Charles E.W. Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/54/1 July August 1916 pt5

9

54

and yet / battle seemed too fierce

& fast for gas cylinders to be got safely

into position. Gas shells probably.

A little later Presently I

passed some transport sitting silently

on their horses, / waggons waiting for

something. "Road ahead being shelled ,"

I thought, "probably."

"Anyone going from here along /

road is to prepare for gas, " sd someone

What does tt mean? I wondered.

I asked if they had to put gas helmets

on – I had peered in / darkness

& cdnt make out if they had them

on or not.

"No – only keep them ready,"

they sd, " The French keep them inside 

their jackets."

I fumbled w mine & got it

out & ready to put on – & went on

down / hill.

I had had no experience 

as to whether when gas ws bad eno'

to put a helmet on for & when

it ws safe to go without. The hill

sloped down & as I went down

it it seemed to me tt I got

into a soft sweet aromatic

smelling air - was this ‘Gas?

9
55

There ws a dug out by / road w

a man in – P in / side of a 

cutting. Perhaps he knew. I

asked him if they had had gas there.

I cdnt make out his answer,

but it had to do w a sprained

ankle. He had bn told to take a 

pigeon basket back to 2nd British Bde

H.Q. in Contalmaison & he had sprained

his ankle & wanted to know what

to do.

The sprain I knew ws pure

funk. He ws afraid to go alone

in / shelling & / gas. I sd : Here

give me a hand o / basket
 & I 'll help you – " & we went

together.

As we got down / hill there

said ws no doubt we were

getting into gas – no doubt whatever.

Was it bad eno' for helmets. For

all I knew it might be doing a

deadly injury to ones lungs

 – so I decided to put / helmet

on. The man beside me sd. "Get

into this trench, Sir – " he evidently

knew a trench beside / road.

It seemed to me a bad place

for gas – a low trench – but

9
56

perhaps he knew. So I got into

/ trench & followed him – he knew

/ way - I had no idea of it.

In ones helmet it ws 

impossible to see – it ws almost

deadly dark. I cd just make

out / lurid flash of shrapnel

(or probly gas shell) on / other

side of / road – & it made me

hurry. I hadn't / ghost of an idea

what ws ahead or where I

was going.

I knew it ws a bad thing to

exert oneself in a gas helmet

but had forgotten. It brings on 

acute suffocation. I could 

hardly tear my breath in & 

out. The only thing ws to lie down

in / trench & rest till I got it 

agn. I knew I mustn't take /

helmet  off.

Really I thought then I was 

done. I didn't know / way. I 

seemed to be going into a 

shrapnel barrage. I didnt know 

if I shd ever get back my breath,

& I cdn't see & yet didnt dare

take off / helmet.

However – As I lay down

9
57

my breath came back , & the

road ws already better than the 

trench, there seemed to be some

transport moving along it.

So it must be moderately

possible to go along it. I 

clambered up onto it. The

first men tt passed me seemed

to have masks on like inquisitors;

but presently two came by w

no masks -  I tore mine

off at once. Clearly it ws not

bad eno' for a mask there.

My friend w / pigeons

came up to me w his

pigeon basket thrown away.

" That'll be alright," he sd.

I think I had to put on /

mask again – for I lost him

– But we were in / village

by now. A low tumbled 

foundatn cd be seen on ones 

right. A little later I saw a light

by / road side & turning / corner

to / right ws told by someone

standing there tt it was /

H. Q . o / 2nd British Bde,

Shells were bursting / other

side o / rd but not many.

9
58

I stumbled down abt 30 steps &

found a staff captain & asked him

if he cd tell me / way to the

3rd Australian Bde. He sd he

wd send a runner w me.

Presently a British despatch

runner came along & he took 

me w him.

The shells were fairly

thick but he sd tt they were all

bursting on / left hand side o /

road. We walked past half 

guessed house foundations till we

came to the road's end & then

turned to / left. There ws

one bad bit there (he told me.) to be

crossed.

