Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/253/1 - 1918 - 1939 - Part 13

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open for review
Accession number:
RCDIG1066690
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

196 4 At that point began the long demnard trend in the numbers offering for astive service, the causes and results sointimately bound up with the political of which are th history of Australia during and after the yor 1In she meantime. Cat the end of January 1916 the Prime Minister left Australia on a visit to England. The German submarine menace led to an amusing change of plans in his itinerary. Coming to Sydney to bid farewell to his friends and supporters, he took a cordial leave of a large party of admirers at the railway station and was supposed to be on the eve of departure to join the outgoing mailesteamer at Adelaide. But he went no farther than Strathfield, a suburban railway station, where he left the train, returned to Sydney, and boarded the Canadian steamer in the harbour. The Censorship prevented any further news of his journey from transpiring, until it was heard that he had been sworn of the Canadian Privy Council. The next stage was England, from which Australia heard abundantly of his speeches, his movements, and his influence. Toe much, indeed, was heard for the equanimity of his party in Australia. It happened that in Great Britain during his visit there was srowing dissatisfaction with the Asquith Government. It was felt that wait and see was not a war motte, and that the slow and heavy constitutional steps of oldatime Liberalism were out of date when opposed to the seven-leagueeboots of German military autocracy. Before the end of the year Asquith had resigned and Lloyd George had succeeded. In the press and platform campaign of March-June 1916 W. M. Hughes found himself a personage of great importance in British public life. Apart from the attention which, in view of the military services of the Anzaes, the British people were now only too ready to bestew upon the leader of the people of Australia, they were disposed to listen with particular favour to a man who told them of his unsparing endeavours to root out the German trade penetration of Australia and to rouse his country to a policy of
in of 8Bty capt on 18 Septly Engl but reta 1turfAR. 19/278 (marked ACoy 3od A1F Height Beitway yeen. Sent E 5
This is the description which will accompany the gun from bysney to Canberra. GERMAN 28 C.M. (I1 INCH) RATLWAY GUN It is printed on a white board on the 8th August, 1918, in the course of successful offensive operation undertaken by the Australian Corps, the 3lst Battalion (Victoria and Queensland), when advancing, near Harbonnieres, saw a train steaming up and down a line some 800 yards away. The train consisted of a railway gun, coaches for the gun crew, and ammunition trucks The gun fired a few rounds, Then an acroplane flew up and bombed the train, causing a large explosion. A few minutes later the Battalion reached its final objective, two hundred yards or so short of the gun. TWo or three hours later Lieut, George Burrows and Sappers I. J Strahan and J. H. Palmer, 5th Australian Divisional Engineers, went out under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, raised steam on the engine, shunted clear the burning coaches, couplied up the gun and ammun- ition trucks, and brought them back within the Australian lines The gun, which was used by the Germans to bombard Amiens, was sub- sequently exhibited in paris and London, The complete equipment weighs 185 tons, is 72 feet long, 8 feet 8 inches wide, and 13 feet 8 inches high, The gun weighs 443 tons and is 36 feet 9 inches long. The range is 26,000 yards and the shell weighs 660 16s.
May 23th 1923 Pear Treloar, hoy about this for the inscription: This gun, emplaced on rails at Wiencourt near Amiens, was one of those by which the Germans intended, during the year 1918, to destroy the railway centre in that city and thus partially separate the British and French in the hope of driving one of then into early subnission. The destruction of the city was, however, prevented by the advance of the Allied troops on the horning of August 8th, 1918, when five Australlan Four Canadian, and soveral British divisions broke the Gorman Front before Aniens. This gun was captured early in the battle by the combined of forts of British acroplanes, British and Can- adian cavalry, and Australian infantry and engineers. and en the other sidefor front): In menory of those of our own soldiers and of their allies who saved the city of Aniens. Fours sincerely,
poat o te lele 41br Iam wadera 9 y 23 Calso if Bear has hs volume (the lai think) about finished, it should be interestay. I very nearly wrote him of an incidend on Ang 1918 vr tha Hen battery on the nr. Banks of the the Soonme at Coppy (think) Skey-played He deid & I saw them wonter a tank & disable a couple of Hows fuet in from of us, they were stont fellows those Huns + deserved a mention as tey sule did play hell for a whele.
Elles's Story of the St Aust Dev" p. 335 It was just near here (Fremerville) that Lieut. G. Burrows of the 14 Flay, did some very fine work. On the same railway some hundred of yards beyong our foremost line, stood a harge railwiy gun on a truck, of which the 3lt Br had already taken possession. It had with its evgine and its ammunition tenders indeed, the complete detfit- and furrows thought it would be a fine thing to start up steam and brag the pun into our own lines, This with the help of to two sappers of the 8th & Cay he did 4.0 WIH 1aW Dnd frether Feles speaks of the astonishing work of the cavalry out abead of the inCantry & of its capture of the a train load of prisoners near Framerville Acp. 336 he publishes a phito of the captiured jun with the caption The Large Kailway Gun captins by 31 Bn., 8 Aug 1818
