Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/77/1 - April - May 1917 - Part 3

18         19

Is really justified - I 

have seen a good deal of

English troops & I doubt

if our men are more liable

to panic than any except

perhaps the very best British

guard battalions & Scottish

battalions. They are certainly,

as far as I have seen

them, less liable - far less

liable - to become panic

stricken than the average

British regiment. Possibly

the Scottish preserve an

imperturbability in a 

crisis which goes beyond

that of our Victorian & South

Australian, & some other

regiments.  I believe the 

nerves of our men are better

20
[:X:  May. 1. I asked White abt this -
& he, like me, doesnt at all
agree. He thinks our men are
less liable to panic - anyway theres
not much difference.  Indeed 
Walker in regards to Gen Walker
told him tt no other troops wd
have kept back tt attack from
their breaking through at Hermies
& Boursies.

I asked White abt / work
during / winter. He says tt in his
opinion our troops did more work
- far more work, he sd - during / 
winter than any others except
/ Scottish troops on our left.

The only thing is, he says, tt
they must set down definitely
& systematically to do a task or
they will waste themselves around
& about it, - working individually
& disorganisedly.  The only
thing is to set them a definite task
- when White believes they will 
shift more earth than a German.
Moore of 3rd Bn agrees that they did
more work at Ypres & Fleurbaix than
any others appear to have done.]

[*White thinks their outposts are miserable little 
affairs of trenches simply bec. they are not set a
definite plan to work out.*]

18      21
than most. :X:
But the criticism
on our working capacity
of late is, I am afraid,
somewhat truer.  During
the winter our battalions
got thro' so little work tt
in / end Gen. White had to
come down to the expedient
of giving them tasks &
making each battalion
send in a works report o /
amt. of work done. Even
so, the 15^th Divn area, when
we went into it, ws I think
better improved than ours -
It had bn held by Scotsmen

18      22

& Northumbrian miners

of the 50^th Divn. It seems

quite probable they put did

down more work than

our battalions did in /

winter; & xxxx from first

to last in / winter we

scarcely put any wire

in front of our line. British

wiring is always a trifle

 - almost a contemptible

obstacle beside German

wire; our line during

/ winter until / end has

very little even of the thinnest

wire.

The reason ws tt C.Os

did not want to depress

18         23

their already depressed

units by giving them this

extra dangerous fatigue.

Australian units have

rarely, in this war, made

use of flares. They leave

it to / German to light

up Nomansland. Only

when the German flares stop

do we use ours - he

is probly up to some

mischief then. There is

something rather fine in this

attitude - whether it is

justified or not. It was

so at Anzac where an

old tow or Kerosene

18        24

flare thrown over /

parapet was ab until

near / end / only

flare we ever used - &

that most rarely.

When we came into

open warfare the works

report was dropped.

The units got into / way

of simply using sunken

roads, or German trenches

or little outpost trenches

Diagram - see original scan

of this shape,

without wire.

When we took

a village no precaution

ws usually taken to wire

& defend it. The

18       25

consequence was

that our little outposts

were most defenceless.

After Lagnicourt ws

attacked by / Germans on

April 15 the Army sent

down Gen. Grant (the engineer)

who mislaid out the

defences of the Suez Canal,

which we had to lay out

again (he laid them out

on / reverse slope of 

sandhills without any

field of fire & / whole line

had to be altered - there

ws never nay fear of

heavy arty there) came

18      26

right down to Vaulx-Vraucourt 
to inquire into

the absence of village

defences - & there was

some good reason for it

too. Since then a whole

scheme of wiring has

been carried out, & a

second line laid down

 - though we only have

posts in / front line still.

May 1st: We seem to be trying

to give / Germans / idea

tt we are going to attack

him w our right Divn

also. 7 Bangalore

torpedoes were fired under

18        27

his wire by the 2nd

Bde) (on the right of the

7^th Bde) last night.

Others were to be fired 

but / Germans saw the

parties & bombed them.

The last 4 days

have bn glorious. It

is fine, tho' cool, today.

Grass is coming out in

patches on the Somme

battlefield - but I

think many o / trees

are dead.

We have gassed / 

Germans several times

lately by flying over

? outlast our gas-helmets

18      28

these great gas projectors

1000 yds into their lines. 

I can't help thinking - one

has often thought - tt  /

German must be saving

up his gas for one

big continuous attack

with it, somewhere, XXXXX lasting

long enough to

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

It wd be impossible.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Herbertston says it is. & it is (?)

XXXXXXXXXXXX 

is a very obvious thing to do

Newspaper cutting - see original scan

18        29

Butter has just come in with a

sworn statement from to men of the 

26th Bn. that it was

they who captured Prince

Frederick Charles of Prussia, 

the airman, & not the 

Light Horse. Quite a 

serious matter. Cpl. E.J. 
Powell (sworn) states tt he

saw / air fight & saw one o / 

German planes begin to fall. 

He ran out w Cpl James, 

^into Nomansland following / plane. When it

landed the aviator got

out & began to run towds

/ German lines - he ws

then 150 yds away. The fired

abt 9 or 10 shots at him

as he ran towds

Lagnicourt (it ws on March 21)