Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/194/1 - August - September 1918 - Part 4

29
3rd Bn.
Original attack of
Aug 23 was to have been
made by 1 & 4 Bns, 3rd
in support (in case others held
up) 2nd Reserve.
C Coy of 3rd Bn (under
McDermid) was to be attached
to 1st Bn & used as reserve
Coy. as the front increased
so much with this fanshaped
attack.There was to be an objve
& then an exploitation objve.
This was altered on 22nd ^abt 5-30 pm. The
line of the protective barrage
G was practically taken laid
down (under this alteration)
as a 2nd objve; 3rd

Diagram - see original
30
B 1st & 4th were to go
straight through to this
further line; Arty barrage
was to go on & halt for
15 mins on a protective
line in front of this final
objve (which was across
the valley on the rt -
in front of the small copse
in the fork of the Y overlooking
Chuignes ^R^. 11D.6.2) but
not across the valley
further left.
C Coy 3rd Bn, attached
to 1st Bn. was, under
this alteration, to capture
right of 1^st Bn final
objve. When 3rd Bn moved

31
thro to the exploitation
objve this Coy was to
come under 3rd Bn again,
(staying where they were).
The attack against
Garenne wood & the steep slope
there, known to the men as
Gibraltar, was looked on
by the Coys as a very formidable
job. But Col Moore considered
that if everything went as
planned it would not be so
hard as it looked.
Then arose trouble thro'
the barrage of our own arty
remaining on the front hill
in the fork of the Y when
xx C. Coy of 3rd Bn was
supposed to go on to it
(under the altered play). The

Diagram – see original document
32
C.O. of C Coy (^Capt. McDermid)
when he took his men across
the gully, past the big gun &
onto the further slope, found
our barrage bursting against
the slope & behind him
(just abt where the original
protective barrage was to
have been). He decided
to bring the Coy back to
the Copse by the big gun. The
barrage did not prevent xxxx the
4^th Bn on rt nor 1^st Bn
on left & so seems to
have been a local mistake
of one battery or one brigade.
Any way it prevented
C Coy from getting to the position
from which 3rd Bn was to
go thro & take Chuignes

33
& the hill (Gibraltar) N of
it.
At 7a.m. When the barrage lifted
D Coy, & B Coy moved there
x C Coy x got onto C Coys
its objve on the fork of the Y
E of the wood. But they
They xxxx The Coy Comdrs
had had a confce with
the 2 tank Commanders of the
2 tanks acting with 3rd Bn.
C Coy went straight on
to it's objve with the
tanks. They met with
a lot of m.g. fire during
this advance from the
ridge N of Chuignes -
they did capture prisoners
in Darcy wood & on the
objve but the trouble was

34
not from these. At or
abt 7.10 a.m. C Coy was on
this objve. Tanks then went
back - they were not to go further than this objve
D & B Coys came up
& passed thro C. Coy
to gain the exploitation
objves.
Capt. Cormack (of D Coy) was
heading ^part of his platoons round
the flat by the rly twds
the hospital. He was
k. by a m.g. The
xxxx D Coy attacked
thro C Coy down the hill
(further side of the fork) in
the direction of Chuignes
itself - Lieut Jackson in
command of D Coy after
a number of casualties

35   3
& being wd himself, decided
tt / Exploitation cont be
carried further without
severe losses & withdrew
his own & later B Coy
to the green line (final
objve for C. Coy). There was
heavy enemy 77 & m.g.
fire. The gun cd be seen -
the fire being direct. The
m.g. fire came mostly from
the Ridge E of Chuignes & running
N to the hospital in R 11 A.
Abt 7.15 the C.O. who
ws moving up to look for a
new HQrs. heard of what
had bn the result. He cd see
the guns firing - very accurate
& getting onto any good visible
target - they were in R5A or B

36.     3
to the NW of the wood. There
may have been one gun, or two.
They fired on the tanks moving
back & on parties going up -
shooting S. or SSW down the
valley.
Col. Moore agreed with the
O.C. who had withdrawn his
men & decided to stay there
& report to Bde. The Bde sd xx
they wd arrange another barrage
- & the order for that an attack
wd be made arrived abt
12.15. C.O XX order ws issued
for the attack & all arrangmnts
were made - & the Coys were
told to follow / artillery barrage
when it started - time unknown.
They simply had to look out for
it & follow it. They were told

37
that they were to attack
in conjunction with 3 Bde on
left. New boundaries were
allotted for / attack wh was
to be due E. The 3rd &
12^th Bns started in this
relation to one another
Diagram - see original document

As a matter of fact this
12 Bn ws out of sight at
its starting point & the attack
took this direction practically
on the old lines.
Diagram - see original document

38
2 arty liaison offrs
went over with the line
at 7 pm 7 am on Aug 23 & got
into the little wood in
the fork of the Y & were
chased out of it w their
telephones by Germ. m.gs.
39
The Germans in Chuignes on the cliff top
fired at them as they
deployed across the flat
with m.gs. & they came
under 77 fire as well.
But as soon as they got
in under the cliff the
Germans from the top ran
& when our men reached
the top the Germs were
running & were some hundreds
of yards away.
The Germans in Chuignes
village did not fight. On the cliff
the Germans ran too fast -
they cd not catch him.
As they got onto their objve
they met 12 Bn & B Coy
dug in alongside 12 Bn.