THEALF. IN FRANCE (Feb.- Mar, 1978 danger. In the centre the Bethune coalfields also must be defended, since French industry largely depended on their out- put. On Haig's right, however, was a useless, shelterless area —the country devastated by the Germans in their withdrawal in 1017, and the old Somme battlefield—lying twenty -five miles deep behind the Fifth Army and the right of the Third. Here he could afford to retreat for many miles, and actually improve his tactical position by doing so. G.H.O. considered the question of a voluntary withdrawal there, in order to forestall the blow. Such a manceuvre; might, indeed, have proved brilliantly successful in tactical results, but strong objections were urged and were held to be decisive, and it was resolved to defend the line then occupied.. in these circumstances Haig resolved not to withdraw his strength from the north and centre, but to accept the probability of being driver back in the south and o to maintain at all costs the central buttress at oke a Arras, which he regarded as the backbone of his whole line, and on which that withdrawal would pivot. For a line upon which to fall back in C Span the south, if necessary, he ordered the construction ede of rearward, defences along the Somme south of Cenergery tines Nom tso t Peronne and along the The Propesal Considered Was Apparently one for Withdramdl behind the Somene, This would invoive two chief difficulties. First, important roads and railway com- munications passed through Peronne, and a withdrawal there might have hampered the Third Army's right. Second, the old Somme battlefield would be immediately behind the Fifth Army. A deeper withdrawal behind the wilderness of the old Somme battlefield does not seem to have been seriously considered, although—from the merely tactical point of view—it might have proved the masterstroke for which the weary nations were waiting, and for which this was, perhaps, the only oppor- tunity ever offered to a British commander on the Western Front. On the troops the moral effect of a brilliant manceuvre by their leader would not necessarily have been depressing; the probable attitude of the French, however, would have been a most important consideration, since, by avoiding the main thrust, the British leader might have caused it to be directed against the French; he would also have given up land reoccupied by its French population, and have subjected Amiens to the risk of long-range bombardment.
150 lav. Ae Report B. Sgn. (SA D.G.) under Apt. Mitchell, swrng outwards & when he reached W.C.C central saw 3 railway trains (one broad gange, & two light) at X1c entral The two light trains steamed off towards Vanvillers but the broadgange train was but at that moment by a boub from one of our acroplanes and surrounded by men of this squ. & Lient Cockrill's patrve of the Queens Bays All passengers were made prisoners. Milltbory Mn mierts: s E alsid of guiaa Arrstus sd of Lenoy tol gr b b ad bre ent onmis Rik o latin t
(1917 THE ALF. IN FRANCE Griffiths, at Horseferry-road, who, indeed at one time begged to be taken back to France with his former subordinate appointment. But Birdwood's proposal also had its drawbacks —it is certain that McCay would have been as difficult in the Horseferry-road command as at Salisbury Plain. In warning Senator Pearce that McCay would be unsuitable as G.O.C., A.L.F., if that post were vacated by himself, Birdwood quoted an opinion expressed by the High Commissioner for Australia in London that, whereas his office worked admirably in co-operation with Griffiths, if McCay were in charge, he himself could hardly hope to carry on. However, McCay was given the post at Salisbury Plain; and, after Birdwood had impressed upon him the necessity of amicable co-operation, he filled the base depot command loyally and ably. When the losses at Third Ypres brought a crisis in the supply of reinforcements, he reorganised his reinforcement and convalescent units, reducing the former from 15 battalions to 10 and later to 5, and thus saving a number of the training staff. As, however, the staffs were partly formed from unfit troops, but principally from officers and N.C.O's sent over from their units in France for a needed rest, the reinforcement thus provided consisted partly of war-worn personnel Inevitably it was from officers and men returning after convalescence that the reinforcements now largely came. And some observers were inclined to suspect that at such times the mere knowledge that men were greatly needed in France could not help having its subconscious effect upon the minds of the medical boards, with the result of lowering the standard of fitness ordinarily insisted on. Among the men returned to France, many had been wounded again and again, and there were undeniably some whose nerves or strength were unfit for the strain that was being put upon them. There is a recorded case of one who had served since the beginning of the war, and whom the original medical officer of his battalion, chancing to meet him in France returning after many wounds, pronounced to be suffering from acute overstrain, eye-pupils dilated, and thoroughly unfit for front-line service. Another infantryman,?y who had received his first wound shortly after Pre A. P. Scott (No. 1joz; 5th 8 g7th Bns.). Prospector; of Williamstown, Vic.; b. Mirboo North, Vic., 1 Jan., 1889. Died 7 Aug., 1934.
31bn report. Capt Wilson's coy an accoplane had previously set the train on fire, When the 8th Engis arrivid adriver was obtained who brought the gun to the rear of our lines 325) Sa Drajoon Eds Hestory (p. S AA Wi 211 0 A Smadron was shot at by m/guns from Harbonmeres but went straight on, & reached the old Annens defence line, & found it unoccupied. After crossing the trench line the squadron was fired on from a train on the railway renning from Progart to the east of Harbourieres. The train was trying to steam away, but was but by a bomb from an aeroplane & set on fire. Continuing its advance the squadion overran the train, & the men in the train tried to get away towards Framerville som but were all kelled or captured by this sgn & some by C. Squ. Sger. on right flank captured a light engine & some trucks and made some prisoners before reaching the old Annens defence line

