Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/95/1 - December 1917 - January 1918 - Part 5

9                                    38

Dec.24. To Amiens where

I m staying at the Hotel de

l'Univers -& enjoying the warm

rooms (the whole of this book has

bn written here - it has bn too

cold to write on these fireless

nights at Samer). I bought 4

bottles of Champagne at St Pol

Canteen & hope to get them

to Gellibrand tomorrow.

 

The town was full, of this

aftn, of English Offrs & soldiers

Each officer carrying parcels just

as on a Xmas Eve at home. They

have become far more homely

in England since this war.

I have seen Officers at Victoria

Each pushing their own luggage

on a porters truck.

9                                 39

Dec 25. Xmas Day. The road to

Peronne was very rough as the

heavy lorries had packed the snow

into ice - but it improved as we

got nearer to I line. There is so

much labour available at I front

th it is I roads far back wh get 

blocked w snow - they dont matter because

I important traffic flow - that is to say

the ammunition, food, & men - go

by train back there. The roads out

of Amiens are still a real difficulty

(our car turned right round, near Frevent,

on the ice). But at I front they are

excellent so long as I weather is 

hard.

 

Had dinner w Gellibrand. As

usual he is getting a devoted staff

round him. Norman is his Brigade

major. When they went there they

found th I two junior officers, both

9                                40

signallers promoted from the old

first divisional company, one with

a military cross & a bar on it,

were more or less out of it at the

mess table. The officers at I head o I

table (most unlike Australians) never

spoke to them - or scarcily ever; & 

they used to creep into meals &

creep out out and sit by themselves

at I bottom o I table without saying a

word. One ws a saddler from Broken 

Hill, Deem; the other, Sharpe, I

forget what.

 

They are two of I brightest youngsters

in I mess, now. A crow fire of

conversatn - an exchange of long shots-

is always going on from I head o I 

table to I two juniors at I end of

it. Gelly's new batman - his

old one ws killed at Bullencourt -

went out ^ of dugout, did not come back -

9                                41

was away hour after hour - then

ws heard of in a casualty clearing

station at Gremileirs where he died

in 5 days - Gelly's new batman

said to me: "You'd never get another

like him - I do hope nothing happens

to him" (for old Gellibrand's health is 

not too robust - he, like White, is

subject to very bad colds).

 

We had a quiet Xmas dinner. 

Afterwds I went to the 47^th.

There ws snow on I ground everywhere

& this afternoon it snowed heavily.

Most o I battalions were having

fine Xmas dinners, & Division

a really big on th evening.

Even during I morning I noticed

th it was as much as some of I

men I photographed had some

problem in standing upright & still.

9                                  42

Yet I saw no heavy drunkenness

all day. The men seemed well,

& this cold ^bright weather does not

disagree w them.

 

Dec. 26. Last night it snowed heavily.

I slept on I floor in Gellibrands little

compartment, screened off w hessian

at I end o I Brigade Headquarters

mess hit. It ws very cold so I crept

into my bag in most of my clothes.

Gelly did I same, I noticed.

 

He is making an improvement

in th Bde. The weakness there is th

the Bdier, when he gets a weak

unsuitable officer in his battalions,

has bn accustomed, not to get rid of

him to Australia, but to send him

to I Training battalion or to the

6^th Divn; in due course they have to

9                                  43

come back from there - & then

they find I battalions saddled w

them. The C.Os will not put down

on paper a regular reason for

their thinking th an officer is defective;

or if they do they water it down with-

"I recommend him as a suitable

officer to be put in charge of a 

training unit" - and I damage is

done.

 

It is uncertain what is to be

done to I 4^th Divn. G.H.Q &

Birdwood want to use it as a

training division, but Maclagan is

a opposed to that. The divn. thinks

it will probly be broken up.

 

Left Haute Allaine & drove

by Arras & Bethune to Fletre.

As we passed the enormous

expanse o I Somme ^entirely a waste of snow, & afterwds

9                                     44

the ruins of Vimy Souchez, my

driver (a temporary man, an

Australian Irishman named

Queenan, who has two little girls

& a wife in Australia -the two

little girls had bn asking if daddy

wd take them to Manly this

Xmas) sd: "I don't know, but I

seem to harden against these Germans.

I'm not a stern man - but

I sometimes think I'll transfer

into the machine gun company

so as to get a chance of shooting

down a couple of hundred of

them some day."

 

Dec 27. Answering letters all day.

There has been some apprehension

up here th I Germans might

attack Armentieres. The 3^rd

Divn has bn put into I line at

^Armentieres to help the 15^th Corps move. White

9                                                 45

tells me th the 4^th Divn has got

to come up & go into I line here;

There has bn a change of plan

& we have to lengthen our line.

The 4^th Divn has not bn having

a bad time, but it is not quite

its promised rest.

 

Dec 28th. Wrote two articles-

Dec 29th. The news comes in th I

Germans have answered I

Russian peace terms by agreeing

to withdraw all from all occupied

territories, & restore independence

to all invaded peoples - if the

Allies come into the arrangement;

they will have no indemnities;

& will discuss some fund amongst

I nations for restitution.

