Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/151/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL606/151/1
Title: Notebook, 1915 -1917
Includes references to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Battalions in various battles, Gallipoli, and the
2nd Infantry Brigade.
AWM38-3DRL606/151/1

3Bn. Ap 15, 1917

March 2, Ap.9.
Landing. Ap. 26.4 Bn
Winter-Gen Heane
157
Original Diary No.151
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 those terms, I wish the
following circumstances and consideration 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 in 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
3DRL 606 ITEM 151 [1]
16 Sept., 1946. C.E.W. BEAN.

31 

1
3Bn. Ap 15, 1917
March 2, Ap.9.
Landing. Ap. 26.4 Bn
Winter-Gen Heane
Gen. Heane.
Pictures of Australians
after Pozieres, in German
helmets, shaking hands
with the poiln. etc.
1st Bn pictures. 

31 

2
Ap.15. 3rdBn
3 coys in front line
B1  )             Each had

A1  ) →         3 plns in the

D/  )              picquet line.

Each pln formed
a group of posts,
or a post - abt 60
to 80 yds being covered
by each post platoon. 

& distance betw posts
varying from 60 to 200 yds.
The night before (13/14)
a line had been estab.
further back & there had
bn a slight advance on
night of 14/15 to straighten
out the line.
The line doubled

3
*The coy wh ws to occupy
the square wood was held
up & did not take up its
line. When Moore found
this out it ws too late
to send them forward
tt night.
The coy on their right left
reached its post. A sergt
- a fine chap - of this coy
walked across to the
square wood & heard men
digging - He said "Is that you,
Bill?" The xx men d From the men digging
came the reply: "Halte!"
He asked again: "Is tt you
Bill." They were Germans &
fired & hit him. He ws
picked up & taken to hospital,
but died. 
31

4
round a square copse
in K25D 7.6. where
the Germans had held
up the advance to dig
/ line / night before &
shot a sergt who had
thought tt they were our
own men digging.*
"Are you there Bill?"
The platoon of B Coy
wh dug in on rt of B Coy
on 13/14 got a lot of 
m.g. fire from the bluff
(silt bank) in 20 central.
The xxxxxing pt Germans
were losing off Hqrs - &
opened with 2 m.g's. one
beyond each end of
silt heap. The L. Gunner
w / covering pty opened
on them straight away
firing on their flashes  &

5
Diagram - see original document
31 

6
eventually shutting
them both up. He
drew a lot of fire on
himself. 
The morning of 15th
at 4 am line was as
marked on my map.^x
The German ws shelling
a good deal round
the E end of Hermies from
about 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.
- more than normal.
At 4 a.m. he opened
very heavily putting
a good deal on the
day before's posts
(all of wh he cd see
from the silt heap).
Some of these were badly
shelled. He put a
heavy barrage in front
of Hermies & suspected

31 

7
battery positions -
going v. close to some
in rear o / town.
Everyone thought
there ws something doing.
In / posts 80 p.c. of the
men wd be awake. They
got ready.
In rt post of B (left) Coy,
Leslie ws standing w / 
man on sentry [shorthand] & the
man sd to him: Here
they come! Leslie & /
other men cdnt see anything.
L. passed round / word
to be ready - & they
sd by tt time see / Germans
at abt 70 yds distance.

31 

8
They were coming from the
Northern edge of the silt heap
& were by then straight
ahead. They got onto them
with rifle fire & a L.G.
At same time the next
post to / left cd just make
out / Germans coming over
a little rise (Dill's
post) One of / German

flares, as a matter of fact,
showed them up here -
thrown from the top of
the bluff. The Germans
must have thrown abt
20 flares first & last
from the Dump -
wh exactly suited us. 
The left post of B 

31 

9
sighted them abt / same
time as others (^Lt Boileau's
(M.C.) post). They seemed to
be coming up the
Havrinct-Demicourt Rd.
There were 3 L. Guns in
these 3 posts - & a
4th gun from the left post
of A coy came in with
enfilade fire across /
front o / Bluff.
A party of Germans
came down across the left
post of A coy but the
post opened on them at
70 to 80 yds - fairly long
range - &, as soon as
they were fired at, / Germans
cleared right back as
hard as they cd run.
(Probly a small pty of

31 

10
30 or 40). The Germans
seemed to come here in
2 lines, at abt 5 yds.
distance & 1 yd. interval 

betw. men. The
L. Gun of this left post
continued in action
enfilading / front. 
Some of the Germans
attacking / other posts
got within 20 yards -
individual men even
closer, one even
reaching / parapet -
a few isolated bodies
are between / posts
& behind / line where
they tried to get round.
The L. Guns worked very
well. The right gun
of B coy got off 20 magazines

without a jam.