Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/50/1 - July 1916 - Part 2

63  13

that the Germans are getting
many new guns up - Some
from Verdun (After all, tt is one
object of our fighting this battle),
They only were supposed to have
about 1 battery of 8 inch
guns but now they have many
more, he thinks.
We have had abt 100,000
casualties & we are not yet
at our objective, he says, &
the next push will be pretty
critical .
It makes one feel - this 
sort of talk - tt if only we
cd push off and assault
their second time now, it
all wd be w a big prospect
of success;  but if we
take day after day in

63  14
approaching it closely eno'
to attack it the Germans
will be making it so strong
all / time tt it will be
a fearful obstacle.
It is thought our Anzac 
troops &  some very fine
divns, such as the 3rd &
1st, are for this job - tho'
its not certain whether 4^th
Army or Reserve Army get
us yet, I believe.  The odds
are in favour of 4^th Army.
They are both most pleasant-
in fact some o / Englishmen
(for Smythe is an Englishman)
on / staff think they are
each very anxious to get
us.  We may go in agst

63  15
……………. within a day or two I believe.
Well, if we do I hope tt it will be
in a night attack.  they are sure to rely on
machine guns dug in behind the lines to stop troops
getting past their front line.  Also nomansland is sure to
be ? long in parts.  Well m.gs. cannot go
pooping off all night exploding belt after belt
in the blind hope of hitting somebody.  If we attack
at night as we did in Gallipoli
all our successful attacks were night attacks
Landing, August 6/7, the most successful fights
in all the history of the campaign there & the finest
feat our army has accomplished and even the
evacuation were night affairs.  If we can do it
with the bayonet only in the dark, I believe we may
do it
Had a passage of 
arms tonight.  Smyth for
some reason can't stand

63    16
Bazley (who has the better
brains of the two really) &
being an irritable little
chap he has bn on to him
all day.  Bazley ws waiting
at the mess & I know he
doesnt shine as a waiter,
though he does his best. I
dont want him to shine as
a waiter.  Smyth is very
irritable & sd that he "had
a horror of the boy" (So 
Smith tells me) - wh simply
means tt / little chaps 
judgement is not worth taking.
Smith & I both told him the
boy ws / best chap in camp
- one o / best in the first
Division.

63    17
Then old Seys (who is a 
British regular gunner
of very strong views & very
contemptuous of the new
Army & especially of
Australians - & very ignorant
on some points & rather lazy)
began his usual moan
about the Australians.
Smythe _^(who is an Anglo - N.Zealander) irritated me by
joining in - yes their harness
was dirty, they didnt clean
their bits - etc They were
out in the streets too late last
night, Seys heard one man
"making indecent proposals"
to some landlady etc etc
I blurted out, "Well in 
fact the Anzac Corps is so putrid

63    18
that I wonder some of
you fellows belong to it " -
(because we certainly dont
want them if they dont want
us - we'd much rather
have our own people).
That caused a sudden
concentration of attention
on the point.  It was only
the officers fault Seys sd -
indeed he ws quite ready to
half capitulate.  But Smythe
wasnt.  He sd clean
harness ws a matter of 
discipline - soft harness
a matter of efficiency for /
horses, but bright bits a 
matter of discipline.
I sd tt it ws unessential
& tt / Australian wd never

63    19
be easily trained to those
unessentials.  Of course the
Englishman will because he
is afraid of his officer - stands
in awe of him as an
acknowledged Superior being
of a different class, But
/ Australian does not stand
in tt sort of awe of his officer
because he is of the same
class as his officer - there
is no social difference,
Therefore that motive doesnt
work w him to / same extent,
but in place of it you get
the intelligence o / whole
force (& / whole nation)
at work, & not only of the
officer class.
Secondly I admit

63    20
there is a virtue in smartness
& cleanness.  The Australian
is personally clean -
Smythe knew tt - & tt there
ws no comparison between
/ personal cleanliness
of our men in Gallipoli
& tt o / Tommies. But
he asked: "Why is it our
battalions here often look
dirty & untidy, wdn't
it be better if they looked
neat?"
[ I often feel / same - I
wish they did.  Its partly
their old Australian tunics
wh are no longer issued but
to wh they cling on at all
costs in order to even when
almost disreputable in order

63    21

to avoid going into a 
British tunic.  The feeling is
extraordinarily strong - &
I have it, too, to the full.
I hate seeing them go into
/ British tunic.  It seems to
be / hallmark of a different
being - a more subservient
less intelligent man. ]
I said that, as Smythe
knew, the whole tendency
in Australia is against
being neat or careful w
your clothes.  The "nut" is
despised & not looked up
to - the public opinion is
against great care being
devoted to a man's personal
appearance, as being unessential, 
& is all in favour of whatever

63    22
is essential.  And if
untidiness is a vice,
at any rate this need regard
for essentials is _^a very valuable
quality.  The British solider
is apt to carry the regard
for dress & unessentials
to a most vicious
extreme.
I think Little Smyth
half agreed with me - he's
a nervy little man but not 
a bad little sort.  But
if this sort of attitude keeps
up I shall leave the mess.
Smith, Griffiths, Herbertson
& I cd have a very nice
mess of our own!
the 1st Bde wh ws in