Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/47/1 - June 1916 - Part 2

12
The signallers cd not take their reel
as fast as / pty, & only reached 
trench when withdrawal, ws beginning.
Signal to supports ws there in trench tt pty ws
returning ws given by flash of 
Sergt H’olmes’ torch.
If Alley had not bn hit they wd
have prob. forced their way into main
trench as arranged.  They did not
remain quite their full time probably
bec. leader K & 2-in-C wd.
There might well have bn s.bs w stainless
steel helmets save many lives.
Scouts & assaulting pties advanced
too far forwd under cover of arty &
T.M., esp T.M.
Statement of Prisoners
Sugar Loaf salient:
One man wd 3 wks ago.
Patrol ws curious to know what we were doing with our new
saps opp. the Sugar Loaf salient.
2 prisoners of 16^th Bav.R.I.R.
6th Bav. Res. Divn
said tt sentries have to hug / parapet
by night.
Each dugout in [shorthand] is provided
with a klavy sumpp in wh
running rain water drains. It is deeper than
the floor o / trench

5    13
says he is not likely to live. Another
officer ws hit in / same way,
they say.
After / show ws all over there
came along a gas alarm -
Ross says, from / North of him.
No gas cd be smelt in the N Z lines;
so their the guns rang up the
front line, & as / front line gave
them / tip answered tt they cdnt
make out any gas the N.Z guns
did not fire.  But the artillery
to the N - of them was firing tremendously
hard.  And on their way home -
as they came through Erquinghem,
the troops w / ration carts &
supply waggons were standing by
or riding with their gas helmets on.
Ross says a few gas shells, he
thinks, had exploded near there.
The gas was noticeable as he &
Herbertson ran through in their

14
.X. Col. Jackson told us xxxx on Sunday that
the gas had been sent out in two whiffs
against the 24^th Divn. & had been
quite sufficiently strong to cause discomfort
where these Australian troops were.  One
sig bicyclist who had not his _^gas helmet
rushed off on a bicycle to get it -
& the heavy breathing involved in this
exertion caused him to swallow so
much gas that he went unconscious.
Two young children, Col. Jackson says,
died.
The 24^th Divn were at least 10 miles
north east.
[shorthand] In 2nd Aust Divn
Wind ws 8 m.p.h. clear night bright
moon.  Chlorine ws present.  Definite
white cloud 6 - 15 ft high.
It moved thro' area on front of abt
4000 yds 2000 yds high. by Croix du Bac
& Sailly.  Where cloud ws thickest
helmets had to be worn.  One wave betw
1.5 & 1.16 & the other ½ hr later.  Second ws
stronger.  Helmets had to be worn 45-50
mins.
Heard of at 12.30 by tel. Horns were

5     15
car.  it caught Ross' throat
& made him cough but he
didn't think there was any need
for everyone to be wearing gas
helmets. .X.
Padre Dexter tells me
that the Senior Chaplain ws to have visited him a
few days from now.  He told him a day or 2 back tt he
ws unable to come because things might be taking place in another
direction.
He sd tt Gen. Haig had told him tt a gt. event might be coming off in
a few days & had asked him to
get ¾ of the other chaplains together to pray - for all the
prayer tt they cd offer wd be needed.  He believed tt
success success cd not be too earnestly prayed for.
Dexter sd tt it depended, he understood, on whether the French
needed this help in connectn with Verdun.
It seems just a bit like the Roman Consul
going to his Pontifex before a Campaign or an
Indian Chief bringing out his medicine men.
I suppose tt is one of those
British soldiers - oldfashioned
simple gentlemen to the backbone -

16
heard at 3000 yds (strombus horns).
3 men coming back from leave were affected.
At 2^nd D H Q gas ws unbearable
without helmets.
Metal ws tarnished; beans, salads,
onions, clover were nipped.  Horses coughed,
some were removed.
Many men vomited afterwds but
none admitted to hospital.
_______________________
From 72/73/17^th Inf Bdes -
Gas came at 4/5 miles p.h. &
all helmets were on before cloud arrd.
Night ws not dark & cloud could
be seen.
Hissing
Prob. a lot of Phosgene.  An
orderly suddenly collapsed nearly 12 hrs
later & died shortly after. 
3 waves - sd to be 15 (5 min) 10
(5 min) 10.  Front abt 3000 yds.
Gas seen coming from Enemys
trenches.  Only one man didnt get helmet
on.  He forgot, in running to warn others. 

