Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1918-1919 (Vol. 6) - Part 7

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a rough Aide-de-camp. I would enjoy
leave now nearly 7 months of life in
close proximity to the Front Line tho a
fortnight is hardly long enough. Still
one must be thankful for small mercies
We were all in high glee when the
mail arrived for there were Australian
letters for all of us and it was
quite noticeable the silence that
fell on the mess as each one engaged
himself to the task of wading thro the
contents of each letter. Just as I expected
at 9 P.m. the "joyful" news that we were
to move forward on the morrow came
thro'. In a way I would prefer it
as the Country is beautiful and
undulating and most of the villages
are inhabited by French refugees
and comparatively intact and I
do enjoy the prospect of getting closer
to the Rhine for every advance means
something.
13/10/18  Sunday and we prepare for
another move. It was raining again
and not in the least propitious nor could
we find out exactly the sector we
 

60
were to operate in. The Colonel had gone
forward to reconnoitre and we had to
move to a rendezvous at Maretz. Rather
an important town on what is known
as Watling St and important highway
running from St Quentin Canal thro'
Estrees to Le Cateau. We moved off
at 10.45 as a Brigade and skirting
Montbrehain joined Watling Street
at Genéve where there was a large
Engineers' dump formerly in Hun hands
After lunching at the rendezvous and
giving the horses their midday ration
we sat down to await the return
of the O.C. It afterwards turned out that
we were to go into action on the outskirts
of Escacourt near rather an
important Railway running thro
Le Cateau. It was a long and tedious
march thro Maretz and Busigny rather
on account of the long and cheerless
halts thro' "Congestion of traffic" in the
winding main Streets. It was quite
odd to see the French women and
children and in some Cases old men
standing in the doorways looking very
 

61
worn and prematurely old thro the
hardships they have undergone in their
four years under the German yoke
but beneath the sadness could be seen
keen pleasure at their deliverance at last.
After much trouble we arrived on the
position at 9 and without mishap
tho' two 4.4's fell in Close proximity
to us as we passed a fatal Cross-road.
There was no Cover of any Sort
so we merely throw our belongings
under the hedge beside the railway Line
and went off to sleep without worrying
in the least about S.O.S. lines or a
Bosche Counter-attack.
14/10/18  As it was dark when we
arrived last night I hadn't a chance
of taking in the surroundings but
out of curiosity I got up early and
found we were camping beside a
rather pretty village and just back
along the Railway Line is the Station
of [[Hannechy]] On paying a visit
to that I saw what was once a
train loaded with Hun Ammunition
but every truck was a tangled
 

62
mass of iron with shells and
pieces of metal lying everywhere
A perfect bedlam in fact one
train which had evidently been
filled with 8" shells was hardly
recognisable owing to the terrible
nature of the explosion. At a
Railway Siding some 100 yards
away was a number of large
pits intended for the storage of
ammunition. Further evidence
that the Huns intended to hold
the Hindenburg Line at least.
The country hereabouts is beautiful
and undulating and Quite
a large portion of it is under
Cultivation. During the day
the villages were intermittently
shelled by the Boche. The Good
old hate strafe and the unfortunate
villagers were sure to suffer
We officers stripped to the waist
and set to work to build a dugout
on the Railway Embankment tho'
we aren't likely to remain here long
 

63
15/10/18.  We slept very snugly in
our hastily-constructed dugout, and
Weren't troubled at all during the night
with any Shorts which I' m sure the men
appreciated. Just in this vicinity there is
any amount of artillery but none
of the Batteries are likely to remain
here long as we are down for a
further push in the morning and
it may just happen that we will
have to move forward tonight and
with that end in view went ahead
during the morning and selected the
Position. Otherwise it was essentially
a day of Rest. Late in the afternoon
orders came in that we were to remain
in our present position for the time
being and these were followed by
instructions of the attack we were
to make on the 17^th. It appears
that the 2^nd American Corps Infantry
is to make an exploitation over a large
area and as the Americans have no
artillery we are Supplying the wherewithal.
It should be interesting as the Country
is open enough and the Americans
 

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will not be labouring under the same
difficulties as when the Hindenburg
line was attacked.
16/10/18  Still nothing definite as to
when the attack is to be made in
all probability tho' it will be
tomorrow as we already understand.
It was a miserably wet day so
we spent most of it indoors for
by now our dwelling house approached
the realm of respectability
and we even have the floor lined
with duck boards. Late in the afternoon
we received the necessary
orders to move to the position we
had selected 1000 yards further
forward as from there we were
able to reach the limits of our
barrage. We decided to remain
here and do the work for the host
because we had good shelter and
were able to make it light-proof.
and were up to the position before
zero hour. It transpired that I
was detailed to take a section forward
in close support of the infantry
 

65
to assist them in their work of exploitation.
The infantry are Americans and I'm
a little apprehensive about keeping
to close to them. Moreover there is
a serious obstacle with the Selle River
to cross it is only a small stream
but the bridges are Certain to be blown
up and much opposition to any
attempt to cross is sure to be made
by their Gunners.
17/10/18  The morning for us Commenced
at 4.30. Zero hour had been fixed
for 5.30 but it was well we did
take the precaution of moving up
to the position early as the fog was
very dense and I for one had
only been to the new position once
and then at night. Just as we
expected the U.S. men met with
a great deal of machine gun fire
when crossing the stream which
prevented them from following the
barrage as closely as they should and
this gave the Boche machine guns
their opportunity of laying in wait
for the advancing Infantry I had
 

66
my teams ready to push on immediately
the barrage had finished but owing to
this reverse was not able to start
on time. However I did eventually move
off made a reconnaissance on foot
of the bridge at St Martin under decidedly
heavy shell fire and found that it
was blown up. American Engineers
had been detailed to repair the bridge