Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/255/1 - 1916 - 1937 - Part 12

5th June, 1925.
Major-General V.C.M. Sellheim, C.B., C.M.G.,
Department of Defence,
Melbourne, Victoria
Dear General,
You were kind enough last year to say that,if
I required them, you could let me have the instructions
issued to you by General Birdwood concerning the establishment
of Administrative Headquarters in London; Johnston's letter
concerning the base at Alexandria; and particulars concerning
the difficulties of Spencer Browne's position at Tel-el-Kebir.
If it is not troubling you too much, I should be
greatly obliged if you would send me these papers.
Yours sincerely,
C.E.W. BEAN
 

Victoria Barracks
Melbourne
18/6/25
Dear Mr. Bean,
In continuation of my letter to you of 11.6.25. and
in answer to yours of 5.6.25.
1. Instructions issued to me by General Birdwood concerning

the Establishment of A.I.F. Administration Head Qrs. in London.
I forward a copy of these marked "A". It will be seen therefrom

 that I was charged with both the Training and the Administration
under the War Office, of all the Australian Troops in
England. When I ultimately vacated the appointment, and thereafter
until the end of the War, the training of the Troops and their
administration were under separate Officers.
2. Lt. Colonel C.A.K. Johnson's letters concerning the Base

at Alexandria.
I send copies of the correspondence in my possession marked "B"
I have not got a copy of the final official letter mentioned by
Johnson in his letter dated 13.6.15. It was intended for the
Minister of Defence. I forwarded it to Sir John Maxwell and he
finally sent it on to Australia, so you could, no doubt obtain a
copy from Trumble. I remember it was pretty hot stuff, and I
heard after that Australia wrote very strongly to Sir John about
it and that he was exceedingly annoyed at the tone thereof.
3. Colonel Spencer Browne's position at Tel-el-Kebir.
The set of papers I send, marked "C" will give you an idea of the
situation which existed under Sir A. Murray's regime after
General Birdwood left Egypt. Para 3. of some notes I sent to
General Birdwood by the hand of General Howse, have special relation 

to Spencer Browne. Briefly the situation was this :- I
placed Browne in immediate command at Tel-el-Kebir under me.
Without a word of warning G.H. Qrs. Egypt, placed a Major-General
Inglefield in command at Tel-el-Kebir. He was not only senior
to Browne but to me also. I protested strongly and was sent for
on two occasions, once to G.H. Qrs. - then situated at Ismailia,
when I argued the matter out at length with General Murray's Staff,
and on the second occasion to General Godley's Hd. Qrs. Every
endeavour was made by both these Staffs to prevail upon me to
relinquish my control and command over our Troops at Tel-el-Kebir.
This I refused to do, making reference to the agreement which had
been come to between the War Office and the Australian Government,
and which I contended neither they nor I had any authority to vary.
There were a few New Zealanders at Tel-el-Kebir and G.H.Qrs.
contended that Inglefield was in command of the whole and would
not interfere in any way with me and that I was at liberty to come
down at any time I desired. Spencer Browne was responsible
therefore to both Inglefield and myself and had a very difficult
task. The situation was of course impossible, but did not persist
for any length of time, owing to our embarkation for England.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
V.C.M Sellheim
 

A

1st. AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND ARMY CORPS.
Headquarters.
14th May, 1916.
Brigadier General V.C.M. Sellheim, C.B.,
c/- High Commissioner for Australia,
LONDON.
1. The War Office has approved of the establishment of the
Headquarters, Australian Imperial Force, in England, and of the
retention of a branch office in CAIRO during such time as
Australian troops are in Egypt.
2. You will take over the duties of "Commandant, Administrative
Headquarters, A.I.F." England; and in accordance with the
wishes of the Australian Government you will arrange with the
War Office to relieve Brigadier General Sir Newton Moore, who has
been acting as military representative in England.
An order will be issued appointing Lieut.Col. (temporary
Colonel) O.A. TUNBRIDGE, C.M.G., to command the Branch Headquarter
in Cairo.
All questions of principle will be referred by the branch
office, but the Commandant will be granted full powers to deal
with all administrative routine.
3. (i) As Commandant, Administrative Headquarters, A.I.F.,
you will be charged with the command and administration under
the War Office of all Australian troops in England.
(ii) The Administrative Headquarters will be so
organised :-
(a) as to fulfil all the War Office requirements
in the administration of the A.I.F.
(b) as to enable it to act as the represtative
in England of the Australian Defence Department
(c) as to form a Home record Office for the A.I.F.
(d) as to provide all the administrative power
and machinery necessary to enable the exercise
of the powers granted to the G.O.C., A.& N.Z.
Army Corps, by the Australian Government.
The War Office desire that they shall on matters connected 

with the A.I.F. have but one responsible administrative and
executive officer, and this consideration your appointment is
designed to meet.
The Administrative Headquarters will keep close touch
with the High Commissioner for Australia and supply him with all
technical advice required.
 

