Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/40/1 - February - March 1916 - Part 4

2   29
than as a War-minister.
Maxwell used to write straight
to him (& indeed I believe
he used to get one report
for himself & another
for the Cabinet because he
couldn't trust the Cabinet
to keep a secret from its
wives and daughters-so
he said tho' I dare say
it xxx wsn't the whole reason -
he wanted freedom from
their interference also, no
doubt). He was not
a keenly quick man - tho'
he did realise the size of
the effort we shd have to
make much sooner than
anyone else ^did, tt one knows
 

2  30
of; he ws rather a slow man
& perhaps age had made him
undecided - Anyway, there
was dissatisfaction & they
brought Robertson in as
Chief of Staff. Robertson was
a private soldier once; &
from / moment tt he came
in a different order
came in force. He was Kitcheners
one & only military advisor,
If generals reported they
reported alone to him. No
more letters to K. K ws /
Cabinet minister - there to
sway / cabinet on matters
of policy. But the direction
of the army & o / fighting
 

2  31
ws in one man's hands
only, now - it stopped
with Sir William Robertson.
There / chain ended. What
it ws good for K. to know
he knew thro' Robertson. If
generals had ^ideas or grievances
they put them before Robertson,
& he decided who was & who
was not the right or wrong man.
From tt time K has
become of comparatively
small influence. They say
(at least R.'s camp at G.H.Q
here says) tt you can feel
 

2  32
now quite a different
strong determined grasp
behind / conduct o /
war & of / war office now.
That is a great thing, if
true - & one wd not
for anything have it otherwise.
But the change has had one
or two inconveniences
for us -
For one thing - little Birdwood
is a "K." man & when K's
star set his star paled also.
Mr Asquith sd tt his name
wd be marked for distinction
by connection w / evacuation -
 

2  33
& he was / general of
all three army corps which
carried it out - & he was
at least to an extent
responsible for / plan.
xxxx And yet all / 
"distinction" he has so far
got has bn to be removed
from an Army command
& set back to command an
army corps. The man who
got / chief honour ws Munro
- whose part consisted in
making up his mind before he
left England  tt / evacuation
ws necessary, & taking no
part whatever in it (even to /
extent of being present) when
it was carried out in Gallipoli.
 

2  34
White - who conducted /
Anzac evacuation which in
many ways ws even
more difficult that tt at
Helles has got a C.B. out
of it. He shd have been a
Maj-General - but tt is
/ British Empires loss &
Australias more than his
if they fail to put him to his
full use before / war is over.
[I told them of / idea
wh ws universal in England
xxx tt / Turks had been paid to let
us go - it ws / first they had dreamed
of it out here - & of course
every body laughs except one
or two who are angry. Anyway
70 Turks & Germans(?) were sent
 

2  35
to Constantinople for trial
or inquiry after it, so Butler
tells me and ^"probably & ws not such an
easy job for / Turk as it
looked". I sd to White x
"That's what I argued at
/ time," he sd. "He had to
know not merely tt we
were going but when we
were going; & I asked
myself - in spite of all
the trouble we took to find
out abt / Turks & watch
them, what did we ever
know abt / strength of their
xx in wh they held their
lines & their movements
behind them? xxxxx
xxx One cd imagine
 

2  36
their difficulty in finding
anything about us.
Anyway it ws only for
/ last day tt I ws anxious.
If they didn't discover realise attack
before night fall on the
Sunday I knew we were
all right. It wd be too
late then - they cdnt
make a general attack
on / spur o / moment; by
/ time they attacked we
shd have gone."]
But to return to
Robertson - He has turned
down our Army scheme
for an Australian army.
He didn't see tt it served
a useful purpose - & /
 

2  37
fact tt we were a nation &
wanted to fight & carve our
history as a nation
didn't go for anything w
him – He (As the admiralty
has always done in naval
affairs in dealing w Australia)
sees / strategical side of
it only; "what's / use of a
separate staff for 120,000, men?"
Besides I daresay he thinks
/ army command is too
big for Birdwood - Birdwood
is a "Kitchener man" &
many of these soldiers think
he has come along too
fast. I dont know tt they
want him "to climb any
 

2  38
higher" as a friend of his
put it "on the shoulder o /
Australians".

March 23rd. It was about a
fortnight ago that xxxx the news spread
that the ^2nd Australian ^Division were was ordered
at once to France. There has been
so much openness about it that
one was inclined to think it might
really be Salonica; but I fancy
this is a double barrelled ruse - 
they say for once (as it worked so well at
the evacuation): the more we talk
abt it the less they'II believe it.
Anyway - the news was tt /
2nd Divn (being the whole one - & not
split up) ws to leave at once on the 12^th; or 13th;
the 1st Divn after tt, & the N.Z. Divn