Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/86/1 - August 1917 - Part 6

8      57
it, I suppose, as a touchy
place.
As we reached our
car two officers came up &
asked us for a lift.
“We’ve been in here for a month 
& we’ve just got 48 hours rest,”
sd the elder of them - a handsome
man of about 32, I shd say,
with dark moustache, a ruddy
tinge under the sunburn on
his cheeks, & flashing eyes
brighter for the strain of the past
month & the excitement of
getting out for a spell. It took
him like a schoolboy getting
an unexpected 1/2 holiday.
As we came out he was talking
all / way - and he cd scarcely
keep himself from laughing w
Every word. "We were next to
 

8  58
the Anzacs," he sd. "Splendid
fellows_ I remember looking
back - (we knew where
they were, of course, South of
Zillebeke Lake. & we were just North)
& seeing  the Boche fairly
pounding it in there; & all
/ time guns  the Anzac
Guns kept on pounding firing
away and we wondered
how they could do it- how it
was they weren't blown to blazes-
right in the thick of it, you
would see them firing every time.
Then we moved up & we
came alongside some of
them again up further; &
I ws telling one of them what
we saw, & how splendid
we thought it was; & he
sd 'Do you know, we were
looking across at your chaps
North of the Lake & wondering thinking
just the same thing aboutt
 

8  59
them!" He said that he had
had good luck amongst his
men - he was the Captain of
the battery - until quite late
in / battle when the drivers
were being given a rest. They
were going out & had passed
Shrapnel Corner on /  road to
Dickebusch when a shell fell
amongst them & 15 or 16 were
hit at one blow. The battery
had lost abt 50. But it had
lost all its offcrs. except himself
It had gone in with six &
had received two subalterns 
since - & he & one of those
subalterns were / only ones
left. They had no sergeants
-all eight had gone out-
except one who had bn since
promoted from Corporal. The
 

8      60

men were splendid - &
the drivers work especially
had bn magnificent. His
Major, who had bn away
wounded for a long time had
just returned to them in this
battle - He had come through
it well until, (I think he sd
it ws when he was going out)
a shell hit him & smashed
both legs. The captain went
down & saw him in the
C.C.S- " & he was so fit &
brave, & so clear in conscience
& in mind” he sd “tt I
thought he wd live. But three
hours later I recd a message
tt he ws dead - died abt
an hour after I left the hospital.
He was simply brimming with
happiness at the prospect of
 

8    61

getting a good sleep & a
bath, even in such a
knee deep slushy mudflat
as like  Dickebusch. But
Poor chap - I wonder
what he will feel like in
48 hours when he has to get
into it again. He had been
up in / front line observing
& amused himself sniping
at / Germans at long range
- a new sensation for an
artillery officer. I don't know
if we frightened them" he sd,
as a child wd say it, laughing,
When we got home
we went over, Gullett & I,
to dine w / War correspts.
It seems tt on the Southern
half of yestys attack we
were back in our trenches
from wh we started. Twice
 

8       62
 now, we have attacked
the S. end of the ridge & twice
lost it. Gibbs says tt /
Londoners were right up in
Polygon Wood at one time.
But that there ws a hell of a
m.g. fire switched on to them
from their right & they cdnt
stay. They got a pigeon
message at H.Q. of some Divn
(?46th) from some young offr
who ws out there. It sd: “I
am here with only 10 men
in a shell hole. The Germans
are all round us, & there
is no sign of help. I very
much regret tt / only thing
tt I can see to be done is to
surrender.." or words to
tt effect.
There is a rumour
 

8       63

all round tt Lens has
bn taken. Our officers up
there ^at / battery  seem to consider it
a very important matter.
They were as keen as
possible to hear good news
from elsewhere. I told Maj.
Manton abt the Pope's effort
for peace. He ws quite
unfavourable to it - never
thought of looking for an
Escape from / war till it
was well settled _ It is a
brave attitude & quite
genuine amongst these
men who must be more
tired even than we are of
war. But they dont seem to
want peace on those terms
-very much the contrary.
 

8      64

While we were at Cassel
we sat out on the terrace o /
War correspts garden, (No3.)
looking N. over / plain &
watched the searchlights playing
on / clouds & the shrapnel
winking like the electric
lamp on a flagships topmast.
The Germans were raiding
every where - except Cassel.
Merris, Strazeele, somewhere
near St Omer, bombs were
dropped, I believe.
My landlady with
the nerves got me to leave
- they are frightened of
officers in / house "trop d'officers
- beaucoup d'espions a
Hazebrouck - nous avons
peur des arioplanes (as they
say) qu’ils jettent des bombes"
Of course it is absurd beyond
 

8     65

argument but you cannot
convince them - we know tt
/ German is after the station
& the dump, & tt he cannot
drop a bomb within 200 yds
with certainty within 200yds
o / place he wants to hit.
However, I ws told she
had found a room for me
in a bakery, & so promised
to go. The room in / bakery
opens onto a completely
glassed in courtyard & W. C.

so I am leaving there also,
at once.
Aug. 19  18. Gullett went
round the 1st A.I. Bde to

explain them what the Two War Records
Sections can do for them, &
what units can do for the
sections, & ws splendidly
 

8    66

received by them.
A German aeroplane
came over about 10 0'clock
at night. We stood under /
door of the DAGs office listening
to it. I thought it (or two
of them perhaps) dropped
4 bombs & another 4 later.

Aug 19. Some  4 of the bombs
fell in or close behind
the Gendarmerie -  in a
straight line as the beggar flew.
One & a second in a
field - they had an
instantaneous fuse &
scattered very low; the third
in a factory used until
2 wks ago as a hospital.
Only 2 men were sleeping
in / corner behind some
bales of linen & these