196
4
At that point began the long downward trend in the
numbers offering for active service, the causes and results
of which so the matter for later chapters so intimately bound up with the political
history of Australia during and after the war.
(In the meantime)

At the end of January 1916 the Prime Minister left Australia
on a visit to England. The German submarine menace led to an
amusing change of plans in his itinerary. Coming to Sydney to bid
farewell to his friends and supporters, he took a cordial leave of
a large party of admirers at the railway station and was supposed to
be on the eve of departure to join the outgoing mail-steamer at
Adelaide. But he went no further than Strathfield, a suburban
railway station, where he left the train, returned to Sydney, and
boarded the Canadian steamer in the harbour. The Censorship
prevented any further news of his journey from transpiring, until it
was heard that he had been sworn of the Canadian Privy Council.
The next stage was England, from which Australia heard abundantly
of his speeches, his movements, and his influence. Too much, indeed,
was heard for the equanimity of his party in Australia. It happened
that in Great Britain during his visit there was growing
dissatisfaction with the Asquith Government. It was felt that
“wait and see” was not a war motto,  and that the slow and heavy
constitutional steps of old-time Liberalism were out of date when
opposed to the seven-league boots of German military autocracy.
Before the end of the year Asquith had resigned and Lloyd George
had succeeded. In the press and platform campaign of March-June
1916 W. M. Hughes found himself a personage of great importance in
British public life. Apart from the attention which, in view of
the military services of the Anzacs, the British people were now
only too ready to bestow upon the leader of the people of Australia,
they were disposed to listen with particular favour to a man who
told them of his unsparing endeavours to root out the German trade
penetration of Australia and to rouse his country to a policy of
 

 

1 Thur FAR. 19/278.  Gun of 8 Bty Capt on 18 Sept by Engl but [[?]]
(marked A Coy 3rd AIF)
Height of sink.
Railway Gun. History of 52 I.R.


