Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/165/1 - May - September 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL606/165/1
Title: Notebook, May - September 1917
Includes diary entries for 25-28 September 1917
and contains references to the 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th,
and 12th Battalions, Menin Road, Bullecourt and
Polygon Wood.
AWM38-3DRL606/165/1

Specimen of A.G.W.
A.G.W.
Several O.Ps for 10 Bn
REPORTERS'
R. 45 165
Original
DIARY NO. 165
AWM38   3DRL 606 ITEM 165 [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 those 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 Sept., 1946.        C. E. W. BEAN
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN 

1
Gallipoli:
Neligan ws out at Knife Edge
during summer & found tt it ws
unoccupied at night. He wanted
Birdwood to occupy it -
also Twin trenches. But they 

didnt.

45 - 14.30

P65
2
20 Sept. 8 & 6 BNS.
[* [[shorthand]] afternoon shelling
on 6B very heavy*]
Scores.
Smoke barrages seen.
Their water would be full of coffee.
Jargon.
8 battalion and guns
Lt Rauert _^ 6 Bn. 1¼ hrs before zero.
while behind D Coy & trying
to get touch with 11 Bn
_^ in Nonne Bosschen (150 yds gap) when he saw a
man strolling behind him. He
called to him "are you the 11^th Bn."
The man didn't answer.

The Germ Rauert stooped down
& saw his Dolly Varden agst
the sky. He asked motioned to a scout
who ws w him - rag in his
rifle, no bayonet, cover on
trigger. Scout went on
guard & told Germ. to put
hands up. He wdnt. R.
went to him w revolver -
He put up one hand then -
they growled at him. Then
other hand went up. He 

45
3
ws taken off to rear grumbling
at being pushed into / mud.
(Red flares were going up
all the time for ¾ hr before).
2 more Germans were captd,
got 100 yds further left in the
bog. The first German must
have seen our men coming
up. The 6th ws in shellholes
on the tapes, but other bns
were coming up all / time.
The Tommies had taken
Crimea Post, in front of
our rt. It ws held by
1st Bde & evacuated a 
few mins before the stunt.
In those few mins the
Germs. got in & put a
m.g. there, because they
were k. there later.
The 8 Bn saw one gun

45
4
on their left front in
Polygon Wood, rt of
Butte, on back slope of
hill - being taken away
by a team under v. heavy
shellfire.
Another gun on /
Reutelbeek continued to
fire point blank on 8 Bn
until they got heavies
onto it.
One German concrete dugout seemed to have
surrendered - x men were standing abt it in easy
attitudes when / m. gunner turned his gun onto
Lieut. Erris (8 Bn). He missed Erris, put his hands up,
xxxxxx Erris shot him - this happened whenever Gs. fought.
They were brave enough.
We know the Germans expected
an attack at 4.30 (their time &
ours are / same at / moment) 

45
5
10 Bn ws to line up just
behind old British line
in 8 c. & 14 a. - They
actually were on it, within
less abt 50 yds of 12 Bn -
tucking in tail to avoid
shelling.
This shellfire - shortbarrage -
started abt 4.20 for abt
5 mins; then abt 5.20
down came a persistent
& heavy barrage (for Germans)
Surprisingly few men were
lost. But tail Coys wh
had met gas by Zouave
Wood abt 2 hrs before
& some more after passing
thro' Chateau Wd, across
rd from Hooge. 

45
6
There ws a lot of congestn
on way up - one of 7 Bde
Bns got a bit across them.
The schedule times for crossings
were not adhered to owing
to start being made on spur
of moment (ordered from above)
owing to rain. They had
abt 10 000 yds to go from
Cafe Belge. 

The Bn lay in sections
in file on the tape & some
coys led tt kept this
formation to 3rd objve.
The 2 assault (storm troop) coys
had bn trained by Neligan
on exactly same lines as
his old Fleurbaix Raid coys
(& in same farm house
near Sailly, pinched from
56 Divn - who were very 

45
7
good to them). The other
2 Coys were clubbed & called
No 1 & No 2.
The shelling disorganised
Nos 1 & 2 Coys (mopping up
& Carrying coys) a bit.
Cornish adjt. was sent back
to reorganise them & did
it splendidly. Neligan went
on / post nearly an hour
before fight.
(N thinks decision to
go on was wisest the troops
having once started)
It ws probly too dark to
see the tanks. They seemed
very noisy. There ws some
m.g. fire on rt - sounding
like a test. The W Yorks
sounded rather noisy, revolver
shots etc - goodness knows
what started it. Coloured flares 

45
8
were going up, but these
go up every night.
The slow barrage gave
those Coys _^ of units wh were late
a chance of reorganising
& ws invaluable. It ws
too late to organise by
daylight before started.
{28 Bn ws one which blocked.
Gas shells near Hooge -
men Hooge, men had
to put on helmets &
carriers to put down
bundles.)
After start ever blockhouse
has someone alive in it.
They genly fought &
were done in - some
were used as s.bs 

45
9
(The M.O. got a Germ. WO who fell
in some of them & they
carried well)
In Sunken Rd in
Glencorse Wood the most
serious oppositn.
The Germs got m.gs.
bombs revolvers going.
Neligan cd see things
sticking there - so sent
up Xa pln from one
of crack Coys under Lt Leaver.
He ws shot w revolver
thro head - when he
had already reached
the German side of it
& ws right on the
emplacement when he ws
k. This Pln w the 11 Bn
& perhaps bits of 12^th
went made & 20 dead men