Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/36/1 - December 1915 - January 1916 - Part 2

Frid.

9
Dined with First Aust. Divn
& found Brig. Gen. Elliott of
127^th Bde 42 Div. there - our
good friend of Xmas Day - Nxxx
[[Shorthand symbols]]
Dec.31. Packed last night. The 1 st.
Divn are taking almost all
my gear to Alex. & I am
travelling light with the magazine
& my note books to London -
with Bazley. He can develop
my films on board the Wahine
(the fast packet by wh we travel)
& look after the magazine & the
diaries. I have now 25 diaries
full & a dozen notebooks beside,
large & small, dealing with the
battles of Gallipoli - They
are in many cases the only
records available- a
few are in shorthand but
nearly all cd be understood
by anyone if I were to

10
peg out.
These diaries have been
a weight on my mind - & so
have my photos. for th I
shan't be happy till I get them
to a safe place, ∧the diaries duplicated,
& the photos printed. A single
shell or a submarine wd
destroy 9 months hard work
& the best records we have of
the Gallipoli campaign.
Besides this, the Anzac
magagine is worth anything
up to £25,000. I generally 
keep them in my own sight &
young Bazley is splendid with
them - he is just as solicitous
of them as I am.
Came on board the
Wahine with Bazley at
4.30 in a boat with two
youngsters - one of them
Hon. somebody Harmsworth 

(^x Killed at Beaumont Hamel )
C.EWB.
14 5.25
 11 
of the R.N.D.^x Who should I
see leaning over the side but
Irwin, staff surgeon of the
Cornwallis, & Lutt, paymaster
of the Canopus ; also Commdr.
Sampson, who clearly
recognised me for I saw him
pointing me out to his neighbour;
& the very nice little flying corps
man who charmingly 
entertained me in his
aeroplane - packing case
cabin when I went to see
Sampson the other day at
Imbros. Sampson had bn
out for a walk _^when I arrived but this
hospitable little lieutenant,
who was second in command,
took me in & yarned about
quite undangerous subjects,
till S. came back-
The Wahine was deep in

Like the Mauretania 11
Aquitania She makes / voyage
to London Eng. in 6 days
12
coal dust - on this service
she always is. Her cabins
were nice enough - just
like those on the Canadian
Australian line; & it turns out
that the Wahine is none other
than the a New Zealand ship -
the fast 20 knot ferry liner
wh steams between Wellington
& Lyttleton. She is quite a
fair sized boat- 3000 to 4000
tons I expect. The first saloon
being full of coal we have our
meals in the 2nd Saloon.
at 8.30, 12.30, & 5.30 (high
tea!) She has still her
N.Z. skipper & the stewards
are from N.Z.
Put in some time on
Anzac. Mag.
On Going out we passed an immense
steamer painted white with four yellow funnels
4 / beautiful green & red lights along her side. It
was / Britannic -on her maiden voyage. She is
being used (like all / others, to preserve them) as hospital ship.

Saturday
Sunday
 13
Jan 1. 1916.
Last night, with all
lights out of course, we
passed thro the Dori Channel
the S.E point of Greece -
a very dangerous point for
enemy submarines. However,
as we have 2 - 4in. guns
& can do 20 kn. we ought
not to be in much danger
We passed thro, I believe,
at abt 3 am. The ship
keeps a continual zig zag
course - changing every
10 minutes or so when
the coast is near.
Jan 2. 1916. About 10
this morning got to
Malta. Harmsworth & I
went to the Military H.Q.

14
to get our passages. the
DAQMG. ws at first very
frigid (seeing no one about
in his branch we went straight
to his room) but afterwds put us
very kindly through. It He signed our
papers Massarene, so I
suppose he is Lord Massarene.
It turns out I ought not
to have brought Bazley - at
least I have no written
authority for it. However
on the Aragon, where I mentioned
him, the answer of the
shipping officer (Capt Erskine
Murray) was tt he went as
a matter of course & I
took it this meant I had
authority - wh I certainly cd
have obtained from ANZA Corps

15
There is a transport going to
Marseilles - we go on board
tonight - & M advised me
just to take Bazley on board,
and manage as I cd at
Marseilles.
At the Club we met
the crowd from the Wahine -
& they are nearly all going
by the Kingstonian too.
On landing today they
went up to the N.T.O. to
get their passages &
were asked their names.
One of them sd. Davies.
What -- Davies, ? asked the
official. "Yes " sd
"Yes".
"Of the Royal Naval Air
Service?"
"Yes"
Well then I have to

Saw Davies at the
club. He was going
about absolutely nervously
shy & trying to keep in
the background all he could.
 16
congratulate you on
obtaining the V.C." sd /
official. " Your name is in
the wireless telegrams today
as having won it. "
It ws / first Davies
had heard of it.
He turns out to be the
modest little RNAS lieutenant
who entertained me so
nicely at Sampsons Camp
at Imbros. And the deed
From all his conversation
then I hardly knew whether
he was merely in some
organising or mechanical
branch - he didn't tell me
of himself. And it turns out
tt / deed for wh he got the
recomen V.C. was the
very one which I believe
he himself told me of (only

I can't be sure
now whether it was
Davis who told we
of this or Buzzard -
I half believe it
was Buzzard.
17 
he never hinted tt he
was in it) - when he sd
what a fine thing / chap
did who set fire to his
aeroplane when it came
down in a marsh, & then
fired at the bomb w his
revolver - He didn't
mention / man who
alighted in / aeroplane to
pick this chap up - alighted
under fire, in a little undersized
fragile Nieuport, in rough
scrubby ground - a thing
wh not one _^air man in a 
hundred cd do even without
/ bullets - & then took /
other man away w him,
carrying far too heavy a
load for his machine.
But that man was he.
The Germans have

[Jan 8.
They tell me at Marseilles
- Capt Macfarlane of the
London Scottish, Military
Landing Officer, who went
on board the Persia tells
me  - that there were 33
little English kiddles on the
Persia - fair haired sunny
little youngsters, the first
he had seen since leaving
England. He stole ¾ of an
hour from his work & had
his Xmas cake with them,
& Xmas games. It was
Xmas Day. Only one
of them, he says, appears
amongst those saved! ]
18
sunk the P.O mailsteamer
Persia off Crete yesterday.
They gave her no warning
& she sank in 4 minutes,
torpedoed by a submarine.
God help these swine if
our men ever get to
them.

Mond. Jan 3.
Sailed on the
Kingstonian - She only
makes about 9 knots &
will be 4 days in getting
to Marseille. But though
the accomodation is rough
and we have to turn out
the lights at 8 o'c. (& dinner
is at 6) the time doesn't
pass too slowly. They are
a very merry crowd.