Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/67/1 - November - December 1916 - Part 4

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They have all bn expecting
the 3rd Divn for some time.
There is a remarkable amt
of feeling about this 3rd Divn.
I thought it ws largely put
on at one time but it is
not; it is genuine enough
- they are quite surprisingly
bitter. The idea is partly that
the 3rd Divn. has taken so
long in coming; & partly tt
all this long time they have been
in England, with their smart
flash clothes, parading London
& doing the heroic - 4
days special leave to begin with
& another 4 days to end up
with!  "When's the 3rd Divn
coming across?" they have
been asking for a long time.
"What in hell are they doing 

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over there - they must have
about eaten their heads off by
now!" They have been
saying that they knew
the 3rd Divn was not
against the allies - they
supposed they were neutral;
& "The Neutrals" is the best
known nickname the 3rd
Divn has acquired.
The 28 Bn going out of^(2nd div) coming into
the line / other day met the
5th Divn coming in going out. The
5th Divn men some of them
asked "Who are you?" Someone
in the 28Bn answered
"3rd Division".
They got it all along
the line. "Oh you've
declared war at last, have
you?" "I hear they've 

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the 3rd Division have
invented a silver stripe -
for being sick" – (the gold
stripe can be worn by a
man who has bn wounded);
"You'ld better keep away -
there's a war on."
The 28Bn played up to
it & enjoyed itself - it went
from the front to the rear of
the column.  The thing has
become a common joke
nowadays with troops
meeting each other.
The first  I honestly believe
their vote for ^on the conscription
issue was an unselfish
one - x there was about 10,000
majority for conscription
amongst the troops, but I believe 

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the majority was made up
of troops on transports who
had not seen France. They xx Those here
have seen what it is like
in Pozieres,  Seven brother
& tho' it wd help them to
have reinforcements to share
the fatigues, & tho' their strong
feelings are shown by / way
they regard the 3rd Divn,
they will not force others to
come in agst their will.  A
lot of petty reasons are given
too, but I like the unfairness of so
little leave or at any rate a strong
desire for more (very hard for
the British Authorities to arrange
owing to transport - they have
to carry 2000 each way every
day as it is, I'm told)
- & so on; but I believe the main 

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reason is the one given
above.
Seven brothers met in
one family enlisted & four
of them have been killed.
The three others (they were
scattered thro' the force) met
the other day & decided
to ask tt the youngest
shd go home, as their
parents were feeling it
very strongly.  Birdwood
allowed this; he is allowing
it in many cases - also
if a man is too old; any
man who is 50 & applies (if
only they knew) can get back
- by Birdwood's leave; it is his
action this entirely.
The Australian Govt has
trusted Birdwood as it ought to 

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in these matters - until
yesterday. Yesterday it turned
him down, absolutely &
completely, over a trifling
matter. There is a general
principle that officers of the
British army are not
allowed to be transferred into
the A.I.F - the only way is
to go to Australia & join it there.
A few exceptions have been
made - two or three only. One
of these was in / case of the
son of Sir George Reid. The
old man asked for his son
- an Austalian & an officer in the
Royal Arty - to be allowed to
be transferred to the A.I.F onto
Birdwoods staff - and Johnson,
the Brig. Gen. Commanding the
2nd Divl Arty took offered to 

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take him as his A.D.C.  Sir
George Reid, whatever his faults,
& tho' he has no political power
or influence whatever now,
is one of the big men of Australian
History.  And Birdwood, as an
act of courtesy, took the boy
on.
That was four months
ago.  The Defence Dept has
just wired to say that it does
not confirm this.
That is to say tt Reid's
appointment to the A.I.F. must be
considered as never having
taken place; he must refund
all the pay given to him; the War
Office must be approached to
take him back into the British
Army as from the date when he
left it - & pay him; & if it does 

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not permit him to remain
attached to Johnson's staff &
consent to pay him - he must
go.
If Birdwood were small
minded enough to resent this
show his resentment by putting
the Commonwealth Govt in a
difficulty, he would say
at once: "Well - take all your
business of appointing &
removing officers yourself!"
And they wd be landed in
the an impossible muddle
at once - to the detriment disaster of
the force & the detriment of the
whole Australian effort in / war.
That is what Griffiths - the
most intense Australian I
know - says tt he wd do -
he says he wd be small minded eno'
but Birdwood isnt. 

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As a matter of fact
there is a great deal more
below this particular little
meanness than meets the
Eye.  I dont know if it
even went to Pearce - a
question ws asked in Parlt
out there about it; & there
shows where the serpents head.
Of course - like all most the worst
meannesses in the history of
xxx xxx x that I know - it is political.
I had heard that one of the
Federal members of Parliament
was giving a good deal of trouble
in the force.  When he ws
brought up on Salisbury Plain
for some breach of discipline
he told the A.P.M, or whoever
ws the Officer dealing w him,
tt he wd bring the thing up in 

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the Australian Parliament.
And instead of firing him out
right away, neck & crop,
they let him off or argued
with him or something.
Anderson tells you,
as soon as he shuts the door
of his office, in London, that
the one thing he does not
want is military rank.
He told it me first in
Egypt. In the course of He punctuated
an explanation of the
invitations to lunch & dine
with Generals he was
with interjections parentheses - "Of
course, I dont want to
pose as a military man
- you know that - I wanted
to come away as a civilian
- I'd have much rather