Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1918-1919 (Vol. 6) - Part 2

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over it. Much to my Surprise at 1 o'clock

clouds loomed up and soon we were 

in the middle of a typical tropical downpour 

the canvas stood the deluge for

a while altho' our heads and feet

were getting damper every minute.

We all laughed our misfortune except

one perhaps a little more pessimistic

than the rest and he decided to slip

on an overcoat & go for a tramp

on the hills which he did. It was 

a great work getting clothes glasses 

and other pharaphenalia under

cover but all to no purpose for

suddenly the storm broke let out with

renewed fury vivid flashes of

lightning with long peals of thunder

and the wind was horrific soon

the cover we had broke loose and

came down on top of us I know

I make frantic efforts to prevent

the small pools of water from

coming over me much to the annoyance

of the others but we all

laughed at our plight and no one 

was serious. The water gradually

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found its way up the blankets until

I was lying in quite a pool of water

There was nothing left to do but to

just remain and if possible go off

to sleep. The spectacle when I got

up in the morning was ludicrous

in the extreme and we then turned 

our attention to getting our things dry

It seemed almost an impossible task

at the outset but the sun was coming

out of the clouds so we hoped for

the best. We were running the Guns

up to the position at dusk so the

Major and two of us set out to

run the lines of fire out and select

another position some 2000 yards

in advance in anticipation that

the attack in the morning is successful

It was a long tramp over the muddy 

ground but the Hun kept his 

shells well over to the right. We moved

out by Sections with 10 minutes

interval to avoid congestion on the

position and by 10 all our teams

were back at the wagon lines altho'

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a large number of Hun planes were

over and some of the bombs dropped

perilously close. There is no cover

on the position but we burrowed

down into the ground and there 

we'll made out our barrage table

for the morning's attack.

18/9/18. Another memorable day and

perhaps one of the busiest weve had

during the whole offensive. We had

no sleep and had to put down

the barrage at 5.20 which was

fixed for zero hour and after an

hour's bombardment we are to move

forward and review the barrage at

8.30. It commenced to rain again

so that when 5.30 did arrive

we were ankle deep in mud, but

the Guns shot wonderfully well Owing

to the fact that we were in a valley

the noise mad by the Guns was

simply terrific and it was impossible

to hear one's own voice almost.

Just at 6.30 the hunters pulled on

to the position and within an hour

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we were digging in just above an

old railway line beyond Vendrelles.

The Major and I settled down in a 

dugout just below the Guns to

review the barrage table. At 8.30 off

went the guns again another 

pandemonium let loose but didnt our

fellows enjoy it especially when

batches of prisoners some 400

and 500 strong kept continually

coming in showing that all was going

well. We finished up at 9.35

and it did one's heart good to see

our Gunners stripped almost

to the waist and looking as if

they had been digging for their lives

with huge heaps of empty cartridge

cases everywhere. They had had

nothing except a drink of tea

so now was their opportunity of

cleaning out their guns which had

been showing great form all thro' 

the stunt. Reports were coming

thro that our Infantry were going

well and quite early were on the

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"Blue Line" the line marked out for

exploitation only but being the Hindenburg.

Our post line was quickly consolidated 

by our men who "elected" to

remain. Immediately in front but

on much lower ground is the St.

Quentin Canal which guards the

real Hindenburg Line so of the

utmost value to us. We were only

awaiting confirmation of this and

had already selected a position near

Le Verguer in anticipation. At

3 we had orders to move forward

and by 5.30 after having tea moved

forward in sections As each

section passed over the crest in full

view of the enemy a present of

shells followed in our wake but

luckily all the teams escaped mishap

and were able to get away as well.

We have a fairly good position

originally used by the British

when the Hun was holding the

Hindenburg Line last Winter so the 

men were able to get good shelter and

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needed it too in view of the unsettled

weather we've been having. It turned

out a brilliant moonlight night and

quite early the hostile planes began

to come over.

19/9/18. We were expecting a counter

attack this morning and much

tho' I would have appreciated a

good sleep I was awakened several

times during the night either by the

telephone or telephonist with

fresh orders. One came in at 1

with a message followed by

another at 3 with orders for a

counter preparation scheme to be

put down at 5 and again at

5.30 so we worked that out and

got the Battery to to carry it

out. Just at 5.15 an attack

was carried out by the Group on

our right and I went up to the

crest in front to witness the

barrage. It was a great success

we found out afterwards and our

infantry established themselves

on the outpost line just as we

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did yesterday another success for

the Australian Corps. If only we can

hold this line we should soon

be able to make the Hindenburg

Line untenable especially when our

Heavies get up. We are still almost

6000 yards behind the Hun line

and will have to move forward 

again so the Major and I set out

after lunch for what was afterward

a 5 mile walk. It was an interesting

walk for we saw heaps of booty

lying about including French

mortars a 77mm Gun and hundreds 

of machine Guns all captured in

the advance and waiting to be taken

away. One of the most notable

landmarks we saw on coming

into our present position was

the Cathedral of St. Quentin which

has been in Boche hands since

the early part of the war but now

within our grasp as the French

are within 3 miles of the City on 

the South and we are gradually

encircling it on the North. It was

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indeed a splendid and hopeful

sight and augured well for the future

after a little over a month's effort.

20/9/18. Spent the night mostly

interviewing the telephone Orderly on

answering the phone the others were

evidently so tired that they slept

soundly but well. Anyway I was the

officer on duty and had several

shoots early this morning mostly in

view of a possible counter-attack but

of course none came. None of us

felt like getting up very early but 

we did manage to turn out at 10.

still we needed the sleep badly and

then there may be more strenuous 

work ahead. We weren't satisfied

with the position we had selected

forward so the major took another

walk while I repaired to a nearby

trench where I could see most of

the front line and identified some

of the prominent features on the map

It's interesting to get into new Country

especially the vicinity of the far famed

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Hindenburg Line and compare the

country with a map moreover it

isn't the easiest task in the world

as crest lines and valleys are very

deceptive where viewed with the naked

eye some thousand yards in rear

we just stood by awaiting orders

to move to the new position the

Major had selected this Line on

the Southern end of all that remains

of the Verguer. a few shattered walls

and much debris. We were just

thinking of turning in when we

had another opportunity of witnessing

the downfall of a large Gotha

brought about by one of our light

machines as soon as the Hun plane

came under the glare of our search

lights. It crashed in flames not

500 yards away and all that remained

was a tangled mass of iron and

some distance way the bodies of two

Hun officers tho' a third had been

burnt alive. One of our Sergeants more

intrepid than the rest paid a visit to

the wreckage and succeeded in salving

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a watch, Iron Cross and Order of

merit the two latter being pinned

to the breast of one of the officers.

We couldn't help cheering when we

saw the plane crash in spite of the

dreadful end of the occupants we

knew was in store.

21/9/18. The other Batteries had moved

at dusk last night. We arranged to

move tonight and probably the

conditions will be much more

favorable as it was very threatening

this morning and we expected it to

rain before night. Hitherto we had

been immune from shells but

during the day quite a number came

over in the vicinity of the Bty. one

landing only 30 yards from our

habitation but the ground is very

soft and there are very few splinters

as a result. The move forward

was inevitable as we could only

just reach the outskirts of the

Hindenburg Line and the new position

will probably prove a very much

safer one & we hope so at least