Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/63/1 - October - November 1916 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of CE W Bean,
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DR1606/63/1

Title: Diary, October - November 1916
Mentions the military police, the 7th infantry
Brigade, Gird Trench and Bean's visit to the
front with Capt JJ Herbertson.
AWM38-3DRL606/63/1
 

October 25
1916 to Nov 2

Original DIARY NO.63
AWM38 3DRL 606 ITEM 63 [1]
DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918
The use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But apart from those terms, I wish the 
following circumstances and consideration to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep;
also not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistake when
discovered. Indeed he could not always remember that he had written them.
These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind. 
16 Sept., 1946. C. E. W. BEAN

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL 
ACCESS STATUS 
OPEN

1
Cuthbert 2 Aust Bn
Evar. to Carnoy
31/10/16.
Leg amputated
& opn. to abdomen
 

68  October 25.
1916 to Nov2
2
63

68 MEMORANDA 3
October 
Aug 25 1916

I came -"home" I was
going to say (it almost
is that) to Anzac H.Qrs
today with Genl. White.
When he asked me to
come with him I didnt
know where our H.Qrs
would be. Gen. Legge
of the 2nd Divn. who
came with us, didn't
know, even when he got to
Boulogne, where his HQrs
wd be or where his
even how he cd exactly
find out. Old Legge ws
quite at his best today. White
was ill - not a good
sailor - & Legge looked after
him quite tenderly. He
insisted on our coming &
having lunch with him
at a little hotel "where the

68 MEMORANDA 3
October 
Aug 25. 1916
I came -"home" I was
going to say (it almost
is that) to Anzac H.Qrs
today with Genl. White.
When he asked me to
come with him I didnt
know where our H.Qrs
would be. Gen. Legge
of the 2nd Divn. who
came with us, didn't
know, even when he got to
Boulogne, where his HQrs
wd be or where his
even how he cd exactly
find out. Old Legge ws
quite at his best today. White
was ill - not a good
sailor - & Legge looked after
him quite tenderly. He
insisted on our coming &
having lunch with him
at a little hotel "where the

4 MEMORANDA
French Officers lunch"
(he sd) & having exactly
the right sort of meal.
I really think that I
understand Legge less
than ever. If he wasn't
purely genuine & sincere
& quite disinterested,
I'm a Dutchman. And
yet he sometimes plays
a game tt you can see
through like glass - a very
simple subtlety.
I can see (though
he doesn't say so) that
White thinks I made
a mess of my errand
to Birdwood. He thinks
I ought to have got a
message to the people of

68 MEMORANDA 5
Australia & not to
the troops; tt / message
to the troops may be
interpreted as _^an attempt at exorcising
a dangerous influence -
& tt / putting off of /
election voting for two
days ws a dangerous
matter. Anderson
told White he wd not have
let him do it - &
perhaps I ought to have
told him plainly the dangers
I saw in it. But there
we are - as White says, I
dont know tt Anderson
wd have found it so
easy to stop him.
However - he really
did nothing wh ws not

6 JANUARY, 1917
perfectly defensible
He had a perfect right
to tell / men his opinion
on a point so important
- & he had no control
I MONDAY [I-364]
Circumcision. Stock Exchange closed
1915. H.M.S. "Formidable" sunk in the Channel
whatsoever over / voting.
As a fact - I expect he
lost votes rather than
gained them.
2 TUESDAY [2-363]
18. Ovid and Livy died
[Bazley tells me tt young
- - agent Genl for S. Australia
& a very able man - 
came over as arranged
by Murdoch and asked the
3 WEDNESDAY [3-362]
1795. Josiah Wedgwood, potter, died
troops at a public meeting
to send a resolution to
Australia in favour of

8 JANUARY, 1917 7
4 THURSDAY [4-361]
1806. Cape of Good Hope taken by the British
Conscriptn. Haig had
permitted / meeting
provided there were no
speeches, except Youngs,
5 FRIDAY [15-360]
Dividends due
1066. Edward the Confessor died
& no officers were
present. Young put it
to them tt at present
Australia stood first among
6 SATURDAY [6-359]
Epiphany
Sun Rises 8.7, Sun Sets 4.5
/ Dominions in / eyes o /
British nation & tt they
wd lose tt regard if the
The Dormouse.
Sketch of Dormouse. Diary inclusion.  See original document
The Dormouse, the name derived
from Lat. dormire, means sleeping
mouse. It sleeps all winter. Also
it is nocturnal in its habits. It eats
acorns, haws, corn, nuts, etc., and
on warm days in winter it rouses
and devours some of the food it has
stored. In autumn it becomes fat to
enable it to withstand its long fast. Its tail is long and bushy.

8 JANUARY, 1917
7 Sunday [7-358]
1st after Epiphany
Matins.—Isaiah 51. Matthew 4, 23 to 5, 13
Evensong.—Isaiah 52, 13 and 53, or 54. Acts 4, to 32
1558. England lost Calais
country did not
vote for compulsory
service.
8 MONDAY [8-357]
Plough Monday
1916. Final evacuation of Gallipoli Peninsula
O Full Moon, 7.42 a.m.
The attitude o / men
ws quite clear. They
said tt they did not care
whether they Australia came first
9 TUESDAY [9-356]
Christmas Fire Insurance ceases
1916. H.M.S. "King Edward VII" sunk by a mine
or last in / opinion o /
British people. They
wanted enough Australians
left to maintain Australias
10 WEDNESDAY [10- 355]
If not already done, send in Accident registration form
1840. Penny Post established
present character _^after / war. They
did not want so many
Australians killed off tt