Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/178/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks
Item number: 3DRL606/178/1

Title: Notebook, 1915 - 1917
Includes references to the 7th, 17th, 34th, 35th,
47th, 48th, and 55th Battalions, 14th
Machine-Gun Company, Quinn's Post,
Messines, Bullecourt, Polygon Wood, Menin
Road and Passchendaele.
AWM38-3DRL606/178/1
 

Original
DIARY NO. 178.
AWM 38
3DRL 606 ITEM 178 [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
2
_________________
The last night at Quinns
[[s?]] made very active w
[[ombs?]] - & as our men & Goddard
[[nd?]] off down / empty valley they
[[???]] Germ Turks bombing
away, [[???]] Turks were reported massing in the
Bloody Angle. xxxxx Two men were sent by Goddard up as far as they cd go
in / Bloody Angle but they cd see nothing - by the noise
the Ts had gone into Quinns. A scout from Divn. was
lent for / Bloody Angle. Patrol that night. A
patrol went there every night
We had no wire there - only
the scrub. Goddard ws / last C.O. up there.
The final pty went at 3.20 a.m. Of course
all thought there ws no chance at all.
Goddard met Mackenzie from Popes in / Valley - &
20 Bn on Russell's Top. The men were very
sick at / time. The bombers had bn chosen
for the last party at Quinns.
Quinns. Lt Farquhar Engineers ws
working at / mining at Quinns from nearly
/ first to / last - night w / evacuation. He
ws to have blown the two deep 1300lb mines
there but Birdie forbad it.
Messines
And Sept 20.
Remember tt in the great
Battle of Sept 20 (as at
Messines) the thing tt we
we all looking for & anxious
about, ws / German c-attack.
The system had bn ^immensely successful
& ws regarded as having tt
mysterious rather awe- inspiring
force wh attaches to things only
heard of - until familiarity
destroyed the illusion.
2     
14 M.G.Coy
[[?]] 47 48 Bns
14 M G Coy
Ypres
Polygon
Bulleccourt
17th Quinns
34, 35 Bn Ypres
55 Bn 53 Bn Ypres
178
On 19/20
ws on barrage in front of
Bellevarde.
On 20 Sept. came up in advance of Glencorse
Wood w 8 guns & reld 3 m.g. coy.
On 24 Sept remaining 8 guns of Coy
came up to a strong post in Glenc. Wd
to be in reserve for / attack.
On 25 Sept there ws a violent bombt
all day.
On 26 Sept at 1.30 a.m. the 8 attacking
guns moved from their positn & took
up an attacking positn in / infantry
assembling in our front line.
During this assembly / Germs
opened very heavily at abt 4a.m. but
ws shooting just over.
At 5.45 bombt began. The
infry went over at once. The guns
were in / first wave just behind /
 

3
 Pozieres.
Before going S. to Pozieres the
1st Divn (& so probably all other
Divns) understood tt they were to
be kept for a big operation at
Messines & were, I believe, asked
to consider or practice or reconnoitre
- anyway to take some action
in view of it.
Within a few days of their
receiving / order it ws entirely
altered - & they were off at
short notice for / Somme.
2
4
moppers up. 4 of The guns were to stop
on red line where bombt stopped
45 mins.
The remaining 4 were to go on
to the Blue line. (The guns are
now simply placed in shell holes
& then in / infy positn so as
not to make a positn obvious
to aeroplanes).
There ws very little trouble
in either advance.
The second gun from / left went
up the road towds / cemetery & put his
gun in / cemetery; anoth (this
ws later blown out); another ws
100 yds further left; one ws on
the top of the Butte; & one 150 yds
rt o / Butte. Later a captd German
gun ws brought into action on the
Butte & manned by ^spare men of other
crews.
The other 4 were distributed along
 

2
5
the Bde frontage - in the shell holes.
At 5 p.m. from the Butte were
seen dense masses of Germans advancing
from the rt front. in the flat.
The Vickers & the German gun on the
Butte mowed these fellows down.
Later the gun on / right saw them
& simply swept them down. The
Germans came like chaps coming from
a football match. S O S went up
and our arty got them. They were
abt 350 yds to 450 yds from Butte.
That aftn 4 of the reserve guns
were brought up to reinf. the defence.
One ws on the Butte, one between
Butte & rt gun on Blue line;
2 in front line.
Nothing more happened till
abt dawn Sept 27^th.
Abt 50 Germans were seen. apptly
lost, making towds the rt gun in /
front line. Two of the rt guns wh
 

