Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/75/1 - March - April 1917 - Part 10

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104
swarmed over them -
Pope ws k. apptly just
after they got out.  The
rest were mopped up.
A patrol brought in the
discs of 4 besides Pope.
There were 30 in the post.
Exactly when Lyons
was finished cannot be
told - he ws there at 
6 a.m.
Post on rt retired
all exc. one sentry group
in 30 A 4.0. under Sergt
Arundel, wh held on all
day. - Gs. came at him 3 times,
each time he let them come
up - got 2 rounds into them
& they decided to leave him
 

105

^X L. Gunners who were
covering the retreat.

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106
alone.
At night there were
still Gs. behind him
so he worked down to
the Ck. with his 5 men
& brought them all back.
In the right picquet there
were 2 wd men ^X whom
the Gs. looked after pretty
well - sd they'd get
a Dr at night. Gs
cleared at night &
one man walked
in. The posts got
back one man by one,
working bit by bit.
The Support line ws
held tt night - as Coy too weak. Patrols
went out & brought in
 

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107
K.  2.           6
W  2.          49 xx
M 4 offrs   177
  ____       _______
     8            232
   ___          ____
11 Bn Ap 15
_____________________
 

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108
wd. Germs had
gone.
The 30 cent^l. post
ws going out night before
when the Gs. opposed,
wd the offr - so it
ws kept at 30 C 2.2.
The further picquets
were further out than
H. wanted to put them.

2 offrs. & 89 men lost -
went in 141 strong.
60 of these were missing
prob. prisoners.
 

Diary.
__________
109
On Jan 29 when I ws
leaving England, the U.S.A.
were xx considering Germany
note threatening to sink
all ships anywhere.
On April 2 (I think it
was) when I xxx was
be in England, getting
my new typewriter,
the President of the U S A 
had just asked Congress
for full power to make
was on Germany -
congress had not yet
decided as Senator
La Follette managed
to hold up all proceedings
in / Senate for a day
 

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110
by a blocking motion.
The U.S.A. came
in - it seemed to me -
the more readily bec.
the Russian people
had just revolted -
deposed the Czar &
set up what turns
out to be a democratic
govt. For a time -
since Trepoff was
dismissed in Russia -
we knew tt Russia
was under a reactionary
Govt; and all our
newspapers, even the
"Times", altho' not
 

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111
saying very much abt
it, were clearly very
disturbed as to what
was happening. It
seemed ^to some of us that
all along that Russia
should be under a
we shd be fighting agst
arbitrary autocratic
high handedness in
Germany alongside of
an autocratic reactionary
regime in Russia.
Then came some days
on wh there ws v. little
news from Russia. No one
particularly noticed this,
as we were concentrated
 

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112
on the war. xxx
Until one day there
came (by the Paris
Daily Mail, I think)
a whole page of headlines
- the Czar deposed -
a new govt set up.
The At first - & for
some days -one
was not sure whether
this was a reactionary
coup or a democratic
revolution. Then. to
everyone's great
relief, it turned
out to be clearly
democratic. The soldiers
 

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113
had got rid of some
of their generals, &
the sailors of their
admirals - officers were to be
called Mr Captain, Mr Lieutenant thexx
- there was no mistaking
it.
On Ap 9 our
great push at Arras
started - Number one,
I suppose. 16000
prisoners & nearly
200 guns taken in
2 days. We were
on the Southern
flank of it, & on
Ap.10 we were suddenly
to cut in behind /
Germans left at the
 

xx

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114
junction of the
Drocourt Queant
switch - to scoop
17 batteries. The
late arrival of / tanks
on Ap 10 (I ws there
tt morning at Noreuil
& we heard these
great things puffing
down at / bottom
o / sunken Rd at
5.15 when they ought
to have started at 4.30
from / jumpg off place)
put this off for a day;
On Ap 11 it came off
as White let me know
it would - same time,