Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/200/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 2

The 10 Bn went thro. The

Germans shelled the Chateau
till barrage reopened for /
advance of to the final
objve.
Later 12 Bn extended & 
took over 11 Bn frontage as
reserve line for abt 3
days. (11 Bn went to support
line to 10 & 9 Bn).
Then 12 Bn relieved
10 Bn in / line. They were
relieved by 30 American
Divn. A good relief without
casualties. (The Bn before
Sept 18 had bn reorg. in 3 Coys -
X Y & Z.). ^In the final positn X Coy were in
support to / line, Y & Z in
/ line). xx
9
 

On Sept 18. soon after /
Barrage opened Capt L. Burt,
O.C. X Coy wh ws mopping 
up behind / other two had
his foot blown off.
Lt Nicholas
Lt Bryan Butler ws k
by m.g. fire abt 200 yds
in front of the j.o. point.
This strong point ws occupied
by / Germs immediately ahead
of the start just NE of
Jeancourt. There ws a gap
in / wire - (the strong point
was a wood on / E of / 
road, not as shown on /
map). And in going thro /
wire in single file a m.g.
trained on / gap k. Butler
& 5 men.
10
 

Lt J. Simmonds, liaison offr
w / 11 Bn ws badly wd
with Holiman probly by
a shell of our 60 pdrs.
(One bty of 18 pdrs, & 60 pdrs
were falling short). He died
later.
Lt Nicholas ws wd abt
half way to / objve, by a bit
of shell
Lt Stott ws wd by a shell
splinter of our own abt ½ way
to / objve.
Lt Lambert ws wd on / 
way up by a mg. bullet
but did not leave till / objve.
Capt. S. Houghton O.C. Z Coy,
wd on objve by m.g. fire
directing his Coy to dig in. 
This fire came from / trench on
/ opp. hill or from Harrods Stores.
11
 

The men lying out (after 20
or 30 had bn wd - / arty fire
ws very slight, even when
/ 10 Bn started) were brought
in to abt / edge o / wood
till / advance went on.
Lt Walduck I.O. ws wd
on the jumping off positn after
the advance had started, going
out to see what / positn 
was.
In / final positn before
/ Americans relieved us / 
Germans were not holding
this side o / canal in
any strength. A few Germ.
snipers wd come out early
and snipe during / day
The German artillery ws pretty 
lively during this time & there
12
 

ws a lot of movement in
Bellicourt & Nauroy.
On Sept 18 - as soon
as the infy had gone forward
/ batteries began to leap frog
dashing forward & motor lorries
bringing forward guns bigger
than field guns. The Various Bn HQrs
moving forwd were mixed
with arty going forward.
The artillery movement this
time ws splendid to watch.
—————————
As Capt Tulloch ws going forwd
w his Coy in 2 lines ahead of
him on four occasions a mg.
started firing ahead behind
them. They sent back &
mopped them up. The smoke
no doubt helped to upset
13
 

completely the German defence
wh depended greatly upon
a large n^o of m.gs.
Caution dugouts ws just
beyond the objve ^of 11 Bn. A number
of Germs w m.gs. ws collected
here, & the smoke rose lifted abt
this time & left this active
point just ahead. A number
of good things were done by
NCOs here. Sergt Grubnau
of 11 Bn with a L.G. worked
from cover to cover from abt
150 yds till he ws within
50 yds on their flank. He
worked along a rd from
/ rt flank from one a heap
of stones till Fritz got his 
head down; then ran up
14
 

abt 30 yds to another
heap; then across / road to
an old dugout - & so on.
[*Hand drawn diagram – see original*]
In Villeret itself in 
a deep dugout they got 2
German doctors & a full
regtl aid post - they were
waiting for their wd but
none arrived till our 
men came & took them.
Out of a dugout in /
chateau the 12 Bn got a
Bn Commander, a major -
He knew we had attacked &
he knew 1st & 4 Divns were
there, & sd the Germs had
reinforced their line as our
Divns were regarded as
storm troops. He had bn a
[*Hand drawn diagram – see original*]
15
 

cavalry officer & had
command of a m.g. Bn.
He sd his first informatn
of our being so close ws tt
his Sergt major came down
& sd "/ English are here".
He had not expected / attack
to come so far or so fast. 
They had come abt 2 kilometres
in an hour.

It is a toss up whether
Bullecourt was the heaviest
experience of 12 Bn or Pozieres.
Bullecourt was the heaviest
fighting for actual fighting.

16 

Landing. Capt Tulloch 11 Bn.
Landed at A. Fire ws
coming from a sheer postin
high up on the left where
/ Ts had a circular trench
apparently round / edge
of the end of the knuckle.
This ws apptly the same
m.g. fire wh knocked out
/ boats on / left. They
got in a single file up
What Maj. Tulloch takes
to have bn Walkers Ridge
There ws a bit of goat 
track on it & they kept
on / razor back, N
of it but had to dodge
from side to side o /
crest for shelter on / way
up.
[*[The
map
(from
Anzac
Book
showing

T's
route
is with
Aust.
Historical
Mission
files,
as it
was
required
by Mission
for
tracing
his
tracks.]*]
17
 

There were Ts shooting
from the plateau on / 
right also. A sniper
ws bayoneted on the
way up -
Before reaching /
razor back they got into
a creek thickly timbered
abt 8 ft deep & pretty
narrow wh ws heavily
enfiladed from / North.
They had a bit of a 
fight agst something
(unremembered) in getting
to the Knob (? where
Walkers HQ were later)
Rushed from there to a
second smaller bump
on / rt flank. From there
18