 

It seems to me th I Allies

must discuss these terms. Why

9                                46

I Germans have given them

I dont know. I suppose they

must be harder hit than

they seem to be on I surface.

I find th amongst I two

Bns wh I visited today, 35 & 34.

most of I officers seem to be

sceptical of these terms or against

them - a few think they will be

discussed. The lives of these offrs

probly depend on those terms

being accepted - if they are not, these

bns are certain to be in other great

battles & in I last battle one of

them lost all I offrs who went

over I top, & The others all except

one - abt half killed & half wounded.

So it is a pretty strong conviction

th something ^in these terms is wrong th wd keep

them stubbornly agst peo agreeing

to talk them over w a view to

 9                                74

coming from Tom Griffiths

who, if there is another saint

in this world is the very

person - I thought it

ws I finest compliment 

I have ever heard paid to

Jack. 

 

"Whatever you do", sd

Tom, dont mention any

of this to him. I wouldn't 

hurt his feelings for

anything".]

 

Jan 5. Packed my things

on I car; sd good bye to

Birdie - who was very

kind & I think really meant 

what he said - travelled to

Boulogne with Queenan as

driver - Cutl Old Boddy

9                         75

ws on I wharf there xxxxx ^just back from

England & waiting to pay an advance of 

up to debt of 80 francs for 

me - I had let him keep some

as a Xmas present. 

 

Cutlack was at I

Officers Club. He is a

very energetic

capable chap-

with more push (of the right sort)

than I & more savoir 

faire. He asked me to

countenance his putting

his own name after his

despatches, instead of

simply ^"from the Official War Correspt".

I dont altogether like this

as it wd not be sufficient

for Cutlack to compete

with the two private

Correspondents Gilmour 
& Murdoch simply as if he

9                           76

were a third individual.

I want the Official Corresp.

to be the great success for

the principle is right. I

have ^simply accord not - had I

time for doing I work; but 

he should be able to do it. I 

want him to beat I others

in every way; & Murdoch

is a very good man.

 

[In England I found

a letter from Cutlack 

suggesting th he shd sign

himself ^his articles "By T M Cutlack,

Assistant Official

Correspt with the A.I.F"

This will do excellently.]

9                                 77

Jan 6. Came to the Howard

Hotel. I hear Dyson's 

Exhibition of his drawings

opened yesty at the

Leicester Galleries- It is

very xxx well received.

 

Jan 7. The Red + Exhibition

of photos by Great Britain,

Canada, N.Z. & ourselves

opened today. Canada's

photos were largely fake;

ours were simply &

strictly true, & I wd

rather have them so a

thousand times. Wilkins did I

work. Little Baldwin ws also there, still very seedy. He

^says it ws Mesopotamia which broke him.

Wilkins came to dinner.

He has bn asked to go

as Wing Photographer w I

9                              78

Australian Flying Corps,

wh wd probly give him

Captains rank. I shall

have to beg & get him

Captain's rank as official

Photographer.

 

Smart says th our

Artists want to wear

their uniforms in London

So long as they are doing

their work for the state.

I think the Commonwealth

has a remarkably good

bargain w them - possibly 

too good, & I shall try to

arrange this.

 

Dyson's pictures are

very good indeed - his landscapes

done in a few bold charcoal

strokes especially.

9                                    79

Jan 8. Wrote to White &

Griffiths about I

artists & many other letters.

 

Settled a lot of tensions 

with Smart & Treloar -

Treloar is a splendid organiser 

& the Australian War Records

Section is simply his 

creation. The work is

enormous, -he tries to

read & criticise every

diary. Yet he & Gallagher 

have made time to work 

on a system by which

A.I.F. Headquarters (in

another branch) shd save

£200 a week by using the

Photostat. Treloar settled

my greatest difficulty in

9                             80

one flash suggesting 

a scheme by which my

materials could be

classified by use of the

Photostat. It will save

months, possibly 6 months,

of labour.

 

I settled on a method 

of instituting an inquiry

with the finance of our

publicity without (if possible)

causing a quarrel between

A.I.F. Hqrs & the High

Commissioners Office. These

quarrels are ones 

nightmare. I think they

come generally from the H.C.'s 

staff, (wh is very bad with 

one or two bright spots).

 

xxxxxxx Also decided

to try & get some photos

9                                  81

taken of our Navy.

 

Jan 9. At work on these

matters in A.W.R.S.

Our Australians work there

till 9 at night almost

every night - I don't

notice any other branch

doing so.

 

Col. Graham Butter 

is here working at his

medical historical

materials, Col. Sturders

at Engineering. This 

is Galetts suggestion bearing 

fruit.

 

Jan 10. The British, Treloar 

tells me, have now

appointed a Major Genl.

to look after their war trophy

9                                   82

collection. We shall have to

push on ours in France. I

an trying to get some o I

old Pozieres tree trunks,

some real old barbed wire- 

Some duckboards worn by

the feet of thousands of

soldiers, going into I line &

out, upon them.

 

Treloar - who has taken

over the work on the Imperial

War Museums Committee, as

well as his own work in

the A.W.R.S (to which our

Australian trophy section

belongs - xx ^our second source

of trophies) has secured a

tank, & will get more.

 

The speeches of President

Wilson & Lloyd George are

interesting & typical. They