Sir John Monash, Personal Files Book 14, 1 December 1916 - 10 February 1917, Part 13

- 2 -

but the raiders could still be seen and many of them fell. One 

carrying a box of explosives was shot just outside, and his body 

was brought in later on. The others fell nearer to the German

wire, and the enemy was able to retrieve their bodies later on.

Our men were quite enjoying themselves - one man, a Lewis Gunner,

said afterward he had not noticed the shelling much just there.

NO MAN'S LAND was like a sheet of flame from our own shells,

there, - but beyond that his main interest was in the retreating 

Bosche. Another man said he had never been so warm for months

as he was when firing at the Huns. A bunch of them entered at 

one corner of their trench just as one of our shells hit that

spot, and at least one Hun was seen to go up. Those following

moved further along and were hit as they did so. Accounts vary

as to the number actually killed, but a conservative estimate

is that at least 40 were killed or wounded.

The shelling still continued and there was little

or no abatement for another hour. At last at ¼ to 7, after

five hours of as solid a bombardment as would satisfy the most

ardent soldier the Hun stopped, and we who always try to have the 

last word shut down also. Then came the task of finding what

damage and casualties we had suffered. The latter were extremely

slight. Practically all the casualties were in the area of the

intense bombardment. Yet the shelling on the communication

trenches had been heavy, and had made them extremely dangerous,

but not absolutely impassable. One Sergeant who went up with

reinforcements was able to move up with his men and to get in the 

trench immediately on the right of the intense area. Another

case of great bravery was a Company runner who though off duty

in the rear went forward through the barrage and reported to his

Company Commander for duty, - though on the way he would have

passed bodies of two runners who had been killed while carrying

messages. He did indeed pass another one wounded, and asked him

if he had any message, but the poor lad was so badly hit he forgot

and said he had none.

Of course much damage was done to the trenches in

the intense area, but apart from that there was nothing which

could not be repaired in the night. This of course has all been

gathered from many sources. All we ourselves know of what was

going on was got through the telephone, apart of course from the

tremendous roar of our own guns. It was far more exciting down

in the Battalion Headquarters. There they had the enemy's shells

falling about them, none hit the quarters fortunately, and generally

what with ours screaming overhead and the Huns exploding

outside the palce must have been a pandemonium. However they had

the personal element to deal with in the effect on the men themselves. 

They had had shelling, but never the concentration of devilment

they experienced for those five hours. Runners were arriving

who had gone through the barrage. One came in frothing at the

mouth, and at once collapsed. He was brought to and promptly said

he must go back to the front, and had to be restrained by force

until he was fit, and it was necessary for him to go. The casualties

of course did not come their way, but went on to the Dressing

Station. At our end we were free from this. Our anxiety was

information, and for this we were dependent on the telephone. To

help the Battalion people in this, one of the Officers went down,

and in due course reported that he had got there safely, though

to do it had his share of shells to dodge. Still communication

is not an easy thing, and it was some time before the main facts

had been obtained and our minds at ease.

It was a strenuous time, but when it was over we

were rather glad than sorry. Sorry for the brave men who went

down - fortunately there were not many despite the tremendous

shelling - glad that we had beaten off the Bosche and given him

something to think about. From what the men say the Germans who

came over were not a bad looking lot, but they seem to have been

well primed up with liquor. Wells said they seemed to be drunk,

and their lack of organisation and definite purpose suggest that

this may be true. In any case the two dead ones we got stink

exceedingly of liquor.

-3 -

There was also some booty as well as dead Germans. A cup and

a belt was picked up while there were of course the demolition

boxes. Taking it through it was good experience for us,

and many useful lessons have been learned while we had the

satisfaction o having beaten the Bosche off with some loss to him,

probably far more severe than our slight casualties.

(COPY)  29/1/17.  G 6/2

HEADQUARTERS.

10th Aust. Inf. Bde.

29/1/17.

REPORT OF RAID ON ENEMY TRENCHES BY A COMPOSITE

PARTY TOTALLING 8 OFFICERS AND 216 OTHER

RANKS ON THE NIGHT OF 28th/29th. inst.

 

REFERENCE:   Sheet 36 N.W. 2 - 1/10,000

OBJECTIVE:     Enemy first, second and third line trenches in C.29.s& b.

ZERO HOUR:   6 p.m. night 28th/29th Jan. 1917.

ARTILLERY      At 5 minutes before ZERO an Artillery

DIVERSION:    diversion to the NORTH commenced, and the enemy opened a

light barrage on the left sub-section's front.
At ZERO our Artillery barrage opened, and the

raiders went forward, reaching the outer edge of the enemy

wire before the barrage lifted from the enemy front line

to the second objective.

