Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/37/1 - January - February 1916 - Part 4

28
They arranged my visit to
France at very short notice-
gave me letters to the Folkestone
Embarcation officer & others -
so tt it went off without /
slightest hitch & without my
paying a penny of my fare
altho' I had no passport
as I ought to have had.
 

29
for Red X funds. The men
I particularly came into
contact with were Capt. Kenny
(a chap of very keen understanding
very broad views in war &
politics & untiring in his
help; I several times heard
him try to get thro' an item
of press news wh he considered
desirable on broad grounds
when / others objected to it
on narrow ones) & Capt.
Traill D.S.O., an exceedingly
kind to me, helpful in
every way, & most untiring.
They took me down to see the
head o / dept. Brig. Gen.
Cockerill - whose views on
/ censorship exactly agree
w my own. "We have to
thank you fellows at the
Dardanelles," he sd, "for
 

("old" as a term of affection -
he is only abt 10 yrs older than I am)
C.E.W.B.
14.5.25.
 

30
picking on the human
interest in the campaign, rather
than confining yourselves to the
main plans, & numbers and
that sort of thing."
I couldn't have got the
Anzac Book thro' without
coming home - & I couldn't
have done it without Smart's
generous & abundant help.
The first night I sat up the
old chap^x came down stairs
twice in his dressing gown
to give me hints tt he had
thought of. Bazley was
a great help, too - nothing too
much to ask of the youngster
in the way of typing & developing
of photos.
——

Some other most interesting men
whom I got to know during this
trip were the other war
Correspts in France. Harry S.
 

 31
Gullett, the Australian Correspt
(who sometimes goes there & who
made a reputation for himself
by going out over our wire
& spending / night between /
trenches in a crater w a
sniper) I knew of old. I ws
his rival in London when he
was correspt o / "Daily
Telegraph" & I of the
"Sydney Morning Herald"
- for three years; & as I
have often said, I could not
wish any man better luck
than to have so loyal a
rival. He knows Australia
as only a youngster can know
it who ws brought up on a
Victorian farm; who made his
pennies & threepences in his
youngest days by pulling /
hairs out of / tails of his
 

 32
farm horses until they
scarcely complied w / demands
of decency. The only danger
ws w the horses of their
uncles when they stalled them
during their rare visits -
if an uncle noticed / thinness
the result ws a soul satisfying
hiding - Another method
of money making ws killing
Sparrows for wh / state
paid so much per head: it
came more near to breeding
sparrows if only / Govt
had known - you never
dreamed of destroying a
nest of eggs - you nursed
& watched them carefully
till they were hatched. . . . .
. . . & So on. Gullett can
tell you all and keep you
in fits for an evening. He
 

 33
has bn mixed in Australian
politics to / extent to wh
most young Australian
Pressmen of any brains
have been involved in them.
Of course he is a labourite,
more or less; & he is / sort
of man ^of who in one is always
expecting big things. He is
a bright vivid writer even
amidst English journalists -
& I've often urged him to write
/ book about Australia
which only he of Dorothea
Mackellar (or perhaps Bert
Toy) that I know of could
write. But for some reason
he hasn't done so.
He ought to come out
at / head of a political party
- I shd never be surprised
to find him Prime Minister of
 

 34
Australia - it wd be a
good day for Australia;
but I think he's too independent
- too damned rebellious -
to submit to / dictates of any
party organisatn. Like most
honest politicians, he wd
feel it necessary to be
free to obey his conscience
& be independent.
Gullett ws in England
- just starting for a lecture tour
in Australia, when I ws there.
Phillip Gibbs was /
man who made most
impression on me. "Isn't
he a dear fellow?" sd
Gullett when I mentioned
him. - & that he just is.
A sweet tempered, sweet natured,
earnest capable man: he has
bn at that work since /
beginning o / war & it
 

 35
must be soul cramping to
a degree to be kept at it
under those conditions. But
his patient sincerity keeps him
at / work. He knows more
o / real history of / battle
of Loos - / pitiable true history
of it - than/almost any one
I met; but of course neither
he nor / others were allowed to
tell it. Most men wd be
rather crabbed w this; but
Gibbs sd to me: "Well - I don't
know tt it wd have done
any good to, It wd have to
caused have had party
fighting party over it – a lot
of division & strife & internal
discussion at home - I don't
thank any good end might
have bn served, do you?"
The truth, of course, was
 

 36
that the 1st & 4th Corps
went ahead very much faster
than HQ staff had expected.
The attack began at 6.30.
By 7 they had / German
front line; by 8 they had
gone, I believe, nearly 5
miles & were some of them
practically through / last
German defences - at
Cite Ste Auguste. They had
Hill 70 & were even past
it. The German staffs were
hurriedly gathering their papers
- the German batteries were
preparing to withdraw -
The Staff had definitely
promised the 1st & 4th Corps
tt they need not worry abt
consolidating - they need not
think of / trenches they passed
over - the it ws in their
 

 37
written orders tt they were
to go as far as they could -
the ground behind them would
be made good by their
supports.
Accordingly they left
their ^German prisoners behind them
under small guards & went
on - splendidly - successfully
beyond hopes. The Germans
have not many lines &
they were in this part
practically through them - &
there was / time for / supports.
And where were /
supports? The supports consisted
of the 21 & 24 Divns - new
troops of K's army - w /
Guards Divn behind them.
It had bn a question whether
they shd or shd not be ready
behind / lines / night before
/ attack. I forget whether it
 

38
ws Haig or who it ws tt
thought they ought to be
there. I believe French ws
definite tt they shd not.
The decision was tt they
were not to be there till
next morning - I think
at 9.30, but I'm not sure.
In any case it wd have
bn late. As a matter of
fact they did not start on
to / battlefield till 4.30 in
/ afternoon (I think these
were / times told me). Then
they were not told tt they
were going into a full dress
attack - they were told they
were to Support (a very bad
term wh leads to serious
misunderstanding as xxx the
case o / Portsmouth marines
at Anzac - it is far better to
tell troops tt they may have
to buck into it - they will nerve