I
body in a slightly downward
direction. It ws argued tt this
proved he had bn shot from
above, but of course it does
not as I 'plane was diving.
with The naval squadron
wd tell Cutlack nothing
except tt they were sure they
shot him & the Archies also
claim him to have done so,
- wh is impossible as he ws
shot by a bullet.
Catlack & Wilkins have
gone North. Dyson is here.
 

89   92
Our troops S. of the Somme,
except 5^th Divn, have now
been returned to their Divns, &
V. Bretonneux is held by 8^th British
Divn. (An order, ws lately issued
by G.H.Q tt ^36 additional L. Guns were to be
issued to all divns. fo wh were
sufficiently trained to use them; &
I first issue, (by another G.H.Q
order), was ordered to be to the
five Australian Divns; & 3 British
divns (including the 8^th Divn).
The 5^th & 9^th Bdes are back &
4^th Bde is to leave on Ap. 24
All of them have had wonderful
testimonials from I corps divns which
had them in their command.
The 9^th Bde & ^5th Divn suffered
very heavily from a gas shelling
laid down on them by I Germans
 

89  93
at V/ Bretonneux. 3 daylight
shoots in two days; 4 C.Os &
500 men are sd to have
been gassed. Fortunately I
German gas was thrown heaviest
on an unoccupied trench - the
Caches Switch.
The Germans are shooting
a good deal at unreconnoitred
positns & wasting a fair amt.
The German method seems to
have brought up for I moment agst
I Austlns down here, & agst I
Austlns & German French N of Armentieres
& the 55^th & some other Divns
S of Armentieres. His plan is
apparently, when he gets a
success, to go on pushing
wherever there is an opening,
keeping to I low ground
& getting round I high ground -
 

94
 
The Germans ^war correspts are playing upon all possible
differences betw I French & British - & betw I
dominions & I mother country. Ladge showed me
a number of cuttings. One sd "The Australians &
Canadians are much I best troops I British have".
The French troops whom we saw
in I North looked splendid bronzed
men, almost all of a good age - 25 to
35; their ^transport horses are ragged &
skinny & look as tho' they were dying.
Lytton says tt I Germ French people are
getting very querulous as to I "failure" o I
English (wh is just what I Germans want). But
Foch has bn made Commander in Chief in name
& fact-

89  95
His orders are simply to go
on - go whe no details, no confining
barrage - but leaving I initiative
to I staff of whatever unit
succeeds. Now tt he has bn
brought up a new full dress
battle will be necy. It is thought
likely to come from Albert to Arras
a any day - German little square objects
thought to be German Trench Mortar
ammunition waggons have bn in
positn since before Ap. 17 (they were
noticed before the original attack
near Cambrai - perhaps it ws
they wh were taken for 'tanks' by
our Airmen). Villers Bretonneux
is most important & Rawlinson is
sd told Monash tt he had staked his
reputation on our keeping it.
I have heard tt Foch says tt I northern
battle is dead & done w. But also tt G.H.Q.
expects an early resumptn of the attack on
Strazeele.