Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/81/1 - June 1917 - Part 6

76     67
is finding its feet. Only
the COs are a bit shy
of fire in some cases &
Monash is not / man
to keep them up to it.
In 9^th Bde the Genl.
Jobson, tho' a clever man,
does not visit his front line
at all - & does not make
his staff do so;  & only one
Colonel - Morshead - who
has the old 1st Div tradition
- does so, ^sufficiently?  The 33 Bn with
Morshead & Massey is
splendid - 34 good -
35, they say, rotten -

76     68
McNicoll visits his
front line as much as he
can - & Cannan, of
course, is splendid.
Jackson GSO1, &
Peck GSO2, go round
their front in battle;
& Pain, though much
shocked, does so also.
But Monash doesnt &
tt makes a great difference.
The staff captain of 9^th
Bde doesn't - only Borwick
the old 2nd Bde Bde major.
It is a great drawback
& I have not the least doubt

76    69
that Jobson ought to go.
Little "Jock" Williams,
9 Field Coy, says so too.
June 16^th.  Saw old Arthur
Maxwell, 52Bn.  I think
in some ways he is the
finest officer I know - &
looks it:  6ft 5, brown, fairly
big in proportion, wiry
as they make them.  I
hear of another recommendation
today - from Salisbury:
He says tt Arthur, when
he (Salisbury) wanted to go
round to part o / line
sd that he wd take
him.  They walked until
a German sniper began
to get very nasty.

76     70
Then Arthur said:  You
go on, Sir - I'll cover
you whilst you go across.
With that Arthur picked
up a German rifle &
started shooting - he was 
a very good shot in
Australia.  He kept the
sniping down until
the Colonel got across,
& then walked over
himself without anybody
covering him.  At the
end of their first period
in the line, Arthur heard
that the brother of one o /
men had been killed.  He

76     71
went to the man & told
him - and at the end
of it said - "now if you
will come back with me
I'll give you a hand to
bury him."  Arthur read the
best service tt he could
over the poor chap.  The
brother told Duncan Maxwell
& tt is how I heard.
I called in at GHQ
l/ d, where Fannthorpe, who
has brains has been
given Hutton Wilson's
place.  But At last,
at last, one thought,
they have got / right

76     72
sort of man in - an
Indian Civilian, broad
& unconventional. OD
Fannthorpe ws wearing his
red badges & red & blue
armband.  But, I find,
he has come within days,
_^perhaps hours, of sending in his
resignation.  When
they put him in, they
dug out some old Colonel
Church, who ws quite
new to / work, & put
him _^away at G.H.Q. in
charge of the Fannthorpe.
Hutton Wilson, by
pulling strings (He has a

76    73
relation Governor of
Gibraltar) managed to
get himself offered the
job of looking after visitors.
He was sacked from G.H.Q
on the one job & then brought
back on the sister job.  And
now he sits there, close
to Church.  And Church,
naturally, being utterly
ignorant of his work
which is entirely
new to him, refers
every awkward point
to H. Wilson again.
A hopeless system,
the British - beyond all

76    74
possible help.  I am
going, on Gibbs suggestion,
to try & see Lloyd George
about it.
Got back to Querrien
& slept in the General
Staff Office.
June 17.  At Querrien.
Am taking over the old
Centre way notice signboard from
Pozieres, which Mosefield
suggested, & cut down
with me from / trench
itself.  These things are
at Heilly & have sent
the car to fetch them.
Afterwds the car ws sent to

76     75
Blangy, where Herbertson
has got stranded out of
bounds;  he wd get into
serious trouble if it were
known.  He & Addison
have I suppose been
looking at old Churches
while Butler is away -
& Butler came back
this morning - (His work
is far more efficient
than tt of Intelligence
2nd Anzac.  In fact 2nd
Anzac is rather a
wretched staff;  & I
cannot get over Godley
having no Australian on

76     76
it in a responsible position.
When I asked for a photo
of it they sd:  "Oh I suppose
its the clerk, & warrant
officers you want" bec.
they _^the other subordinates were the only Australians
(except I think 3, Stuart
(map officer) Thompson DADMS,
& some post office officer)
on this huge staff.
White says that Allenby
has gone from the 3rd Army
to Egypt, & Byng has
got the 3rd Army.  Byng
ws junior to Birdwood in
Gallipoli, but White
says he has one great