Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/111/1 - May 1918 - Part 10

102                                                                    47
When Hunter ws hit (D Coy on right) Sergt
Ruthven took over -till he handed over to
Lt Patterson. They He took a couple of mgs
on / Sunken Rd at / objve; & then when
day broke & Germ^s. 50yds away in /
Sunken Rd behind our outposts, started
sniping into us, (they were a few who
had bn missed to the left of D Coy) Southwell &
Bowden had bn hit on / left) - The G Sergt
Ruthven went back staight & took these men
prisoner. He borrowed Mr Fringers revolver,

102         46                                                      
we captured a German order wh warned
them of this attack. This sd they had "received
informatn from agents tt they were to be attacked
on / mg. of 19^th May in front of a bridge."
close to Albert. In preparatn for this
they moved up a company which ws
practically all captd. Some of it ws at
/ top o / Morlancourt valley. (^Col. Carrier says tt one of their
own offrs met them in / cage, gave them a
dressing down & finally kicked / bottoms of some
of them.)

44         102                                                                  
German officer sd tht / offr whom he relieved
& who ws to show him / positn did not know
where / English were on / left. (18 Bn) 18Bn saw
a pln of men fall in ("for rum  [Hand drawn diagram - see original document]
or something") & we got off two
L.Gs drums at it. The 18 Bn
(Germ. Offr confirmed this) 

cd just look over into the head
of the Morlancourt valley & there
ws a m/werfer there. This
ws at / top o /                                                                             
Caterpillar Rd. It ws captd.                                                         
The German offr sd he                                                            

"stayed inside". tt day. His                                                  
ration party at night ws caught                                        
in our barrages. 
? Westaway ws to put out /
left post at X. He got
there & put covering party
out, but both had to come
out     
                  

102  45
There were no Germans between th B Coy 22 Bn &
its posts on objve - but patrols of
officer NCO & long distance rifle grenades were
sent out as covering pty & xxx two Coys
28 Bn dug the posts (they carried & provided
digging pties, except for a few casualties replaced
from 22 Bn).
At daylight ^May 19 a Coy of Germs ws seen
running from the valley up the hill to the
left of Morlancourt (NE of M) throw
running without equipment or anything.

102     43                                                      

Madden worked round to / N. of them,
came on them quickly & did not lose many.
The Germans shelled the village,
& the Big Caterpillar near the X roads at
abt 7 am. - the village w very heavy
stuff, by daylight. 21 Bn ws partly in tt
village - they had mopped up & had
to run out when this started.
The same time tt Mackinnon
pushed out on night of 19 May 21 Bn
pushed out posts to East of village:

102                 42                                                  
barrage lifted to cover the 21st Bns flank.
after talking to O.C. of flank Coy 21 Bn. (Sullivan),
They dug in on lip o / Sunken Rd abt
130 yds E of the Caterpillar. They were
also in a positn to catch / Germans
fleeing from / village. This cd have bn
done well from the posts on / objve
if our barrage had not bn on them.
Lt  Benny 31 Bn had to bring his men back
to this positn, & this post of Madden
ws to cover him.
The Germs had guns in / Cemetery but

102            41                                                            
when he saw our men there - between dark
& daylight. Then / village ws mopped up

behind this gun.
Part of Our barrage - heavies,^by some stated 60 pdns or 6in guns, not light
guns - 
were falling on our objve & / men got into
the fire. Capt Mackinnon got them to dig
in just E of the Big Caterpillar. Our shell a
few of them were falling even on the E lip of
the road.
One post under Lt Madden on left
ws pushed out - a L. gun post - after /

102                   40                              
not want to be carried back - he
signed tt he wd go back himself - he
knew / way, waved goodbye & went off
to / rear. They had all new gear, new greatcoats
new writing material - There ws one N.Z.
officers coat there.
These Germans were a great mixture
of sizes & ages. The m. gunners fought
well -
The German ws follo firing up /
Big Caterpillar from Ville sur Ancre after daylight

102                      39                                       
hours before & climbing up / sides o /
sunken road known as  / caterpillars
ws very difficult. Some o / men rolled
to / bottom. There were Germans in /
shelters ^in / Big Caterpillar then with English W/P sheets.
They called them to come out & when they
did not they turned migs. onto them.
The prisoners were put on carrying
wounded , including an officer.
One prisoner told a S.B that he did

102                       38                                            
team on left without being told saw / gun
firing - put their gun down abt 30 yds on left,
The German crew dropped below / parapet of
their post. The L. Gunners got up & went
for / post hosing it w / gun – killing
& crew - Westaway shot / last.
The next guns were in the first
Caterpillar - most of these ran.
The moon ws down when / operatn
began but / Crucifix & other landmarks
showed out very distinctly in / flares.
There had bn a heavy thunderstorm 4

36                  102             

1 offr  k. Lt Bowden
8 wd.    Maj. Dooley
              Capt. Hunter
              L^t Southwell
              L^t Fulton
               L^t Wall
               L^t Green
               L^t Madden
at night Transpt offr also
at Bn Hqrs. L^t Bourke
_______________________

102                  37                                                          

B Coy ws held up by our arty fire on left. L^t P.J.
Abercrombie ^(A. Coy) ws an old cricketer -  played for
Ballarat, & football for South Melbourne.
He took a regular cricket ball shy at the
m.gunner who ws holding them up from / edge o /
big caterpillar & hit / gunner on / head
w his bomb at abt 40 yds. (This gun has
been brought back by 22 Bn & is injured by / bomb).
No 25443 is No of Gun. Also marked in white metal "N^o 33")
First m.g. struck by B Coy L^t Westaway's Pln ws struck
at J 6 B 9 ½ 0 - It ws firing straight ahead & hit
/ man next to W.  W flopped down & his L.G.