Diaries of C E W Bean, AWM38 3DRL 606/107/1 - April 1918 - Part 6

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girl was not going to church _^I next farm or town as
I thought but ws a refugee. She
had come from Neuve Eglise & ws
walking to Abbeville, about
100 miles or more so, & she had
been a week on / way already,
& ws lame & cd hardly walk
any further. Even Abbeville ws
not I end – she ws going to
Rouen - they all had to report
there. The old chap _^walking w / cart ws
her uncle; but she didn't seem
in / least bo flustered at
leaving him - We took her as far
as Fiages where I asked a
traffic control man to put her
on a lorry for Abbeville if

89   62
one passed - they were sure to.
She had no luggage & I don't
know if she had any money.
Whole families beside their
carts were walking trudging beside their
piled up carts - & for / first
time I realised tt these women
were walking like that day
after day for 100 miles or more.
We picked up at a X roads
an English captain - an arty
offr who had bn transferred about
/ country for staff work. He told me
tt / Australians who came up
near Villers Bre Hangard Wood were
/ first cheerful stubborn people he
had met in / retreat. On /
first day his battery of 6 in guns

89   63
was near Templeux in front of
Roisel & he was in bed w his
clothes off & in his pyjamas for /
first time for many days. They had
bn told so often _^in l last few weeks tt they were going to be
attacked next day tt he did not
believe it. In / early morning, suddenly,
came a drenching of gas shells -
& he had to get up & dress himself
w his gas mask on. The battery
managed to fire in spite o / gas
& he thinks tt / Germans had
some extraordinarity accurate ob
& early intelligence of this because,
inl case of this & some other batteries
wh did I same, they changed to
high explosive & aress appeared
to be shooting deliberately at the

89   64
battery. The Germans
appeared in Roisel, about
10.30 a.m. They appeared down
a road where they were least
expected & where there were
no preparations to receive them.
The field artillery there fire turned
their guns round & fired on them
& then there occurred a scene
which broke him up entirely.
The field guns were abt 500
yds away from his observatin
post. He ws watching / guns
firing & noticed them slewed round
when he heard shouts. His
attention ws particularly
centred on this hoarse shouting
& he then saw / Germans

89    65
- a mob of them - all making
towards / guns. They rushed
shouting towards them – he saw
the British gunners put their
hands up & saw / Germans
bayonet them & cd hear /
shrieks o / men in those last
few seconds as / Germans killed
drove them with their bayonets, into
one after another. They
were then 500 yards away,
& this officer left his observation
post & ran.
Two of his guns were still
farther back for some reas at ordnance, being
repaired, & these they saved.
He was w these guns in /
retreat up to Bray & then
Hangard; & then ws chosen for

89   66
a staff job. The 66^th Divn. let
/ Germans thro at Roisel, he
says. Two hours after / bombs
started he noticed large numbers
of men coming down / road; but
he thought tt they were being
relieved - East Lancashires, he
thinks they were.
On my walk yesty I
went first w Gen. Lesslie thro to
Strazeele, wh had been entirely
smashed up by / bombs showered
on it by / Germans on April 17^th.
There were two Bn Hqrs there -
the routine o / day is tt /
Divl Genl manager to get to his
Brigadiers each day; the Brigadiers
to one or two of their Bn. Commanders
& I suppose the Bn Commanders

89    67
to their companies - and /
Coy Commdrs round their
front line. The two Battalion
Hqrs at Strazeele were in
cellars. One of these was _^next to the a village
jewellers because it had there were lots of
watches & trinkets stored in the
neighbour to next cellar.
The inhabitants of this
part were as pleased as those o /
Somme to see / Australians come
back; & the men, as a matter
of fact, met on / road up
numbers of / families & girls
who had been known to them up
there, & they were feeling pretty
keen on paying some of all this
misery back to / Germans.
One _^village watchmaker was tryng to

89   68
salve his stock of watches when
our men came in. He at once
made up his mind & handed
watches out to them as they
passed.
Ste Strazeele ws not at
all a comfortable place - they
were shelling / town as we
approached. We hurried up
a side street where / untidy
litter grimy litter of recent shellfire
ws lying all over / road
- fire earth scattered &
small black craters in /
road & I black earth o /
ditches. Under / hedge in
/ ditch were two French
soldiers, dead w wounds in
/ head; & across / road a

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cow killed by one o / same
shells, by the broached
ruin of a whitewashed farm
cottage. The cellar where we
found Stephens of 2nd Bn was
small & untidy; but tt where
we found Sass of 4^th Bn
(in a brewers store or estaminet
for it smelt of hops & malt)
ws we large & a neat
lunch ws laid out. It ws
abt 12 noon & both battalion
commdrs were in bed -
Sass just getting up (Of course
they sleep in their clothes up there).
They work all night I suppose.
The road beyond
Strazeele ws marked covered w
/ dust of heavy shellfire, &

89   70
dead hoses & overtuned
Ammn waggons were beside
it. I suppose / Germans had
caught some transport on /
Skyline there. We wer could
see the
(hand drawn drawing)
poor three pronged remains of
the beautiful old Meteren
Church (the Virgin of Albert
was also knocked down on
April 17 or April 16 - by our
fire I believe). Wilkins I
hear drove up the Bailleul
road, when he came up here,
w / intention of photographing
Bailleul. After passing