Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/113/1 - May - June 1918 - Part 10

104       80                                                                                                 
told them ^much to their relief tt there were only abt 150 Germs.
& tt they were out to get all our trenches &
all our posts S of the Corbie Rd. (He had
come lately from / War office in Berlin. He
had bn in Australia himself - "Paris House
wd be better than here," he sd. He ws
a little chap. He had had a brother
who lived in Melbourne. He did not know
(he sd) tt there were Australians there.

104       79
May be C. Coy. "At tt moment / German
officer shouted something - the men sd - like
gorgonzola - & all their bayonets went down.
About 6 rifles rang out - 5 Germs went
down including 1 officer & they faded.
6 prisoners were taken of this lot.
There ws a German there who cd talk
English. They sent him out to call on his
got all / information they cd from him. He

104      78
/ ridge at 150yds. They were seen & fired on &
did not come on.
[*Ronald*]  Capt Donald came up / trench to Mackenzie
& sd "/ Germans are through on / right."
Almost immed. afterwards from / rear of
the Germ left Coys trench by Mackenzie there appeared
an officer leading abt 15 men. Capt Donald ws
standing there when these men were first seen.
One o / men shouted "The beggars are at /
back of us." Donald sd. "Look out it

104       77       
man at 30 yds. As / barrage lifted a few
hundred yds - creepily - F
The bombing block in / old trench (held by
rifle grenadiers & bombers) ws 150 yds
N of Ham's post in / new trench. The
bombing post opened & the L.m.g. there under
Pte Cracknell fired 3000 rounds. The Germs
got thro S. of the bombing block. The Germs
[*?left*] in front of Mackenzie (left of ^N rt Coy Capt Ronalds Coy) & came over

104     76

/ heavies were over / post. The shells must
have fallen amongst a German party wh ws
at this time forming up for attack - (one
at least came on w them w his hand
bound up).
At 3.45 a German barrage opened on /
front line & supports. There ws 5.9 in it - it
ws pretty heavy & accurate. There were several
casualties. The light ws just eno' to see a

104    75

Nearest German post ws at ∧ trench junction at
19 A 8.4 (Roughly spoken of as K 19 central)
The roads are very difficult to see & the positn
hard to place.
The crops made the German trenches
hard to see - (They have bn cut since).
On May 14 early
From 3 to 3. 5 the Heavies were put onto this
post o / Germans. They did not quite get it.
A patrol went out 5 mins later & reported tt 

104    74

right had also bn dug. In the N. end.
of this ws 1 small post of 20 men,
but / trench to this point acted as little

more than a guiding line in many parts.

There was one post under Lt Ham on the 
right of the N. front trench

Posts were as follows.                            

Diagram – see original 

104     73
ws a series of potholes. Left front ws
fairly well joined up then tho in places the
trench ws not deep. The support line
ws very little of it then in existence. It consisted
merely of / original German front line posts.
By morning of 14 May 200 yds of
front line had bn dug from the bomb stop
on left (S. of Bray Rd. & abt 200 yds from /
rd on / right. Part o / support trench on

104       72       

17 Bn Morlancourt.
17^th Bn on taking over found a gap
between the post at 19a 9.7 to 19c 3.7. Except

for a post in the (now) support line at 19a 1.1. this
gap ws not covered.

B Coy ws in the left.

D Coy in right.

D Coy had abt 20 men in / little centre

post.

When first taken over the rt front line 

Diagram – see original

17 BN

Morlancourt

Grave of Capt

Cadle at Heilly