Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/173/1 - October 1917 - Part 1

AWM38

Official History,

1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,

Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/173/1

Title: Notebook, October 1917

Includes references to the 39th Battalion,

Broodseinde and Passchendaele.

AMW38-3DRL606/173/1

 

39 Bn 1

Oct4 & 12.

Oct 12.

Original DIARY No. 173

AWM38 3DRL 606 ITEM 173 [1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN

CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

The use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms

of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But, apart from those terms, I wish the

following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every

reader and writer who may use them.

These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be

true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what

was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep;

also, not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not

follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when

discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what

their author, at the time of writing, believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch

for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he

did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had 

seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand

evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed 

upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that

those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All

second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.

16 Sept., 1946 C. E. W. BEAN.

 

53

1

39 Bn 

Oct 4 & 12.

Oct 12.

39. Bn. Oct 12.

Line wh Lt Fleiter considers

9 Bde held before withdrawal

was 12D9.9, 12B.6.3.

12B.0.4, 12A.8.4.

to Road at 12A.6.3 to 

behind Deck wood at

11D99. to 11B 1.2.

39Bn. D Coy 39th

ws attached to 38 Bn

which was for Green

Line (3rd objve) as reserve

Coy.

They were in front of 

the Dab trench wire to start;

 

53  

2

It ws fairly knocked abt

& they did not have 

much trouble in crossing

it.

38Bn were pretty heavily

shelled on turning into the

Sunken Road - at abt

3.47a.m. The going had

bn very difficult from the

end of the duckboards.

37, 40 & 38 were

ahead of D Coy. There 

ws continuous shelling in

the Sunken Rd from 3.50

a.m. to 5.25 when they 

jumped off & many men

were hit. The Coy remained

in right half of Sunken

Rd on acc. of shelling till

 

53  

3

Zero. Then left turned

& ran down the road,

turned rt & over.

At first the going ws not

bad but once the hollow

ws reached - it was marsh

all the way. The bog

beyond Augustus Wood

gave a lot of trouble.

Within a short time

it was all one line.

At the start the Waterfield

dugout caused trouble with

sniping. The men edged

up shellhole to shell

hole, bombed the Germs

when they appeared

& took the dugout.

The right was then held

 

53

4

up by dugouts in front

of Aug. Wood with 2

m.gs. in one of them.

F. went across there, one

man worked his way

round the back. As 

soon as the rest got 

near it the Germans

surrendered. The line

then went on past the 

woods (wh were just

sticks in a bog).

From there they walked

on subject to occasional

sniping from left across

Ravebeck.

The Germans had

been earlier seen running

 

53

5

back along the skyline

of the Bellevue Spur -

some of our people thought

it ws the N. Zealanders

well ahead. [shorthand

shorthand].

The 9 Bde where going

ws much better were

pushing ahead - 10

cd be seen struggling

along in groups in

the mud of the valleys.

F. went along & found

the Reserve Coy offr

or 9 Bde (which ws

to help to take Paschend.)

He only had 7 men &

F. had one. (The

 

53

6

NZs also had a

reserve coy.)

When they got up

with the 9th Bde the 9th

MG Coy had 2 Vickers

guns up there in front 

of Grun. There seemed

to be a few Germans

who got down in the

direction of Echo Copse.

Our line ws consolidating

shellholes. No trouble

ws coming from Paschend.

F. made his way back

to 10 Bde & told them they

were in touch with

9 Bde.  __ along the road

 

53

7

you looked right up

into Paschendaele Ch.

It ws empty & quiet

exc. for 2 Germans who

came running down it

& surrendered.

There seemed to be abt

60 of 10 Bde on line on

wh they were digging in 

- with 6 officers - Maj

Giblin 40, Capt Trebilcock 38,

Capt Latchford 38, Lt Herring 38,

Lt Fleiter 39, & Capt Paterson 39.

[Capt Stubbs had bn

up there - the men carried 

him right back in

retiring till SBs cd get him].

 

8 

Diagram - see original document

53

9

To the left of the main

rd were a number

of 9 Bde who had

attached themselves to 10

Bde, without officers.

The whole ground had

bn very heavily shelled

shells thickly scattered everywhere.

When up with 9 Bn. Bde

F making his way to the

left towds road. at 

abt 12A9½9Bde on the 

corner of a road ws

a shell hole with a

Diagram - see original document

W.P. sheet over

it & portion of 

a mess tin showing.