RIGHT PARTY: under 2nd/Lieut. H.C. PARKER 37th Bn.

This party found the wire partially cut, and

were able to work through a certain distance. They came
under heavy fire - first of all from a strong garrison

in front of them, and also from machine guns on their
right in the PONT BALLOT Salient. All but five of this

party were either killed or wounded before getting to the

German wire. With the exception of two (Lieut. PARKER and

Sgt. ROGERS) all members of this party were brought back
to our lines.

LEFT PARTY: under Lt. C.H.PETERS, M.C., 38th Bn.

This party reached the enemy wire, and for

25 minutes endeavoured to find a gap through which they

could pass. The wire had not been cut, and party was withdrawn about 6.25 p.m. One man slightly wounded. 

CENTRE PARTY:  under Lt. S.I. SUTER, 40th Bn., and

Lt. E.FLEITER, 39th Bn.
This party found the wire well cut, and the

scouts led by Lieut. FLEITER discovered a party of about 
20 of the enemy in the front line. These fled along the communication trench. One man in a sap - evidently a
snipers or listening post - ran towards his sally-port

and was shot by Lieut. FLEITER with a revolver. The Party
then entered the enemy trenches through this sally-port,

and No. 1 and 3 parties turned to the right and left

along the front trench, and found many dugouts into
which the Germans had retired. The Left Party demolished

4 of these, and the RIGHT party 5, with gun cotton,
Stokes Shells, and "P" bombs. The remainder of the centre
party proceeded up the communication trench. Coming to a

straight piece along which the Germans were directing fire

from a loophole in a dugout, the officers ordered the 

party out of the trench, and went on overland. They got
behind the dugout and put a "P" bomb into it, continuing
on to the second line. This line was found in very bad

condition, and apparently not occupied.

The remainder of the party then continued

overland to the third line, and took up their appointed

positions in the "Y" junction at C.29.b.00.23. By the

light of the burning dugout, into which the "P" bomb had

been thrown, a strong enemy counter-attack was seen coming
from the North, overland, along the direction of the second
line. The officers of the party placed their men against 

this attack - opening fire - and the enemy turned and fled.

-2-   29/1/17.
At ZERO plus 40 minutes the recall rocket was 

fired, and the signal was seen by the raiders. The

Centre party withdrew in good order, and the "Y" block
under Cpl. LYNCH formed a rearguard. The whole party

was checked over the enemy parapet by Lieuts. SUTER and

FLEITER. This party brought back one wounded German

prisoner, and endeavoured to bring other identifications, 

but the bodies in the demolished dugouts had been reduced

to pulp.
Communication between O.C. RAID and Brigade
Headquarters was out by enemy fire at 6.20 p.m.  A message
by runner at 7.10 p.m. indicated that the LEFT and CENTRE
parties were all back in our lines, but that a few of the
Right party had not been recovered.
CEASE FIRE At 7.25 p.m. CEASE FIRE was ordered.
At 1.30 a.m. after the moon set, Lieut. GRONDONA
with a small party went out on the track of the Right
party, and saw and heard Germans moving about in their
wire, where our casualties had occurred. There was no
sigh of the bodies of the missing officer and man, and
it is assumed that the enemy had taken them in.
ENEMY BARRAGE Very soon after our barrage opened the enemy
began an exceedingly heavy bombardment of NO MAN'S LAND
and our front and support lines. this continued long
after xxx our fire ceased - the range being lengthened
on to the subsidiary line, and GLOUCESTER and SPAIN avenues.
DAMAGE DONE Nine dugouts and one tool store were demolished,
and 40 of the enemy killed. The dugouts were well
concealed, and would not have been discovered, had it not
been for the slamming of the doors as the Germans
retreated into the dugouts. One dugout was reported as
being about 20' deep with a flight of steps leading down
to it.
All the raiders report that the enemy trenches
had been very severely damaged by our Artillery fire - so
much so as to be impassable in many places. Members of
the Right party state that the garrison of opposing men
could be seen waist high above the parapet.
The sappers report that the dugouts were of
concrete with thick steel doors. It might be better in
future operations if smaller demolition charges were used.
A charge sufficient to merely blow in the door, and not
entirely demolish the dugout and its occupants, would
ensure more prisoners being taken.
CASUALTIES. One officer and one other rank missing (Believed
killed). 10 other ranks killed, and 30 other ranks wounded.
ARTILLERY OPERATIONS The work of the Artillery was in the highest degree
satisfactory.
ASSISTANCE RENDERED Every assistance was given by General JOBSON,
Commanding 9th Aust. Inf. Bde., and by the Commanding Officer
and officers of the 33rd Battalion from whose front the
raid was conducted.
(Sd) W. RAMSAY McNICOLL,
Brigadier-General,
Commanding 10th Aust. Inf. Brigade.

