Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/18/1 - October 1915 - Part 5

36
it is golden. We saw it in Australia 
when he reported on our defence system.
He made a few straight criticisms but
then took all / force out of them by sav
administering them w a lot of such
very nice things about ourselves tt
we were all bucked up & proud of
ourselves when he ought to have made
us act. He sd tt the centralisatn o / 
War Office at its very worst never
equalled / centralisatn of our Defence
Dept - but he mixed in such a lot
of kind flattery w it tt no one ever
took any notice of him. I thought
this at / time - & it ws / same in
N.Z.
Here, when things were at their
worst -after May 6,7,8 - when / plan of
going straight ahead over Achi Baba
ws clearly ^proved impossible or possible only
to a v. much greater force he had not
/ strength either to give tt plan up x
try Suvla  – or to tell / War Office tt
/ plan must be given up - at least so
far as I know he hadn't / strength to
say so. The British public certainly
ws utterly deceived as to / difficulties
& / obvious failure - Hamilton ws
 

GALLIPOLI HONOURS.
2/55.
LONDON, March 14.
The following honours and promotions
have been conferred in connection with
the evacuation of Gallipoli:- Knight
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael
and St. George, Lieut. General Monro;
Knight Commander of the same Order.
Major-General F.J. Davies; Companions
of the same Order, Colonel Robert Tudway,
Major H. E. Street,of the Artillery,
Major A.J. McNalty, of the Army Service
Corps, and Major C.F. Aspinall, of
the Munster Fusiliers; Knight Commanders
of the Order of the Bath, Major
General Aitham, Major General Byng
and Major General Godley; Companions
of the same Order, Lieut.-Colonel G.F.
MacMunn and Lieut.-Colonel C. B.
White, both of the Australian Force. To
be Major-Generals Colonel Walter Campbell
and Lieut.-Colonel A. Lynden Bell.
Reuter's Special
 

 37
all this time, I believe, influenced
by the precious Hunter Weston whose
plan this ws supposed to be. Hamilton ws
said to be on / worst of terms w his
chief of staff, but not a word of this
appears in his despatches - only
fulsome flattery of this egregious
snob a man whom / army looks
on - in spite of his staff college educn - as
chiefly notable for an egregious snobishness.
There were, I believe, all sorts of
difficulties w Maxwell in Egypt
who controls / communcatns there,
& at times open enmity w / navy.
Nevinson used to say tt this campaign
cd only end in one way, a war between
/ army & / navy. Not a suspicion
of all this appears in Hamiltons
despatches. Those monuments of
exquisite style have nothing but / highest
praise & appreciation for every one of
these.
It is part of / same weakness of
character - & perh. partly / British
hatred of anything like a scandal - "Shocking!"
- tt has caused men in this expeditn
to be promoted removed by being kicked up-stairs
not down. To remove a man ^colonel from GHQ you
make him a brig find some job.
 

38
in / fighting force for him & promote him
to brigadier genl - & send him pleasantly
away. It is a most fatal aptitude
this of gilding the pill and Hamilton
w his beautiful style in literature,
& kind gentlemanly manners is
hopelessly weakened by it - poor old
chap.
For it is a tragedy. He, an old
man, & an old soldier, at / end of
his career to be suddenly removed
from command after a long bitter
campaign. I've little doubt it is
right - but it is a pity that
the reason why it has been done now
is not the right reason. There is a
very grave crisis in our affairs just
now; what has happened is tt, for /
first time in / war people have found
tt / little states wh want to desert be
on / strongest side have decided that
it is worth their while to throw in their
lot w – Germany. They clearly
think Germany is winning - in
spite of all our promises, in spite
of their people believing in our cause (for
it is popular in Greece Bulgaria &
 

 21. Dedeagatch bombarded by 2 [[shorthand]] Theseus.
 

39
Roumania) they have now suddenly
come to their momentous decision as
to who is winning this war - &
their decision is - Germany. That
is what hurts. Someone has got to
go - the people are talking & getting
impatient - the politician (as he
always does) is looking about to
save his skin - & so he throws
overboard Sir Ian Hamilton.
The man who is really responsible,
so far as Britain is concerned,
for the things fo thro' wh this has happened
is not Sir Ian Hamilton but Sir
Edward the mutton headed Sir Edward
Grey. It was not Grey who bungled
our position at Constantinople
- Lowther & Mallet did that by
taking sides against, the young Turks
when our whole nation Empire actually
believed we were for them - indeed
by taking sides at all. They were
like putty in the hands of a man like
Bieberstein.
Hamilton has been ruled by his
 

