Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/95/1 - December 1917 - January 1918 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/95/1

Title: Diary, December 1917 - January 1918
includes references to Fromelles, the 24th
Battalion, Mouquet Farm, the 5th infantry
Brigade and Pozieres.

AWM38-3DRL6O6/95/1 
 

Original
DIARY NO. 95
AWM 38
3 DRL 606 ITEM 95 [1]
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 considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what 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 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.
16 Sept., 1946    C. E. W. BEAN.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
 

DIARY  95
DEC 10.1917 -
Jan 11 1918
24 Br
Mouqet

Between the offer of surrender and the
formal acceptance there was sharp fighting
in the outskirts of Jerusalem, the Turks
fighting more stubbornly than at any other
period of these operations and meeting
bayonet with bayonet. London troops were
sent to the north of the city. As the
debouched from a defile they were heavily
attacked by Turks lining the ridge. A
strong machine-gun fire was poured into
them from the Mount of Olives. The ridge
was carried by a superb bayonet charge
and by noon the Turks were pushed back
so far that we occupied ground 7,000 yards
north of the city walls. The Welsh troops,
operating from the south and east, drove
the Turks down the Jericho road.
 

9
1
We heard tt Jerusalem ws captured. One
really great success for the allies!
Dec 10 11^th Came up to 1st Anzac to show
some French Journalists our Referendum
voting (the days are Dec 11 & 12 up there).
On getting back to 1^st Anzac
Corps Headquarters at Fletre after
having seen the units of the 1st Australian
Division, On the first morning after Boddy &
I got back. Cutlack came in to see me
from 3rd Divn. The Australian Govt has
approved of a suggestion which I put
to them, tt Ci it ws time for me to go
to London & start on / history of
Gallipoli, & that F.M. Cutlack
at present Intelligence offr of 3rd Aust.
Divn, should succeed come as my
assistant & leave me free to get
away to London this winter. Cutlack
is / son of a Renmark fruitgrower, an
English gentleman who settled on the
irrigation area there. Young Cutlack
has been a great traveller - he
bicyled for seven months thro Germany
making a point of never staying in
 

9
2
any town, if he cd help it - but
putting up with the country people,
& never paying more than 1 mark
for his bed & breakfast. He was
tutor in English in one or two
wealthy houses there;  afterwds he
came into the High Commissioner's office
in London as a journalist; & when
the Australia, the big Dreadnought cruiser
built for Australia, came out to
Australia ^on her first voyage, Cutlack sailed
in her as press representative for
the Cth. He is not a member of the
A.J.A., & therefore I only asked for his
appointment to be temporary if
Australia thought of sending anyone
from there to help me. But the Govt
has decided tt it will not send anyone.
Cutlack is level headed - a brave
man, & wd represent Australia
with credit in any gathering of
war correspondents. That is why
 

Mel Ross death.
9
3

Gullett & I were both keen
on having him in it. Gullett thinks
that we might not get the right
sort of man at all, at the present
moment, from the A.J.A.
I wrote several articles
meant to help the

On Dec. 12 was the final voting for
our referendum on the question
of reinforcing the 5 divisions here
& the 1 in Palestine. This little
French town was placarded with
Proclamations by WM Hughes putting
the exceptions & conditions very
fairly to the men. No one has
the faintest idea which way the men
have voted. But I have a very
strong impression that the vote is
better here than before; & that
in Australia the crisis in the
fortunes of the allies & / great
 

9
4
need for strong energetic
action will carry the vote.
I have very little doubt it
will go through.
Curiously enough the
French journalists who
came up today had seen /
Canadians voting for their
conscription election on the way
The Canadian election was being
carried out, they said, on identically
the same lines as ours.
As a matter of fact the Canadians
asked Col. Griffiths for help & he sent
them Sherrington, brother of one of his
staff in London, to assist
them in working the system.
It is curious to see the notice
"To the Polling Booth" up in this
little Flemish village. I photographed
it but the light was very feeble.
 

He proved an extraordinarily
good one & made a
great success of Aussie.
 
9
5

Dec. 13th-15th Wrote several articles for
the Australian papers dealing with
the deeds of individual units,
in case conscription does not
go through; & sev one giving
a list of some off the most notable
men killed before Ypres & how
they came by their death - 
Col. Scott, Col. Crowshaw, Gibbs,
Father Bergin, Goodwin of Goodwins
Post, Errie Errey, Col. Pye, little Phil.
Howell Price, & others. Gave
Cutlack an outline of his duties
and drew up an order for the
starting of a new A.I.F. magazine;
the editing of it is being entrusted
by White to Harris, a little Sydney
Jew, not a bad chap -keen, but
no editor - under my superintendance
The boy's energy makes me feel
 

9
6

ashamed. He had several
very good ideas - one was to
call the paper "Aussie", which
though White ws agst it, will appeal
to / men; another ws to get
Australia is rather fondly talked
of by them as "Aussie" - pronounced
"Ozzy" - they have no other
pet name for it that I know
of. The Tommies always often call
our men "The Ozzies".
"Digger" is a favourite name term
for them in addressing one another.
They Some say tt / Canadians started
it in addressing the Western
Australians. Others say the
W. Australians started it as a
term of address amongst themselves
Whatever the origin, it is as
Common now as "Cobber" -
"Cobber" means mate. Digger
 

9
7
of course means "miner" - 
& may possibly have come from
the Gold fields.
The Tommies now occasionally
address our men as "digger".
It is said that a 3rd Division
man passing a man of one
o / other divisions - 1st 2nd
5th or 4th, it doesn't matter
much which - called out
to him as the men do: "Good
day, digger! How goes it?"
The member of the old
guard pulled himself up
frigidly. "Private from you,
please" - he said.
Its a good yarn. But the
feeling is dying out.
Sund Dec 16th. Brought Cutlack
down to the Somme
to see the 4th Divn. Looked in