Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/92/1 - October - November 1917 - Part 3

11
21
them they will go back &
smash / Russians. If
tt happens it is a question
whether we can go on w /
war.
The 1st Army Corps is
to go, I believe, to Lillers.
I wonder if the conversation I
had w Dodds had anything to
do w it - He asked me to take
it on to White & get him to
urge Haig to send us to a
quiet part of / line; & I
believe tt, though Birdie wd
not ask Haig - he utterly
refused to do so to Dodds &
sd / same to me - White
wrote to Kiggell or some
friend of his. Our recruiting
positn Is so bad tt it
is necessary to conserve,
 

11
22
corps. The N. Zealanders
have one more kick in
them - I believe; & perh.
the 3rd Divn. N.Z. has just
received 3000 reinfts - a
shipload came over w
us; but MCay tells me
tt we have only 2000
men on / water for to
cover a big period.

Oct. 29.
"Failing resistance of some
units forming our second army,
which in cowardice retired
without fighting or surrendering to
the enemy, allowed the Austro-
-German forces to break into
our left wing on the Julian
front. Valiant efforts of other troops
were unable to prevent the
enemy from advancing Into /
 

11
23
sacred soil of our Fatherland."
That is the start of todays
Italian Communique.
The Americans have some
units now in / line in France.
And the British & French
have each sent 4 divisions to
Italy.
Chernside tells me - one
can hardly believe it - tt there
are only 5 German Divisions
in Italy with Mackinsen.
The Germans say they have
reached / Italian plain &
tt Italians are still coming
in as prisoners. It is probably
true.
The Canadians attack tomorrow
without any help from us ^or the 5^th Army - getting
down to / dangers of a
narrow front, as White says.
Our artillery is still in w
little hope of getting out. We had
 

11
24
2 whole batteries gassed last
night - practically / whole
of them are out of action
today.
Not a very cheerful
budget ; still - there is hope in
our help to Italy. If those
5 Divns can hold up the
retirement ; & if the German
& Austrian spends their strength
in Counter  attacks which fail
to break thro', it may still
be worse for / German than
for anyone. But it lo If they
cannot lighten on tt front, we
will probably beat them here in
/ spring, & may save Russia.

Oct 30. Went down to Messines
with Wilkins to and Gallagher
to see what we could get in /
way of relics for the Australian
 

11
25

Museums & photos of the place.
There were still big shell bursting on
this side of Messines, ^by the two main roads but other wise
the place seemed dead. I believe
the casualties o / division there
were 16 in a week, recently.
The Canadians attacked today
& reached their whole objective; the
63^rd Divn (Naval Divn w Artists
& Shropshires) on their left failed
in / low ground. The Canadian left
came back; it ws ordered to advance
again & hang on. It did so &
ws partly driven in again. The
63rd Divn were ordered to connect
their right, back in Source Trench,
w / Canadian left, but the 2
Coys sent up to do it failed to
reach / place & there ws still
a gap last night. On our imd.
left / Canadians got their whole
objective with 50 per cent casualties.
 

Oct 31.
 

11
26
The Germans think tt / Canadians
are in Paschendaele, by their
wireless; but / Canadian
objective ws short of it.
Rained from abt 2 pm to 8 pm. After
that cleared. As it ws full moon there ws a lot of bombing
by German planes around us at 4 am.
————————
A beautiful day.
Oct 31. Went out to 59 Bn to
get the story of their fight in Polygon
Wood & met Col. Mason - a fine
chap, a friend of Leo Butler & once
Associate to Mr Justice Hodges in
Melbourne. I Dined there & after It was one night
after past the full moon , pretty clear ; & after
dinner, as we sat talking, the 
German planes came over - one
of them very low, by the sound. They
dropped bomb after bomb wh
shook the hut till it rocked - the
m.gs outside were blazing away.
Mason says they get more
shelling bombing now outside / lines than
in them - & it is clearly exercising
their minds what the British authorities
are going to do abt it - They say
/ British are so casual tt they
 

11
27
never do anything until they are
driven to - & I think this
is so. The British mind - the army
mind, anyway, - is hopelessly
sluggish. But if the authorities themselves
were being bombed they'd think
pretty quickly nimbly. These
poor chaps have to lie in their
huts with no protection & scarcely
an Archie, night after night
listening to these things - & now
& then a bomb falls on some
quite unprotected camp & kills
10 & wounds 30 as it did w /
2nd Bn the other night - It was
The men ^were talking & acting
exactly as if there were not a
plane within 20 miles.
On the way home we passed
a man being taken along on a
stretcher, wounded or dead.
 

11
28
Nov. 1 The Germans say they have
captured 180,000 Italians & 1500
guns. I suppose they got them at
the crossings of the Tagliamento The.
Germ People here have no great
confidence tt / Italians have blown
up their guns.
Our batteries - So Scanlon of
59 Bn who has a brother in the
Arty tells us - say tt British
60 pdr shell has be used agst
them - from Guns sent to Russia &
lost by / Russians ; & British
gas shell, they think - probably
wrongly, Wilson our gas officer says.
Maj. Babcocks, of the
American Army, ws looking
round here today - up with
Gen. Sarkeld (or some such
name,) of 1^st American Division.
He sd tt they were training
 

28a
 

Lytton re Xmas Book  ? Hesdin.
 

11
29
60.000 junior officers - if
they cd get them across. And
That depended on shipping.
They wd be there alright, he
sd, if / war lasted so long.
That is to say (1) he doubted
if the shipping wd hold out &
(2) if the allies cd hold out so
long as next year or later.
The Germans are naturally
very much elated about Italy.
They think they can get her out o
/ war & then treat with each
o / allies separately. Their
newspapers say so.
A misty day turning to
rain. Gallagher left for Aveluy
(the Corps School) & Fauquembergues,
& Barker & I sold the Xmas
Book all day.
 

Feb 22, 1933
I believe Wilkins is his ?
name but that he took
an assumed name in Adelaide.
He worked as electrician in a
picture show there as a boy, & first
got into the picture business through
his ability to make a stopped engine
go. His friend Pritchard first met him
there &  knows the story.
 

11
30
Nov. 2. Went down to Hesdin
& Censors to get through proofs
of Xmas Book - Picked up
Gallagher at 3rd Divn. at
Fauquembergues.
Wilkins, our younger
photographer, is a remarkable
chap. He was passionately
fond of music as a child. But
his people (they lived a little
South of Broken Hill, betw there
& / Murray) wd not hear
of his studying music unless
he learnt another profession
first as his main preoccupation
So he went to Adelaide -
cleared out, I believe; &
taking ^the name  of " Wilkins "- not his
real name – studied music,
until he cd get some engagements
of his own. He became a
singer - & when he began to
 

^X He ran away to Sydney & worked in
the picture business & there he received
the invitation of Gaumont Frères
to represent join them in Europe.
 

11
31

get engagements, broke it to
his people. He then had to
have an operation on his
throat which spoiled his voice;
but he studied the 'cello for 3
years. After this he went to /
^X Turkish war as a pho cinema
operator for one o / two Great
firms; & later ws in Havana
^or somewhere there & going off on some expeditn
(Mexico, or S. American) when
he had / chance of an expeditn
to / pole. He ws already
on / boat for another
destinatn when he heard of
it. He accepted at once -
thinking it ws probly for /
S. Pole. It turned out to be
for the N. Polar region,
with Stefannson. He