5     17
who abide till their death in
the beliefs wh they learnt at their
mothers knees.  It's easy to
laugh at them but it's a great
type of man & makes a
very true loyal friend & an
unbendable enemy.
_______
Sunday June 18.  Went across to see Glasfud
& his fine brigade - 12^th - just arrived;
& went very lame on the walk.  In
the evening I heard that our 7^th
Bde ws going to made another raid
& so went off with Herbertson to the scene.
The 7^th Bde is away up at Ploegsteert
(the first I had heard of this move wh
means we are taking over a new
sectn o / line);  but Gen. Paton had come
down specially for it.  The 6^th Bde - temporarily 
under old Brand - is in / line
there.  I expect they have put him in as
Brigadier in order to give him the 4^th
Bde when Monash goes to the 3^rd Divn.
We reached Chapel Armentieres abt
10.15 walked on down the long pave'
through the dark - & then across / fields at
/ back o / empty ruined buildings -

18
Rifles jammed fairly often.
Gas didnt affect vegetn as much
as in April.
Box respirators were found
easily disarranged e.g. when
men were knocked over by shells,
M.-gunners wore them.
Casualties 
e.g. - (Carrying ammun. Pulled up helmet
(to see way.
(Gassed sounding gong - helmet
(improperly adjusted.
(Gassed carrying T.M. ammun.
(Resp. fell off.
-& so on.  Some helmets hit by
splinters.
_____________________________
Helmets carried inside jacket
(not rolled on head). This ws
better.

5     19
along a road at / back o a 
long canvas screen - & then under
the screen through some long grass
to where a _^beam of light was shining under
an old hedgerow - It was the "Bois
Grenier line" - & in two or three
of the dugouts there were the battle
headquarters for the raid.  The fire 

Stooping down, one cd see the signallers
& their instruments in one small
dugout;  in the next one were Col.
Paton, & little Plant (now Bde Maj.
6^th Bde), Col. Grimwade (4^th Art. Bde)
with some papers & sketch maps.
Paton asked us to come in, & sit told the orderly
clear a bench for us & bring it up to /
table.  And I amused myself by
sketching down Col. Grimwades arrangements 
for his artillery (in Notebook X).
They were very clear & showed beautifully
the "box" he ws making for the raiding
party to enter.  He had wd close the box
at / back from / start o / bombardment
so as to keep in / Germans for prisoners.
to be made prisoners.
The bombardment was to open at
12 midnight - for 19 minutes & then
lengthen (see notebook X).
Plant ws sitting at  / telephone.
Little Clowes, the staff captain & 1 artillery

20
Clowes in charge o / trench mortars kept
on coming in & out, very quietly -
saying little.  Paton ws telling us how
he had bn up to see / trenches in /
new area & how bad they were
. . . . At 11.15 there came a ring on /
telephone. beside Plant picked up /
receiver.  It ws / scouts who had just
come back from lying out in Nomansland.  
They reported everything
correct along the front - enemy
quiet. 
At 11.22 came another ring. I 
"party all out".  So they had cleared
out trenches & were creeping across
Nomansland.
We went on talking in a subdued
way of various things when another ring. 
-it was 11.40.  "B.P. ('Beer Pip' as Plant
said in Signalese) reached".  Beer Pip
is the junction of two ditches where / party
ws to wait till / bombardment lifted.
At 11.55 Grimwade sd: "in fifteen seconds

5     21
the 'heavies' shd begin."  They didn't.
There may have bn some alteratn
in / programme.  I didn't notice them
come in at all. We were talking of
something else, anyway, when Grimwade
broke in again.  "The guns should
fire in five seconds now," he said.
it was 5 seconds to midnight.
At ten seconds past midnight
by my watch we heard two distant
reports.  The next second or two - three
more - then four or five - & thence
onwards at the rate of more than 
one per second, as far as I cd
follow them.  I went outside &
Grimwade called me up to a
mound beside him where we
could see all the flashes - all
round a third of the horizon
behind us the halos of the guns
above the hedges;  the whine of shells
overhead, No the XXXX Every few seconds
the rustle of a slower travelling howitzer
shell;  the flashes of shrapnel in the air,
H.E bursts on the enemys parapet,
& occasionally a frightful lurid
glow with rolling dust clouds over
it, along / horizon - the 60lb,
trench mortar bombs.
We waited for a sign from

