Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/105/1 - April 1918 - Part 2

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Hand drawn diagram – see original

Coy Formatn going thro / wood - one ^pln deployed

once clear o / wood the

3 remaining plus deployed also.

 

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positn" (where there ws, Morshead

told me, a lot of artillery fire).
"We were relieved in / line

wh we reestablished beyond /

woods; but we were ordered to 

take over, w another Bn, a part

o / line northward from V .2D 6.2

on the road to P 28 c6.4, also

on the (main) road. We have held

tt line for 3 days & have improved

it & established a support line

there, Orders came tt we were to

be relieved on tt line tonight

by two London regiments; but

the Germans attacked this morng

& the relief may be deferred.

(The two Bns to take over are the

6^th & 7^th Londons who belong to the

58^th Divn but are supporting the

18^th Divn) We had on our South

the 55^th Bde, of the 18th Divn; & on

our North the 1st Cavalry Divn, w

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whom we have had from I first

/ most pleasant relations. The

1^st Cavalry Divn were relieved last

night by the 14^th Divn. When the 

attack began this mg the

Germans shelled from Hangard right

away to / North. They also shelled

Gentilles, Cachy, & Villers Bretouneux

-a pretty heavy shelling bombt with shell of

every sort.
"At 6.30 the Germans attacked 

the 9th Brigades line & further N. The

35^th Bn, & 33^rd in support, withstood

this attack; but on the N the

14^th Divn gave ground & /

Germans broke through in

P22 & 28. The first intimatn

we had here was word th /

14^th Divn had brought in their

barrage line 500 yds. Then /

Germans came up in very solid

formatn & pushed hard on our

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※ On our way from Cachy to Gentilles

we passed two young British infantrymen

helping a wounded man to / rear

(wh they shd not have bn doing). They

sd (about 3pm. speaking of abt midday) tt

their line had been abt at the Poplars

(see sketch) where / Australians were

to / N of them. The German had come

over "in thousands" & they had mown

him down at first; but he was too

many for them & they had retreated

(on their offrs orders, they sd) abt 300

yds. They therefore had heard tt I line

had bn ^since re established. However, I ws pretty

certain tt the rt ws not quite so

secure & undisturbed as Rosenthal sd,

for these men wd not say they had

retired if they had not.

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N. flank & forced it to fall back

in accordance w / retirement o /

14^th Divn, to P 25D 99. Thence 

it ran SE to the 55^th Bde who

have not given way.
"When I attack developed,

the 33rd Bn who were supposed to be

supporting Bn, were pushed up into

the support line 1000 yds in rear (o /

front line?). When the 35^th Bn ws

pushed back, it fell back onto 

the 33^rd Bn in this support line;

but both had to go further back

on the N to keep touch there.
"Since then / cavalry have pushed

in again on / N & we are again 

in touch w cavalry but not w

infantry." ^※

[It ws about 4.45pm. At 

this point a report came in from a

Capt. C. saying that our line

had bn fixed ^ascertained & now ran

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:- from a point on / road in

VID06, NE to V1B9.6, due

N. to / main road, thence W to

P 25 D04; from there the 33^rd

Bn prolongs the line due N.

to 25A9.9. Here it joins /

Cavalry who are digging on

our rt flank (1st & 2nd Dragoon

Guards). Our right flank is

in touch with the Buffs- the
______________

The German has therefore advanced

abt 2000 yds out left & less 

on / right. The 36 & 34 Bns

are supposed to be moved up

in close support. Corps has

just ordered them to be deployed,

apparently, behind / lines

imd, on either flank o /

town. Rosenthal considers 

this absurd as they wd be

less mobile & under heavy

fire - He asked Divn to press 

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on Corps to let them stay in

such shelter as they ^now have until

they are wanted. Corps agreed

 to this. (Under orders of Corps

these 2 Bns had been left 

moved up abt lunch time - the

34 Bn to O39-O30 O29, the

36 Bn to O25, N & S. of Villers

Bretouneux. The 34 Bn has

not yet reported. All Their

task is to c-attack from NE or

SE, as needed, to defend

Villers Bretonneux. (V.B. is

important because it is / last

hill o / chain wh overlooks

the Ancre & Somme junctions

& / lowlands from Querrier

right away to Amiens. Our

hold o / Somme Valley from

Sailly to Corbie largely 

depends on our holding V-B.)

