Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/276/1 - 1928-1937 - Part 2

2.

consequently his advice was sound and, at times,

invaluable.

Quite rightly he refused to be jostled or "rushed",

and his firm & determined opposition to being

so, was especially exemplified in the brilliantly

successful counter attack at Villers Brettonneau

in April 1918 chiefly carried out by his -13th-

Infy Bde and an Inf Bde of 5th Aust Div, supported by

some troops of 8th Division (British) -. Here Glasgow

refused to attack until he & his Staff had been

able to reconnoitre the position & lay down jumping

off lines tapes, and his men had had a modicum

of rest after their march that day. The result

was a brilliant success & had far reaching results

on the rather precarious position - at that time -

in front of Amiens _

I know that our Army Commander, Sir Henry

Rawlinson & his M.G.G.S. were much impressed

with the conduct of the action, and with the

gallantry & leadership of the two Australian Brigades

concerned.

I feel my tribute to my old friend Gen' Glasgow

would not be adequate without reference to

his unremitting care & vigilance as regards the

 

 

3.

comfort & wellbeing of the personnel under his

command & he never spared himself in his efforts

to get the best he could for them; realizing, as

many Australian Commanders did, that the

"Digger" would nobly respond to carry out,

successfully, the most difficult tasks, if he

knew - or felt - that his commanders were doing

their best to look after him & supply his needs.

                   ___________ . . __________

[* [[?? noted CC?]] *]

I would take this opportunity of again

thanking you for your excellent Periodical

and with all my old friends & comrades of A.I.F.

the best of good wishes for Xmas 1936 and

for 1937.

 

Yours sincerely

E.G. Sinclair MacLagan

Maj. Gen.

late 3rd A.I.Bde & 4th Aust Div A.I.F.

 

[* Lt Col GH Bourne

2 Lit Regt *] 

JMC

R.S.S.I.L.A.

NSW BRANCH

-4 NOV 1936

RECEIVED

Bank of New South Wales

Christchurch

28th. Oct 1936

The Editor

"Reville"

Dear Sir,

As requested in your letter of 19th inst

I enclose a few notes re Major General Sir Wm

Glasgow & only wish I had more of them with

which to do honour to this splendid soldier.

If you have not already done so, I suggest

that you ask "Sol" Green, the original Padre of the

2nd L.H.Regt, to help. He followed Glasgow to France

& was in close touch with him there. He kept a

book of anecdotes & no doubt would have many

good ones of our mutual friend.

His address I believe is :- Rev George Green M.A.

St. Kilda, Melbourne.

Hoping to have the pleasure of reading your article

when published

Yours faithfully

Geo H. Bourne

 

1

When on the outbreak of War, the 2nd Light Horse Regt

was formed, Major J.W. Glasgow was one of the first

officers to be appointed. As Second-in-Command to

Lt. Col R.M. Stodart, he took a very active part in

training the Regiment - his great energy and zeal

being an inspiration to the younger officers. In those

early days, what chiefly impressed us were his strict

discipline, justice, forceful personality and knowledge

of his job. During the voyage to Alexandria, and

training at Maadi and Heliopolis, these Characteristics

were largely responsible for the high state of

efficiency which the Regiment reached.

Immediately prior to the receipt of orders to embark

for Gallipoli, he was straining at the leash - the most

impatient man at Heliopolis

Gallipoli gave him his chance, and as was only to be

expected, he grasped it eagerly. He was appointed

"Officer in Charge" of Pope's Hill, in succession to the late

Lt.Col Rowell (3rd L H Regt.) and at the head of the

1st L.H. Regt gallantly led the sortie on 7th August,

capturing several trenches of the famous "Chessboard"

That they had to be evacuated later was not his 

fault

A few days later he was appointed to command

his old Regiment, then, sadly depleted in numbers after

its sortie from Quinns Post, in reserve at old No 2 outpost

& Fishermans Hut

 

2

During this period there was little that Colonel Glasgow

could do, apart from keeping up the spirits of the men

and doing what was possible to conserve their health

& strength. We were all as poor as wood, and apart

from his shaggy eyebrows, iron jaw, and voice, there did 
not appear to be much of him left.

When orders for the evacuation were received, Colonel

Glasgow with a few of the original members of the Regt.

were enjoying a brief respite at Lemnos. He applied

at once for permission to return to Gallipoli, in order

to supervise the withdrawal of the balance of his Regt..

On this being refused, he took "French leave" & simply

went!

Who, among those of us who were there, will ever forget the

strain of those last few hours of the evacuation? We

were weak - most of us were ill. The strain on the nerves

was increased by the silence & the whispered orders.

Picture a Signaller, with his head piece over his ears,

under orders to come away with the last party. "All clear?

"Yes -all clear - Any news? No" Would all proceed

according to plan? Was it possible that there could

be no hitch, no misunderstanding? Would the minutes

never pass? How many of us would miss the last

boats & have to make a last stand with the Rear party?

Is this one of our parties coming down the trench? or is Jacko already following up?

Such, I confess, were my thoughts. The suspense

was becoming unbearable! Suddenly I heard a

 

 

3

voice below me - a muffled voice certainly - but there

was no mistaking it. It was the voice of Colonel Glasgow.

