Photostat copy of diaries of Benjamin Bennett Leane, 1915-1916 - Part 29

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it first, so we didn't have

as 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 than 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 2^nd 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 12^th 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 Imlay.
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

10^th 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 10^th 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
10^th 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 13^th 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

[[Tuesday]] Nov. 14^th 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.

                                                                                                                                                                    

156
Wednesday 15^th

Very cold morning, and a 

heavy mist. Allan persisted

in rolling over several times

during the night and taking

all the blanket (singular number

with him. Vows I did the 

same, but of course that's ridiculous.

Had bacon for breakfast, pork

and beans (tinned) for dinner,

and bread and jam & cheese

for tea. Mail arrived today

-one from dear you, and

one from {Norman}, both dated

September 25th. There is a very

cold driving wind tonight

and tomorrow company command

ers have to visit the front

line at 4.30am. Ugh!!

Thursday 16th. Up at 4 am

It was bitterly cold, We visited

the front line in the night

subsector (Grease Trench). The

46th are in at present, and

we expect to relieve them

very shortly. Conditions

are marvellous here. We

went all the way right

up to the front line over

the top. That is to say

we didn't use use a communication

trench at all. And not

a shot did we draw.

Afterwards we walked

all along the trench

on the {paradoo}, as the

trench was both muddy

and congested. and still

not one sniper sniped.

The position here is a most

158

peculiar one. The left of

these Trench has to be watched

two fronts - Fritz is both

in front and behind it,

On the other hand Fritz

himself is in what we call

a salient, and has

us all around him. I'll

just show you roughly.

I'll draw Fritz's line in

dotted lines and ours in

plain:

( see plan in original document)

Perhaps you won't fully under-

stand it, but to us it is

most interesting. Some day

I'll explain it more clearly

to you. But it is

marvellous why Fritz doesn't

take advantage of his oppor-

tunities to snipe. There

were five of us, and he

could have got us

any old time he liked

if he had been awake

------------ but he wasn't!

We came back at about

eight o'clock. It is sad 

to see the dead lying all

along the way! the dead

who fell in the advance

which gained the present

positions. It is a pity they

160

cannot be buried, but it is

impossible yet. They lie

as they fell, face forward

in most cases, and with all 

equipment on, and bayonetted

rifle still clasped in the

right hand.

On the way back I noticed

that all the ((????}}

water in the shell holes was

thickly coated with ice.

this afternoon there were

several more air fights, and

in one of them our fighter

drove a Bosch down within

a few hundred yards of

my position. He managed 

to effect a fairly good

landing, but struck a

shell hole and turned

completely over. The pilot

was badly wounded by a

machine gun bullet through

the chest, but the observer

was unhurt. He was taken 

away under escort, and

the pilot was attended to by

one of our doctors at once

and then taken off on a 

stretcher. Of course all the 

men rushed across to see

the plane, but I had 

them back quick and

lively; and only just

in time, for as I expected

the enemy turned his guns

onto the plane to destroy

it. Several shells landed 

very close, but none hit.

Both sides are bombarding heavily

all along the line tonight.