Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/146/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
 

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/146/1
 

Title: Notebook, 1915 - 1917
Includes references to the 13th Battalion,
Gallipoli and Stormy Trench, February 1917.
 

AWM38-3DRL606/146/1
 

Original
DIARY NO 146
AWM38
DIARIES AND NOTES OF C.E.W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

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 these 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 Sep., 1946.                   C. E. W. BEAN
3DRL 606 ITEM [1]
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
 

26
1
13 Bn.
4/5 Feb/17

13th Bn.
4/5 Feb

Attack as in report
xxxx
on 5/6 night A Coy ws
relieved.
The Brigadier asked 16^th Bn
for a Coy to relieve Murray's
Coy - & the whole 16 Bn volunteered
The in coming coy had 3
casualties.

No c.attack tt night.   Everything
ws ready but they were quiet.

On night of 7/8/ abt 11.20 pm
out sto 6/7^th Germans
c/attacked at 8.45 from
a line of shellholes - which ws
really a little trench the
 

2
Hand drawn diagram – see original

On 4/5
As soon as 13 Bn was in
a determined small bombing
attack ws made on right.
This ws finished by killing of
all bombers as we had plenty
of bombs.
At 10.50 a second c/attack
ws made  - They came at the
right flank 5 times up the trench
& from shellholes on either side
& over open.
Our men (by arrangement)
hopped out of trench & went for
them w bayonet & bombs.
(the bombs drove them off - tho a
number were bayonet).   The
officers survived this.

26
3
Germans had dug.  He
put up an S.O.S.   Germans
came close eno' to bomb.
[[agst?]] Ahearn (16 Bn) - but did not
get in and our Coy lost
no-one.
_________________
At abt same moment ( a few  8 mins
later) there ws an attack on the
left flank.
(The arty commndr., working
with Durrant, suspected tt an
attack might be made up the
hollow in centre as agst the 15^th
& so put a barrage down there
& nothing developed.)
The Germans on left came
in same way up trench.
That attack ws over in
abt 10 mins.  (There were
2 dead offrs found there later - &
Germans were carrying wd.
away all for 3 days.   On
rt up shelled trench the Germans
were carrying wd. away for 8 hrs
continuously.
 

4
There ws some
2nd Div. Arty
supporting
_________________

Enemy barrage came down
at 10.9.   There were 20
carriers for each Coy to
carry bombs across
nomansland. The carriers of
A Coy lost 18 out of 20.
That ws where 14 Bn
came in.   They were
very much inspirited
by the sight of 13 going
over as one man
The

26
5
On our left ∧they surrendered freely.
On the right ∧they fought very hard -

Every time our bombers
simply had to deal w their
 

26
6
Evacuatns. 1-9. Feb. 1917.

7
Prisoners, who were captd.
in nomansland, had seen our
men getting into Shine trench
on right from left.

When ^∧ Capt. Norman MacDonald
O.C.  C. Coy was found
dead in trench he had a
flare pistol in his
hand & the flare in
it to show tt / positn
ws captd.   He was shot
by a sniper.

The men went over in
tremendous heart -
absolutely confident.

26
8
Hand drawn diagram – see original
A. Coy.
[[Left?]] to O.C.   The instns
were to those in Shine trench
to catch up if possible
with the main wave
(Bn went out in one
wave)   They caught them
just as they got in.
(Under Lt. Kell who
ws suffering from dysentery.
He got out after 5 days in
bed to come.   C.O. thought
of ordering him out - but had
not heart to do it).
Murray cd not see any  
 

9
Feb 3
8 p.m.    C.O. heard of attack
10 p.m.   Conference of O.Cs.
to 12 pm when
plan explained.
4 Feb. 4 p.m. 2nd Confce. same
plan discussed.
No change.

Trickling them into positn 
ws a great difficulty
Bone's Coy on left
was not quite in
positn in time;  but when
^∧ the bombt started he led the men out
& got them into place
under it - roughly
in line w / objve.

26
10
break in the wire where
marked & so ordered whole
coy to get round left
of wire & bomb  ^∧fight up trench
(on parapet & in trench)
& rush along it.
No oppositn at 86 -
just bundling out of
dugouts - 3 big ones
captd.   8½  5½  is a
Chessboard of little trenches
wh A Coy came on.
2 bomb sections were to
lead the fight on rt
& put in stop.   They
did this - N C Os
going down like flies.
Struck oppositn first
at the fork near  8½  5½ .
These were Germans who
 

26
11
bundled up from a dugout
& started into it w bombs.   They
never attempted to use the
bayonet (no man ws
bayonetted). These were
rushed with bayonet &
bomb. The Coy ws now
holding 150 yds of trench
with oppositn all time
on rt - so a stop ws
put in in straight trench
just to right & in front
of  8½  5½ .   Duckboards
sandbags & frozen 
blocks of earth were
used for stop.   Covering
pty in front.
By 20 mins the
block ws finished &
covering pty withdrawn. 
 

26
12
Hand drawn diagram – see original
Germans
threw occasional
bomb & stopped
abt 10.30.
Then pty of abt 20 men
in twos & 3s ws seen
apptly making as dotted
lines
58^th had told Murray
tt they wd have a pty of
40 men digging on
right front in nomansland
towards [[A?]] 16. (our
right in plan). Movement
of objects cd be seen on
skyline near  2½  7½ .
These might have been
the 58^th. At same time