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?

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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

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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

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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 agn – 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.

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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 foundatns 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

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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 –

probly 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

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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

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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

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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

objections.

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.

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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 too rich for common

soldiers – strawberry, anything with

seeds in it – they cant manage

it - "

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