Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/44/1 - May - June 1916 - Part 3
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hole at Ypres in order
to get a snap o / next
shell The beograph chap
wanted to is going up
in a plane & wanted to go
over / German lines.)
I thought in my heart
of hearts the Canadians
wd win the tree felling. They
do more of it than we
- or are supposed to.But Their first team
seemed to cut well &
coolly
but took about
45-mins to fell its 3
trees ( w service axes,
thickness of trees just under
2ft ). The 2nd Australians
were next , & cut theirs
in fine style in 31
mins. Far more vigour
& fire than / Canadians. One
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21
began to have hopes
then. The N.Zs - all.
three Maoris ( one of them 1/2 caste
came next: & they got
their 3 trees down in
22 mins - the 1st Aust .
Divn made not a
bad start but slowed owing
to getting a tree cut on the
dead centre - & was
46 mins or more. The
other two Canadian Divns
were / same or longer.
so we one easily - I mean
the Maoris, then Anzacs
The Maoris sd before . "We
dont care whether we win
or lose so long as we
so long as we beat / Canadians.
The Australians won
/ log chapping & / Canadians
/ crosscut sawing .
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The French wood men-
youngsters & old men-
gave an exhibition on some
tiny little trees w their
antiquated axes.
" I could do as well
with a knife & fork" sd
an Australian looking
on , But to my mind it
ws fine to see them-poor
feeble chaps tho the
were. For they are all
that is left .
May 22 . Monday
we smashed up
Radingham & Maisnel
church spires & villages
& ruined the Chateau
D' Hispel yesty - all
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23
Geman observation Stns or
batter artillery positions
wh have bn lft alone so
far . They in turn at
once (9pm)shelled
Erguinghem & Fleurbaix
church- & a shell
exploding in Erguinghem
hit Gellibrand in / foot
& smashed a tendon
70yds away . He ws
hit on the tendon Achilles
in Gallipoli: & also thro'
the chest - He will
be away 2 weeks, I believe
He wants to take his
leave in this way & get
back.
This morning an
18pd gun on that 10th
Battery insisted on going
on firing ( agst / advice of
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24
the brigade Commander, tho'
not agt his orders) . it ws
in a cellar . A sausage
balloon ws up & naturally
saw it- for / Germans
this afternoon began to
shell / house. First
single shells- until they hit
it: then salvo after
salvo of 5.9s - 4 at a
time. They hit the gun
3 times & smashed it
up.
How can our poor
amateur gunnery compare
w tt sort of thing ?
Our Anzac Corps is
not - well served as far as
gunnery staff goes - & never
was. ( unlike Owen, the Brig .
General commanding the
artillery , was in the retreat
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from Mous & the battle of the
Aisne - & his nerve was more
or less broken by the constant
exposure to howitzer fire without
any protection. This made him
not really suitable for Anzac -
but he wdn't do badly if only
he had the organising capacity &
energy for the to work the artillery
of the Corps. He utterly lacks it.
And he has chosen for his
staff officer the good humoured sleepy
& lazy old Sargs; The won't
artillery headquarters here is
abt as unlike that of a good
corps staff as the gardening of
a business man house after the
day at the stock exchange resembles
the work of a nursery gardener.
They don't digest the wind &
aeroplane reports etc & send the
results out to their batteries: they
*He may have had good brains
CEWB
1925
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do next to no intelligence work.
The divis cousl staffs are keen enough;
but, poor old hard triers , they are
amateurs, & instead of having
a keen lively staff to help
them, they have these slack inert
limp ineffectives .
The engineers are in the
same position . The Commander
of the Royal Engineers in any
Corps has it really in his power
here, Where they specialise
everything, & make or
unmake a Corps defences.
We have as our C.R.E the
talkative , vain, elderly
washer - Joly de Lotbiniere
a quite inefficient commander.x
He has gained no ones respect
Hy talks a lot & effects very
little. Newcome of the 2nd
Divn is worth 6 of him. His
*His gentleness & considerations were
however, of some value in dealing with
Australians.
C.EW.B
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Staff Major - Beauvais - is
a man who confesses he is
quite ignorant o / work in
France.
It is a puzzle to me why
Birdwood keeps these people.
Dear old Carruthers, the D.A.
& G m.g. is as bad in
point of inefficiencyx - but he
is such a dear old daddy
that I think his able staff-
Taylor & GIbbs- manage
to rub along pretty well.
Griffiths of course, is a precious
possession - all the Army Coys
papers & A.I.F orders are in
flawless form, thro' his work
& little Colemans; & White is
the brains of the General staff &
is making the Army also -
Butler is a delightful man & a
keen intelligence officer & has a
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keen helper w a good brain in
Herberton. Smythe who helps
White, is a little man in every
way, but fairly strong; &
Kennedy, very much of an
amateur (an English Territorial)
with a spirit like a perky little
sparrow, is at least keen &
dutiful. Anzac G.S is good
especially at the top ; A. & Cp
are mediocre but get along
thanks to ability lower down;
R.E & R.A are worthless-
the xxxx by their sheer hard work
and ingenuity, will probably
make a name for Lotbiniere's
engineering, he'll leave the
line better than he found it.
But their R.A will let them
down, someday, frightfully!
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May 23rd. Went round
arranging for delivery
of Anzac books at
the fwd divisional H.Q.
etc.
Tonight there was a
tremendous bombardment
down south of us where /
Germans have taken 1500
yds of British trenches
on the Vimy Ridge, x 3
trench mortars.
May 24th. The German
communique says tt it
ws our men who were
attacking last night. That
they " came to know'" o /
attack & stopped it w
their curtain of fire.
1800 copies of Anzac
book delivers to units
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