-2-
4 (i) The Australian Government has expressed a wish
that the whole of the Australian Imperial Force shall remain
under the control of the G.O.C., 1st A. & N.Z. Army Corps.
It is assumed that the War Office concur in this, and you will
therefore keep General Birdwood informed of all action taken
by yoi and refer to him such matters for decision as should be
determined by him.
(11) Lieut.-Colonel T. Griffiths will be appointed as
A.A.G. on your Headquarters and will be attached to General
Birdwood's Hd. Qrs. in the field as a liaison officer. Lieut.-Col. 

Griffiths will be responsible for the promulgation of all
decisions on questions of policy and principle connected with
the personnel of the A.I.F., and will deal with all questions
affecting promotions and appointments and promulgate all orders
thereon.
(111) You will retain control of the financial branch
and make all the necessary financial arrangements for the A.I.F.
in France and in England with the War Office.
(1V) The D.M.S., A.I.F. will be allotted to your
headquarters and will advise on all medical questions and
superintend all medical arrangements. He will also be
attached when possible to General Birdwood's headquarters as
a liaison officer.
5. It is proposed to bring to England all training
units of the formations in France, and to quarter them at
SALISBURY PLAIN. As a temporary measure, and if the High
Commissioner for Australia approves, General Birdwood has
concurred in the temporary employment of Colonel Burston to
superintend the arrangements for the reception of "training
units" on their arrival from Egypt. You will as soon as
possible submit recommendations for the establishment of the
command and staff of the "training depot" which you will form
at SALISBURY PLAINS.
At the outset you will necessarily be unable at once
to set to work with your training depot staff complete and
properly organised. General Birdwood desires however that
this difficulty shall not be allowed to retard your arrangements. 

It is particularly necessary to relieve the War Office
of administratice detail connected with the A,I,F., and you
will therefore utilise to the full the services of all
personnel now available in England.
6. It is very desirable that there should be a definite
system for collecting men from hospitals and convalescent
homes in England and for concentrating them either in training
depots or elsewhere preparatory to their despatch to the
divisional base depots in France.
A definite policy as to the disposal of sick and
wounded, and of men classed as "temporary Base", "permanent
Base", and permanently unfit", will be drawn up by the D.M.S.
and promulgated.
 

-3-
All officers and men on leave in England will
be instructed to report in writing to your headquarters, and
such officers and men will, upon application, be issued
with the special leave and pay, the scale of which has been
approved as -
Privates  ... ... ... ... ... £5.
Warrant Officers and N.C.O.'s drawing 

pay as substantive N.C.O.'s ... £10.

provided they have the amounts to their credits.
(Signed) C.B.B.WHITE,
Brigadier-General,
General Staff,
1st A. & N.Z. Army Corps.
 

B

Mustapha Barracks,
28 - 5 - 15.
My Dear Colonel,
I send you a copy of a letter I am sending to G. O. C. Base
relative to the condition of the Convalescent Camp Mustapha.
Some 15 or 20 of the men came to me yesterday to bring their
grievances before me and as one of the N.C.O. had come to me earlier
in the day to speak in precisely the same terms with the addition
that the men in the Convalescent Camp were "frothing with discontent"
and that there might be trouble at any moment, I thought the matter
sufficiently serious to bring before the G.O.C., who appeared to think
nothing of it and said if there was any trouble "he would put it down",
and further gave me orders that men were to receive no money. I
tried to see O.C. Convalescent Camp this morning - but without success -
to see if matters could not be arranged. This afternoon however I
did see him but did not get very far as he told me that he "was not
there to be catechized". I then went to the General who appeared to
think I did wrong in even listening to the men's complaints and told
me to put whatever I had to say in writing. As I do not anticipate
getting anything satisfactory from General McGregor I think it advisable
to bring the matter before you with a view to your laying it before
Sir John Maxwell, should you think such a course advisable. The men
have probably been writing Home and the way they have been treated here
will certainly lose nothing in the Telling and there will be sure to
be an outcry and recruiting - not too good at present I hear - will
certainly suffer. I do not wish to make a point of it but the tone
of Lt. Col; Tweedy - a Territorial R.A.M.C. man was objectionable also
to an Officer of my Seniority.
I did not think it a good plan to put the disposal of the
Red Cross Funds in the hands of the R.A.M.C. and told Dr. Barrett so,
and it looks as if my forebodings were quite justified.
As I consider this matter should go a good deal further
than it is likely to with General McGregor as Arbiter, it would be
a good thing if you could ask for me to come to Cairo to discuss
things as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
C.A.K. Johnson.
 

