Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/68/1 - December 1916 - January 1917 - Part 7

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authority saying tt it had bn

decided  proposed to withdraw the line from

N 20 D & put it further back

across the hill. C.O.s in the line were

asked to report.

They reported agst it. If they

went back & left N 20 D, they sd
we wd overlook them They

wd rather stay where they were.

We were likely to attack them

& they cd deal w us there.

In spite of this it ws

decided to retire - perh. when

they got our place of attack.

The complete plan of our barrage

was put on a run  on a runner & the runner

disappeared. The O.C. of the

Bn has bn sent back to Austral.ia

for this & Maj. Peck gn command.

The Germans anyhow

decided to evacuate the place. We,

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having heardig of their proposed evacuation

were of two minds whether it had

bn carried out. Finally 2 officers

of 6 Bn & young Rogers of 6 Bn (Bde

Scout Officer) went out from our

bombing post in the Gunpits -

past the barricade of trees wh /

Germans had there - up to a

small loopholed barricade. Rogers

looked thro this - & finding no one

there they went further to the

mouth of the dugouts - no one

seen.

That was a  They went back

at once & reported. A party

ws sent to work up Hill

Trench; another into the

dugouts from / other side; 1

by 6 p.m. / message had

come back tt / two had

joined hands.

73
Hand drawn diagram – see original

 

When I went up to Pozieres with

Towns and I found that the ¬ shaped
artillery trench was along two roads or

tracks & tt was / reason for /

shape of it. Our shallow little 21^st

Bn's trench was still there - fairly

intact (First Trench beyond Pozieres). 

 

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The dugouts were garrisoned

- men not to show themselves

by day. Two days later in one

dugout there ws found a trip

wire, attached to a bomb

handle,  [Hand drawn sketch, see original document]

wh ws buried in / ground. Below it

were buried all / bombs, flares

& ammunition - clearly

intended for a mine. The

Germans thinking we were

going to attack, as per plan,

had probly decided to give us

as hot a time as if they were

there by putting a barrage on

us & losing no men themselves.

Old Goodwin (of the Mouquet

Fm. reconnaissance) went out

& occupied the old 3rd Bn post

across the Sunken Rd; &

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was hit by a shell, poor old

chap, & badly wd.

Hamlet on [shorthand]

See last [shorthand]

Gen trenches [shorthand]

   ___________________________________

"Fromelles" fight.

Of the 59 Bn one officer Lt. ∧J. Bowden

was wd. & taken prisoner, & died

of wounds. One man, & only one,

Pte Hodson, ws taken prisoner, &

he remains a prisoner.

Mouquet Farm Sept 3.

Of the 51^st Bn abt 60 men are

know to have bn taken prisoners,

mostly of D Coy ∧ (and Capt Kelly),very few of B Coy.

D Coy was the one wh was with

part of 52 Bn in the Farm.

One officer, Lt. Halverson, is a

prisoner & alive.  
 

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Jan 1. at 11 o'c., German New
[shorthand]. as I was writing in
the top room of Heilly
Chateau - typing a letter to old
Crawford at Rabaul - the German
guns were going most obviously
all around the horizon of
the front. Of course it ws our guns
I read later in the Daily
Mail that some of our guns
banged out a clear 1-9-1-7.
[*White*] Old Johnson had his
gunners standing by at 12
to answer the Germans at
once, the instant they opened
on our infantry at our new
year.
But they never opened.
The artillery mess drank
"damnation to the Boches
& went to bed.

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Jan 10^th. The night before last, the guns
which have been quiet for
a time thro' rain & mist (the^
same thing has kept the aeroplanes
almost entirely out o / sky)
were bumping again. At
11 yesterday morning this
suddenly increased to a
roar rattling bombardment.
Then it died a while - but
worked up again till 5 in
the afternoon; quiet again
- but again worked up till between
1 & 1 a.m. this morning the continued
dull growl of it was terrible to listen
to. This morning Begley,
when he waked me at half
past eight (we had both been
working late on the cables of the
Rising Sun) said tt the bombt
in / past hour had bn heavier
than ever. It eased again - but
all day has been severe.
I took "Letters from France"
 

