Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/45/1 - June 1916 - Part 3

2       25
/ time our men have bn
here (2 months), so they say,
than during / stay of the
previous two army corps.
In fact no work seems
to have been done here
before we came for
months.
June 6^th Tuesday.
My last day with Brooks.
Xxx It was raining but he
& Tong turned up true to time,
& I took them to the bomb
school. We waited 1½ hours
in / farm where / school
headquarters is before it
cleared at all. Col. Ashburner
ws there. It was interesting to
see in / dark high barns
three lots of men sitting
sucking their pencils at 3
tables and writing just like 

(on its way to Russia
w a mission)

2      26

boys at a country school with
an N.C.O. looking over each table
like a schoolmaster. It ws
an examinatn, I suppose.
We afterwds got some
photos of Australians in
their billets.
When we got home, at
lunch, as I was getting out o /
car, Boyd, once my colleague
on the S.M. Herald, & now
a clerk here, came up to me
& told me tt Birdwood had
received an open wire to say
tt Lord Kitchener had been
drowned in the cruiser
"Hampshire," , with "Fitz" -
I suppose Fitzgerald, his
A.D.C., - and some others. It
ws from Creedy, Lord K.'s secretary.
Birdwood will feel this very much -
he is very attached to Lord Kitchener
& Fitzgerald must be a close friend.

 2       27

But as far as / war goes I
dont think it will make /
slightest difference. I believe,
indeed, tt Birdwood thinks
they were sending Lord Kitchener to
Russia in order to get him
out o / way. There has long been
a party tt wants to get him
out o / war office - including
the "Daily Mail" crowd.
The idea tt soldiers have o /
"Daily Mail" (w wh goes "The
Times" of course) is exemplified
by what Butler sd to me /
other day. There ws some
victory to record tt day, &
one wd have expected to
see it in / centre o / page
well displayed. Instead -
all across / main page was
some squabble of politicians
about / war. "What Gen.
So - and -So says about Ireland" -

2      28

or something. Butler, who
I fancy belongs to / same
party as / "Daily Mail"
sd: "I can't stand this rag -
look at / way it picks on
some controversy because it
wants to sling mud & puts
it all across / page" - that 
is the Daily Mail.
June 7^th Turned Brooks
over to Ross today -
thank goodness. You cant
help liking Brooks; but
why on earth do they send
him on this job.
I have a pile of
letters 3 inches high to work
on in connectn with / Anzac
Book, owing to this weeks
work w Brooks. I ws  going
to have a day on them when
White said to me in the

2      29

sitting little anteroom of /
Chateau as he ws going in
to / conference. "Well - that
ws a very successful little
affair last night, Bean."
I opened my eyes: "What
affair."
"That little raid."
"What . . . a raid by us
you mean?" I asked.
"Didn't you hear of  it?"
he said - "I would have told
you if I had thought of it -
yes , our 7th Bde raided
their trenches and brought
back 3 prisoners & killed
12."
So we have been in /
German trenches at last.
The prisoners are coming
up here for examination,
& Butler is not going
down there. But luckily
we have the G.H.Q car here

 2      30
- lent to us while Brooks
is here; & as Ross was going
to Armentieres in it I
got him to take me.
It turns out that this
raid ws to have taken place
two nights ago - on June 5.
(Herbertson has bn away from the
mess for 2 days - so tt is where
he has been.) The Canadians
have done their raiding in some
cases without / help of a
bombardment - simply slipping
quietly into / German lines &
out again - & tt ws how we were
to have gone in this time. The
advantage of not having /
bombardment is tt you find
/ trenches exactly as they were,
and get in & out - if it is well
done - without the / enemy knowing.
Well the commanders of the
bns. o / 7^th Bde were

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asked to send in plans
for raids - & the 28 & 26^th
bns both chose / same point,
south o / rly line from Armentieres
where our patrols knew tt /
German wire ws bad. The
27^th & 25^th chose other points,
but it ws decided to carry out
this one.
A plan of the _^German trenches was, as
usual, dug out 8 ft deep
on some ground near the Bde
H.Qrs. at Chapel Armentieres,
& the attack ws thoroughly
practised. To lead it was chosen
Capt. Foss of the 28^th Bn,
a thorough good soldier - a young
chap whose people have a
big farm in Western Australia.
With him was Lt Phillips, a
South Australian, I think - &
2/Lt. _^RH Gill - a new scout officer &
two others, Capt. Caless (26^th Bn) &

2       32

2/Lt A. Brown. They were all
28^th Bn exc. Caless. On the
night of the 5^th they left our trenches
at 9.30 p.m. - went out in
double file over / parapet -
5 officers & 59 men - half o /
men from the 28^th & half from
the 26^th (then in billets) They
First went the scouts - Lt Gill,
Corporal & four others - in two
lines, 3 in each, keeping
very low in the grass - mostly
on hands & knees. (The
grass is long w / growth of
two years & is especially thick
just now w / new growth!)
Then _^at 10.15 came the assault party
in 5 lots - one to go up / fire
trench to / left right & one to block
/ left right commn trench (these
to go up & under L^t Brown); one
to go along / fire trench to / left
right & one to block a commn

2       33

trench there. (under Capt Caless).
Behind them ws / parapet
party wh ws _^to line lined / parapet &
ws to give / alarm if any
o / enemy were approaching
from their support lines.
Last ws / covering party
under Lt Phillips wh remained
just outside the wire & ws
to protect the flanks o / assaulting
& take back prisoners & close
up / rear when / party retired.
They were only to be 7
minutes in / enemy's trench.
Then a green light ws to be fired
& they were to return.
Gill & his scouts crept
to / enemys wire & began cutting
thro' it. It ws very bad
just here, old, & tied down
on stakes on no sort of plan.
Gill lay on his back & his
corp w his head towards / 

34
[Diagram - see original document]
Helmet in grey
blue cloth cover.

2      35

enemy & / wire across his
chest ; while his corporal lay
almost on top of him bi and
pressed / wire down.
They worked ahead into
/ last bits of wire just outside
/ enemys trench when
ahead of him Gill saw -
within 5 yards - the outline
of a fortified listening post.
It had a little parapet
raised abt 3 ft from / ground
& over it ws looking a man
in a spiked helmet.
The man in / helmet had
seen something, for he called
up two other men (or at any
rate they appeared) and looked
cautiously over / plates o /
listening post on either side
o / man in / helmet. They
had ordinary grey button
caps. 
[Diagram - see original document]