Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/192/1 - 1915, 1918 - Part 2

On / rt o / village the

posts came under mixed

m.g. & howitzer fire -

mostly m.g.  There were

not very many casualties.

At 2 p.m. a barrage

came down - a v. good one -

& the 1st Bn was told tt it 

ws to follow ^go up under this (the barrage

was stationary) & seize

the crest line opposite.

There ws no little German

oppositn to & the C Coy

worked across the Goods Yard

up the face opposite by the

Isolated Tree.

3rd Bde ws to attack

on the left passing through

1st Bn; but owing to a

heavy bombt of their
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assembly positions they

were running pretty late.  On

the extreme left they were

very late indeed.  Lt Scales

when he got to the Isolated

tree saw no 3rd Bde

moving to / north of him 
- there seemed no Germans

about & as it ws not

essential for his pln to

remain where it was (for

this reason) he pushed

N along the edge o / crest

to cover / left flank.

They struck an anti tank gun

on the spur N of the Isolated 

Tree, with 2 m.gs.  These

fired until they saw our

men were in force (the  pln

had picked up some
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3rd Bde men who were

around the Isolated Tree leaderless)

- the Germs put their hands

up.  22 prisoners surrendered

here, coming out of a big

dugout.  A 77 gun was

abt 100 yds further on.  The

anti-tank gun had knocked

out our tanks in / mg but

it ws not firing now.

Between there & Froissy

Beacon (abt 1000 yds) a

few prisoners were found -

lying in dead ground etc

waiting to surrender - but

no organised oppositn.

Scales reached Froissy

Beacon & remained there

abt ¼ hr.  By that time

3rd Bde were working up
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the slopes towds the Beacon

& after the first of them got

up there he took his pln

back to the Isolated tree.

There was desultory

m.g. fire from Garenne Wd

for all this time - &

m.gs. had to be rooted out

of Garenne Wood long after

by 3rd Bde.

On the centre & rt the

3rd Bde were more on time

& the crest was taken with

little trouble & the 3rd Bde

pushed on.

[100 yds N E of the beacon

ws an old trench but nobody

in it. Possibly the odd Germans

found came from there]

Abt 8pm the Bn got orders
14

to move back to the J.O

line o / morning & went

back there.

23-26.

k.

Lt. Kelly

Lt Burrin – k. on right of village

with B. Coy during the

Early morning operations – He

had had 4 brothers in British [[shorthand]] in war k. & one sister

k. in an air raid on London

& he ws fighting recklessly.  He

got under our own barrage & ws

k. by our shells.

wd.  4. Lt Fowler.

15

1st Bn Sept 18.

Came up on tape

to Hesbecourt.  Had tea

at Roisel with hot stew.

During tea it started to rain

& the German planes dropped

4 v. heavy bombs very close -

flying low.

J.O. positn ws just

E of Hesbecourt

It rained till J.O at

5.20.  1st Bn followed 2 Bn

& at Zero when barrage

opened there was slight rain

heavy mist & smoke.  You

cdnt see more than 5 yds 

& way ws found by compass

you cdnt see your own pln.

16

The sound of our own

barrage gave you a good

guide. (In one place

Steen came across a_∧an old British sign

post in / old barbed

wire giving the exact

pin point location.)

The 1st Bn kept the Hesbecourt
- Villeret Rd on its rt

flank.

No trouble till 2 Bn

took its objve. While 2 Bn

ws consolidating they collected

/ men in a Sunken Rd

running S from Hargict

to Fervague. The mist

had lifted. Rain had stopped.

And they got most of their

men together organised.
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At 8.30 1stBn moved

thro 2 Bn to go to objve &

Oxploitatn. By then /

German was pretty alert

& several m.gs. from Villeret

were troublesome.

The 3rd Bde had to take

Villeret but were not quite in

line.  Steens Coy worked

round Villeret

Diagram - see original

& then mopped it up from
the East. & forward from

there.  M.gs, were still

firing from Villeret & these 

were eventually mopped

up by 9 Bn.  The m.gs

which were firing on the Bn from

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left & right. The advance

was made in a series

of rushes - the m.g. fire

was pretty well distributd

over the front.

After the Bn had passed

"The Egg"  which was a 

quarry abt 30 ft deep with

3 deep dugouts in it,

HQs sent up some engrs

& some ^men to see if it were mined.

They found a number

of Germans there — & it

became HQs 1st Bn.

The Bn took the red

line - the barrage got ahead

owing to m.g. opposition.

The red line was reached by

dealing with m.gs. Lt Hudson
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engaged m.g. positns w

his L.G. & rushed them

w / rest of his pln.

The pln took a lot of

prisoners & a lot of guns.

In one trench wh this

pln took there were 8

m. guns — Railway trench.

This ws taken by a fine

series of sectn rushes

& a final charge.

Ths

Just after the barrage

lifted came down at Zero

Lt Bull ws k. by a shell.

After reaching 1st objve, after

1st Bn advance began

Lt's Judd, Page, & Gaskell were

wd (D Coy) on rt (Steen's Coy)

by - Page by m.g., & Gaskell &
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