Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/103/1 - March 1918 - Part 5

77      43 

Paris as soon as could be.

Troops were just arriving

there by train - The station

was quite dark - I roused /

station master who told me tt a German

plane had been flying flown

down / line last night

firing his machine gun.

He sd tt all civilian

trains had stopped & xxx

advised me to go to Picquigny.

We motored there - & in

little waiting room, where there

were three or four poorer

refugees, I left them - to go

by the 5. am. train tomorrow.

We came back through

the empty moonlit Amiens

 - only a gendarme & 3

French soldiers & a couple

of men in / streets.

We got back at 3 a.m.

[I am writing this on March

77      44

29th -] In / later hours o /

night / German planes were bombing

round this area vigorously - but one scarcely woke

March 28th (Thursday) This

morning there was news

tt / British pioneer bn

wh had bn holding Dernancourt

had retired or bn

driven out in / night, &

/ Germans were there. Then

we heard tt the 47 Bn had

retaken it & taken 120

prisoners. Later this turned

out to be wrong. The 47^th had

got 40 prisoners including an

officer in the rly cutting

between Albert & Dernancourt

I got Cutlack to go to the

4^th Divn (12^th & 13^th Bdes) while

I went to watch / fight

on / right where the critical

point now is - The

Germans have only /

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remains o / 5^th army

(whatever tt is) & the 1st

Cavalry Divn in front of them

S. of the Somme. I decided 

to go down to where I cd

overlook the Somme Valley &

see for myself what / positn

there ws - you can sometimes

get a sign by wh you know

can judge - Up at 4^th & 3rd

Divns. we cannot get a 

word as to what / real

positn there is. Only they

say tt Gen. Foch has

promised tt his army

will concentrate somewhere

there within / next few days.

He wanted Monash to

take / hill by Morlancourt

at once because from there

his detraining point was

77     46

overlooked - that is / only

informatn from wh we can 

guess it.

On my way back I

saw Gen. Monash & he gave

me / history of his move

up. And from what the

4^th Divn also gave me one

can pretty well reconstruct 

/ story. Murray of the 13^th

 - the V.C, - is here in Command

of our 4^th m.g. battalion - &

now a Lt. Colonel; & he told

us a good deal of it.

The 4^th Divn was to

have gone to Basseux - I

think for some offensive

along w / Canadians or others.

But when / Germans broke

thro' about the 25^th they

77      47

were hurriedly switched

further South. When the 4^th

Bde was at Mondicourt,

however, a sudden scare

(on ? March 26^th?) arose that

the Germans had broken thro

at Hebuterne & the Army

sent orders for the 4^th Bde

to be switched off again

in tt direction. As it ws

going a further scare, or

perhaps / same, seized

people about that "two German

tanks had broken through &

were coming along / road."

Murray grabbed a platoon

& hurried off in / directn

from wh they were sd to be

coming. He found a medley

on / road of soldiers, civilian

refugees - all hurrying away

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to  / rear. Amongst them

ws a staff officer. Murray

asked him what had

happened. "The Germans have

broken thro & they are coming

in numbers," he sd.

Murray saw it ws no

use arguing but pushed

on & presently for saw

a red car coming down /

road ahead followed by

some construction or other.

There were 8 men in grey

on / affair. Murray thought

"this is grand" - divided

his platoon half into one

ditch & half into / other -

& told them to let fly & shoot /

crew as they passed. As

they approached he had

to shout to / men not to

fire. The red car was a

77     49 

xx motor tractor; the 8 men were

French soldiers o / Agricultural

Corps; & the tractor

was hauling out their ploughs.

Whether tt ws / origin o / report

I dont know; but Murray is

convinced tt it was.

Anyway - our 4^th Bde

ws switched off to Hebuterne

w orders to "retake it." They

found no Germans in it -

but / other side the discovered

a patrol of 7 German soldiers

whom they captured.

The 4^th Bde went in to

reinforce the 62nd Divn - the

same tt fought on their left

o / Divn at Bullecourt;

&  it has bn there even since.

Yesterday / Germans for some

reason attacked it - &

77     50

after a short sharp bombt.

their infantry came out. The

13^th & 15^th (?) Bns were in

a trench behind some old

wire - & they simply mowed /

Germans down. They told Murray

tt there were 600 Germans dead

upon / wire & in front of it, hung

up on / wire as on a clothes

line. They themselves only lost

two officers killed & 3 wd - tho

/ Germans were shelling them

more heavily afterwds.

The 12^th & 13^th Bdes

meantime had bn suddenly

switched Southwards to the

right flank o / 3rd army

near Albert where /

Germs were reported to have

broken through - while /

New Zealanders went in on

the left of them, up / road

77    51

thro Contay, I fancy. The 12^th

British Divn ws between / two

(& still is). The two Bdes - 12^th &

13^th - had to make a 24 mile

march in abt 12 hours from

/ night of March 26^th Southwards

as hard as they cd go. The

12th went straight into / line

next to the 35^th Divn,

opposite Albert. The troops

there were, I believe, not

in touch w / Germans - indeed

there were we heard rumours o /

Germans being in Millencourt,

& / line thro' Henencourt; but our

men pushed up / road till

they overlooked Albert- 

[I dont know tt this is

correct. Anyway / line they

took up ws on / edge o / hills

around Albert down to /

rly line to Dernancourt SW

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of Albert, & so round to

near Dernancourt. Gellibrand

had his Bde Hqrs in a cellar

in Lavieville; but Lavieville

ws being so heavily shelled all

today tt Wilkins & Cutlack,

both of whom wanted to go into it,

did not do so. I watched /

shells pitching round / aerodrome

most heavily & Cutlack says

tt they were within 100 yds of

a line of our men in / road

there - but / men were leaning

agst / road bank taking no 

notice at all, apparently. However,

in 5 shells / Germans got fair

onto tt British battery on /

crest by / Bresle Rd crossing

 - an exceedingly foolish exposed

positn it seemed to me. Indeed

the British arty officer seems often

to have very little of an eye for