Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/113/1 - May - June 1918 - Part 7

104     63
of Germans in this orchard; nor in the garden
& woods of the little chateau. But in / next
wood W. along / road running N out of the town,
there had bn Germans behind / hedge - &
also further down this rd to N. They
cd see the valley from here Amiens way.
I picked up about 50 pieces of
HE shell to show how they burst into pieces

104      64
which kill. I carried them home in
my pockets for / war museum - they
were apparently simply HE shell. I
emptied them out tonight in / tent; &
afterwards shook out my pockets. My
nose began to ache - & 3 minutes later
Cattack had a fit of sneezing - sneezed
20 times, his eyes running w water. Ten

104      65
minutes later I began to sneeze.
It ws / gas off / shell. I have
put the pieces, my boots, & my
coat, outside / tent.
————
The 35 Bn say tt at Morlancourt,
when they reached / German support
line & took it it ws half full of liquid

104       66
mud. The Germans had not occupied
it. Our men had to stay in this all day
- you cdnt show a head for / sniping -
They put a block in / trench on / left -
but here, ^actually between them & / next Bde post
was a German post wh for several
days sniped them very heavily. This
they think the 17 Bn took by daylight.

104         67
It ws a great trial on the men to have
to stay in these trenches under such
heavy conditions for 3 days – heavier
than Paschendaele in some ways, they
say.
The 34 Bn on the right took 3
nights over its advance. It had a very
difficult job. The 3rd night (apparently -
i.e. the one after the 35^th made its advance)
A Coy of the 34^th got lost in / pitch darkness - & seems

104      68
to have bn cut off entirely by / Germans.
As usual, our planes have been
humming over head for an hour without
ceasing. Heavy fire up / line. The
Germans have Chateau Thierry on / Marne
& are widening their Salient. They are
sd to be pressing from ^as far N. as Noyon. W of
Soissons the French still hold.
They tell of the French on our right

104      69
that a French officer sd tt they objected
to the language of / Australians - it startled
them by its badness. "We do not mind
your "bastard"' he sd "but we do
not like all this "digger!"'
Everyone interested in this Maud
Allen case. Up the line at the 35 Bn, they
sd at Bn Hqrs tt someone wanted shooting.
"Women throwing away by gossip / lives o / men
who are doing / work out here!" they sd.
Very heavy firing tonight.

70     104
Other end of book
17 Bn Regt^l Record
Morlancourt →
[*Other end of book
Diary May 30 - June 2/1918
→*]
104     71  
Cadle ws in remnants of the rt Coy.
Cadle had moved his men to 13 central

Diagram - see original
The idea was to send Cadle's Coy across.
He got a message from the front tt / attack was to go
at 9 am. To get his men in time
he took into considn / qn of taking his men
over / top. The Germ. on / left ws showing himself
on the parapet - 80 in 50 or 60 yds.
Cadle in order to get there in time
had to get his men over.

104   100
Cadle & 2 men were k. His pln got across.
Young Smith whom he had
sent out to take the Bray Corbie rd ws k
before.
[was he?]
Diagram - see original
C. ws k ^Cadle was killed abt 40 yds out
[[shorthand]] No 1 or [[?]]
by Padre King l)
[[shorthand]]
[*Very heavy firing tonight*]

104     99
The German observatn is now
entirely from / rt flank. If
he had had this positn wh he tried
to get we cd not have held our
positn on the rt.
On top o / hill / Germs are
now on / reverse slope
———