Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1918-1919 (Vol. 6) - Part 3

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because there can be no immediate
intention to attack that veritable

strong hold. We learn that the 5^th

Army are taking over the front and
the Australian Corps going out for a
rest tho' the 5^th Division are not to
be relieved. If that rumour is true
it can only mean that it is intended
to hold the line only here and the 

Australian Corps is to be used to

attack the problem elsewhere. It would
be rather a difficult matter to take

the line as it is guarded by the St.

Quentin Canal rather a serious
obstacle. We had arranged to move
the Guns at 7 and transfer all
the ammunition as soon as possible

A very risky job too in view of

Hun planes but it has to be done.

By 10 we had all the wagons clear
and had some little excitement
too for one of the wagons very

nearly received the contents of 3
aerial torpedoes but managed to 
escape somehow.
 

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22/9/18 I always manage to keep a record
of the Sundays and today can quite
safely say that it is Sunday. The day is
spent just the same as any other. I
had to make several excursions to
the Bty. during the night to carry out
some shoots the last early this

morning still anticipating a counter-
attack An English division is

taking over our Front tonight from
the 4^th Divl. Infantry Naturally we
don't care very much about that
we prefer to have our own Infantry
in front of us still the morale of
the "Tommies" has been keeping up
well and is sure now to continue 
to do so. We moved our dwelling
from a trench in front of the guns
to a good substantial dugout on

the edge of the village and just as well

too for early this afternoon it

commenced to rain and continued
well on into the night. For a still
more important reason a large
number of S.9's fell in the vicinity
 

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and even followed us here but only
a direct hit could disturb our equanimity 
here. The men had some trouble
in getting out of the way on some occasions

and one more unfortunate than the
rest had 30 frs. worth of canteen

stores blown skywards. A word for

the Y.M.C.A. - Much to our surprise -

and some joy too - we discovered that
our 5^th Ymca Representative had
followed on the wake of the Infantry
and established his Quarters in the centre

of the village where comforts could be
purchased and did't our fellows
appreciate it too without a doubt this
particular arm of the Service is
doing magnificent work nor is this
the first occasion that this particular
representative has gone forward
and where shells fell thickly  too
yet they never have the opportunity

of getting anything back by way of

interest as we do.
23/9/18. We are gradually recovering

from another "strenuous" weekend

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well might we say that as a budding
civilian but here we never have the
opportunity of indulging to that extent
if we suffer from lassitude and
indolence its because we've been up for
3 nights in successn pushing back
the Hun. It was my night in bed and
I enjoyed a good sleep especially 
as I had a good berth wherein to
lay. We had spent a very profitable 
afternoon making wire netting shelters
and these we nailed to the wall
just like those on ship board without
the hot and cold water laid on "and
the ever-recurring steward. Still we're
happy enough and if a prediction
that wed be clear of this by Xmas
would come true we'd make it and
be happier still. This morning between
the intermittent periods of shelling
I had a look round the village and
its incredible that our Infantry should
have taken the place so easily there
are machine gun posts at every
vantage point covering the high ground
our troops had to advance over and
 

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yet we lost remarkably few men whereas 
we captured 450 Boche and scores
of machine guns Away out on our 

right still can be seen St Quentin
Cathedral standing majestically above

the intervening Crest line the latter being
the main Hindenberg Outpost line and

held by us all along this particular 

Front. We are waiting anxiously for

news of further advances along 
other parts of the Front particularly in
the South where some days ago the

French and British were only two miles
from St. Quentin with the fall of 

Cambrai and St. Quentin all chance
of holding the Hindenburg Line will have
disappeared and then!!!
24/9/18. It was my night on duty but

it was arranged that I should go to
Brigade O. P. for the day and as that
entailed a departure at 6 a.m.
I was permitted to sleep on. An
attack was projected by the Division
on our right with the object of taking
Pontruet and at 5.20 we took a
hand in the barrage. The Brigade OP
 

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is located in the Front Line before
Nauroy and each battery was detailed

to take it in turn and today happened
to be our turn. It was some 5000 yards

walk past Grand Priel Farm and

a long Ascension Valley both of which

had the reputation of being well

shelled and so it proved. I didn't
half like the thought of the journey
but it had to be made and except
for several shells which fell quite
near we managed to reach the front
system of trenches safely. Our Austⁿ
Infty has been relieved by an English
Division and some American Corps.
and the latter seemed to appreciate the
responsibility imposed on them twas
a very interesting day tho' we were
persistently shelled all day. A very
fine view can be had of the country
immediately in rear of the Hindenburg
Line which in some parts consists
os 3 belts of barb wire and it is
said that the trenches in rear are

joined up with innumerable tunnels
 

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I was a little apprehensive as to whether
we would get clear without some
trouble and sure enough just as we
were moving. A few shells passed over
our heads into the vicinity of the main
road over which the teams had to pass
but luckily no damage was done and

we all arrived safely. B.H.Q. could
not tell us what was happening tho'
we have an idea that we will be going
into action somewhere near Epéhy
some kilo. north from here.
20/9/18. It has been a day of
relaxation in anticipation of a
projected move back towards
Cartigny at 1 a.m. where subsequent
orders as to our destination will be
issued. I was awake at 6 the
hour of Reveille so elected to get
up then and take the horses to the
watering point quite 3 miles away
The present wagonlines are for 
that reason awkwardly situated

being just about midway between
the only two streams in the vicinity 
tho' once across the Hindenburg Line
 

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we'll have not only the St. Quentin Canal
but the Oise River. We received an
indication of our movements this 
morning to move into the Cartigny
area leaving at 1 a.m. and there to
wait orders as to the location of our
new Bty Position evidently this next
advance is to be on a somewhat
momentous scale and I only hope
it has the desired effect I would
dearly enjoy a rest but if there is to be
a speedy conclusion as a result we
are prepared to fight on. The major
went forward early this afternoon to
select the wagon lines while the rest 
of us continues the relaxation.
27/9/18 We left earlier than we had

intended and moving separately in
sections arrived at our new rendezvous 
at 11. There was nothing ready for
us to live in so we had to straightway
erect shelter and it was no mean
task in the dark and it looked as
if it would rain and so it did tho'
not to the same extent as when we
were in the area before. There are
 

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crowds of tanks scattered about the

numerous woods all getting ready for
the attack on the Hindenburg Line. We
are just holding on pending further
details as to the new attack which
are gradually filtering thro' from H.Q's.
It appears that we are to amalgamate

with the Americans on the particular

front allotted to us and this will be
the first occasion but there's little

doubt that they will prove themselves
quite equal to the task. We had the 
afternoon off and spent it witnessing
a football match between two 5^th
Division Batteries.
28/9/18 We had another wet night but on
this occasion we had efficient
shelter. We had confirmation of the
report going round that we were
destined for a big stunt. The Americans
are to go over first and after
capturing the Hindenburg Main Line
are to hold that and our Infantry
followed by the Artillery are to push

thro to to our intended objective.

We spent the morning getting every-