Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/103/1 - March 1918 - Part 6

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country.
It seems tt yesty, after
Gellys Bde got here, the
English 'planes were over
& they had bn informed by
Corps tt there ws nothing
British East of Lavieville.
They accordingly started shooting
at our men under / impression
tt they were Germans & killed
two men. Gelly's men naturally
thought that they were Germans
flying British colours
(another plane wh bombed the
3rd Divn, - 11th Bde in Sailly sur
Sec this mg. & afterwards
machine gunned them set up
exactly / same belief, I found
- Brennan o / 43^rd told me he
had seen these bombs dropped).
Gelly gave orders tt they were
to fire on any plane wh fired on
 

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them. They did so, & / plane
went back & reported tt / Germans
had broken thro & were in
Lavieville. The result ws tt
a number of "whippet" tanks
(the fast little new tanks w 4
m.gs. [hand drawn sketch - see original document] - they can go 6 miles
an hour) were sent down
- & they are now at Henencourt.
[These things will show to some
extent / sort of disorganisatn wh
has occurred in this fighting o / past week].
This morning after Dernancourt
ws xxxxxxx taken from / British, a
(re taken in tonight) force described as two companies of Germans
came out of it across / low
ground towards / hill sides
held by the 49^th Bn. The
47^th let them come someway up a
gully between two knuckles; &
then / post on / left o / valley
let fly & swept down a number of
 

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them. The rest, instead of
running for / village, made for
/ opposite hillside & there another
post of the 47^th captured the
rest of them - one offr & 40 men.
They do not think a single one
got clear - so Cutlack tells me.
All day the 48^th (?) Bn had
such sniping as they never had
before, across / valley. They
think they killed 2000 Germans -
and I daresay they hit a couple
of hundred at least.
The above is hearsay - but
it will be fairly parallel w /
facts. The 12^th Bde is in / line & 13^th in
reserve, thank goodness
Meanwhile the 3rd Divn
had come into positn on /
same day (27th March).
The 3rd Divn ws originally
to be billetted abt Mondicourt.
Part of It ^it was involved in / excitement
 

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The 3rd Divn ws to have been
in the 10^th Corps, The G.S.O. II of the
10^th Corps told Jess tt they were
to have consisted of the Guards, the
2nd Canadian British Divn, the 2nd Canadian
Divn, the New Zealand Divn, & the
3rd & 4^th Australian Divns -
"Such a corps as has never yet
existed!" he sd. I believe,
personally, they wd have bn
thrown in in an offensive. Birdie
told me he wd have liked to see
all our divns & / New Zealanders
formed into a similar corps for
an offensive:
 

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abt / German break through
at Hebuterne, & the "tanks" -
but while it ws still arriving
in its area – half part at Doullens,
part at Mondicourt, part on
/ road, - the G.O.C. on /
right o / 26th on visiting 7^th
Corps ※ Hqrs at Montigny
ws suddenly gn orders to
move whatever troops he
could in a different directn
"The Germans have broken thro'
at Albert" the Corps Commander
sd, & I have nothing to stop
them between / Somme & /
Ancre. Can you hold get
your men across tt peninsula
for me."
Monash got a room
in Montigny & turned it into
Divl Hqrs for / night. He &
Jess worked out where each
 

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battalion or unit ought to be.
Then they asked if 'busses cd
be given them to pick / units
up where they were. A suggestn o /
Corps tt some o / bns shd go back to
/ 'buses Jess turned down
emphatically - "go back 11 miles
to / busses?" he asked. "Do you
know what / effect wd be on
/ men - I'd rather march it."
However, during / night /
orders were worked out. In /
mg. / General went to his Hqrs
at Franvillers; & as he got there
(about 8 am I think it ws) /
first troops began to arrive.
He spread them first - the
11^th Bde - widely from Ribemont
southwards across / peninsula.
Then as the 10^th Bde arrived
they were put in from the top o /
tongue to Ribemont (N. half of /
 

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Peninsula) & the 11^th sent left to extend further
South & bend back past Sailly
le Sec - (the Germans had bn
at Sailly le Sec during / mg.
but were cleared out by / British
cavalry (1st Cav. Divn). The 9^th
Bde ws to go in N of the 10th
Bde up / Bresle Rd as far
as / Albert Rd.
Later tt afternoon (after Cutlack
& I had gone up to / Bresle Rd
& found not a man there)
that orders a warning was given tt /
cavalry wd be withdrawn
from in front of Monash's troops
& put S. of / river to keep /
Germans back there as /
positn ws uncertain. The 5^th
Army ws supposed to have a line
from Marcelcave, but very
little ws known of it. The 9th
 

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Bde ws ordered to switch off
through Heilly & Bonnay & hold /
southern side o / Peninsula & /
crossings o / Somme from
Vaux to Corbie, ready to
blow up / bridges if necy.
(The Heilly bridge I notice also has
a break of a sort in / middle
of it w a plank over it & a
sentry standing by w a fixed
bayonet sending traffic over
/ other half o / bridge; so
it too I suppose is ready
mined - / two o / bridges near
/ mill tt is - not / one near
/ rly.)
Cannan told me tt evening
also tt he had had men rally
two miles South o / Somme
& they found no troops there
at all. That does not say
 

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there are no troops. There are
some who think tt bodies of
British troops are still holding
out behind in front of / rest o / line,
behind / German patrols who
have leaked thro. The South
African Brigade, on / left
o / 9th Divn refused to retire
& hung on - & / last tt ws
seen of them (it is sd) ws their
Bdier leading them agst /
Germans. Abt 500 have got
thro but none o / Bde Staff,
I hear. The German prisoners
who have bn Captd say tt
/ South Africans held out for
2 days - (after / battle passed
them, I suppose they mean).
Mxxxx Well- as / rt flank ws
so uncertain & critical & it seemed
as if / German were turning South
 

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& trying to outflank us or cast
his strength upon / French,
I went to tt flank / hills on our tongue between /
Auere & / Somme, overlooking
tt flank today. You get a
splendid view towards
Warfusee-Abancourt, &
Bayonvillers - On / far hill top
one cd see / church of each
of these. It ws clear tt above
Hamel (up / valley hillside, just across
/ stream from Sailly le Sec), &
between it and Sailly
Laurette, there ws a battle
of some sort in progress. The
German ws throwing quite
a fairly heavy shellfire -
mostly of 5.9 stuff- on to /
hillside about Hamel,
(whereever a fire began to
burn.) I cd see a few
men at several points o /
 

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roads on / hillside - mounted
men w some sort of ammunition
limber about P 15 D 9½ 7, due
East of Hamel Wood; other mounted
men, a few, five or six, trotting
down at abt ^P 4 B 4.7 towards
Bouzencourt; & infantry or
dismounted men standing or lying
behind / bank of a sunken
rd at the crossroad at P 10 a
2.3 just S. of Hamel. They
were under / E side o / road,
so they must have bn English
but they were not many
& somehow I had / idea
tt they were not very stable
I thought I cd see a German
post outside / corner o /
wood at Q 14 d 6.7 but
it began to rain & I cdnt
be sure. German shell were
falling right back to abt