Diaries of C E W Bean, AWM38 3DRL 606/107/1 - April 1918 - Part 2

89     9
Guns in /bottom o / quarry & Lt.
Myers (?) ws there. The bombt
ws heavy round / edge o / quarry
but did not get into / quarry.
They were getting their guns
to put them up when they
heard shots whistle around
them & there were / Germans
around / edge o / quarry above
them!
The Germ. m.g, fire ws
clipping / grass so close abt
/ top o / quarry tt you cd
not get your head over, they 
sd. But there is an unexplained
interval between the time /
bombt stopped & / time / Germans

10     89
Robertson & Leane on Ap 9. go into 
16 Ap. 24 m.g. Coy Co
Daly. McConaghy. Milne.
Evacn of Trophies & [[shorthand]]
Ap 17. Wytschaete. & at foot of Kemell.
[[shorthand]] [[shorthand]] Pasch
[[shorthand]] Propaganda & Austlns
Ap. 18.  [[shorthand]] Arras to South of Somme.
[[shorthand]] S. of Somme & N. of Albert.

89    11
arrived -
(this space ws left for
the m. gunners' story - but
Freddy Cutlack later wrote 
it out for me, & so
I append his notes). 

12    89
This account obtained 
at 1^st Divn. Hqrs is not very
accurate. The chief interest
of it really is for comparison with
the accounts given by the battalions
to show how 
widely division
a story alters
by / time it gets
to Divn from /
front line.
'hand drawn diagram - see original'
 

89    13
Ap18. I came today from Rollencourt
to 1^st Aust Divn - I heard it ws at 
Ap.11^th 15^th Corps at 9.20
Hazebrouck & found it at
The 1^st Divn came up _^on Ap11 & ws told tt it 
was GHQ Reserve specially intended
Col. to defend Hazebrouck.
It was marched straight in
for Hondeghem & Caestre where
it had detrained, & began to
dig a line (under XV Corps it ws practly Corps) - 
behind Merris & Southward
skirting the forest of Nieppe.
At tt time the 33^rd Divn ws
in Merris, in front of Vieux
Berquin; & the 4th Guards Bde
of Verte Rue & l'Epinette.
The troops ahead, however,
gradually drifted back - & except
at 2 points in front of Strazeele
& in front of Caudescure our new
line became / front line. 

89    14
We finally asked tt all troops
in front of our line shd be
cleared. We went forward &
relieved the little salients at N &
S ends of our lines. The
4^th Guards Bde had had a very
sharp attack upon them, (& the
[*?98 Bde
92 Bde}
93 1st Divn*]
troops just N. of them also) &
had fought it very manfully.
We took over their trenches, &
the present line is / line dug
by us w these two bulges.
In addition the 4^th Bn seized
/ opportunity of an attack by /
French on our left on / right of
Ap 16 to advance & straighten
out a reentrant in our line
by turning / Germans out of 

89    15 
trenches wh had bn dug by / 
Tommies on / height behind
Merris; & the 1^st Bn ws put in
on / left to connect & swing w /
French in this attack - only /
attack did not reach / front line
of / 33^rd Divn. (a scottish Brigade).
The troops who retired thro'
us were very tired. The Germans
made a couple of raids on us 
about Verte Rue, & lost heavily.
They came out at dawn &
did not reach our front line but
we took some prisoners. The
strength o / Germs ws estimated
at 200 in each party.
Our people started digging
3 lines - the second the third
just in front of Hazebrouck,
another thro Sec Bois. Thro the 

89     16
Forêt de Nieppe they put up
barricades ^of earth between wattled
barriers or stakes. It ws
impossible to dig deeper than
2 feet without striking water
- often not so deep as tt.
Col. The 2nd Bde went
into / Southern part o / line & the
1^st Bde into / Northern, Hqrs
at Pradelle & at Le Tir Anglais.
As Col. Daly _^6 Bn was riding out to
reconnoitre / line wh his bn
ws to take up he ws k. by
a shrapnel burst & his horse
killed too. La Motte Chateau ws
hit by a shell & little La Motte
Au Bois ws became a pretty nasty place.
Strazeele ws shelled to pieces,
& Hazebrouck became dangerous.

17
We have left / salient &
are back at St Julien. The
Germans shelled Passchendaele
for 2 days after we left it.
 

89     18
There are alternative loop rlys
to Poperinghe fortunately.
On April 15^th when the
line ws held by (N. to S) 4^th, 3^rd,
& 7^th, 8^th Bns, the Germans
attacked apt abt / junction
of 3 & 4, but more heavily apt
/ junctn of 7 & 8. This ws a
morning attack. Our artillery
smashed his attack at Verte
Rue - indeed one body ws broken
up entirely. In one other sectn
a few men reached our posts
but were captured or killed.
The 3rd Bn estimated there
were 800 Germans dead in front
of them & the 1^st Bde put the
number on their whole front at 1500.

19
Night of 15/16 at 12.30 am
Germs made a minor
attack agst 2nd Bde S of
Rue de Bois. We took one [[shorthand]]
 

133^rd French Divn.
 

89     20
The Estimate may be much over
/ mark but it looks as if /
Germans attacked w at least
one divn.
On Ap16 we advan had heard tt
/ French were to advance at a
certain hour (I think it ws 6pm.)
& we had arranged for the 4^th
Bn to swing move up & get onto /
hilltop behind Merris & I 1^st
Bn to go in on / left &
swing w / French. The French
staff work however ws surprising.
They were most casual. The
infantry in / afternoon did not
know tt it was to attack tt
evening, apparently; the barrage

89     21
came down on time but /
French did not attack until
2 hours after their barrage &
finally dug in before reaching
/ line already held by the
33rd 21st Divn.
Yesty, Ap 17^th the Germans
made a heavy attack
northwards - the battle has
gradually bn swinging Northwards
off our front. This attack only
involved our left & the 1^st
& 3^rd (? or 2nd) Bns say tt they
had great shooting. The _^German Arty
preparation to / left of us ws
very severe.
This Inf - Ap 18^th - we
captured a German Officer who

89     22
sd tt / Germans did not know
that Australians were in front
of them here. He had on him
an order for yestys attack -
it ws a very ambitious one -
they were to get thro to
Steenvoorde.
At the 1^st Divl mess tonight
I heard tt the co First Heavy
French Mortar Bty ws part of
it in Ploegstreet & Messines
when / Germs. attacked -
Lt Darling & 11 men worked
their guns mortars & fired off
all their ammn - but the
Ge infantry floated back past
them & no more has bn heard