Presently we found some

men sitting under shelter of

a broken house – a collapsed

house. There ws no shelter beyond

for 50 or 60 yds they sd, & after

tt one had / bank again.

The shells were simply raining

on / space in between – 4 & 5

shrapnel shell at a time from

Thiepval way. The pellets

were striking / road & knocking

fire out o / stones. Numbers of

9
59

shell just whizzed over / road

& exploded beyond.

There seemed to be no

chance of getting across just then

so we waited. I dont know if

it cd have been done w a

50 per cent chance.  I fancy from

what I have learnt since that

it could have been done w

perhaps only 20 per cent agst

one for it is marvellous how

men go thro those things. However

I decided to wait till it grew

lighter - I didn't really believe

it would – & I didnt know

what wd be / end of it –

probably to be wounded by some

shell falling on to us there

behind / house. Then gas shells,

clearly, fell & gas became

thick & I advised them to

put on their helmets – wh

they did – but they some of

them took them off again

and as they had no harm 

I did also.

The shrapnel at last

seemed to abate – it seemed

to me our chance - so we

9
60

I told my guide we'd run for 

it & we did. I beat him.

As we got to / other side shells

were showering overhead again

but some bank protected xx

us. There were a crowd of

men there 10 or 20 - someone

ws saying "He's killed" –

or "He's wounded" – someone

ws swearing at someone else,

 – the man who swore ws in

charge. Two or three gas shell

had just exploded & I

got two breaths of it & felt

sick. I put my helmet on

again, fumbling in / dark

"Where's 2nd Bde H.Q. ?" I

asked.

"There it is " sd someone

pointing to a foundatn of a

red brick bldg 10 feet away

across / road. Somehow in

my gas helmet I cd just see

it & blundered into / mouth

of it & found a long flight

of steps leading down to a 

very deep German dugout. 

I cd hardly believe tt /

end  o / adventure had

9
61

arrived. I stumbled downstairs

 – my torch helped me here  -

down 35 steps & then round

a corner to / left, up two

steps & past a curtain. & there

ws Gen. Maclagan sitting w

his whole staff w gas helmets

on as solemn as owls all

round / table - an extraordinary

scene.

I told  Maclagan who I was 

 – & as he had invited me there

they had to make room for

me. I dont think Tollemache

knew how warm things were

upstairs; for when I told them

I never thought I'd reach /

place he sd something abo in

Hindustani to / Brigadier abt

"Wallah" wh I expect meant

tt / "News - maker- man was

rather rattled" – or else tt

he "ws taking up all /

available elbowroom " anyway

9
62

of course I knew it referred 

to me . He's a decent chap but

they are funny beggars, these

British Officers & are rather

crude in / matter of their

objectives.

I began to write my

notes in my gas helmet

– & tt is where / notes on

this night begin – you can

tell it by / writing

Next morning at abt 6

a.m. I left abt same time as

Maj. Denton & someone else;

On / way we saw Jess – near

Casualty corner – w his

lot of xxxx the 7 Bn. in reserve.

Shells - 5.9s – were falling

all abt there in / ground

around Casualty corner o /

valley. I sd good bye to Jess

& went to Anzac & Amiens.

9
63

^x Becourt wood

when Dexter & I were

camping in a 

trench.

[*Really 4.2

I think

C.E.W.B.

29/10/21*]

Aug 2 – At one time in / night /

enemy was throwing broadcast big

5.9 shells – all over / wood ^x -

crashing thro / trees – none very 
close.

This morning as I woke I

heard two o / 13^th Bn men in / 

trench beside us (beyond our partition)

talking.
" I know what they were shooting

at last night, Bill. See them

sparrows in that fir tree!"
           

Discussion at present during preparation

for breakfast : "Something different

not plum & apple – get some

strawberry !"

"Aw - its to rich for common

soldiers – strawberry, anything with

seeds in it – they cant manage

it - "

"We ' ad it in the Peninsula----"