Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/108/1 - April - May 1918 - Part 6

86                                                                 55
Before we left last night one coy o / 50 Bn under Lt Beresford supp^td by one pln of 52 Bn

pushed out patrols  from flank of 51 Bn to / village; worked right up to  parallel w / village estab^d 13 Bde

left flank up to near / rly line in touch w 15 Bde. He met w no oppositn as far as / rd in U6B.

52nd flank ws then swung round to connect w / 50 Bn & thus give a complete line.

   His flares stopped when we got thro' / 2nd line & all / Germs seemed to bolt. This was when it ws    hardest

to see. The Germs put down two heavy barrages in reply to those

                                                                                                         two of ours.

86                                                                56

[* The British air service - some naval pilot who

was half a mile away in the air - has claimed to bring

down Baron Richthofen.  It seemed to me so

trivial a matter who shot him tt I had not bothered*]

 

86                                                                      57

to investigate / various claims. However Hobbs has

asked me to - He says there is a lot of feeling over it - /

German Communique says tt R ws shot from / ground. I

[* sd tt 

see /

actual

men

whi

claimed 

to do it.

So they

were brought

to 5th Div

Arty HQs

They say:*]

There are aeroplane  scraps
going on over German front line.

They cd her the scrap going on but it is too far

away to notice it much.

 ^{( shorthand and sketch with labels)} 

              ^{[[?pointed     on the nost?]]}

Our plane seemed betw 30 & 50 feet. German plane seemed

to be overtaking him.  You could see the German airman's body

You cd hear the gun going in short bursts,

 There seemed to be only one man in the Engl plane but

our ?attention was all ? taken by ?on the other plane.

 

[Diagram- see original scan.]

 

 

^{86                                                       58}

 ^{Gnr Buie R.  3801}

^{& Gnr Evans W. J.  598 were}

^{at 2 L.Gs abt 1.30 yds apart}

^{english plane first appeared over / top p / hill}

^{& then the German after him.}

^{German came abt 15 ft above / other}

^{plane & both giving fire a burst at him abt 100 yds}

^away.

 ^{The plane wobbled}

^{at once & swerved}

^{[*Germans right.*] He}

^{swerved to right & then speared towds}

^{the Earth. He crashed about 3rd. 100}

^{yds from guns.}

^{He was hit in chin,}

^{neck, chest, left side, & right}

^{leg. The wound in his chin}

^{came out just below the chin.}

^{There ws also a bullet wound in}

^{/ chin. Lt Doyle  who ws in / pit}

 

86                                     59

cd see the bits flying off the  /

plane.

Sat,

Apr 27.  a fine day - yesty ws very misty. The Aust Corps 

has now taken over / while

4th Army front. The 4th Divn

goes into / line S. next / 

French (_{Moroccans) ^} ^{up to V/B} ; the 5th Divn some

days ago extended N of the

Somme; the 3rd Divn takes

up to the C.C.S. Dermanc^t.

The 2nd Divn extends up N of 

Albert. Each Bde of 2nd Divn

has 2 Bns in line. 1 in 

support & 1 in reserve; &

the 18th Divn has bn split up

& one BDs is being given to 

each ^{of 3 Bns} of three of our Divns as

 

86                                                                60

reserves.

      Robinson _{5th Divn I. O}. tells me tt xxx

a German prisoner told him

tt they had plenty of casualties

from our planes & tt our arty

ws heavy on Ap 4. But on / 

morning of attack in V/B he

says there ws no arty fire

from us  - "No - we came 

under no arty fire, " he sd.

The batteries covering tt part

(post SE o / town) clearly did 

not do their work. The 

m.g. fire from their rt (i.e.

N of main Rd) held then up there.

      Pompey Elliott, who is

very aggrieved because the 

converging attack on V/B is 

spoken of in some  G. H.Q. paper as

 

86                                                           61

" the brilliant plan of  3rd Corps" when it ws

suggested by him before / bombt had 

finished - got leave to advance his line

last night to /   [[?]] British line ( wh he has

all along wanted to retake) on /

pretext tt / Germans now know where he

ws & cd shell him. Might he  move

up 100 yds? He ws not quite on /

X Road wh ws his objective.

-/ Germans were there & he was ^(sketch)

50 yd saway. Marshall told him there

were 3 German posts there w a m.g.

There turned out to be 10 mgs. in / post 

on / left hand corner of the / rd (near

S W edge o /  wood of Vaire) but the 60

Bn got there, losing 70 men in doing

so. We dug un 50 yds beyond / road &

reached / houses on / Peronne Rd there.

The Germans bolted from their line on

this sector. This morning at 8 & again

at2.30 they tried to come back but wre

caught by our shelling.

     This afternoon  I got from Witham

the wording o / German note to him:

(while the Serg & Runner with /

 

86                                                       62

flag of truce were w him ( & were getting

fidgetty abt going back) a German private

arrived w / follg note.

 

" The officer who commands /

troops there has to come at once

in the direction of the English

Tank with the German soldier

Commander

Von Linsingen

(This was received at 

abt 9.40 am.)

The man who brought it

came, like 1 offr, from / direction

of Hangard Wood & ws brought 

in by some Tommies.  The Officer

(or Sergt) & runner cd see beneath

their bandages. The sergt had

seen too much. Witham didnt

know he ws not surrounded -

indeed he may have been - &

he rang up Bde to know if he

 

 86                                                                     63

shd keep these men - Bde sd

yes. The _^^last runner when told

tt he was a prisoner almost

clapped his hands.

   When Witham ws going 

to his positn chosen for Bn

Hqrs in / sunken Rd S of 

E end of Bois l'Aquenne

flares were being fired out o /

wood directly at them & falling on / rd. M.g. fire

ws also coming from / wood.

( They had bn told tt it ws cleared,

Christie Witham & Salisbury

were to meet & have their

Hqrs there.

     Craes, who ws sniped

trying to run from one post to

another next day, ws / man

 

 

86                                                          64

who ws sent back from 

[[?An gal]]  by Walker of 25 Bn

for " malingering on / beach 

(When he had dysentery, I believe.)

Witham says he ws lion hunted

-one o / bravest men they had.

         Witham took in all his

coy Commandrs bec. it ws a

difficult attack - he lost 2

of them Birdwood strafed him

for not leaving some of them out.

     Cutlack says tt Maclagan

heard tt the 8th Divn had a 

more or less fresh Bds of their

own wh they did not put in

at V/Bretonneux to c-attack.

 When he asked why they had

put in his Bde they said:

" We thought Austlns cd do it."

 

86                                               65

(^{labels on sketch of countryside distances)}

Height 109                                   V/B                                         Bois d'Aquennes

 

 

86                                                66

Col Christies acct:

 Notion ws tt a few Germs - possibly 50 - were in / wood.

51 Bn:

Tape ws to be on the grid thro 3 central.                     Int. offr. found tt

they were fired on from / corner o / wood abt 8.30 (pm) Instrns only rec^d

at 7.30pm. Int. Offr sent off at once. Moved from here at 8.20 - to be in

positn on tape to attack at 10 pm 2 miles away. Phillips ws fired on from / corner

o / wood & laid / tape from / point o / wood.

As they got on / tape a mg ws ws fired from / direct left & fired a

flare. Bn went up in Arty formatn. They remained

in arty formⁿ on / tapes. Christie ws ahead o / Bn & got to / tape.

 

[* ^{in a rectangle}

   ^{C   ⇡  A}

       ^B

       ^{D    *]}