40
staff & he has had a bad staff. The
man who really runs the expedition
& does not pretend otherwise is Maj.
Gen. Braithwaite, Chief of Genl. Staff.
"Oh why ask Hamelton? - you know
what he is," he sd to Capt. Maxwell
in reference to some problem for solution
"- always lends his ear to the last
speaker -" which ws probably exactly
what M. wanted him to do nevertheless.
Hamilton Braithwaite ws a man who only had
time for blue blood or some sort of
imitation of it – Malcolm Ross
succeeded in found him quite friendly
when he disclosed in conversation The
fact tt he, Ross, had amongst his
acquaintance sundry earls, lords
& others with handles to their names.
The staff rather reflected this. There was
no strong man seeing that it all did
it's work. It certainly, some of it,
looked on its lot as a forlorn billet
as eminently desirable - comfortable,
not over worked - for war time -, not over strenuous,
well paid. The arragon portion of it
was the outstanding scandal in this
way - the slack inefficient self indulgent
office holders who lived comfortably on
 

the ship (for wh, Maxwell tells me, the
nation is paying at the rate of
£160,000 per annum) whilst our
Australian nurses & surgeons of the
Great No 3 Genl. Hospital were
living on / hard ground (/ nurses in
tents, / doctors under deck chairs)
fo and / patients in / open air
within a mile of them. The equipment,
I believe, ws available - but /
hospital had to struggle thro' without
it afte all thro' / bad days
after / great battle of August 6 - 10
- because / Arragon ws reserving it
for some other hospitals. I believe huts
or / timber for them, are at this
 

41
moment urgently needed by / big
Australian Hospital (wh is under
/ Arragon's tutelage) are available
now - but are being kept for some
British hospital wh has not yet
left for turned up. The Arragon ws
wallowing in ice at a time when /
typhoid & other fever patients in our
hospitals ashore cd not get even
Bovril - only Bully beef & biscuits,
& when / warships by sending each
a little ice daily to / hospitals, &
small luxuries, saved / situation.
Hamilton has not had much
help with these hogs to support him
- I believe ^Gen. Alston o / Postal Dept. is
a brilliant exception. Tyrrel o /
Intelligence is a keen sincere man &
there are other good brains but as a
whole I am quite unimpressed
w G.H.Q. & its ways. Neither has
Hamilton ever bn given / ammunition
to play with which Generals in France
have used for preparing their advances.
 

42
Oct. 21. Dedeagatch was bombarded
today by 2 monitors & the Theseus.
Oct. 22. Wd have gone to Helles. But
a Northerly gale is blowing so
fierce tt Lawrence & I decided
to put it off. The day has bn
dry wet & cold - a thin driving
rain.
Birdwood is here temporarily
in Command o / Expedition,
I believe he has created a bit of
a sensation at G.H.Q. by
holding up some o / costly
preparations for their winter
quarters, tho this may be
pure gossip. The men in all
/ trenches are going wet for
want of a single sheet of galvanised
iron. G.H.Q. is putting about
20 sheets of iron onto each of /
latrines for itself & its batmen.
Oct. 23. Saturday. Came to
Anzac after a wild passage in
 

Trench map 6, Anzac.
 

43
a trawler thro' a half gale - the
deck swilling w water all / time.
There are some changes at
Anzac.
(1) On Walkers Top we have
broken out in / night a new front
trench betw. nos 3 & 5 saps,
much closer to / enemy. They
blew up a mine near it, & as
usual failed (they blew up one
under their own trench on hill 60
/ other day; also one near their
own trench at Chathams Post.) They
did blow in a gallery of our at
one point in / Peninsula and
entombed 5 men, but after
being given up for lost for 3 days
these 5 cut their way out, unharmed).
(2) The T. patrols seem more active
down / gully betw. Quinns Popes
& Walkers. We have a small trench
at Hinton's Post, & a barricade a