Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/200/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 1

AWM38

Official History,

1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,

Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/200/1

Title: Notebook,  1915 - 1918

Includes references to the 11th and 12th

Battalions and Proyart.

AWM38-3DRL606/200/1

Typed
12Bn Lihons

Proyart

Sept 18.

11Bn Landing.

4 Bn Proyart.

 

AWM38     3DRL 606 ITEM 200 [1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN

CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918     200

THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms

of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But, apart from those terms, I wish the

following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every

reader and writer who may use them.

These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be

true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what

was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep;

also, not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not

follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when

discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what

their author, at the time of writing, believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch

for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he

did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had

seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand

evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed

upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that

those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All

second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.

16 Sept., 1946.       C. E. W. BEAN.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

ACCESS STATUS

OPEN

12 Bn  Sept 18.

On Sept 10 recd marching

orders when resting in a gully

near Mt St Q. near Peronne.

Marched & were billeted in

a wood _^ Mileu Copse in the Tincourt

area & stayed there till Sept

17.

Early Sept 18 moved up

just in advance of Jeancourt.

It ws raining tt night. The C.O.

Maj. MacPherson, I.O. (Lt G. Walduck)

& Lt Bradford Radford went up & laid

/ tape.

Bn marched up by the

tape wh had bn laid - German

planes were bombing Jeancourt

but no men were lost. The

Bn had a meal _^ & rum issue before they left

Mileu Copse.

It rained on / way up. It
1

ws a heavy misty drizzle.

They got out on to / tape line

(led by the 3 above named offrs).

The last coy ws barely on /

tapes when / barrage came down.

They had not gone 500 yds

when / smoke & mist made it

impossible to see more than abt

10 yds. It ws v. difficult to

maintain directn wh ws done

by constant touch & passing of

orders. Bradford was Bn

directing officer but didnt use

prismatic compass.

The general orders thro /

Bde were to stick to / high ground
- it ws known tt / Germs were

shelling / valleys & gassing them -

Mopping up pties wd look

2

after anything the troops

missed.

12 Bn had to make

thro Grand Priel wood &

make the Chateau the rt

rear of its objve.

In W of Grand Priel

Wood ws Wood trench in wh

m.gs. were heard. They were

overcome by flanking with

L.Gs. at abt 20 yds. You cd

hear / people & see dim shadows

at tt distance. At / entrance

2 77s had bn taken in

Brosse Wood in 21 central

(11 Bn went thro N part of this)

& in the W. edge of Gd Priel

Wood some more Granatenwfrs

& 77s camouflaged very

cleverly but not fired. There

3

were wd Germans lying by

these 2 guns.

There ws no oppositn in

/ wood - it ws very thick -

scattered mg fire - an officer

& others were captd here.

There were dugouts around the

Chateau & a major of a German

m.g. Bn ws captured in the ruins.

Touch ws kept all / time

with 11 Bn on left & 15 Bn

on right.

The aout. fog lifted abt

at / time when they reached /

objve - because / smoke

barrage went on at tt time.

As / fog lifted / various parties

found one another to an

extraordinary extent in the

4

right positions - The ground

had bn very carefully explained

by COs, O.Cs, platoon

commanders & NCOs &

most o / N.C.Os had a

message map wh tho very

wet & pulped were of great

use. This ws / secret of

/ show. This has always

bn done w our troops. Zero

hour ws kept as a secret
- it ws not known if this wd

not be a night attack till

within 3 hours o / attack -

C.O. 12 Bn only knew 3 hrs

before.

The Germans had bn relying

very much on their heavy

m.gs in this fight.

5

It is worth noting tt -

On the Jeancourt - Templeaux

Rd where the Bde hopped

off there were a Bty

of 6 in, another of 9.2

abt 100 yds behind in rear of / tape

They had bn brought

up only / night before /

fight & were situated in /

exact positns held by

them before / attack of

March 21. The noise of

their arrival ws great but

ws partly camouflaged by

low flying planes some o /

time.

When 11 Bn reached / 1st objve

as / fog ws lifting, facing a

little more N than they were

6

supposed to be doing, they

found 1st Bn also exactly

in positn but facing a little

to much s-wds. Between the

2 units, & abt 150 yds

in front of them ws a

fine m.g. target of 150 

Germans.

11Bn didnt fire because

they thought they were 1st,

& 1st Bn vice versa. The

German were just W of a small

wood between squares L.16, 17,

10 & 11. Flanking pties

were sent out to cut them

off but they got down some

dead ground into Villeret.

While 12Bn were digging

in on the E of Gd Priel Wood.

7

they were opened on by a

number of m.gs. from

a quarry across / road

where there was a red

cross flag flying at / time.

It ws a German aid post.

5 m.gs. were captd there

w a number of men by

10 Bn when they continued

/ advance. These guns

caused several casualties

in the 12Bn.

It happened tt 7 Batmen, digging in

in the 12 Bn line, were

wounded at this time by these

guns. (They went thro' / whole

fight in / line w / rest o /

Bn).

8