Photostat copy of diaries of Benjamin Bennett Leane, 1915-1916 - Part 29
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[[?]] first, so we didn't have
[[?]] far to go as some
Eventually I found my
company sector - a
broken , waterlogged
trench with only two or
three weather shelters.
And who should be the
O.C of the Coy. I was to
relieve then Gordon Cornish
the vagaries of war eh!
At the time he left Gallipoli
he was my O.C. and a
temporary Captain. I was
a 2nd Lieutenant. Now I am
a major and he a Lieutenant.
He lost promotion through
being away in Australia
at the time of the re-
organisation. He tells me
Heritage is up in the line,
so I should see him soon.
I was to have stayed with Cornish, but
there was no accommodation
for anybody, so I went
back to the others of our Bn,
who were all in the same
fix, and we decided
to go back to Bernafay
Wood where we were
to meet the battalion next
day. Unfortunately, we trusted
ourselves to the guidance of a Padre
(never do that) and he led us
astray. Eventually, after plodding
and floundering around in the
dark and the mud for some
hours we found ourselves near
3rd Brigade Headquarters .Of course
144
we knew that x our old brigade
would not see us wanting for
night's lodgings so Rayard
went down to see General MacLagan
He sent his staff captain out
with me right away, and
we were eventually fixed up
by the 2nd Field Ambulance, who
kindly gave us all an
enjoyable tea and fixed us
up with some sort of sleeping
quarters. I have an ambulance
stretcher across two boxes in
the press tent. I have no
blankets and its a beastly cold
night, but I'm so tired that I
expect I'll sleep soundly anyway
Sunday, November 12th 1916. Gap Trench.
This will have to be brief as I
have only a small piece of candle
and a very tiny dugout into
which Allan and I have both
squeezed. I had a beastly
cold night last night, and
not too much sleep. Consequently
was up and about bright
and early. The Ambulance
people gave us a good
breakfast, and we felt much
better after that. While we
were waiting for the
battalion to come in (they
were to bivouac in a piece
of open ground opposite)
one of the orderlies came to us
to say that our Brigadier,
General Glasfurd, had just
been brought in wounded.
It appears that he went
up to the front line, and
146
was on his way back when
a shell burst right at hand,
killed the guide outright, blew
off the arm of the officer
accompanying the Brig, and
the Brig received a nasty
abdominal wound. They think
he is rather bad. I do hope
the poor old chap doesnt
die or anything like that.
About noon the battalion
came in under Major[[ Imslay.]]
We had lunch and rested
for a few hours, and at
3.30 pm. moved out again.
During the midday rest
O'Brien, Watson and good
old Heritage, all from the
10th came along to see me.
They came out of the line
last night and are bivouached
nearby. Heritage came just
as I was on the point of
moving my company off,
so I couldn't give him many
minutes. Just the same old
Felix ; big, bluff, and
jovial, and with about
7 days growth on his face .
He doesn't seem too happy with
the 10th and I have told
him to apply for a transfer
to ours. I hope he gets it.
We had a job finding our
way in the dark up to the
line. We had a guide of
course, but one of the
principal duties of a guide
seems to be to lose himself
and you. Ours eventually
148
succeeded in doing this, so
I halted the company while
the guide and I set out
to reconnoitrre. We soon
got our bearings and at
last, at about 7 pm reached
[[the]] position. Fortunately the
10th have evidently been
working all day and we
found quite a lot of rough
shelters built, almost enough
to take my whole company
with a squeeze. Fortunately
there os no rain, although there
is a heavy mist.
Monday 13th Nov. 1916
Allan and I got busy today
and built ourselves a new
home. Quite a snug little
place it is too, and we
dug it all ourselves. the
trench is about five feet
deep, so we dug straight
into the side and made
a nice little chamber about
6 ft 6" by 4 ft 6", and
covered it with some broken
stretchers, steel supports for
wire entanglements, an old
oil sheet, some old blankets,
and one or two other odds
and ends we found. lying
about, and then put about
four inches of earth over
the lot. At the far end
we dug a little niche for
the candle, and on either
side another niche for our
respective trinket sets, toilet
dainties, puff boxes etc.
150
A couple wooden pegs and
an old bayonet ot two
driven into the sides make
excellent hat racks, and
as we don't take our clothes
off at all we don't need
any wardrobe. The place
was designed originally for
only Allan and I (as
you can guess when it is
only 4 ft 6" wide) but
tonight one of the other officers
(Moulden) had an accident
with his dugout (it fell in
on him) so we have taken
him in "pour la nuit". So
it is "some" double bed.
Our artillery opened up
a heavy bombardment at
6 am, today, and again
at dusk tonight. Poor Fritz !
There is an old tank just
up past our line, so
this morning Allan and I
went up to have a look
at it. It was evidently
advancing on Flers when a
shell hit it and put it
out of action. The petrol
tank evidently caught alight,
judging from the state of
affairs inside. Everything
is charred and blackened,
and burst cartridges lie
about everywhere, where the
machine gun belts have
exploded in the intense heat.
The poor fellows inside
must have had a rotten
time. Their bodies are buried
152
just alongside the tank.
The tanks are weird things
kiddie. The general appearance
from the front is that
of a huge toad. Two great
caterpillar tractors, with a
big lift in front to scale
shell holes, are the secret
of their progress over broken
country. Two ordinary wheels
at the back act as rudders,
and steer the monster. Herein
lies its weakness to a large
[[extent.]] Its armoury varies.
The female tank (this one is
female) carries machine
guns only The male
carries two long naval guns
about 9 pounders I should think)
in addition : Their surprise
effect must have been
enormous, and I should
think their work at first
was very valuable, but
they are by no means
invulnerable to shell fire
I believe there are five
or six lying hereabouts.
There is another away on
the hill towards the front
line, but I have only seen
it in the distance so far.
They would be impossible
in the very wet weather,
for I am sure they could
never crawl over this
slippery, yielding mud.
Oh kiddie, news has come
today that the Brigadier is
dead. Poor old chap, I am sorry
154
It is rather an unfortunate
start, just going into the line
{{??}} 14th 1916
Today has been much brighter
and sunnier. Fritz got busy very
early with 22 observation balloons
and about 15 planes. He has
certainly improved some since last
we were on the Somme. I got
a hell of a shock once this
morning. I saw four planes
circling just above our trench
and flying very low, took
very little notice at first, feeling
quite sure they were our
own. Then something un-
familiar made me get my
glasses onto them, and there
sure enough were the big
big black maltese crosses
on the underside of each plane.
I passed the word very
quickly to get under cover.
Later on in the day our
balloons (about same number)
and about twenty of our
planes came to light, and
then things got busy
up above. I saw three
very exciting air fights,
but no damage was done by
either side apparently, about
noon our anti aircraft
guns got a lucky shot
into a fritz plane, which
came down in flames.
The enemy artillery have
been shelling heavily all
along our sector today. I should
think that they intend to attack
tonight
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