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Hangard is the right of the 18^th

Divn & is now held by the French

who took over there on Ap. 2/3. They

had a battle there this morning

wh they won? so far as Rosenthal

knew).
The troops whom the 9^th

Bde relieved were Careys Force

of wh I have gn a list before.

There was also a Lewis gun belonging

to / tanks, the gun & team were

attached to Careys Force.
The 12^th Lancer belong to the

2nd Cavalry Divn wh is to

the right o I 9^th Bde. Some Canadian

cavalry belonging to 2nd Cav. Divn

did some good fighting further S.
The 1^st Cavalry Divn is on

the N. of 9^th Bde - Gen. Mullins

who commands it has his

Hqrs in Fouillery near Corbie.
The 9^th Bde were under

 

Hand drawn diagram – see original

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the 61^st Divn. from 29 March to

2nd April. Then the 18^th Divn took

over & they are under 18^th now.
The 6^th ^?Bn London Regt. are in

Villers Bretouneux; the 7^th

Londons re NE & SW, thro

Bois l'Abbé. The 9th Bde

up to toda yesterday had lost

5 offrs  40 w. o.r k.

9 offrs 150 or w.
_________________
At about 5 we left Rosenthal's 

Hqrs & walked through Cachy

(where the shelling had ceased) 

towards the Bois l'Abbé. There

was a sound of heavy firing

from the South (whither we had

seen odd French artillery ^waggons moving

thro' Gentilles.) A barrage

seemed to be falling fairly heavily

on our side of the Bois de Hangard

& Lancer Wood  - largely shrapnel

but whether ours or German I

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could not say.
As we walked from Cachy

towards the overturned lorry on 

the V. Bretonneux Rd we noticed

men in small numbers coming 

up / road towards us, mostly

without their any arms; others 

moving back past / edge o
/ wood de l'Abbe. On /

edge of / second swelling to 

the East of us, between / poplars

^ I Bois de Lancer Wood there

were numbers of little figures

coming to moving - groups of 

them everywhere. I wondered

if it could possibly be a battalion

advancing - but it ws gradually

borne in upon us th / whole

countryside ws retiring. Wilkins

whose eyes are better than mine,

sd tt he cd see men running

on / further horizon. I saw only

[The 36^th must, tho' we knew nothing of it,

at that moment have bn advancing]

 

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men walking. It ws a drizzling

day, not too good for a telescope;

but I could see a man on a 

horse riding amongst the figures

retiring on the second crest ^undulation.

A chatter of machine guns began

to grow from tt direction, especially

from / village. A White star flare

went up & fell by the poplars -

I watched & saw tt / next wh was

thrown up fell in front o / poplars

& lay there burning - a third

ws sent up & fell in / same

place. Evidently / Germans were

advancing & marking their advance

for their own artillery

by the signal wh (in the orders of the

captured by the 4^th Bde) meant

"Here we are!".
Gun teams were moving

by / guns just in front of us.

Some of them came back only

with ammn waggons &

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we thought we might be mistaken

& tt / guns were not moving back;

but presently back came a battery

of 4.5 howitzers, very quietly;

settled in a slight dip S. of /

wood just where we were;

unhitched / guns & / teams

moved off to a notch in / wood.
We asked three o / men retiring

- poor little figures of modern day

Englishmen - what was / matter.

They sd they were wounded; one

certainly was; the centre o /

three - a weak looking child sd

tt he was "gassed".
We asked a young ^machine gun

Corporal. He sd his gun had

finished its ammn & had bn

ordered by / officer to retire. Some

men near were carrying a ^m-gun.

We asked a young one - [[reg.?]]

lieutenant who ws trudging