G.O.C. 
Analysis of Casualties Noon 29/1/17

Unit	Killed		Wounded		Missing		Total	Remarks
	Off	OR	Off	OR	Off	OR
Raiding Party when out
10th Brigade		11		31	1	8*	1-50	*Includes 2 since recovered dead.
						Total		1 off 50 OR
Retaliation Raiding Party 10th Bde		2		9		11		after return to trenches
9th Brigade 33rd Bn. 34th Bn.		1		2 1			2 2	In front line near point  [[?]] of party. In support trench.
11th Brigade 43rd Bn. 44th Bn.		1 3		3 6			4 9	{1 In front line at time of raid {3 wiring party at 9.30 pm {2 in front line at time of raid. {7 in vicinity of willow walk,  not a working ↑party.
		7 6		21			28	Total retaliation 28
Other Casualties
33rd Battn			1	6			1-6	odd casualties before 6pm 28th
34th Battn				1			1	in the morning (still at duty)
35th Battn				2			2	The day before.
9th MG Co.				2			2	Morning of 29th
10th Brigade				4			4	In 10th Bde sector of line
11th Brigade				6			6	previous to time of raid
			1	22			1-21	Total 1 off 21 OR

                                                                          Grand Total  101
                                                                       REF Major

                                                                              30/1/17

11th. AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY BRIGADE.    [[?]] Dunbar
INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY NUMBER 35
(From [[?]] a.m. 28/1/17 to [[?]] a.m. 2[[?]]/[[?]]/17)
CONFIDENTIAL.
OUR OPERATIONS.
ARTILLERY: - Very little firing was done during this period.
Working parties located at I.5.d.28. [[33]] and I. [[3]].a.[[3]].1 were shelled
and dispersed at 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. respectively.
Retaliation was given several times during the day. Each time the
shooting was effective, and threw up a great deal of debris.
A.T.Ms. - Fired 80 rounds on enemy wire and front line in I.11.c.
MACHINE GUNS: - The following targets were engaged during the night: -
Building, tracks and trenches in Square 17.a. 700 rounds.
The road from [[?EZ ?A?QUART]] to HALT in 12.d was engaged
at several points between RUELLE DE LA NOIX and HALT 1000 rounds.
LEWIS GUNS: - Gaps in enemy wire and parapet were engaged throughout
the night. Working parties located by scouts were fired on and dispersed.
SNIPERS: - Right Bn. sub sec. snipers destroyed periscope at I.11.c.5.5.
N. of MUSHROOM.
Left Bn. sub sec. Our snipers were very active during the day. One
definite hit was obtained.
PATROLS:- Right Bn Subsec. - Active patrolling was maintained throughout
the night. A rough reconnaissance was made of the route to be
taken to the enemy's trenches immediately N. of RAILWAY SALIENT. Gaps
were found to still exist at I.11.c.35.40 and I. 11.c.45.50 N. of G[[?]]
PORTE EGAL. All the wire in this vicinity is badly damaged.
Left Bn. Subsec.- Patrols were active from 8 p.m. to
8.30 1.m. Working party was located at I.5.c.65.00. A Patrol working opposite
Locality 7 fired on continuously during its patrolling with
Rifle Grenades and M.G. fire. Along the whole front there appeared to
be increased vigilance on the part of the enemy.
OUR DEFENCES: Wiring was carried out by Right Bn. Subsec.-
in rear of
Gap "D" and Gap "H". A party erecting new wire on the North of
MUSHROOM SALIENT came under heavy machine gun fire and suffered casualties.
During the night gaps in our wire were repaired opposite Left Bn. sub sec.
As a result of the heavy bombardment in which this sub section was subjected
between 8 and 9 p.m. last night, a considerable amount of damage
was done to our trenches, wire and dugouts.
ENEMY OPERATIONS:
ARTILLERY: Right Bn. Subsec. - From 9 a.m. our front line system was
shelled intermittently throughout the day. The enemy appeared to be
registering along CENTRAL and LOTHIAN AVENUES   and Support line. /
During the afternoon 14.4.2.H.E. fell in the vicinity of Battalion
Headquarters at SQUARE FARM. Vigorous retaliation to our T.M. shoot
at 11 a.m. was experienced. It is estimated that approximately 300
shells were fired in this subsection during the day.. Exceptionally
little damage was done either to personnel or materiel.
Left Bn. Sub Sec
Between 9.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. intermittent shelling of this sub sec.
carried out by the enemy, most of the shells being 77 mm. H.E. and
Shrapnel. At 6.15 p.m. in retaliation to our barrage on the left,
the enemy fired large number of Hinenwerfer, Rifle Grenades and T.M.
Bombs into NO MANS LAND. Our Support Lines and C.T. and Sub. Line were
subjected to a very heavy bombardment. this firing continued till
9.10 p.m. and occasional shots were fired until midnight. Approximately
200 H.E. and Shrapnel fell in the vicinity of Wollow Walk alone. The
bombardment was equally intense in Locality 7, CHICKEN FARM, JAPAN ROAD.
MACHINE-GUNS: The usual amount of M.G. fire was experienced during the
night. Several bursts of fire were directed against our working
parties during the night.
P.T.O.

