Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/20/1 - November 1915 - Part 4

GHQ
& Foote (Cont).
Nov 13
29
The pier ws crowded w natives coaling
xxxx "Are / mens kits up" - the Col asked.
"No we don't get them up" sd / officer
"Oh yes you do," sd / Col. "I'm not
going to have these men hauling up their
kits." He got his way & / kits
were stacked on / wharf. "Now then,
clear those niggers off / pier!" "But
we're coaling" sd / officer. "Well
you're to stop coaling - Think I'm going
to have these my men pushing in & out
amongst tt crowd! Clear / wharf."
So / wharf ws cleared.  "Close /
hatchen." sd / Col. "But..... "Close
the hatch!" thundered Foote. The hatch
ws closed. He went onto / wharf.
"Now then where is / transport for
/ kit ?" he asked when he got there
"The men carry their kit bags"
ws / answer.
"Oh no they dont!" sd / Col.
"If no transport has bn provided, it
has got to be provided now - send for it."
The transport ws obtained.
"Now - is there any transport for /
men?"
No Sir they have to march..
How far is it?
Some miles. But won't you go in
this motor car?

G.H.Q
& Foote
(cont

Nov 13
30
Motors be damned - if / men have
to walk its good eno' for me to
walk too.
So he did - with his old game
leg & half dead w diarrhoea.
On / way a motor lorry
passed w a driver & an officer
seated on it. It came sweeping
past / column very quick.
not pushing / column out of its way.
"Stop." shouted / Colonel
It stopped.
"Pull up at / side of / road while
this column passes."
"But..." began / officer.
"Say Sir when you speak to me
& take tt cigarette out of your
mouth."
"Yes Sir But.."
"Pull up at / side of / road &
stop there!" roared / Col. "And when
this column has gone 200 yds past
you, if I forget to tell you to go on
again, you may move on -"
And w tt he went on. "I
wdn't have stopped him," he sd
afterwards, "only he came along so
fast tt he rolled clouds of dust all
over our men."

Labour Bn.
[Diagram]

Snipers
Ari Burnu
Snipers Nest    Beach
Nov 13
31
A labour battalion - 500 of Lloyd Georges
old navvies, dock labourers & / like,
has bn landed here. They enlisted for
work on lines of commn. I saw a
number of elderly A.S.C. men on /
beach / othr day & wondered who
they were - must be some lot of
reservists, I thought; they all look
so old. It turns out tt they were
enlisted to do fatigue work from
amongst / working men of over
military age; none under 40 & some
well over 60. But they are fine
strong chaps, no mistake. Not
statues, like our Austalians, w
perfect shaped athletic limbs - but
brawny old knotted oaks & pollarded
willows.
The Base people camped them
straight away on / N. side of Ari
Burnu knoll where that to machine
gun snipes at night (I hate passing
/ place now - White thinks it is
one of old Antill's guns at Table
Top or Rhodo - where I ws / other
day. I asked Antill at / time if
he were careful of this & he sd he
was, & so did / men - but I sd at
/ time it looked very risky to me;
it may be our own gun therefore, tho

K of K.
Nov 12
32
I'm doubtful bec. it seems to play so 
accurately.) Then The very first day
two of the new navvy bn. were killed
outright - wh ws a bit of a shock,
considering their work ws to be on
L. of C.
Germans
The xxx Germans Yesterday
morning White gave me / tip (knows
he's perfectly safe in doing so - I won't
breathe it to anyone) tt Kitchener
ws probly landing here that day. It ws
put of till today. Today I went out was up Shrapnel
Gully when I saw brigadiers gathering
went over to Army Corps HQ. &
found that / the time was changed for to 
be tt from all quarters, coming
up / valley with their best red
gorget patches, & / little gold curly leaf
& their belts on! Belts at Anzac.
There ws a mtg at 11 Holmes
told me. Did I think - to be at
Walker's Top. Did I think tt Monro
ws coming? [I have an idea he
guessed who it really was.] I
went round to / beach again
found the army ∧corps staff gathering
at their new H.Q. (They have just
entered it & I have asked to be
attached as we are losing our HQ
on the old terrace). Went down to

K of K
(cont
Nov 13
33

/ beach where we found the
lot of men working as usual - no idea
of anything out o / ordinary.

The Turks seemed to be registering
/ length of their fuses (an omen I
suppose) o / shelling we must
expect before long. Dirty yellow
clouds burst occasionally in / air.
Three burst over / hill top above
us up one of wh spattered shrapnel
pellets all round & hit another o /
poor old navvies when he ws
sitting on / latrine. We got under
cover for a few minutes.
K. didn't arrive till /
afternoon - we got word presently tt
it wd be 1.15. At abt 1.30 a
destroyer arrived (from Helles, I think)
& off he came, w a fairly large
staff of about ten, including a
Frenchman - & little Birdwood,
in a grey woollen jacket by his side.
The tall man walked up / pier (w briht
brilliant red band on his staff cap
towering over everyone else) and
shook hands w Godley, White, Howse,
& others. He had scarcely reached /
end o / pier when / men tumbled to
it - & down they came to / edge o /
beach & onto / beach itself. Men