 22
the enemy.  Abt 5 mins. it seemed & up
went a red light;  then another;  then
after a long interval 2 together - red
very's lights thrown from a pistol, not
rockets.
I went inside agn.  In 7 or 8 mins
no answer at all had come from
the Enemy as far as I could see or
hear.  Then _^at 12.12 one or two did seem to
go over well to our rear.  At 12.15 
A telephone ring came:  "Enemy retaliating
on the Little Salient."  At 12.15 the tel.
said "They are retaliating"  on the trench mortars
400 yds to our left." I had bn out again
& just before I saw / two red flares I cd
also see the faint yellow trail of what
looked like a rocket signalling to / Enemys
guns.  I thought it ws one of his rockets.
wh failed to burst.
Then some one sd - why "That's / trench mortars."
They we  And of course they were.
Still no reply worth mentioning.
One can notice a slight slackening as our guns lengthen.
Of 12.19.  They must be in.
12.20 gas reported by Res Bn 2nd N Z Bde.
12.22 They report - the party out there -
tt two red rockets have gone up just to /
left o / point of entry.
12.23.  the orderly from / signal office puts
his head in & says "We've just got Cease fire
from A.K.".
"Where's A.K?"
"The assaulting party." "What does it mean?"
asks someone.  "Blest if I know!" says Paton.
"No - ask Nix (C.O of reserve party) what it means".
Nix was rung up.  Presently he was on / 'phone.  The
message had come from Capt Paterson, w /
assault party.  Nix didnt know what it 

5     23
meant.
Everyone ws very quiet, including
Paton (who's a very cool hand). The
bombardment ought to have gone on,
why had they stopped it. (cont 3 pages ahead)
_____________________________________________
Tuesd. June 20th.  I ws in the G.S. Office
looking over aeroplane maps
when the German wireless
communique came in.  Butler
handed it over to Trust asking
him what it sd - He went over
& stood by Trust(who is the
British subaltern who is our
German expert - junior to Herbertson)
& asked if it contained any
details of an attack by
Russia on / German front -
"Its today I think - that their
big Russian show begins isn't it?" he sd.
And there were in the
wireless 2 signs of it - 1^st The
Germans had noticed a concentratn
of Russian troop trains & for
two days running had been
bombing them w raids from of 

 5     24
aeroplanes - And (2ndly) the
communique sd tt / Russians
had attacked at some point
& "had not relaxed their
attempts."
"Heavy fighting," it also
sd, "still continues."
This sounded like a preliminary
announcement of a Russian
break success XXX but not yet
definitely announced because /
Germans think they can
stop it.
Ross had heard tt Gen.
Haig had definitely decided
some time back tt no one
connected w / Press may
take photographs;  but that
an officer may be apptd
as official photographer in /
same way as some Canadian
Captain had bn. 

 5     25
It seems the decision of a 
man who has afx  not grasped
/ question.  But the questn
ws not before him when he
made it - Australias record
goes by / board - but, we
shdnt win this war if we had
to trust a commander who ws
always changing his mind.
The decision, however, probly
comes from some one in the
l branch, lower down.
White suddenly summoned
to London to see Hughes. A
very inopportune time - but
I'm glad he's going.  They will
do something for our Army
between them.
The 7^th Bde went N. to Kemmel
some days ago;  & the 2^nd Bde
yesty.

 5    26
[ On 16^th April at 1 p.m. shortly after we
arrived here we had a trial gas
alarm in our front trenches in one
section. " 20 or 30 Germans looked over the 
"parapet at 1.17 a 2 1/2 4 (says / report)
"& other parties at intervals down to
"the S, but there were long patches of
" trench where no one looked over.
"As this was very unexpected more
"accurate report location of these
"points ws not possible."
______________________________________
Nix out in nomansland sd
he ws sure he didnt know.  The
order had come thro' - tt ws
all.  He supposed / party were in
/ enemys trench.
"They cdn't be in tt time",
sd Paton.
It ws an awkward interval.
Paton kept his anxiety very well
under control.  We talked of the

 5     27
wire probably not being cut -
perh. they had found it too difficult.
"Anyway we must cease fire",
sd Paton. The order ws sent to the
10^th & 19^th Bties to cease fire - they
were / two wh had bn on / front
line & I'm sure / suspicion
went thro' Grimwades head, & those of
all of us, tt hey might have bn
hitting their own men. 
The phone still works to Nomansland.
12.30 The guns are ceasing to
fire - one or two reports, like /
last flicker of a lamp, & then
silence.  Now what is / matter.
12.33. 2 machine guns have
suddenly started & are racing one
another.  I daren't ask if they are
ours or theirs - perh. they're on our
unfortunate party.
12.34 There go the m.gs. again.
Nix cant raise Patterson; he