Copy to O.C. Intermediate Base,
Cairo.
Australian Overseas Base,
Mustapha Barracks,
ALEXANDRIA.
28th May, 1915.
From :-
O.C. Overseas Base,
1st Australian Division.
To:-
G.O.C.
Base, M. E. F.
Sir,
I have the honor to bring to your notice
the fact that a great many men of the Australian Forces now in
the Convalescent Camp, Mustapha, complain that they are not
properly looked after there, that is as far as their personal
comfort is concerned. They allege that nobody comes near them
to enquire whether they are in need of anything. That they have
to go about in rags as many of them have nothing but what they
stand up in, they get no pay and are not given any facilities
for obtaining the barest necessities such as razors, tooth brushes,
soap etc. To quote the words of some of them they "are treated
as if they ^had commited a crime in being wounded".
(2) I have enquired into their complaints as far
as I could in the absence of any assistance from the O.C. Camp
(Lt Col Tweedie, R.A.M.C.T.)
(3) As regards pay I have informed men that they
cannot get any pay whatever while in the Camp, but that they should
apply in the proper way (through their N.C.O) to the C.O.
Camp for their wants to be supplied. There is an authorised Army
Form (Army Book 38) for this purpose but they do not appear to
know anything about its use in the Office of the Convalescent Camp,
and the men are still without necessaries.
(4) As regards the clothes and appearance of the
men, I find many of them absolutely in rags, some even lousy,
most of them are unshaved, and all are dirty.
(1)
 

which in my opinion proves that their complaint is justified
and that the men are not looked after in this respect.
(5) A sum of fifty pounds (£50/-/-) was given by
the Red Cross Sosciety (Australian Branch) to be expended in
precisely such necessities and comforts as these men are asking
for, but I find that all that the men have received is five (5)
packets of cigarettes as a maximum and two (2) packets
cigarettes as a minimum. I personally interrogated thirty-three 

(33) men who had been in the Camp for periods varying
from 1 week to four (4) weeks and think that this is a fair average
of the patients in Convalescent Camp. Two of these men had
received nothing.
(6) As Tobacco and Cigarettes are articles which I
believe A.S.C. supply, the expenditure of Red Cross Funds on
these items seems hardly justifiable.
(7) I also find that the terms of the letter
enclosing cheque for fifty pounds (£50/-/-) which asks that the
men in the Camp should be informed that "the Australian
Government Representative (Col V.C. M. Sellheim, C.B.) sent an
Officer to ascertain what was wanted and that comforts are being
supplied from the Fund of the British Red Cross Society
"(Australian Branch)" have not been complied with and that the
men were not aware that their interests were being looked after.
(8) As I have authority to ask how this sum of
fifty pounds (£50/-/-) has been expended I request that O.C.
Mustapha Convalescent Camp may be asked to kindly furnish me
with the information.
(9) As regards clothing I sent round on May 9th
to all Hospitals and to Convalescent Camp, Mustapha
[*Copy enclosed*] the enclosed circulars,  the last para of which gives information

as to how clothing for men in Camp can be obtained.
Had this been complied with a good deal of discomfort to the
men would have been avoided.
(10) I also find that men discharged from
Convalescent Camp are frequently kept on in that Camp and put
(2)
 

on duty there as part of the establishment, on various pretexts.
I have already drawn attention to this (my letter Np. 60/15
dated 20-5-15) as regards seven men, but these have not yet
been returned to me, and another was reported to me to-day as
having been discharged from the Camp but "retained on duty",
and I have further learnt that another man - one of the Machine
Gun Section of the 4th Light Horse - was, on discharge from
Convalescent Camp about a week ago, sent to San Stefano Hospital
(without any reference to me, his Commanding Officer for the
time) to act as Chemist - where he now is.
(11) As men are urgently required at the Front all
such men should be immediately sent to me to be made available
for service.
(12) I sought an interview with O.C. Convalescent
Camp (Lt Col. Tweedie) to-day to discuss these matters with him
but as he objected to answering my questions I bring the matter
to your notice.
(13) Though I have no control over the Convalescent
Camp or the Australian patients therein I feel it my duty as
Commandant of the Base, ist Australian Division, to take up such
complaints and bring them to notice of higher authority as I am
convinced that a continuance of the treatment the men appear to be
receiving in Camp will have a bad effect on recruiting in Australia
and may lead to immediate trouble in the Convalescent Camp.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant
C.A.K. JOHNSON Lt-Col.
Commanding O/S Base, ist Australian Division.
(3)
 

INFORMATION WHICH SHOULD BE FURNISHED TO OFFICERS AND MEN

OF THE AUSTRALIAN DIVISION IN HOSPITAL.
(1) The Australian Overseas Base is situated at Mustapha Barracks
(N. Block) and is reached by tram (Station Mustapha Pasha)
from the Ramleh Terminus in Alexandria (fare 2nd class, ½ piastre)
from San Stefano, Victoria College and the Deaconess Hospital.
(2) Officers to whom pay is due, and who wish to draw money, may
receive an advance on applying to O.C. Australian Overseas Base,
Mustapha.
(3) Men not in debt may receive 1/- a week while in Hospital on
recommendation of and application by the M.O. in charge Hospital.
(4) Pay books should accompany all requests for advances and receipts
will be required from Medical Officers making application for
advances to other ranks.
(5) Officers and men may have access to their kits, in charge of
Australian Overseas Base, any day after 1 30 p.m. on application
at the Overseas Base Office.
(6) Officers requiring clothing equipment to replace any lost should
apply (giving "sizes") to O.C. Overseas Base.
(7) Men requiring clothing equipment, and which they have not got
in thei kit bags, should apply (giving sizes) to the M.O. in charge
who will kindly forward to O% c% Overseas Base.