Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/67/1 - November - December 1916 - Part 9

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they are. But it is the price
of wonderful success. For
Bucharest has fallen - &
it is no use our papers
making light of it.
Greece seems on / verge
of war - the positn is
very serious - & a raider is
in the Atlantic.
The one cheering bit
of news - as there is no
Zeppelin Raid - is tt
Asquith has resigned &
Ll. George is Prime Minister.
The Daily Mail is trying to
dictate tt Balfour shall not
be (w Robert Cecil) the
foreign minister. This newspaper
rule is almost beyond decency.

Dec. 9 Smart had caught a
bad chill in the car on these 

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cold drives.  He could not
cross today.  We put up in
the Hotel de France, at Boulogne.
& I brought in Jock to see him.
He built him up to fight the attack
in the way in which they are now
treating the trench diseases.
Sun. Dec. 10th Smart was well &
crossed over today.  He left at
2.10. We saw him off, & Gen. White's
driver brought us into Hazebrouck
by 4.5 - my old man wd have
taken till 5.30.  Butler wanted
his sun printing frame from the 2nd
Army workshops for reproducing
his maps; but the thing was so
big & heavy tt we could not get
it onto the car.  We turned South,
dined at Lillers & got in to
Heilly at 10.30
I found Butler still sitting 

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in his office. He was worrying about
something; & as he generally does -
got it off spoke his mind to me about
it - "Anzac is not booming," he said -
"rather a slump". The last thing in the world one
wanted to happen - The It appears
the 5^th Divn made a raid on Finch
Trench without telling any one
about it . . . "
"About ten days ago," I said.
"No - two nights ago" (so they
had evidently made a second raid
- White hadnt heard of the first.
When they carried off the duckboards.)
"They reported that they had made
a raid on Finch Trench & found
it unoccupied.  They sd they
had killed 5 Germans - some
of them running away."
"We took it that a patrol
had gone into / trench - & 

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so we didn't even think it
worth reporting . . . .
"This morning the army
rang up to say the German official
news reported tt they had made
prisoners of a certain number
of Australians near Le Transloy,
& wanted to know if it were true.
Gen. Birdwood asked the 5^th Divisions
- & they replied tt it was not true
- only one man ws missing & he
ws believed to be killed in no mans land.
Birdwood wired this on to Rawlinson.
[White told me tt Rawlinson came
afterwds & sd: I wish you wd
advise you to make quite sure;
I have never very seldom known the German
wireless to make a misstatement
in a matter like that. Birdwood
asked the Divn again; & this
evening - 48 hours after the 

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^X we put up a
barrage afterwds.

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thing happened, there comes
back a reply that "they believe that
12 men were missing but cannot
ascertain definitely until the 32nd
Bn come out of the line!"".
Birdwood is very angry indeed
over it. As for White [As for
White - he told me that he was
furious - Don't speak of it - I can
hardly talk straight about it.
There is never a raid planned,
to begin w, without their sending
in their plans to us to go thro'
carefully; and then when it is
done they cannot tell whether
they have lost 12 men or not.
- ^actually cannot tell until the bn comes
out o / line.  I can understand if
a battalion goes over; but 50
men with a party of 50 men
they ought to be able to report it 

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within an hour or two. In every
raid tt we make it is an understood
thing tt every man comes back
to a report centre immediately
he returns. (We dont even
know what ws / German unit
in / line opposite.  Some officer
got a paybook, & he is wounded)."
I sd it ws only another instance
of want of frankness in our
officers - & so it is.  They wont
confess a failure; a childish fault
wh they ought surely to have got
over by now. ^I suppose they wont report
these men as missing because they
think they may still be in a shell
hole in no mans land & nothing need be
sd abt it.
McCay or old Wagstaff will
feel this - for Birdie is very
angry indeed - But it is probly 

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more the battalion C.Os fault
than anybodys.
"This comes on top of that
other business abt the 4th Divn,"
said Butler.
"What other business?" I
asked.
"Didn't you hear tt either . . .
about the plans for the attack on
Lard Trench being taken down
there and . . . . . "
"No"
"The 4^th Divn sent the pl
had a nice little plan, as
you know, for taking Lard
Trench & the strong point in N 21.
They sent / plans & / map o /
barrage down to Brand.
Brand sent them forward - I
dont know why, but he sent
them forwd to that young Colonel 

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of the 14^th Bn . . . . "
"Dare," I sd.
"Yes, Dare; & Dare sent them
on, like a young ass, to some company
^officer in the front line, a place to wh
they ought never by any
chance to go. They had a
look at them there, & then
the runner started back w
/ plans.  He missed his
way, somehow, & strayed
over into / German lines, with
the whole barrage map & other
things on him - & was
captured."
"So we've been rather
making bloody fools of
ourselves." sd Butler.

Dec. 12 11 (Mond). Wrote
two articles all day in 

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front of the General Staff
(Intelligence Room) stove, to
keep my feet warm. White
is quite willing to give me
an office in the General Staff
building if one can be found.
Will Dyson is coming
along (with Bone the Scottish
artist) tomorrow night. Dyson
will stay for a week.
Birdwood went out to
see M'Cay & Wagstaff today.

Dec. 12. Spent whole day
with Claude Jones in Amiens,
he giving me the account of
20 Bn's doings at Pozieres.
Baldwin went to Hesdin
- to the great chateau at
Rolancourt to wh the Press has just
removed, from Amiens. 

 N^o 3827
Pte W J Johnson
Wounded 23^rd July, 1916
Died 30^th July 1916
Buried Etaples
Grave N^o H375

I C Grinlinton
Sgt

71/103

Ian [Penay?]

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Lt Blanshard  F Cashier
Field Cashier Lt
3^rd Aust Division
———
N. O. Johnston
[[?]]