Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/179/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 1

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

Diaries and Notebooks
 

Item number: 3DRL606/179/1

Title: Notebook, 1915 - 1917
Includes references to the 9th, 36th, 42nd and
56th Battalions, 11th Infantry Brigade and
several Australian and British casualty clearing
stations.

AWM38-3DRL606/179/1
 

Original
DIARY NO. 179.
AWM38
3DRL 606 ITEM 179 [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 Sept., 1946.                   C. E. W. BEAN

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
 

36 Bns Ypres. (For Messines
 see memoir with diary)
56 Bn Polygon 
No 2 G.G.S.
Capt NR
[[?]] Plomley M.C.
c/o Mrs Wickham,
Woburn H. Hotel
Woburn Place
London.
_______________
179
Hand drawn diagram – see original
[[?]] Scott  [[?]] at
4 BN. Warminster NO
Lt. Mehan, 14 T Bn. Codford.

See Lt Hocking
36 Bn.
Write to 41 Bn to find offr of
9 Bn who captd T. guns on Ap. 25
 

2
It ws just aft the N & S
grid thro' 9 central.

59
3
The line of 51 Bn ws
inside Polygon Wood, &not
quite parallel to the irregular
western edge of it. ^X
Arrived there abt 4 a.m. in
positn & ready to S. of 55 Bn
& behind 53 Bn by 4 .45
Hand drawn diagram – see original

It ws quiet going up -
the going ws rough - Bns went
in up Glencorse Track. It ws
well marked up to a distance
E boundary of Nonne Boschen.
From there on it ws difficult to
 

59
4
find. Abt 5 a.m. the Germs.
laid down a searching tentative
barrage, but missed [[?]] Bn
& landed behind them.
53 Bn were on 54 Bns
old line & 54 Bn ws

withdrawn to rear to make
room - it caught some o9f
this barrage.
When our barrage came
on there ws a little mist -
& a man cd be seen at 30
yds. The ground ws dry & /
smake & dust made an
opaque wall ahead - one got
right up to / mound before one

saw it. The dust ws tt of 18 pdr HE
& shrapnel, & / smoke of bursting
shell. The dust ws so thick tt
you cd not notice / individual
 

59
5
bursts except / shrapnel puffs
on / edge of it.
There ws to be a speeding up
for 5 mins before, but it ws getting
heavy for some time before; &
some were anxious lest this shld
be the real barrage. There ws no
doubt when it started - 3 or 4
mins late.
Coys.  /D/A/B/C ^→
 

Frontages 2 plns.
Practically each section commdr.
had his section under him &
round him. But In going forwd
as a mass to catch / barrage
there were no gaps.
There were 3 mins to get up
under / barrage. They got right
under it.
[Bn H Qrs J 9[[?]] 1.6.]
 

59
6
You cd not tell when / barrage
went ahead except by getting
up into it. This ws because
o / dust & smoke hiding /
bursts.
For / first ^half o / advance they were
able to go at a quick march
without stopping ^at all - & they did
not get into barrage. There
ws no oppositn during the
first half. A few Germs in
small shelter dugouts & in Butte.

The objve of 53 Bn took in / Butte
& / smoke shells were clearly
visible from 60 to 100 yds E. of
the Butte. There ws no noticeable
fighting at / Butte; but in a NE
directn abt 120 yds away from a
tree wh had bn an observation
post there seemed to be coming
m.g. fire - tt ws / only place
 

59
7
wh cd be identified w the
origin o / sound. The easing o / 
barrage (it ws / 18 pdrs / infantry
noticed) ws not sufficient to
remark.
56 Bn reorganised between
53 Bn & the barrage - 53 Bn
digging in on either side o / 
Butte. No Germ. shelling noticed
during reorganising but a Germ.
plane flew up & down 3 or 4
times not more than 100 ft up.
How he missed / shells ws a
marvel - the men cd be seen
looking over - / atmosphere ws
so hazy tt it ws hard to say
if it ws a German or an English
plane.
The Bn ws organised in groups
under N.C.Os & offrs - Coys were
thoroughly mixed by then. The movement
after / barrage in practice worked
 

8
Hand drawn diagram – see original
 

59
9
out as a crowd of men following
/ barrage with NCOs at intervals
hanging onto / men around them.
Capt Smythe on centre noticed
oppositn only on / rt flank o /
attack - by Jetty Juniper Wood. There
were 2 P/Bs there.
There ws no informatn abt
the holding up of 8 Bde - but
it ws seen tt they were not
up on / right.
The Juniper Trench system is
beyond the little creek wh
flows SE of the Butte into
Polygonbeck.
The trenches of Jetty Wood
System run abt 60 yds E
of crest of slight ridge E of
Butte. Beyond this is is creek &
 

59
10
beyond this again the bank
rises more steeply, so tt
Juniper Wood overlooks
the lower ground to W.
There were also 2
P/Bs inside the V of the two
creeks wh first held up
the flank. All this ground
ws outside the 56 Bn
area but had to be tackled
by it.
Our objve ws 50 to 100
yds beyond Jetty Trenches.
In the centre the line got
across the creek onto
the far side of it abt 10 B 6.6.
The Germs at this pt were
firing from a P/B thro /