Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/102/1 - March 1918 - Part 3

78 24
Sat March 31 23rd. Came
over to France today - a

most glorious beautiful
day, like yesty ^& / day before. Only the
haze ws so thick on Boulogne
tt the Staff boat did not cross
at all yesty afternoon; &
this steamer in wh we
crossed, after waiting a
long time, in the exquisite
silky sea in Folkestone
harbour, was escorted w
/ two others to Calais.
As we approached / Calais
harbour entrance & lay ^up for
a while to let the boats in
/ harbour out. The people
^of the restaurant where we dined at Calais
 

78 25
were all scared, in /
middle of the dinner, by the electric
lights turning out, & the
archies bursting out into
a barrage - the waiters
hurried to get the bills
paid & then on w their hats
& off. The proprietress &
one youngster were / bravest
o / lot & Sta left / room
last.
I Reached Aust. Corps
Hqrs at abt 11 & found
Cutlack in bed. he
told me tt G.H.Q. was
satisfied w / positn - he
heard. That our line had
bn withdrawn to about Ham.
We Camped on / ground in
 

78 26
Sheldons room in my good
old sleeping bag. Our 3rd & 4th
Divns here.
March 24 - Sunday.
Saw White & Dodds in /
morning. They told me tt
White (who of course is
running / Corps - Birdie
has bn sent for) had bn
to a conference at Army
Hqrs tt morning. He ws
very busy but promised
me 10 minutes if he cd.
I saw Dodds first & got
leave, after a long conference,
for Gullett to have a box
car & telephone & a separate
Hqrs (with the photographers
or elsewhere) - to get another
 

78 27
Museums Officer appointed
instead of Gullett, & a
clerk; also for the sub -
collators of histories to be
appointed at once under
Treloar.
White told me tt
he ws anxious abt things
generally. It shd not
have bn necessary to
act as / British were
doing, he thought.
After midday lunch
Cutlack & I left to go down
& find our 2nd Tunnellers
who were at Ytres. They
were collecting a most
interesting collection
- a howitzer & ^heavy trench mortar -
 

78 28
for our collection; but they
were to have bn fetched
in a lorry or two - but
Gullett put this off as / roads
wd be crowded.
They would - in fact
I think Ytres wd be in
the possession of the German
& our howitzers ^ & toy along
w it.
The Germans claimed
200 guns & 16000 prisoners
/ first day; & this had
grown to 400 guns &
25,000 prisoners last
night.
All / way down
to Amiens we passed
 

78 29
lorries - many o /
flying corps - the flying
corps ws coming back to /
old aerodromes of the

Somme time - they were
as busy as a town square
where / annual fair is
just assembling. All / men
we passed looked splendid & cheerful. But
the French The Press were at /
Hotel people were walking
abt / streets & seemed
very excited at humming with / news -
they were reading / newspapers.
We found Russell &
Gibbs at the Hotel du Rhin,
Russell sd he heard tt
everything ws now
satisfactory. We walked
 

78 30
round to / Allied Press
& there met Inge, /
press officer. He sd tt
/ news ws pretty serious.
We asked where / Germans
were.
"Well, they're past Combles!"
he sd.
"Past Combles! You mean
on / old Somme battlefield!" we
exclaimed.
"Yes" he said.
"Not truly! Then do you
mean they're past Bapaume!"
"They havent Bapaume yet"
he answered.
We went in to see Lytton
- he was with Cadge - He ws
 

78 31
clearly greatly troubled.
"Where's / nearest point
they have got to?" I
asked.
"Delville Wood" he sd -
This was a staggerer.
"They have bn seen in the
S.E. Corner of Delville Wood"
he added.
He ws ringing up G.H.Q.
Presently he got on to them "Is that
you Major Isaacs?" he asked -
"Do you know anything of except
tt / Germans are in Delville
Wood?" Presently he laid / phone down.
"What does he say?" we asked.
"Says "That it's serious news if true!"
he sd. "It is true enough."
We asked how it had
happened.
 

78                                 32
The Germans had given us an
anxious time yesty at
Ham, he sd. They got
through there as far as he &
Cadge knew owing to some
disorganisatn - not thro
fighting. They had no
artillery as far as he
knew - only ^crowds of men & m gs. Everything
ws thought to be well this
mg; & then suddenly the
Germans appeared again
in crowds - xx our men were
simply too worn out, he
thought - to stand up agst
them. They had no guns -
neither side had. Our men
were falling & sleeping by
 

78 33

/ way. The Germans

simply came through along

/ road thro Guillemont &

Guinchy - they were

trickling  through, he heard.

They were infantry apparently.

It seems tt / allies

thought tt / Germans were

going to attack / French 

& / English - a few days

& tt / main attack wd be

agst / French . The French

had a reserve of 60 divns

ready - & now / German

had thrown himself entirely
agst / English & not agst
/ French at all. He shelled
our towns in / North w long