Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/103/1 - March 1918 - Part 2

77
11

English officers already there; who

sd tt they had bn bombed many

times in / open but tt being bombed

in a town ws an experience

they did not like. The hotel people

told them x in / morning tt / hotel

wd being closed at once. They

might stay if they liked - if

they insisted of course they could

have done so; but they would

get no meals in / hotel.

Amiens looked like a deserted

city & a good deal of damage

had been done.

Cutlack & We I went on at once

to Beauquesne. We found

a kindly captain in their 

operations room, who told us

where our divisions were:

3rd Aust Divn at Franvillers;

4^th Aust Divn at Baizieux; 5^th

(we met Hobbs at Doullens)

77
12

coming to Acheux.

We had passed part of

the 44^th Bn in buses between

Frevent & Doullens, so we

knew tt the 3rd Divn were

still on their way. But this

officer told us tt the Australians

- some of the 3rd Divn - were already in

/ line & fighting. We pictured

them hurrying up & thrown

in before the advancing Germans,

fighting harder & harder as /
German reserves & guns
began to come up northwards,

& half / division scattered thro'

this fighting before / second

half cd reach it.

We realised tt we might

have to camp anywhere - in any

sort of village & perhaps keep on /

move back for a day or two.

So we bought a few sardine tins,

77
13

& some salmon. It happened tt

Hector Dinning of our 4^th Divnl.

train, who ws one of our chief

writers in / Anzac Book, was

supply officer o / British depot at

Doullens. So we dr called in

& tho' he was out his men, being

Australians, gave us a splendid

supply of butter, beef, sugar &

bread for the three of us (Boddy being

the third). We came straight on

Outside the Doullens station was

Irwin of the 3^rd Aust. Div_^l Hqrs.

He was superintending the 

arrival of the battalions o /

division, & sending them

off towards the front. They

had been given a billetting

area East of Doullens; but

as soon as they arrived the and 

after / first few bns had been

sent off to their district, the

14
^X The enemy was then shelling Pas, only

abt 9 kilometres E of Doullens, where

some o / troops were to have billetted.

It seemed likely he wd shortly shell

Doullens too.

77
15

Germ Army suddenly ordered

them off further South. Irwin

knew that Hqrs ws now at

Franvillers - but he did not

know where / battalions had

all gone to. News ^had come tt

/ Germans were at Hebuterne

& Souastre, & at Mondicourt

where they were to first

to be billetted. But, as /

bns, who had some time since

gone off there, had not come

back, Irwin reckoned tt this

ws a "furphy." He had the

36^th Bn, & a Company of the 34^th,

& odd battalions & bits of battalions

still waiting round / town

ready to ship off when he knew

where to send them. ^X 

We passed, on / ^Amiens road

outside of Doullens, the 36^th Bn,

77
16

or some of it, camped; &,

further on, the 9^th Bde Machine

guns & other units by / side

of the old well know roads wh we knew

so well, but wh were unknown

country to the 3^rd Divn. We

cut down from Beauquesne

thro Puchevillers. There were We cd see

guns - field arty - going all

along / road on / other side

o / valley to Contay - ^all going

southwards. The sound of big

guns ws clear - not far away.

I remembered an old French defence line here,

& the old wire defences down 

both sides o / valley were in

fair order. The farmers had 

removed a little of it in ploughing
- but / line seemed strangely

ill sited. Thro Contay there ws

moving a column of N.Z. artillery

NE wards. [on the board this mg

at the Press Chateau there ws

77
17

a written note o / latest

news. In it was a paragraph

stating tt at 11.30 (the day before, 

I think) the New Zealanders

were moving through Auchonvillers.

It ws / one really cheerful piece

of news in / despatch, I thought.

At Franvillers we found the

3rd Divn ^Hqrs. They were just that

day arriving. Gen Monash

gave me a full statement of

exactly what he ws doing -

as lucid as usual. We went out

along / road - the old Amiens

Albert Road wh we knew so well -

It was hard to think of the

Germans being straight up tt

road, Near looking towards

us this side of Albert. Near

Bresle we came to the first

sign of the wa change along it - ^one of the row of tall trees,

newly broken by a shell, with

77
18

the top it burst clean off &

lying propped up against it.

We came upon a line of

engineers digging beside the road.

They were English - & they were

digging out a line at rt angles

to / road - others extended it

further right & left. There was

a line of ragged wire in front

of it; but some much better

wire down across / slope N of /

road in a cup of the hills there.

I was ^thinking of photographing these

engineers but had decided not
to, for / danger of being arrested,

when I heard someone shout

"Hallo Charles." I looked

round - & there was a tall thin

British Officer - Angus Butler,

my cousin with the 180 Tunnelling!

Coy R.E. whom I had not seen

77
19

since the night after his brother

Leo was killed at Mouquet

Farm.

He was going on leave ^/ day when /

bombt broke out. He wanted

to stay but his C.O. sd: "No -off 

you go - you'll be doing

someone else out of his leave if

you don't." However, at Boulogne

the Officers & men, who were ready

for / leave boat, were stopped. He

came back - ws in Amiens

/ night we stayed there: & rejoined

his Coy. When he found them they

had bn fighting in / line as

infantry for ever since / first

day. They had to hold /

Germans w their rifles, for

they had no m.gs. They

retired gradually w / line -

fighting a bit every now &

20
※ I found / next day on / road

out of Heilly a battalion of troops

just moving off into rest. They

were the 41^st Entrenching Battalion

- of all sorts of reinforcements for

a dozen regiments. They had bn

behind / line before / battle

& had not been in / first days

work. But since then they had

been in / line retiring like /

rest. They had bn 800 strong

to start w & were a pretty strong

battalion still. The Germans

had broken thro beside them

& almost surrounded them at

one place - that ws / great

trouble, their C.O. told me. He

ws proud of his men but ws

afraid the Bn wd now be broken

up to reinforce its different parts.

I photographed these men whom

we relieved near Maricourt

& at / same time some of our

men relieving them. 

77
21

then. Angus told me th there ws 

never any rout of / troops so

far as he knew. They were

simply tired & too dead to

offer any resistance. ^He had heard how When /

German got up, they our men wd get

up too; & / two lines wd stroll

along at a distance from one another

each trailing its arms - the

German as tired as our men.

Someone wd take a shot. Then

down both sides wd fall &

shoot at one another for a bit

& then on again. ^※ They had 
Germans within 10 yards of 

them. These Germans 

tunnellers had dug a fairly 

deep trench - a new one. They

had found an old filled

in trench in front of it, full

stuffed w / barbed wire wh

had originally defended it.

21a

30            

5.30pm

Dear Capt Bean.
If you come out