Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/109/1 - May 1918 - Part 6

87   57 
^X During this interval some voice - a
Corporals, I suppose, says: "Turn out
the sickers."   A few men, three or four,
some looking ^∧ really worn, & mostly seedy, move across
/ yard & disappear -I suppose they go to
sick parade at the medical officer's, at some other farm house
in the village where one with  ^∧  probably at the battalion headquarters.

 87  58

a face like a rusty mess tin - qrim, black, bony,
humorous - is perpetually chaffing the Cooks.
He has a voice like a file & you can
hear it all hours o / day, when he is
in, churning out oaths & good natured
sarcasms.   The cooks are messing around
their cooker, one in guernsey, another in
singlet, & trowsers - each in his hat & smoking
all / while either a pipe or cigarette.   They
take the chaff as a duck is supposed to
take rain - let it run off their backs while

87   59
the good humoured creases round their eyes
never alter.
The barber has begun his work
just in front of the stage opening – he has a
chair & a towel - & I expect he ws a
skilled barber in private life.   He too is
smoking a pipe, & talking socialism.
"I expect a man'd bloody well
come again if he w's over there today," he
says -

for carrying the top o / entrenching tool
for carrying the top 
 
87  60 

"Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't,"
says the patient, " (who wd probably enlist
within 12 hours o / outbreak of this or any
other war).

These Men begin to climb down /
ladders from the bee-lofts with belts ^∧ & straps on &
their ammunition pouches on their chests.
An occasional one has the little illustration - see original document
extra pouch (I don't know what it is for)^x
x(The ^∧ top of the entrenching tool is carried in it)

87  61

hanging down behind. They have their
felt hats & rifles & they stroll out of the
big yard gate into the road in front
of this house (acros beyond the road runs the
stream of the Hallue with a sloped
bank to the left of us where the horses
are watered).
A sergeant is shouting across, the
Yard, "Hurry up number 3 - Hurry
up No 3 platoon ^∧ (It is often "Shake a leg!" in the morning).   Outside in the road

87  62

the men are falling in in two lines.  The N.C.Os
are calling the roll of each platoon. The NCOs
"Private Smith"  "Here."  "Private Hoolan"  "Here".
Private Rogers - no answer- "Having his hair cut"
says a voice - apparently this is answer enough.
And so on.
The Sergeants call the platoons to attention,
Stand them at ease – every order in a strong
confident voice - call them to attention again - make
them number - stand them at Ease. An N.C.0 - I
suppose he is the Coy Sergt. Major - from the extreme

87  63  
[[shorthand]]

87       64                                                        
right o / Coy calls it to attention again - the
whole Coy this time. There have been a couple four
of young officers talking to the C.S.M for some
minutes.  They are standing in front o /
Coy now, facing it.   The [[crext?]] sergt in
front of each platoon hands over his platoon to
them by calling it to attention, going up to /
Offr. & saluting.   The C.S.M takes / whole Coy,
dresses it (the sergt o / right platoon does
the dressing - "up a little" - "back in the centre"-
"A Coy, Eyes Front!"). Then he hands over to the

 87                                          65
[[shorthand]]

Senior officer on parade.  They 
The senior offr (Lt Benny - a
pleasant, dark, chubby youngster)
stands them at ease - calls them
to attention, moves them two
paces forward to allow another
company to march ^∧ past them on / way to its
practice ground, stands them at
Ease again. xxx "Stand Easy."   For
three minutes they stand w their
sergts & offrs in front of them,

87              66
talking – watching the battalion transport watering
& washing their horses in one process by marching them splashing
down / stream.  The Australian drivers take their
horses 50 or 60 yards down / stream past a
couple of holes where every (other) ^∧ second horse
stumbles – & if any driver didn't want to take
his horse down there the chaff would drive
him into doing so – they come out with
the horses dark hocks & hoofs shining & the
drivers boots & gaite leggings wet half way up

87       67
the shin. There is a ripple & a laugh all
along the line o / waiting Coy as a mule of
/ ammunition column breaks away from
its fellow mule & driver (their ^∧ bridles are generally
chained together by a yard of chain to prevent
this) & tries to get out up the bank.  You
can see the Sergeants talking to / men behind
them as they watch this, & / men Tommies drilling
thro / trees across / river.

Then the Senior subaltern calls the
batta coy to attention & y the O. O C of the 

87           68
Coy ^∧ (Lieut. Sullivan^x) comes up from his billet. The subaltern
salutes & hands over / parade to him. The
CO.  O.C. talks to the subaltern & the C.S.M. for
some minutes, over certain papers.
Then in a big confident voice- he (or
someone of his officers - perhaps Benny  ^∧ the orderly offr o / day- reads
the orders of the day to them. The O O.C.
has a word to say abt the mornings work -
some special exercise in outpost work.  Then
he shouts at them half a dozen brisk
commands. Every order command the O.C. gives