(2)
SNIPERS: Inactive.
PATROLS: [[None]] encountered.
ENEMY DEFENCES. working parties were heard at I.17.a.2.6,  I.11.c.50.75. I.5.c.65.00.
OBSERVATION: - at 7.30 a.m. a party of 8 moved along trench at I.5 d.3.6.
and at 9.30 a.m. another party of 5 was soon passing the same place. All
men of the party wore dark hooded cloaks.
9.30 a.m. I. [[6??]].G.1 party of 30 men working on screen
Dispersed by Artillery fire.
9.40 a.m. I.12.c.9.9 N. of HALT. Thick clouds of smoke
10.30 a.m. I.5.c.9.3 5 Germans soon on parapet for a short time near this
point.
12.30 p.m. S.17.b.5.4 E. of RUELLE DE LA BLANCHE. 1 German carrying sack
on his back, going towards P. RENCHES.
2.30 p.m. I.11.D.3.1, W. of LA RONGRIE, thick clouds of smoke.
COMMUNICATION: - A pigeon was observed to fly to a house near I.17.a.55.[[23]]
At 9.30 a.m. what appeared to be signalling from a house at HOUPLINES
by means of Helio[?] was noticed by the O.C. Locality 7. Shortly afterwards
shells were soon to fall in HOUPLINES.
When our bombardment commenced last night enemy fired red Very lights and
Rockets, and his Artillery opened fire.
A Searchlight was operating in enemy front line N. of C. Gap at 11.45 p.m.
When the light was shut off the man operating it was heard to move along
the Duck Boards by our Scouts.
AIR-CRAFT: - At 9.25 a.m. and enemy plane was seen high up  over our lines
At 10.45 a.m. a plane was seen flying E. to W.
At 1 p.m. 2 planes were observed far off to the N.W.
All planes in this vicinity were engaged by anti-aircraft guns.
G.F. Wootten
Brigade Major, 11th. Inf. Bde. A.I.F.

30/1/17

Dear General Monash,

I have collected the following:-

43 Bn: 1 man wounded front line 7 p.m.

  "        1 killed and 2 wounded  between 9.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. )

            enemy machine gun                                           out wiring )

44 Bn:  7 p.m. Enemy retalliation (no intelligence

                report)

               (2 killed Willow Walk

               (5 wounded "  "

               (1 killed Locality 7 front line

               (1 wounded "       6  "        "

 "             11 a.m.

 "             4 wounded locality 6 working party of

                                             Garrison Bn.)

  "            4 p.m. 1 "  locality 6)

                5 p.m. 1  "    "          6) Garrison

42            1 wounded working party 10 a.m. locality 6.

[[Gen H Cannan.]]

10th Bde

30.1.17

Dear General,

I am awfully sorry to find

such discrepancies in my casualties

return. For about the first time on
record I did not sign the return

owing to it being delayed and not completed

till about 1.30 a.m. today. Your news

over the phone was the first indication of

anything wrong and I immediately got

Staff [[?]] checking the matter.

The results are

                 During the raid     In our Trenches        Total

Missing   1 Off. 6 Others = 7          -                             7

Killed               11                                 2                          13

Wounded      31.                                9                          40

Of the Missing, the Officers & Sgt were 

reported to me at first & were the only two

I knew of until this evening. Four others

were bridge carriers and are definitely 

asserted to have been killed, but their

bodies have not been recovered. I can

find no-one who knows what happened 

to the seventh man.

Yours obediently,

W. Ramsay McNicoll

10 p.m.

30 7-17

		Killed.	Wounded.	Miss. Remarks
	33	-	9	incl Cpt Linklater
9th	34 Bn	1	2	(1 at duty)
	35		2	(1 at duty)
9th	MGC		2
		1	15
10th Bde	37	5	21	9 (incl 1 off.)
	38	1	6
	39	4	13	(1 at duty)
	40	1	5
		11	45
11th Bde	42	1
	43	1	3
	44	3	12
		17	75

Casual^t. to noon 29-1-17
 92
 _9_
101