Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/90/1 - October 1917 - Part 3

D40  18
with Monash of this
idea of an Imperial
General Staff - (Monash
is very full also o / idea
th he is absolutely under
G.H.Q - he must not
consider Australian demands
- once he is under G.H.Q,
G.H.Q is all that he has to
consider; a simple rule just
fitting in w Haig & Kiggell's
ideas, & no doubt they
have talked it out & Haig wd
be very glad to be quit
of the independence of
Birdwood and White) - "you 

D40   19
know we thrashed out
before / war / idea of an
Imperial General Staff,"
he sd.
"I am quite sure I
know my _^the Australian Governments
attitude on that." I
sd. "They wd favour an "
Exchange of Staff Officers between
us; but one common
service they never can
agree to - if only for / reason
th we shd lose _^all our best
men - we cd never keep a
soldier like White if there
were a common service - 

D40  20
if our men cd enter
/ Indian service & /
British service we
shd lose all / best of
them to India & elsewhere
& we need them too
badly"
"You wd get them
back," he sd.
"With a system of
Exchange we shd," I
sd, "but not with a
Common Service" --
& there it ended.
White told me th at
Hazebrouck Haig sd to

D40  21
him (this wd be after
Currey became G.O.C of the
Canadians) : "Why don't
you have a Corps
Commander of your own;
You know you ought
to _^be commanding this Corps".
Australian
White sd "God forbid.
Gen. Birdwood has a
positn amongst Australians
wh is far too valuable to
lose."
Haig sd he knew all
that; but White Birdwood
cd have an administrative
command.

D40  22
White replied th Birdwoods 
great reputation in
Australia depended on
his being / fighting commander
of their troops - which is
true; th we had a dozen
men who cd be told as
good or better administrators
but none who commanded
Australia's confidence as
Birdwood did.
Haig turned away
impatiently & since then
has been very short with
White.
Haig impressed me today
far more than he ever did

D40  23
before. He was clearly
anxious to find some way
of settling the position of
the Australian Force consistent
with his ideas of the Empire,
which are not ours. He
was not bigoted in his
adherence to any view - he
was clearly feeling for the
right view ; his mind is
not definitely made up as
to what it is - but once it
is made up I shd say it
cd take the impact of a
travelling planet to shift him.
He impressed me as slow,
but very clean; quite

^X I'm sure I can't have
meant th Charteris was
unclean - he bluffed
a great deal, & ws too
apt to give Haig what
Haig wanted to hear; or
perhaps it was genuine
optimism - But I don't
think I ever thought
him unclean - if so
I had no justification
Whatever. I think I
meant disingenuous.

C.E.W.B.
1932
 

D40  24
different from Charteris.
He certainly has some of
the really great qualities of a
commander.
He spoke of the necessity
of pulling out units for
training, so as to have them
ready for next year's offensive.
This was a pleasant surprise
for me - I shd say he has
absolutely  decided to take
Paschendaele, as a fixed
necessity - & if so he will
do it whatever / cost; but
he didn't seem to favour a
reckless winter offensive.
Asked what / morale of / Germans

D40  25

is he referred over his
shoulder to Charteris ; as
though Charteris keeps th
portion of his brain & he
completely relies upon him.
Charteris sd th / German
morale ws undoubtedly
weaker ; & th / French press
showed th / French were
50 per cent more satisfied w
the xxxxx  British than they
had ever been before.

Friday Oct. 12 ws to be the
next long push. The interval had bn
fairly fine. I arranged with Ross
to call for him at abt 4am
tomorrow the next day, if
decent weather ; & walk
up to Westhoek. Old Ross

He ws all right
when he got more
used to it in 1918

C.W.B. 
1932
 

D40   26
sd he had nearly been
killed in watching the
last battle & had seen
nothing.
Murdoch, when I
asked him at 1st Anzac,
agree sd he wd like to
join. Gilmour ws contented
with the hospitals & I
must say we rather
encouraged him. This
idea of watching battles from
shell holes doesn't approve
itself to him. What you want,
he says, is a little imagin
-ation.

Oct 11/12
 

D40  27
I wrote late; I don't
know what time I turned
in. The last two days /
nights had bn moderately
fine - but this night, as I
wrote, one listened to every
patter on / roof of / hut
with intense anxiety. The
leaves were blowing down
on it from a frail tree wh
just overhangs it, & each
time I mistook / scratching
for rain. Meteor said _^th it ws raining in Ireland & that by
by 9 am we shd have heavy wind & afterwards
abt tt time rain. I turned in in my clothes
for I daresay ¾ hour when
Barker woke me. It was
pitch dark - there were