Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/43/1 - April - May 1916 - Part 5

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at / new H.Q. Nobody

could tell us where it was. We

found Maj. Ralston, &

he passed us on to /

charge of another Major-

officer who brought us through

miserable communication

trenches where you felt

absolutely naked above / 

knees into a support

trench where you felt 
very bare about / head- 

You cd see over it comfortably

by stretching your neck.

Just before after we left old H.Q.

there were four quick gun

reports & four shrapnel

shell sung  overfar over to our left & burst.

Along wi over o this burst
/ next minute. The

We are building a new

tramway, there, & they have

seen us. This afternoon
 

X
49

they put 6 or 8 shells on it and

tonight they probably saw some

darned fool light a cigarette.

They were right on top of the

working party but hurt

no-one.

The men were all along

behind the parapet - not

very many of them but 

some in each bay, this

sleeping at their feet. The

whole trench garrison apparently

has to keep watch all night.

Work is done by parties from

the [corresponding?] rest between

about 280 each night - for

including {?}  men

for other fatigues.

All say it is not so hard

as Gallipoli.

But it has this draw back

Here all the infantrymen

docs - or appears to be

allowed to do in the way of fatigue is to fetch

and carry for the engineer. In

Gallipoli the local infantry

commander had some very

big say in the planning of the

fixed defence of his front. Here

he has little or none, at any

rate in carrying it out.

The engineers do all the interesting

work - building etc. The

infantryman is looked on

as incapable of doing more

than manual work. Very

likely the Englishman is; 

but our men are not -  and it

hurts, Old Lottiniere - Lottiniere,

amiable, dilettante incapable

old muddler x I spoke of this to White

and he said "yes that's the

old British system all

over; I hope we're going

to get away from it"

This may be an unfair judgement- it

was my estimate at the time, but based on

little more than casual impressions C.E.W.B 1925

is responsible

for our defence plans as

much as anyone here because he

happens to command our

engineers.

The Germans were

constantly throwing flares out

into No Man's Land. There

is little gunfire at night

here; indeed as often as not

the rapid salvoes of the day

which you often hear - 40 or

50 shots in a minute or

less, are fired at aeroplanes.

The bombardment normally

is not trying here; and even in

places like Ypres it is very

seldom - pert. never - that

a German gun causes

casualties at the rate which

the one old 6inch howitzer

or Sari Bais did in June or

July.

I asked Herbertson what

they would think of 200 casualties

in one battalion in a fortnight

from shellfire - and he said

"Oh it would be very heavy

indeed - heavy - I should think so!!

Found Col.

Mackenzie at last. You can't

have lights in this witches

breastwork of ours - a

great part of it has no

parados at all! -  you

are absolutely open

to the rear, and if the line

curves at all they can

practically see in behind you.

The trenches were quite dark,

every here and there a [sleeping] figure looking

in its tin helmet over the parapet. Mac. and I (it took

over half an our to get

 to him) had a yarn about

Popes Hill, mostly, where

the 19th were. (They suffered

chiefly from broomstick bombs

there = things you couldn't

dodge - but also from Wine

Glass towards the end. From

the main range it was

hard to hit it without hitting

the Turkish trenches also, so

they didn't often try, if ever

Walked home by midnight.

Going along the trench with my guide

one could see the flares North

and South of us far inland -

it looked like this

 

 

but of course it was really like this

 

The machine guns, who we could

not hear nearer to the trench, were

still rat-at-atting when we

got back there.

At one time when we were

in the trenches there was an

outbreak of firing and machine gun

fire in the German lines - much

like that the Turks used to give vent to.

But the general crackle of fire

approaching that of Gallipoli.

They probably thought they

had seen one of our patrols.

The Germans throw many

more flares, and better ones.

Everyone is very caustic

about our artillerys retaliation.

:They put 347 shots around a

farmhouse and we ask them for retaliation" they said. "About 5

minutes before the enemy stops one

of our [batteries?] opens - and fires three

salvoes; then we see in the communique

next day 'Our batteries silenced

the enemy south of Armentieres"

The guns, of course, are not being

called to use more than one shell

per gun per day.

There are times, however, when the 

artillery is allowed to fire all it is

worth. The other night the 715 Bde

on our left- set up an alarm. The gas

 as a matter of fact a few tear

shells" may have fallen); The

2nd Divn Artillery let go - let go

for all it was worth! Our infantry

speak with enthusiasm at the result

right out enemeys parapet

all the time, they say. Old Johnson

when I asked him said: Well, we

didn't get our own trenches at all-

I suppose that's something"

May 5th   Got up early 4am-just daybreak and went

with Herbertson to the trenches.

We met Plumer ? Blumer, intelligence

officer of the 19th and went round

some o. p. s with him. Had a 

cup of tea at about 6 with major

Ralston; and then as we had

an hour to spare, looked at the

dug outs of bn Headquarters

and compared them with an aeroplane

photo. The shadows on the roofs and

what looked like the entrance turns

out to be the green grass growing

there. The smallest speck on an

aeroplane photo has always some

counterpart in existence on the

ground - you can't ignore anything.

While I was doing this

Herbertson suddenly discovered

H from where we were (overlooking

the roofs) you could see the German

lines and the country at the back

of them quite clearly. And so

you could.

 

 

There were the two lines of front 

trenches looking as though they

were two walls along either

side of a road; beyond the gunman

trenches a green hillside

with a road running along

it - a house; two

separate lines of wire and

some support trenches or

strong point - and a big green

roofed mound dug out, I suppose. Presently