He had come back to look after us! Anxiety left me.

Now there would be no hitch - and there was none!

A few weeks refitting at Heliopolis, a few more

in Upper Egypt looking for the elusive Senussi, and we

lost our Colonel, who was appointed to command an

Infantry Brigade. Notwithstanding his wonderful

success in France, it will always be held by

Light Horsemen that he would have been even more

valuable with the Cavalry. What scope there would

have been for his daring, initiative and instinct for

mounted tactics, in Palestine & beyond!

We were amused to hear that on one of the first

parades of his Brigade - "Walk march" !! And no

wonder. He had been a Light Horseman all his life,

& we like to believe that in his heart, he still is.

 

R.S.S.I.L

N.S.W. BRANCH

27 OCT 1936

RECEIVED 

JMC

Kirrak

147 Kambrook Road

Caulfield, S.E.8

October 24th 1936.

J.Black Esq

Editor "Reveille"

Sydney, N.S.W.

Dear Sir,

I am in receipt of your letter of

20th inst. re four contemplated celebrity article on Major-

General the Hon. Sir Wm. Glasgow. I regret that I cannot

recall any anecdotes concerning him which would assist

you in the compilation of your article. I served on his

Staff (1st Aust Div Hgrs) as D.A.D.V.S. from the time he took

over the command of the Division until shortly before the

Armistice and I have a very great admiration of his ability

as a horsemaster and his keen appreciation of anything

which tendered towards maintaining the horses of the Division

in a high state of efficiency. he was always ready to discuss

with me any matters affecting them, and any recommendations

which I had to make to him in my capacity as his Veterinary

advisor were always received sympathetically and were

invariably carried out in so far as the military situation

would allow. On the occasions when the Division came out

of the line a considerable amount of his time was spent in the

inspection of the horses of the various units. He was particularly

interested in the work of his mobile Veterinary Section in the

care and treatment of sick and injured horses and discussed

with the Veterinary officers concerned the details of the measures

taken for their relief. He loved his horses, and took a

keen personal interest in all matters concerning them.

Yours Faithfully,

G.G.Heslop.

 

R.S.S.I.L.A.

N.S.W. BRANCH

-4 NOV 1936

RECEIVED

Capt BG White

JMC

[[?Mooraborl?]]

[[? Tooporlawl?]]

Nov 1st 1936.

Mr J. Black

Editor of the "Reveille"

Sydney.

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for your letter

of the 20 Oct re General Glasgow. I am sorry not to

have replied sooner but I have been fighting bus

fires - we won.

Re the General I was not his Personal A.D.C. but

Camp Commandant. - so really did not see a terrible

lot of him - in France - though I have known him

for a very long time & both sailed in the original

2. L.H. he as 2nd in Command & I as Pt.

Capt Loug LOUCH. - M.C.  11' Bn I think but certainly

U.A. was with him on the 13' Bde - also Paddy

Morrill D.S.O. - he is now in Sydney on the Stock

Exchange I  believe.

Capt Maxwell D.S.O. M.C. was his Personal A.D.C.

 

 

but I think he is somewhere in the Straits' Settlement.

There is no need to add he not only is a very [[?hon]]

man but who stands no nonsense. He was in charge

of Pope's Hill & during the attack in Aug/15 had

the men out & when returning had a wounded man

under each arm.

 He has a cattle property near Dingo Central Q.

& is a Director on several companies.

With best wishes

Yours etc.

M. [[?Smith.]]

 

 

Extract from letter from Captain T.G. Clark, M.C.

            ------------

"Although General Glasgow held the undying affection of all

those who worked with him, they at the same time held him in

the most profound respect, and I have seen strong men go into

the General's office to be reprimanded and come out looking a

wreck. One instance showing the force of character of

General Glasgow does not seem to have ever become public;

I was at the conference prior to the famous counter-attack at

Villers-Bretonneux. General Glasgow had very little to say and

the English generals under whose command he had been placed

to make the counter-attack had decided on a certain plan of 

operation. This plan apparently did not suit General Glasgow,

for all of a sudden he thumped the table with his fist, and,

turning to General Elliott, who commanded the 15th Australian

Brigade, said "No, I will go up here," and with a sweep of his 

hand on the map indicated indicated his proposed movement, "and

you, Elliott, swing across and meet me here." General Elliott

promptly replied, "So we will"; and that was the way the plan

of the counter-attack on Villers-Bretonneux originated."

 

"The xone unforgivable sin for any of his staff was to show

negligence or apathy in any shape of form towards the well-being

and comfort of the troops. As an illustration of this,

I remember son one occasion the general heard the movements of a

large fatigue party as it arrived at the 13th Brigade H.Q. at

4 a.m. one morning; but coming out some quarter of an hour later

he discovered the party still waiting, and found that the staff

captain had not arranged to be waiting to despatch the party on

time. What he said to the staff captain nobody but that

individual knew, but it is a fact that for months afterwards

the same staff captain got up in the same hours every morning

just to see that no fatigue party happened to be about.

Similarly some misguided individual once brought a gramaphone to

brigade headquarters from the comforts fund, but when the general

found where it had originated from, it went back far quicker

than it had arrived."