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to the Press Chateau at
Rolancourt. Gibbs tells me tt
they hear from Lytton tt / new
German frightfulness is a
high explosive bomb (dropped
from an aeroplane) wh scatters
a very deadly poison & is
fatal for 500 yds around.
I am not much afraid
of aeroplanes. We can get
/ upper hand over them; &
after all, there are antidotes
to poison bombs.
They didn't know what all
the firing on the Somme was
(wh we can hear) unless it
ws the little attack at Beaumont
Hamel.
The British raid at Arras went
to 3 [[?]] of trenches & found only
one m.g. & a few scattered 5.9s ^&77s
firing. The tired 23 & 24 Reserve Divns are
 

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up there.
Jan 11. Spent whole day
getting story of 13th Bn from
Capt Murray - another excellent
& modest offr. And a Tasmanian.
He wd say: "I sent one of my
officers down there . . . he jumped
forward out o / bomb
& landed right on two Germans
- he shot them . . . . . " it ws only
thro an indirect question abt losses tt I
found out afterwds who this officer
was (who had also shot the
crew of a m.g. w his revolver)
"One of my officers" he sd.
I thought - well, he's a mean
cuss not to let me know the man's name
It turned out to be - himself.
Snowing today but snow
only lying in melting patches.
Rest slush.
________
Poor Leane's death - a
splendid chap. The fine
colonel of a fine regt.
 

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I was shocked in looking at
our casualty list (wh I receive)
the other day on seeing tt
Col. A (?) Leane of the 28^th Bn
had bn killed. I ws in
the next bed to him at Ismailia,
a quiet, straight, honourable,
brave man. He it was who
gave me the 28 Bn record of
the O.G. 1 & 2 attack of July 29 ^& Aug 4. He
had to shoulder a great part
o / responsibility for tt attack,
as he ws in combination with
Col. Walker - & tho' Walker is
apparently a brave man he
didn't play the game with the
unselfishness wh a good colonel
shd possess towards other
battalions. Leane ws a
fine Colonel of a fine Bn.
I must try & get a photo from
his [[brother?]].
Jan 12. Took M. Froydevean
round to the 2nd Divn lines today.
He is a most intelligent polite French
 

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90 000 1^st Corps
20 000 3^rd
N.Z. 20 000.
 

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lecturer who is going to
speak to the french of our
efforts - the British Empire's
efforts. We went up to the
tank past Delville - &
were caught in half a
blizzard coming back.
The 4^th Bde is now pretty
strong - indeed, over strength in
some units. xxx Bns are alld.
120 "half Gained men" beyond

their strength. Our losses are
now small (sometimes
smaller than in the salient)
Today I head definitely
from my batman, through
the land lady of our billet,
that this Corps is leaving in
15 days. (She says for
Albert. She also says tt
some General said it).
G.H.Q. is absolutely confident
we are going through this year. And
 

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Gibbs told me two days ago tt
the Germans very sincerely
want peace. It is the
blockade killing their youthful
population, he says, wh
is frightening them. I wonder
- it's a bestial war, as
everyone thinks who hears of
this. Still, if they get fats in
Germany they turn them into
ammunition; & they are
trying for all they are worth
to starve us. Good God - what
can you do - what
can you do in a struggle like
this? What is the right thing?
Jan 18. Sat. Rising Sun
night. Bazley's "little"
brother turned up today - about
6ft high. He stuck a year onto
his age in order to get here.
He is going in with the 5^th Divn.
Our peace terms in the
paper today - A.1.  Also, Jellicoe
 

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says that the U boat menace
was never so great. He
says "Something will & must
be done". The Germans are
preparing the neutrals for
their new poison bombs &
submarine campaign. With
this ^new poison gas & the help of God,
the Kaiser says, ^(in effect) they will overcome
us & give their blessings to the world.
Jan 14. Rising Sun printing.
Spent a late night with
my papers in order to
get away tomorrow.
Wrote an article on the
welcome the British
people gave to the men on
leave from the Somme.
 

(Leaving London
19th inst.)

[shorthand]

 

Hand drawn diagram – see original
 

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Chap. 8.
Our Task.
- 9. In a Forest of france.
- 10. Identified
- 11  The Raid
- 12  The Gt Battle begins.
________
- 14  The Dugouts of
Fricourt.
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- 27 The Winter of 1916
- 28  As in the World's Dawn.
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