Diary of Brigadier General Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott, 15th Brigade - March - August 1918 part 6

[*Bois de Mai*]

the guard was on the whole excellent,
turned out & well drilled. As it was
rather hot & dirty in the village I arranged
to pitch a camp in the Bois de Mai
& move them.
3^rd June Moved women's Camp. Very fine
day. Very pretty w wood. Kings Birthday
4^th June. Very fine day. Capt Lay proceeded
on leave to N. K. Notification of grant
to me of C. B. appeared in R S Times in
Kings Birthday Honors. Received many
congratulations
5^th June, Very fine day. Attended conference
with Amiral [[Scacial?]] at Corsy. General
Hobbs addressed the meeting. He was very
flattering or rather complimentary to
this Brigade over the V. B. show.&
dealt with various claims of untruth
particulary with the suppression of
gambling. I thoroughly sympathise
with this object - Dealt with Lieuts. Levy & Falconer
6^th June. Very fine day _ quiet. Training
continuing.
7^th June. We received warning that
probably in a weeks time we should be
relieving the 6^th Brigade who are the
left (Cmd) Brigade in the line toward which
 

to the Brigade Major Capt Sollan went
up to 2^nd to H. Q. at [[N? or H.?]] Station
& arcertained the dispositions
Genl Monash called in afternoon & was
introduced to my staff. Consequently he
went to the 38^th Br to see Col Watson who
formerly served under him. Sollani
M. C. came out in Birthday Honors
8^th June. Fine Bright day. Mr Whitney an
American journalist called & seemed
very interested in our boys. In the afternoon
all Boys were having sports in preparation for
the Brigade sports on Monday afternoon.
I got a car for him & went over to
Freshen court & watched the 39^th Br sports
which were well contested.
9^th June About midnight last night I
heard a lot of cannonading so roused 
B. M. she warned Boys & rank up [[Division?]]
but they could give us no news.
Later we learned that this was a
diversion by the Bosche who was making
a Big Push down Montdidier & Noyn way
Held Church Parade whict was
a success. Fine weather.
10^th June Brigade sports - a great success
60^th on a point. Fine remark
 

and Genl Percy both attended.
Prior to the Sports I attended a
Conference at Corps Head Quarters
an proposed Educational scheme
for A. I. F. seems good but many difficulties
must be overcome if it is the a success
then 2^nd Br made an advance very successfully.
H gave Some rain fell during the day
11^th June. Col Ross for Corps called regarding
proposed reorganization of transport &
consulted our T. O ' s & Brigade L. M. as
to loads. Fine day. In evening I called a Col [[Lage?]]
12^th June. Today I went forward to -
Heilly & now Genl Paton Commanding -
the Brigade when we relieve on
Saturday the 5^th [[Inf.^_ ?]] Got their
defence scheme to Study & other information
In afternoon Col Bruche called, later
I addressed officers on the Educational
Scheme. Dry fine today and warm.
13^th June Fine Bright morning. Held inspection
of 1^st line Transport. very good show
14^th June. Sent B. M. I.O. for officer & Col [Benetry] to
inspect 6^th Bgde ctrea. Genl Tuvey called
15^th June The Boys moved forwarded into
Staging areas round Fromelles. La Housage
in enemy moved up into line. Brigade
flat H.Q.. Last notes to Heilly & to the men
 

16^th Relief was completed at 1. 30 am
During the morning afternoon I visited 57^th Br
(Support) left & 58^th left I went to H. Q.
In afternoon I visited the corresponding
Brs on the right. Genl Hobbs & Col Bruche Major Smith
visited my H. Q. whilst I was out.
Great deal of work to be done. We took
over from 6^th Bgde Some American officers
who seemed quite good keen men, Enemy they
shelled us heavily just as these officers were leaving
left next day for their Division
17^th Majors Butel & Cowles American
Army replaced the other officers here
In the evening we fired Gas into
German court. Weather still good.
18^th Fine Bright day. I went up to Front
line Coy of the 59^th Br with Col. Hanlon.
The line Trenches & communication trenches
are all pretty good. Genl Hobbs whilst
I was out called at Brigade H. Q. & went
with Sollar & Major Coulls to 58^th Br H.Q. where
Cowles remained there & Genl Hobbs came
across to 59^th Br H. Q. where he met us on our
return. Enemy again shelled my H. Q.
19^th Major Coulls returned to Div today.
58^th have arranged a raid for tonight. I
had all the Snr Commanders down & told
Palton I did not like his arrangements.
 

& that he should have given us
more notice & a chance to criticise
it _ I suggested several amendments
but he objected that if they were later
on he would lose the chance of surprise
as the Boche would divert this war
trench across his flank dry by the 38^th Br
last night. — So I let it go on
At about 10. 30 the Bosche must
have thought we had a relief on as
he strafed all round the place
particularly or the right with gas 111E.
20^th Raid took pla ce & was repulsed.
The Mother Barrage was insufficient
& party 10 probably were too week.
The office & 5 others were wounded & on near
Res Farrell was wounded in the enemy
parapet & is missing. The Borche seems
to have dodged our barrage by advancing
towards us from the trench & when the Barrage
lifted past and went back to the trench whilst action
tried to surround the party. The Borche
very heavilly shelled my H. Q. at
Heilly & drove all the Staff out of
the [[turloe? [turlough?)]] into Dry outs in the Ramparts.
Some rain fell during the night.
 

