Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/163/1 - 1915, 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/163/1

Title: Notebook, 1915, 1917
Includes references to the 4th Battalion, Lone
Pine and Broodseinde.
AWM38-3DRL606/163/1 

4 BN
Lone Pine 

and
163
ws howies
Original
DIARY NO. 163
AWM38
3DRL 606 ITEM 163 [1]
DIARIES AND NOTES OF C.E.W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918
THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But apart from these terms, I wish the following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half-asleep; also, not infrequently what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.
 These records should therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what their author, at the time of writing believed. Further, he cannot, of course vouch for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sep., 1946.                   C. E. W. BEAN
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN

1
Hand drawn diagram – see original document
6       2
4 Bn
Lone Pine
and
4 Bn. Oct 4.
2 Bn ws holding
trench. Other 3
Bns assembled
in & forwd of 
2 Bn line.
Lt Barnes Bde 10
& I0s of Bn.
(scout corporal
of 4 Bn, I.O.
having bn
wd day before)
put out
tapes.
4 Bn had no
suspicion of 
German attack.
None of C Os had[[?]].
The impression ^ws tt / barrage at
5.30 had bn caused by our 

6                             3
assembly being seen. The
party with 4 Bn H.Q. ws fired
on for ¼ hr w rifle & m.g. &
also shells. They took refuge
behind a P/B. This wd be
abt 4.30 a.m. That quietened
down - but it looked as if /
party had bn seen on Jabber
Track.

In the 5.30 barrage 2 Coys
(the two rear coys) lost 20 to
30 each. The front Coys pressed
forwd & escaped it.
Two offrs of one coy, Lts Bennet. M.C. (Demicourt)
& Irvine were both hit imd.
after our barrage came down
by part of this German
barrage.

4 Bn following 3 Bn met 

6                            4
/ Germans in the little village of
P/Bs on / top o / hill. On the
right there ws scrubby country
abt these - & germans around
them. At 6.30 these dugouts
were still full of Germans,
& Germans were standing by their
m.gs. at these places.

Even 20 mins after Zero
the Germs here were shooting
up distress signals from these.
When H.Qrs. 4 Bn arrived there
they found a German putting 
up distress signals from / bottom
o / stairs. It looked as if there
ws an awkward fight going on
but there people were simply
waiting. In the P/B taken 

6                             5
by 4 Bn is a HQrs. When
the C.O. & Scottish liaison offr.
went into it there were
a number of Germans in it
& an offr. whom they passed
up the stairs.
On top o / ridge amongst
these dugouts were a number
of recently dug trenches, apptly
dug during the night. qt
probly the German troops
occupying them had taken
refuge in P/Bs - in each ws
either a rifle or digging tool
or a wd man.
The left of 3 Bn objve ws
on the W. hillslope - their rt
ws on / crest where / P/Bs
were - 

6                       6
The two leading Coys, A - B
went on thro' / barrage.
The C.O. sent them messages
to say he didnt believe it but
to come back if they had. (A
3 Bn offr. sd it ws so). The
runners went thro.
 A Coy Capt Judge sd he wdnt
have time to get back. They
were not having casualties
& he wd stay in shellholes
& risk it; Maj. Brown
had already come back.
 They went on for 2 reasons
(1) to chase Germans who were
running there (2) Not seeing
the protective barrage &
following the creeping one.
 A m.g. xx ws firing on
B Coy while it waited on 

6                         7
1st objve. Sergt MacAuley
took his L.G. team thro the
barrage, worked round
these Germs & cleared them
out.
As they Bn went over / crest
it ws liable to be sniped from
the right, & later when it
ws consolidating Lt Hart & several
Sergts were sniped there.
Between the two objves
a Lance Corpl. Symington
came on some Germs. in one o / 
hedges . He shot one - the other
two tackled him. He shot one
but ws wd. The other grappled
w him. Symington struggled free
& shot him.
The main road ws abt ½ way
& the tram ws just before / 

6                             8
objve; so Bn knew very well
where it was. This ws easily
located, & a new trench ws dug
in good ground. The plateau ws
not much cratered at this
time. There ws a lot of old
German wire & some o / trenches
were sighted sited so as
to keep this as an obstacle.
There ws a good view.
There were Germs in Justice
Copse. They sniped from front
& right.
[From H.Q. they cd see Becelaere
& the top of the Keiberg].
There ws nothing approaching
a c/attack. Throughout the
4^th ws in touch with 1st &
2nd Gordons (20 Bde). The 4^th Bn
had been in O.G. 1 at Bullecourt
when 9 Bn bombed thro them 

6                            9
& met the Gordons.
After consolidatn the carrying
parties suffered heavily in
the swamp behind. For the
first day the bulk of firing
was with whizzbang on the
ridge - heavies more behind.
Movement on / plateau ws
always sniped - it ws a
matter of rushes to get to /
trenches always.
C.T.s were started but when
it rained (as it did) no one
used them; they went overland
& chanced snipers.
K. Bennett  }
Irvine            }as mentioned
Davenport  } 
Power, by shell betw 1st & 2nd
objve.