Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/104/1 - March - April 1918 - Part 4

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had dug further south
at Baizieux & Ribemont
& over / hill by Treux.
Part of the 53rd were in
this line as a garrison &
/ rest in / village. They didnt
know where / rest o / brigade
or / division or / other divns.
were; they were there by
themselves - they were starting
on a field day to practice
open warfare.
They thought tt N.Z. ws at
Acheux - but there we found
some of our 5^th Divn. who
sd the 5^th were at Vauchelles
& the N.Z. Divn at Bus Les
Artois. As we motored by
Betrancourt we saw men working
on a line across country, &
others unloading ammunition
at a temporary siding; while

? La Signy Farm Spur
30/3/18 

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45
a dump was burning
on a hill about a mile
or two East of Bus. The cross
roads were impassable
for a car.
At the N.Z. Chateau Gen.
Russell told me tt the New
Zealand advance (of March 29^th
I think it was) of which everyone
is talking & wh is one of / bits
of news wh is cheering up / whole
Allied side was a quite minor
affair but quite successful.
"It ws over in 7 minutes, " he
sd."  There ws some hillcrest
there wh we wanted for 
observation & we planned
an advance on a front of
700 yds - it came to abt 1200
yds in / end - We did not
go out to beat / Boche but

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to get this place where
we could overlook him,
& complete our position -
I wanted it especially to
Safeguard / important
height behind it, in
in front of Bus here, wh wd
be / centre of our battle
positn. It ws most succesful
& we brought in 230 prisoners;
& now tt we have counted up
all / m.guns there are 110
of them." One of the N.Z.
officers told me later tt abt
half of these guns were big
m.gs for fixed positns & half
light guns.
Russell. who is always
most friendly to us, told
me tt he was happy
on his left flank where
our 4th Bde was - but 

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tt the 4^th Bde had
had to throw back its
N flank to meet /
withdrawal of British
troops to / N. of them.
Boddy & I then went
on to the 4^th Bde at
Fonquevillers, of going
through Courcelles au Bois
& Sailly an Bois. On the
crest as we reached
Fonquevillers we cd see
Hebuterne to our right;
& we were in view o /
German- As we reached
/ outskirts o / village
a shell whizzed down abt
100yds away - I think
really meant for some
batteries tho one had landed
fair in / road when we

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48
came back 2 hrs later.
In / village after passing a 
m This village & this country
ws part of the old front
line area before the Somme
battle. The villages were
already half ruined, &
the grey woods stood bare
from the russet heath
like the stubble of an old
mans beard. English
troops were in / village.
But as we reached /
centre of it I was delighted
to see / colours of the old
4^th Brigade  - yellow & blue
- 14^th Bn. I walked down
/ Hebuterne Rd. There,
by an old time dugout, in
the side of the road bank,
was the red flag ^pennant of A brigade.

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Outside were standing
a number of p men,
who proved to be Australian
infantry standing around a
number of German prisoners.
They were yarning to them -
intelligence officers & police
Examining them in 3
different places, & / Germans
smoking or sitting talking.
The men told me tt these
Germans had just bn 
captured. I went down
into the dugout, & / staff
Captain, an old former Adelaide
newspaper reporter, and
/ intelligence offr, gave me
/  story of the Bde. The old
General ws up in /
trenches w the 16^th Bn
wh had made the little 

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attack. Aarons & another
Coy Commdr had planned
this little attack between
them, Brand told me later,
& deserved / whole credit
of the plan.
The Bde Major, who
was done up, ws in
Behencourt Brienvillers(?), they sd, writing
the diary at tt moment, in
quiet.
The staft Capt. sd tt at
Saulty, on Mar. 26, / Bde
got orders to stand to and
Send out patrols from
Fonquevillers to Souastre
where / Germs had broken
thro'. This ws abt 11 a.m.
There ws gt excitement -
rumours tt / Germans had
some tanks thro' Hebuterne.
The civil populatn ws 

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getting away in great
haste (they had bn lately
permitted back to Fonquevillers
& Hebuterne - poor things)
The tanks turned out to be
disc ploughs, painted red.
The Gen. ordered / whole
Bde to rendezvous at
the windmill S. of Bienvillers.
He & some of his staff rode
off. At 4 p.m. The ^"Old Brig" dashed
up on his horse from
Fonquevillers & made a
little speech telling the Bde
A  “I have just been
in / village supposed to
be occupied by the Boche".
The Bde had a meal
& then moved up thro
Hannescamps. There
was a wide gap in / line;

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a few 19^th Div^l troops (the
divn seemed to be abt 400
strong) were in front North of
Hebuterne; & there were
some of the 62nd Divn
in front of Gommecourt
(a grey wood in / valley
in front of / Bde H.Qrs.)
Posts were put all
round  / Eastern Edge
of Hebuterne tt night,
& / whole village “made
good” Except / Cemetery
where there were Germans
& machine guns. There
were ^German snipers in / village
& these did some sniping
(but were apparently
cleared out next day).
On Wednesday 27th
March at 12.30 the Germans 

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53
came out, (evidently
from Serre, the Intelligence
Offr told me). The troops
were at this time disposed
as in this
sketch,
Diagram - see original document
w 14Bn
in reserve.
3rd WE Mf
(The account of 4^th Bde
from Diagram - see original document abt 25 pages back
to  Diagram - see original document  comes in here-)
I went on with the Int. offr.
of 4 Bde to a trench by / roadside
nearer to Hebuterne; & there
x sketched the country (25 pages
or so back).
The Germans had 4 balloons
up this day to the South- from
Albert to Bray, I shd say -
we had none - just / opposite