K of K
(Cont)
(The Australian)
 Nov13

34
began to run from / dugouts above, hopping
over / intermediate scrub & / holes and
heaps of relics of old dug outs -
some one o / men on / beach called for
a cheer, and / sound o / cheering
brought & whole o / populatn out
brought every Australian on / hillside
out of his burrow & scuttling down
like rabbits. The tall reg red cap
was rapidly closed in amongst
them - but they kept a path & as
the red cheeks turned & spoke to one
man & another they cheered him - 
they, the soldiers - no officer leading
off or anything of tt sort. It ws a
purely soldiers' welcome. He sd to
them "The King asked me to tell you
how splendidly he thinks you
have done - You have done splendidly
better ∧even than I thought you would:"
The men wd not have cheered
many men - they wd never have
cheered Ian Hamilton like tt, for
all his kindness & gentle manners.
K. is / sort of man every Australian
admires - not a polished man
but a determined one and an
uncompromising worker. These
men honestly admire him far more than
/ British do; the British really admire

K of K.
(Cont)
Nov 13 
35
a man who has more display abt him,
but these men honestly & quite sincerely
like / absence of display - they have
thought it all out for themselves, & when
he comes along nothing will prevent
them from each paying their honest
tribute of admiratn. K. recd a
welcome of wh I doubt whether he
knows / value. There are not many
men tt Australians wd honour in
tt way.
He pushed straight on up Walkers
Ridge, w Sir John Maxwell, & Gen. White
Birdwood, Owen, White, Col Howse &
so on. I cd see / party climbing tt
awfully steep path, / little grey
uniform always beside / tall red
hatband - & I ws astonished to see tt
they didn't stop for a breather. Poor
old Maxwell, I believe, ws blowing
like a grampus & several o /
Anzac people were a bit puffed.
But within ten minutes the little
figures could be seen right away
up on top o / bare cliff- The
Brigadiers o / First Divn and Legges
Divn were there to meet him - he
spoke to them at once without
stopping for breath - "Oh yes - I
met you in Australia, didnt I?"
& so on. He really ws in wonderfully

K of k
Cont
Nov 13 
36
good conditn wh gives / lie to /
talk about his self indulgence.
After a long sea voyage a self
indulgent liver cd not have climbed
tt hill at all without danger of
actual heartfailure. Old Nevinson
is pretty hard & he had to stop half
a dozen times when we climbed it
in July
The men noticed tt he seemed older
than his pictures - of course a
man always does. And his red
checks - brilliant red & full, though
his girth is spare - brought one or
two comments. "Looks as if 'e did
himself well, doesnt he?" I heard
one say. We'll "Dont blame him if
he did" ws / answer. "No not
I either "- & so on. "He lives
amongst the beer, dont 'e?" sd
one man - but of course K.
like the King & most British leading men
has not touched beer wine or spirits since
/ beginning o / war. There ws a good deal
of talk when he ws in Australia (as there
ws when King George ws there) - gossip o /
sort to always goes about - to / effect tt
he ws a heavy self indulgent drinker.
Well - we know / fact tt K, when he as a
young man ws more schooled to privation

K of K
(Cont
Nov 13
37
- in / desert; on tonely expeditns taken
hidden in disguise thro' / Mahdis
country when it ws death to be found
there, during years of survey work in
/ back of Palestine, schooled himself to
privation such as not one Englishman
a Australian in one hundred - or one
Englishman in ten thousand - has
been game to face. And I shd say tt
his florid com If any man preserved
his complexion thro / hot sandstorms
of the desert & / wear of those years.
the it wd be sufficient evidence to
say he had never gone thro' them -
tt it ws all a myth. That is quite
a sufficient explanation of K's complexion.
He looked at / positn from /
observatn stn. up there - saw Lone
Pine, & showed a quick grasp o /
details o / country. He went thro /
trenches (held by / newest Bde, the 7th
- where unfortunately every man he spoke
to had only bn here a few weeks)
& then went thro / firing line to Bully
Beef sap, wh is not by any means
a safe place. His tall red cap
going along awkward corners o / trenches
ws dangerously obvious & our staff

K of K
The Australian
Nov 13
38
had its heart in its month - ∧indeed they didnt
breathe freely till they got K. off / beach
& away from / crowd there wh might
possibly have brought a Turkish
shell if seen from Snipers Ridge.
Birdwood & White were almost too
nervous to speak, I am told - they
were worrying abt this all / time.
The men in He went / trenches - not more
than 20 yds away from / Ts. in some
places cd scarcely be restrained from
cheering. He went down Rest Gully to
2nd Divn. & there saw the Y.M.C.A. canteen
- a splendid ∧Sydney concern wh agst gt
difficulties does manage to do something
for / men here & at Imbros
"Hallo - Y.M.C.A!" he sd. Then
turning to a man. "What can you
get in there?" he asked
"Nuts," sd / man promptly.
"Oh yes - but I mean, generally
what have they got in there?"
"Nothing, "sd / man. Thank
goodness these Australians
generally keep their heads. The need
of a canteen ws one of / things we