Major Bittel returned & tension in the
morning. He is a fine officer but a
little apt to jump to conclusions
too quickly, but very keen & good
This evening we got a whole
Bundle of 9 officers Capt & Subalterns of
the American Army also 20 other
ranks mostly N.C.O s. We took some
on Brigade H. Q. & sent the others to Brig.
21^st Genl Phillips ( C.R.A. ) & H Q..
Major Wootton called & discussed
raid & as 8^th Brigade were not
ready I agreed to postponē
our raid for 24 Hours but
the proposed projection of Gas
into Ferrarencourt to go on.
Genl Stewart called. He was
looking very will indeed.
Strafed Capt Keys ops A LT. MG
for not telling me about the
failure of the new Blue Cartridges
& I promptly returned him
to his Battalion & apprised
the next Senior office McColl
to Carry on.
22^nd. Gas fired last night
unsuccessfully except some smoking
 

which will be available tonight
Genl Hobbs & Genl Lerey called
& discussed arrangement for
Raid tonight. Genl Hobbs most
anxious for South Brigades
to be moved from Heilly [[moving?]]
to the Borche Shelling so
frequently. Sent Grelar to
inspect 58^th Br & 59^th Brs. Captain
Merenhourt of N.S Army who
has been attached to Brigade H.O 's
Larry expressed a desire to
get experience in the line
moved up to 59^th Br H. Q.'s
23^rd Raid came off with
great success. Captured
8 Huns & killed a member
of others. No casualties to
ourselves except for the
retaliation which wounded
one man. We got the new
identification through S Corps
in 75 minutes. Grelar inspected
a note in rear for new H. Os'
which has been submitted to
DW for approval. Our present
 

home is very damp & that is from
owing to poor ventilation. Capt
Olivis of U. S. Army who had
been with 39^th Br came back to Brigade
to get information regarding Brigade
I 0 's duties which he is taking
up in his own force
24^th I walked up the [[Anese?]] Valley
as far as [[Ritemmt?]] - to reconnoitre
the ground. Most of it is practically
for infantry The Americans
all returned to their units
today. They seen delighted
with them experiences & reluctant
to leave. Very fine day.
25^th. General Hobbs called
I discussed my proposal to
advance our line on the Soult
of the Ancre & it was arranged
to leave it over until later
June Hoffs would [[...?]] with
when or would do as a description
corps as to whether we would remain in the Bosche [[Reg?]]
58 Brigade operation done [[strath?]]
or withdraw.
S. I. O. B from 4^th Army called
In the afternoon I went up
round tho 59^th Rgmt fine.
The C. T. called Colac Lane is
a fine bit of work now & very
 

comforting when the Borche is
shelling heavily as he was in
the Little Caterpillar ( a [[number?]]
road ) today. Ian Tullack came
with me as far as tho 39^th H.Q.
where he interviewed Lt Waderan
& other members of the raiding
party. Sergts Cairns & Capt Mar
of Brigade H.Q. were us granted the
Meritorious Service Medal
Birthday Honors.
26.^th Very fine weather & quiet
day. Wrote letters home etc.
27^th Three British Soldiers (1 Austr,
& 2 Tommies) escaped from Veronne
& came into our lines last
night, A Frenchman who had
started with them had previously
got lack & we were on the look
out for them. They were pretty
well exhausted & I had been badly
fed Whilst in Captivity
Genl Hobbs called & discussed
proposed operations & arranged
improvement definitely to
prep with another operation
on larger scale.
 

Col [[Hinclee?]], Aust Gsg, Now G 8 0. 2
at G. H. Q. called with Lt Middleton
of the British Army & I sent Capt
Doyle my I. O. to escort him to
nearest O. P. where they could
get a view of the front line.
Major Kenny handed over Brigade
School to Major Ferris & went to England
to report to Senior officers School
[[c Hodershot?]].
28^th. At 2 pm we fired Gas
projections on enemy Shelter
& [[Dey?]] onto.
Soller visited 38^th Br & conferred
with C. 0. regarding his proposed
raid on some place as we had
failed at Lepre. & [[stated?]] fancied
for might be 30^th June /1^st July. Our
A. R. S. Platoon 58th Br. under
Lt Deane scored a Brilliant
run in the Divisional Competition
against 14^th & 85^th Brigades We
scored 511 point 14 Bde 158 In
327 points & 8 Bde 30Br 230 pts
29^th 60^th Br relieved 59^th Br latter
having done 13 days in this line.
Col Reck S. S. O. Is just back from England