Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/94/1 - November - December 1917 - Part 8

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5
Nov. 8. Dec
They are winning themselves
a magnificent name, this first 
Australian fighting squadron. They
had a quiet time from Sept.21
to Nov 20 & then suddenly they plunged
in bad flying weather into this very
heavy fight. Their great doings I
have made a note of in a record
book.
It is Walt who has worked
them up to this ^ remarkably high level of conduct
& X general tone - as Australian boys
can always be worked. Little Tanner,
who ws shell shocked in / infantry,
told me: "I hope to God we dont lose
him thro' his overwork; for believe
me we shall never get another
like him!"
He was in Europe at /
start o / war & at once entered
/ French flying corps & flew for a
 

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5
time over Verdun & Nancy. Then
he was sent for to command the
Australian Squadron forming in
Egypt; & after flying there came to
England & lastly flew over with
his Sqn. in September.
His plan is, in order to give his
boys a complete nights rest,
to send them to abt 10; & not
to let any of them know overnight
what work, if any, they have to do
in / morning. With this in view
he himself, w little Tarner, stays
up till / orders come in - abt
12 of 1 am. - from the Wing.
He then gets out / order for
the work o / morning & / men
who are to do it. He makes
out a list of the men youngsters to go out & /
youngsters to stand by ; then a 
list of their ^ sergeant mechanics; then a list
of their sergeants batmen. The batmen
 

87
are the first to give / officers their
orders o / work they ate to do when
they call them in / morning.
They may be called at 5. Breakfast
is ordered for 5.30. While thew offr
is having breakfast the mechanician
is going through / machine - By
/ time breakfast is over Everything
is ready to start. By order all
lights are turned out at night;
so tt when breakfast is on / lights
are turned on agn. So tt the C.O
knows, if he sees no lights at 5 a.m.
tt they are late.
For the C.O. this has meant an exceedingly
heavy strain - up writing till 3,
sleep till 5 - up again to see them
off punctually. Walt himself told 
me tt he cd always get odd hours
during / day but he is very worn
& he fell asleep after dinner at
night over / fire. It ws not
 

88
5
a cold night, but he ws shivering.
His little adjutant told me of
the strain - he did not mention
it himself.
The one strain he did mention ws
^that of one peculiar trial of the last 3 weeks
heavy fighting. He sd tt the
wing commander trusted ver
knew him well & trusted 
very much to him to decide if
/ weather were suitable for
flying. During the critical
times in the Cambrai battle or
any battle it ws necy to
go out sometimes & carry out 
flights on days when flying
was unfortunately. exceedingly dangerous &
almost impossible. It was
left to him to say if it were 
possible or not. He had often
had to send four of his
 

89
youngsters out on days when
he knew tt flying was perilous,
& his He had to make the order for
these friends to go. It was not as
if they were a battalion or even a
company say of 120 men. They
were four boys who sat at the same
table every day for 6 months & had
become exceedingly well loved friends.
"You can imagine the feelings w wh
I used to sit there ^ during two hours waiting for them
to come back" he sd. Five were lost
in those two weeks
One day one youngster
was brought down at [[?Cantaing]]
& as he did not return hour after
hour he ws posted missing. 14 
hours later came a wire from him
to say he was h=on his way in -
he had bn brought down, had got into
[[?Cauting]] where he found
no one of either side. He lay
 

90
5
down in a house & went to
sleep & while he slept / town
ws heavily shelled & / house
ws hit. He got out & managed
to get through his message -
& Walt, sitting at home in /
office there threw up his cap
till it hit / ceiling.
Of 20 offrs who went out in Sept, 10
are still there. Of the missing only 2 are
known to be killed. They may
hear o / others any day - from
Germany. Often the first thing
they hear of a ^British officer prisoner is the
passing of his cheque thro'
Cox's Bank.
Watt is most careful to
encourage in every way good relations
between the A.F.C. & the R.E.C. - insisting
that the Australian Corps is really a part
of the R.F.C. & making them proud of it.
It makes the work better & smoothes & the 
boys more generously disposed to those who
 

91
5
are on the same big work. It makes
one a little ashamed of having taken a
narrower view. These youngsters certainly
are proud of their connection with the
R.F.C., & like to think tt they carry out
its orders, & can go home & train its recruits
when their rest time comes, & so forth.
I wrote an article on them at
the Hotel du Rhin.
Dec.9th Sunday. Wrote another article
on our ^ heavy friends. Then came via
Doullens & Chateau Neulatte, where
the photographers are, to Samer.
Lytton told me that Charteris
had given orders for our photo negative
of our stretcher bearers under the
white flag at Poziers to be broken.
It was against the rules of international
law, & he did not want any fuss
made abt it afterwards. Lytton
 

92
pointed out tt the fact had bn published
in my letters & in my book, passed
by the censor. Charteris sd tt you cd
deny what ws published in a book but
you cd not deny ^ the truth of a photograph.
I dont suppose he knows what
circumstances these flags are used under
- when the enemy know perfectly
well / meaning o / flag as he is using
it himself, Our stretcher bearers were
walking abt under his nose as large
as life - one man at / head w a white
flag & three or four on / stretcher just
behind. The photograph shows exactly
how they came. There was not
the minutest shadow of suspicion tt / German
was or could by any possibility have
misunderstood - the flag was put up
because no Red + flag was there. [ On
the occasion, I believe, / Germans at Fromelles
refused to recognise a Red + flag & demanded
tt a white flag shd be put up]. Lytton
 

93
5
sd he wd refer to Charteris again &
tell him tt it ws an emergency. I sd
tt I wd publish all / facts after / 
war including the breaking up of the
negative, if this were done. This
our only record of the S.bs work at
Pozieres.
Dec.10 Monday. Went Returned to
1st Divn last night. Gen.Walker

ws talking of the chance of Birdie
going. If Birdie did, & Monash
took over, he himself wd resign,
I can see. He considers tt
Australia, if Birdwood went,
wd quite properly ask for an
Australian Corps Commander.
"I think it quite right tt they
shd have an Australian. if Gen.
Birdwood goes," he sd. "I
think they ought to." Splendid little
chap - he himself wd be next
on the list for the command by
ordinary military rule.
 

94
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