Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/60/1 - September - October 1916 - Part 7

11   66
the head. He was carried
afterwards to the back of the
lines for burial. And while 
he lay there a shell fell on
him & seems to have shattered
him to pieces.
Butler heard the last of
the boy - a very very gallant
boy, they all said. We left,
& had dinner at the 3rd
Corps H. Qrs at Hennecourt.
Xxx. We asked them about the
“Tanks”. They sd they thought
they had bn used too soon, like
a new toy, used because they 
were there. Lots broke down.
“Were they a failure then?”
we asked.
“Oh no! I wouldn’t
say that,” they said.
Apparently for about
2 tanks to get there, 10 had to

11  67
start out. But in one or
two places they solved a 
difficulty by smashing a taking
Stn. routing the Enemy out
of a strong point such as 
those wh so often held us
up on a flank - ; point 81,
point 54 - point 21 &
half a dozen others tt I 
can remember might
have bn settled by a 
“Tank”.  (They were labelled
tanks in the books of the
Department wh manufactured
them - for the purpose of
secrecy).
There are now to 
be Tanks with each army,
& a Brig. Gen. commanding
those tanks (also in one to each army);
I hear talk of 6 being up here,

11   68
& of 6 being turned out
every day - probably untrue
this; better & more perfect
tanks they promise us. Apparently
they have come to stay.
The system by whom
our reinfts are trained is
That we cannot get reinfts.
Altho’ they are in England & at
Etaples seems, at first, rather
inexplicable. But the reason is 
tt the War Council will not
allow anyone to come over to
France until he has reached / standard
of 14 weeks training. The reinfts 
wh come from Australia are 
inspected when they arrive, & are
genly put into the 3 weeks class, 
I believe. They go thro various 
stages & at / end of 14 weeks
(11 weeks in their case) are examined
to see if they are fit up to standard.
If not, they are put back for more training.
If not they come across to the

11  69
Base camp at Etaples. There
they have to be passed again -
xx a sort of “topping off “ place, as
Col. Griffiths put it to me - before
they can be sent to the units
wh want them. But we never 
have more than 10 percent 
reinfts. for any unit in 
France - those reinfts above that
ratio wd be kept in England.
The reinfts. actually
immediately ready are sent on
to a reinforcement camp (at 
present under Bob Ramsay)
up near the Corps H.Q. Ours 
was at Val de Maison ^when we were down
South on the Somme. Here it 
is near Abeele. They can be
marched straight in to their
units from there. The so called
“entrenching battalions” are
really reinforcement camps
except tt they decide to make
use o / men during this
time for fatigues & digging. We

70
Our Siege Bde is the
36^th (Aust.) Siege Bde.
11   71
are getting to establish an
entrenching battalion shortly
instead of the reinforcement
camp.
The way in which units
can actually be mislaid & 
forgotten is shown by what 
happened in the last few days
with a detachment of men
connected with the Reinforcement 
Camp. They were detached
on some business connected
w / camp to form a small
camp of their own near
Val de Maison - away ^20 miles behind
the lines of the Somme. A few
days ago an inquiry arrived
from them asking what they
were to do. They had
actually been left there & forgotten.
I daresay there are forgotten
units in other places too -
one hears exaggerations abt
whole battalions being forgotten
 

11   72
In some out o / way corner
In an English county - &
if they had come out of a
battle like the Somme I daresay
some of them wd not object
to being lost sight of for a little
while.
The Army & G.H.Q.
are much exercised at the
number of our men absent
without leave. A camp of
5 of them ws found in the
wood at Warley Vadencourt.
They sd they walked in to
Amiens & bought their food,
but I expect they were given
it. They would be out all day,
& back to camp again at night; &
I suppose everyone who
saw them thought they were on 
duty.
English soldiers wd be
shot for this; but I think they 

11   73
will only imprison our men.
There have been nearly 300
cases of absent without leave
in the Army Corps this last
fortnight. The truth is tt
the men are tired after
the Pozieres fighting. But it
is not the best men who
overstay their leave like
this; it is the shifty men
as a rule -
However when the British
Officer talks, as he is apt to
talk, in a critical way about
these figures, one is inclined
to ask him whether it is
better to stay away without
leave during a battle or
during a rest period. The
English stragglers during the
time we were at the Somme
battle became (so we were
told) a very big problem.
You don't hear them discussing
that.

11   74
I have written scarcely
anything about Ypres altho
the Corps has been holding the
salient for a month. But
really the Ypres salient is
not what it was. We
have never had such a
quiet time. Ypres itself
is like the ruins of Pompeii
the Forum on a Summers day - clear
sky, no disturbance of
any sort, sightseers
rambling about quietly
where they will without
interference. The Somme is
our interest at present.
Alas - it is held up at
the moment (Oct 4) by heavy
rain. It is simply pouring
outside my window as I
write. The chance of breaking
thro' or forcing / Germans back 

11  75
this year, wh seemed
really possible - & of
bringing a quick end to /
war, is all impeded
by this rain. Guns cant
register new targets. Tanks
cant move. Men cant
attack.
Oct 5.
Birdwood was talking
to me last night of Brulard
& Lord Kitcheners visit to
the French position at xxx  Helles
Brulard kissed Birdwood
in front of the whole of Birdie's
staff.
Birdie ws telling me tt
he got on well w Brulard,
he thought, because he went
over to see him himself.
Hamilton generally didnt get 

11   76
on very well w / French
charming man tho’ he was.
So he generally sent of over
Braithwaite or Aspinall or
Dawnay, who got on even worse
& always managed to rub the
French up the wrong way.
"There ws practically
nothing to do," sd. Birdie, " [[?]]
so I used to go over there
constantly myself - every
few days. I could speak
hardly any French, but I
used always to look in on the
old man, & he ws always
delighted to see you & gave
you a jolly good lunch, & we
got on splendidly. Then I
wd have him over to dine
with me in return. I couldnt
speak any French, but perhaps