 

 

This is the description which will accompany the gun from Sydney
to Canberra -
It is printed on a
white board.
GERMAN 28 C.M. (I1 INCH) RAILWAY GUN.
On the 8th August, 1918, in the course of successful
offensive operation undertaken by the Australian Corps, the 3lst
Battalion (Victoria and Queensland), when advancing, near
Harbonnieres, saw a train steaming up and down a line some 800
yards away. The train consisted of a railway gun, coaches for
the gun crew, and ammunition trucks. The gun fired a few rounds,
Then an aeroplane flew up and bombed the train, causing a large
explosion. A few minutes later the Battalion reached its final
objective, two hundred yards or so short of the gun. Two or
three hours later Lieut. George Burrows and Sappers I. J Strahan
and J. H. Palmer, 5th Australian Divisional Engineers, went out
under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, raised steam on the engine,
shunted clear the burning coaches, couplied up the gun and ammunition
trucks, and brought them back within the Australian lines
The gun, which was used by the Germans to bombard Amiens, was subsequently
exhibited in Paris and London,
The complete equipment weighs 185 tons, is 72 feet long,
8 feet 8 inches wide, and 13 feet 8 inches high, The gun weighs
441/2 ton and is 36 feet 9 inches long. The range is 26,000 yards
and the shell weighs 660 lbs.
 

 

May 28th 1923
Dear Treloar,
how about this for the inscription:
"This gun, emplaced on rails at Wiencourt near
Amiens, was one of those by which the Germans intended, during
the year 1918, to destroy the railway centre in that city and
thus partially separate the British and French in the hope of
driving one of then into early submission. The destruction of
the city was, however, prevented by the advance of the Allied
troops on the morning  of August 8th, 1918, when five Australian,
four Canadian, and several British divisions broke the German
front before Amiens. This gun was captured early in the battle
by the combined efforts of British aeroplanes, British and Canadian 
cavalry, and Australian infantry and engineers."
and on the other side or front):
"In memory of those of our own soldiers and of their
allies who saved the city of Amiens."
Yours sincerely,
CEW Bean
 

 

Note from Lieut Butler
41 Bn
29
I am wondering alas if Bean has his volume (the
last I think) about finished, it
should be interesting. I very nearly
wrote him of an incident on Aug
8th 1918 reg that  Hun battery
on the Nth Banks of the the Somme
at “Coppy”(I think) They played 
the devil & I saw them stonker a
tank & disable a couple of Hows
just in from of us, they were stout
fellows those Huns & deserved a
mention as they sure did play
hell for a while.
 

 

Ellis’s Story of the 5th  Aust Div p. 335
“It was just near here (Fremerville) that Lieut. G. Burrows
of the 14F Coy, did  some very fine work. On the same railway
some hundred of yards beyond our foremost line, stood a
huge railway gun on a truck, of which the 3lst Bn had
already taken possession. It had with ^its engine and its
ammunition tenders -  indeed, the complete outfit -
and Burrows thought it would be a fine thing to start
up steam and bring the gun into our own lines,
This with the help of to two sappers of the 8th F Coy
he did - - - - - “
( Before this Ellis speaks of the astonishing work of the cavalry
out ahead of the infantry & of its capture of the a train load
of prisoners near Framerville)
At p. 336 he publishes a photo of the captured gun
with the caption _
“The Large Railway Gun captured by 31 Bn., 8 Aug 1918”
 

 

88 THE AIF IN FRANCE (Feb. Mar. 1918

Extract- see original document

 

 

1st Cav Bde Report
B Sqn. (5th D.G.) under Capt Mitchell^swung outwards & when
he reached W.6.C central saw 3 railway trains
(one broad gauge & two light) at X1C central
The two light trains steamed off towards
Vauvilliers but the broad gauge train was
hit at that moment by a bomb from
one of our aeroplanes and surrounded
by men of this sqn. & Lieut Cockrill's
patrol of the Queens Bays- - - 
All the passengers were made prisoners.
 

 

 

24 THE A.I.F. IN FRANCE - 1917
Extract from the book- see original document
 

 


31bn report. Capt Wilson's coy
An aeroplane  had previously set the train on fire,
When the 8th Engrs arrived a driver  was obtained
who brought the gun to the rear of our lines
5th Dragoon Gds History (p.325)
A Squadron was shot at by m/guns from Harbonnieres
but went straight on, & reached the old Amiens
defence line, & found it unoccupied. After
crossing the trench line the squadron was fired
on from a train on the railway running from Proyart
to the east of Harbonnieres. The train was trying to
steam away, but was hit by a bomb from an
aeroplane & set on fire. Continuing its advance
the squadron overran the train, & the men in the train
 - tried to get away towards Framerville
but were all killed or captured ^some by this sqn & some
by B. Sqn.
(Sqn. on right flank captured a light engine &
some trucks and made some prisoners
before reaching the old Amiens defence line
 

 
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