Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/37/1 - January - February 1916 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL606/37/1
Title: Diary, January - February 1916
Includes references to the formation of new

divisions in Egypt, and to Gallipoli

AWM38 - 3DRL606/37/1

WAR MEMORIAL

Diary Second Series 
B.1          1
Jan 31 1916 - Feb 19  1916.
ay visit of   In England

G16

Original  

Diary No. 37                  

AWM38           3DRL  600 ITEM 37 [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 at 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.

The records should, therefore, be use 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 Gallipolli 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

ACCESS STATUS 

OPEN

 1/   

Cuculus  SP 5 - 0   

408

9th

916

6^th Sept 1915

Diary Second Series

B1                                                  

 Jan 31 1916- Feb 19                                                       

Jan 31. 1916

My visit to In England

everything seemed much more

normal than in France so far as the 

people's amusements went. There

was a sort of hectic liveliness abt

/ theatre porters where in France

there seemed to have fallen on / country

a steadfast quiet earnestness.

This may be very shallow impressions.

In England except for /the darkened

streets of London - as for Brentwood 

it is an inky blackness after sundown 

-the shaded lights in / train,

necessity for concealing all naked

light by drawing blinds & painting

/ upper half of motor car lamps

so th they cannot guide Zeppelins

along / main roads - you won't 

know / country was at war. Of 

course / French habit of going

into deep mourning for any sort

of elation who dies increases

/ soberness of France.

A glimpse of one solitary 

redoubt in / corner of a 

field as our train sped

towards London - a redoubt

2

quite empty, but made on model

lines - as / only sign of fortification

tt I saw. At night you wd notice / beams 

of / huge double searchlights always

alight & sweeping / sky. I suppose

they are / best precaution - but

tt in spite o / fact tt they direct

aircraft towards London they

/ balance ^of advantage is on their side.

The Australian is having the

time of his life in London -& the

better class of men are getting

well appreciated there. They are 

always openhanded - the real 

Australians, & the poorer classes

especially love them. Some scallywags

are continually bringing the country's

name into peril ^Eg. by taking taxis 

& jumping out without paying

the driver - a very mean dodge

for the driver has to pay his

owners. But you find mean

hounds everywhere, even in the

best society.

The girls are simply throwing

themselves above mens heads

 

 

3

& there have been a lot of

marriages. Some men have 

taken their discharge in England

& a large number - I have

heard it put as high as 800 -

are missing. The military control

is a bit slack - Buckley who

is supposed to be head of the

organisation is hopelessly weak.

He waites so long before giving

answers - "The war office won't

approve!" "We'd better wait & 

see!"  "I don't think they'd like it."

"We'll leave things to develop a little"

that the control in England has 

really shifted into the hands 

of Sir Newton Moore who has bn

made a Brigadier Genl. But

Moore is a politician, and 

the art of politicians is to please,

& tho' he's a strong man for 

a politician I doubt if he could

do the unpopular things which

military leaders of any worth

in the world always have to do.

4

Besides the Agents General have 

so long had to make things

pleasant & smooth for Australian

visitors that they get to look on

this as the end of all successful

organisations.

 

The Base in England was

gradually getting into a hopeless

tangle when Sir George Reid handed 

it over to H.C.Smart, his ablest

Civil Clerk, then head of the Publicity

dept, to unravel. And Smart

has really done wonders. He

started with the records, which were

headless & tail-less. He has now

a card system, a with a card for

every soldier who becomes a

casualty. Every single movement

of every casualty is (if Egypt

does its job) records on each man's 

card. As soon as he comes to England 

& the is sent off from his ship to any

hospital the hospital informs

Smarts office in London - & every

5

move which the man then makes

is reported to Smart- until he leaves

England.

On this card index ^record of casualties

the whole office system is built up.

The Information branch answers

every question about casualties 

-are 200,000 have been answered

up to / present, i.e. abt 2 for every

man in / force; Smart also sends

reports of all movements of men

to Red X socies in Australia

so th they may answer similar

inquiries there.

The Post office sends on / 

mail received in Cairo to /

men at/ addresses on / cards.

10,000 letters per wk are dealt w

at this p.o.

The organisation for providing

soldiers in hospital w various

necessities from / Red X is carried 

on thro' / same card record.

Every hospital where there are 

many Australians has an n.c.o.

6

in charge to tell / men what they

can get & find out what they 

want. Hospitals When going to

hospitals where there is no Australian

n.c.o. are written to.

& so on. This is an admirable

organisation, The only fault

perhaps is if it is too kind &

therefore expensive thro' being too

kind. Men seem to be fitted out

"better than new" by the ordnance

dept - certainly they look very

smart in / London streets in 

their brand new clothes, belts

hats boots badges putties - but

I doubt if a very careful economy

is practised here, as it ought to be.

However / absence of muddling

probably saves far more money

that the ordnance loses. And I

doubt if men are cleared out of

England fast eno' by these soft hearted

medical boards. Smart has

nothing to do w that. Certainly

7

many o / men are really

ill - broken in nerve. But those

cases ought to be sent back to

Australia. Men are apt to put 

off their boards from wk to wk by

writing (without a doctors certificate

-sometimes with it) to say they

are unfit to come. The returns 

from / hospitals are very bad &

incomplete inaccurate. On the strength

of one such return, / Commonwealth

procured a great convalescent 

home of I think 800 beds in

St Peter St. (to wh Jack has been

attached) & so far only 20 men

have bn found to put in it.

 

There ought to be 10,000

Australians in England - Many of

them have been given commissions

in the Imperial army - largely 

thro' / instrumentality of the Royal

Colonial Institute. I met 

that little man Coleman P. Hyman,

8

who used to exist in Sydney, the 

other day - & he has got himself

made secretary of this Ctee.

[["XXXXXXXX?]] "I have been very

busy since / war broke out," he sd, 

"getting commissions for colonials

-oh, very busy. We have got a 

a great number." "I think they've

been giving some from Egypt of

late", I sd. "Oh no - not at

all." he interjected  -"We

got them here - numbers of

them - that is what I have bn

doing". Coleman P. Hyman has

always pushed himself into

office jobs in connection w /

Imperial organisation & he 

has bn always one of those men 

whom I believe to be the

Imperialist of the most obnoxious

class - the man who professes to

speak for Australia (wh certainly

doesn't own him) from / standpoint of

inferior state taking any crumb of