6
Hand drawn diagram – see original document
⇡
small entrance
A German sniper laid
onto this from rt
flank & hit a lot of
men.
2
7
cd see very well opened on them.
Abt 75 per cent were casualties. The
rest scattered - (these were abt 150
yds away) The Germs seemed lost.
The Butte had a field of view of
abt 400 yds. There ws no
trace of German positns on /
top o / Butte.
The guns were reld on / night
of 30/1 - by a m.g. coy of the 7th
English Divn. (22nd m.g.coy).
The ^14 m.g. coy had 54 casualties
mostly in supp positns in rear
on carrying pties.
2/Lt Maughan ws killed, in a shell
hole just behind a P/B in front line; on Sept 28.
Capt Dick ws sniped going out
to find his body, & d. of w. later.
2/Lt Hill ws wd on 25 Sept before
the attack. The 14 m.g.coy won in this
/ M.C., 2 D.C.Ms., 2 .M.Ms.
Lieut Tufnell.
 

8
Hand drawn diagram – see original document
 ^↑
Sergt Lovell on
this gun earned a M.M.
Also No 1 on the gun Pte Lindeburg.
2
9
The Germ. c-attack on Sept 26.
The Germs were first seen
appearing in the ^low scrub half
right from the Butte abt 400
yds away. They were coming
forward pretty thick along
three breaks or tracks in the
scrub, making apptly for their
front line trench wh ws abt 50
yds ahead o / trench wh ws
occupied. This German trench
seemed to be like the rear of a
small embankment. The Germs
had to go abt 15 yds to get from
the scrub into their trench.
We had marked several positions
& had / range of them. As soon
as they got to the breaks in / scrub
the gun wd open on them.
A great number were knocked
over. For 2 or 3 hours on end
they kept trying to come up &
 

2
10
reach their trench. They wd
try & get into the trench between
bursts, running across the open.
A fair number reached / trench.
They were too disorganised to
make any further attack from
this trench.
An artillery observation offr
ws up there too, & he got the
arty on - 6 in hows - & this
disorganised them. They often broke
back from / trench into / scrub.
The movement ceased just before
dusk.
On Sept 27 /28 abt 3 in the
aftn the Germs attacked the Bde
on / right - it looked like a
lot of 300 to 500 men. An offr of
53rd Bn put the sergt onto it at a
range of 1200 yds. The attack didnt
come off tt night but / party making
it seem to have bn taken prisoners
 

9a
_____
7^th Aus Bn.
24/12/17.
7 Bn Ypres.
Dear Capt. Bean,
On making
enquiries I find there is a little
difference in the detail regarding
the officer casualties of 4/5th Oct last.
Will you amend these following to
read: - 
Banks           Oct 4Shell during consolidation
Hambrook M   "      Shell on tape line
                                   during barrage
     "        R            "     Shell prior to move
                                    to assembly position.
Fears             Oct 4 M.G. during advance
                                    to 2nd objective
[[Hollyboke?]] Oct 4 M/G  Broodseinde Rd.
                                      during advance to 2^nd Objective
Anderson C    Oct 4 Shell during
                                       advance but prior to
                                       reaching 1^st Objective
Dear                  Oct 4 Sniper, during
                                       consolidation.
Wishing you the compliments of
the season
Kindest regards
Yours sincerely
E E Herrod Lt -Col.
 

11
※ All these Germans had a
shiny object on their chests (wh
seemed to be armour or something
like it). On / Southern side you
cd see into the Gully.
2
12
/ follg mg.
The escort cd be
seen taking them back after the
disturbance - at first it ws
tho looked from the Butte as
if they had broken thro'. ^※
During / whole time there
were targets in pties (apptly
fatigue or ration pties) moving
about especially on / rt flank.
The German planes were
very active sniping onto our
positns - also / sniper
above mentioned. The German
arty got the range of the Butte -
(a heavy gun from / extreme right)
the night the 14 m.g. coy ws reld.
___________________________
Bullecourt: When 54 Bn ws
attacked Lt ^A.T. Brown D.C.M. had 4 guns
in the front Hindenburg line, one abt
40 yds from the right - & these guns
largely saved the situation. He only
had 2 guns at / end. He used to let
/ Germs come up pretty close before shooting.