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

we there. It was interesting to

see in / dark high barn

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 Examination, I suppose.
We afterwds got some

photos of Australians in 

their billets.

When we got home, at

lunch, as I was getting into /

car, Boyd, once my colleague

on the G.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.

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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 of / way. There has long been
a party tt wants to get him

out of / 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 / paper
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 / "Dail Mail"

sd? "I can't stand this rag - 

took at / way it picks on

some controversy because it

wants to sling mud & puts

it all across / page" - that

is the Dall Mail.

June 7^th Turned Books

over to Ross today - 

thank goodness. You can't
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 connection 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

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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 bear of  it?"

he said - "I would have both

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.

Te prisoners are coming

up here for examination,

& Butler is not going

down there. But luckily

we have the G.H.Q car here

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- 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 the 

bombardment is tt you find
/ trenches exactly as they were,

and get in & outg - if it is well

done - without the (enemy knowing.

Well the commanders of the

bnos. 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 live from Armenteries

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 _^Germans 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 (28^th Bn) &

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2/Lt A. Brown. They were all
28^th Bn exc. Caless. On the
night of the 5^th they left our trenches

at 9.30pm - went out in

double file over /  parapet - 

5 officers & 59 ern - 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 Lt 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 / 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/f Assault

& take back prisoners & close

up / rear when / part retired.

They were only to be 7

minutes in the 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
(Hand drawing in original)
Helmet in grey
blue cloth cover.

2      35

enemy & / wire across his

chests while his corporal lay
almost on top of him bi and

pressed / were 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.