Mr Bean - War Correspondent at Gallipoli

At the outbreak of World War I, Charles Bean was a correspondent with the Sydney Morning Herald and won the right to act as the official War Correspondent during the Gallipoli Campaign (narrowly beating Kenneth Rupert for that job).  According to Hugh's information he probably saw more of the campaign than any other soldier there.  He arrived not long after the very first trooper stepped onto the beach; and left just before the last soldier high tailed out of there many months later.  He was told to observe, report, but NOT fight. 

 

He was an avid writer and kept detailed diaries from which he wrote his newspaper reports for the papers.  He sailed from Melbourne with the first contingent of soldiers on 1 October 1914 and was dubbed "Captain Carrot" due to his red hair.  He was given the honorary title of "Captain".  When they set up camp outside Cairo, Bean's reporting of the high jinks of the Australian soldiers may have caused some resentment amongst the men.  The British delayed providing Bean with the authority to write about the war effort for some time which meant that he could not send off his reports until the okay was given.

 

On landing at Gallipoli he recorded in his notebooks that the sound of the bullets whizzing past him were like bees in flight.  In another entry he said that he found a clump of bullets fused together - probably struck each other in flight as there were many bullets flying around.  He realised that there would be no 'quick victory' at Gallipoli, so headed down to Cape Helles to see the Australians in action there.  He found a similar situation there where men were slain and left to die because of the high level of artillery activity.  He would come out of the trenches and help remove or assist the wounded as best he could during the daylight hours and then at night return to his desk and chair, and by the light of a candle write his diaries and prepare his news reports.  He was recommended for the Military Cross for his efforts during this time but was never given it because he was not a ranking service man (his title of Captain was honorary only).

 

Bean realised that there was no official photographer at Gallipoli so used his own pocket camera to take some one thousand or more pictures before, during and after the campaign.  He portrayed historical facts of the time through his writings and his pictures.  He was at Lone Pine during the offensive and felt a whack on his thigh - this turned out to be a bullet that had struck him, but fortunately for him it did no permanent damage.  It is told that that bullet remained in his leg.  His writings in his diaries told a picture of a man who had become quite disillusioned about the situation; but when writing his reports he always strived to remain upbeat. 

 

He created a book called The ANZAC Book which incorporated some of his photos, some interviews with men and his observations about their time at Gallipoli. 

 

Even after the Gallipoli Campaign ended he continued to be the official War Correspondent.  After the Armistace he returned to the battle grounds at Gallipoli to seek answers to many of the questions he had about what happened there.  He worked, with others, on producing an Official History of Australians at War - some 12 volumes thick.  He himself wrote the first 6 volumes.

 

He was a prolific writer and was instrumental in setting up the Australian War Memorial in Canberra where a lot of his work is housed there.  He died in 1968.