Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/201/1 - August - December 1918 - Part 5

- / aeroplane skimming /
trees - & bombs were dropped.
xx Lt Fleiter ws wd & several
men.  They 60. sorted Bn out,
& they were pushed on in Coys,
past / Amiens defence line
(when they got gassed.) They
thought things were going alright
till they got jammed up by / rly onto
/ others.  They found then tt things
were clearly wrong.  Here they
got intense shell & m.g. fire.
They then lined / ditches.
Finally 39 took positn
round / X Rds. at La F.
w posts out on / left on
& the others just w o / factory.
The rest along / ditch forwd. 
38 

39 Hqrs were in La F. Bldgs.
A D.R. ws attd to send back
messages for Bde & had a hot
time, from m.g. all / way up -
& when he ran / gauntlet
back agn he ws nearly hit by
a bomb.
At 3 a.m. 37 & 39 were
withdrawn to Amiens defence
Line.
Capt Allen & Lt Urquhart 
were up & down on / S. side
o / rd consolidating & saw
no 20 Bn forward of La F.
39 

40 

37 Bn came back to the
Amiens line. on Aug 11.
on 12/13 11/12 they reld a Coy of
35 Bn in front o / hospl.
from Rd in 19 D to rd
in 13 D.
[37 dug in w 38 on morning
of 11 Aug.]
Early morning of Aug 12
they got word tt / Germ ws
leaving Proyart - & to 
push patrols forwd.  The
patrols got thro finding
steaming breakfast - without diffy.
The other side o / village
Corpl. McCrohan captd
m.g. & crew singlehanded.
After tt / patrol met oppositn.
from mgs beyond / rly wh
41 

3 [[?]]
ws / objve.  McCrohan
got close to / rly.  D Coy
then tried to take the rly
& failed (Lt Aitken).  The
m.g. fire ws too heavy & 
they cdnt get arty support
at all.
B Coy ws sent forwd to S of
Village (Capt Allen) & Capt Allen & 
Lt Narrick went out & 
reconnoitred as far as 
the edge o / village. The 
Germs were then plastering
/ village - B Coy got touch with Lt Urquhart
on left who had touch w
11 Bde.  Casualtes were had bn very
heavy & / Coy ws practly only
a Platoon.  Lt Narrick led
B forwd & took / rly
line w / help of 40 Bn on rt.
42 

[The German had not
withdrawn to / extent believed
& / Coys had bumped into it.]
43 

38 Bn.  Vaux Curlu Clery.
38 Bn came in at
Suzanne on Aug 26 - 2 coys
(A&B) extending 37 Bn line
to Somme E of Suzanne
A Coy Lt ∧D.M. Addison  x
Diagram - see original
At 2 pm on Aug 26 B Coy came
in as above.  At night C & A
went thro B
to mop up /
Peninsula.
Capt Clarebourgh
(37 Bn) & his Coy
were to mop
up Vaux Wd.
C&A put guards
at x & x at
the two crossings.
Diagram - see original
44 

Aug 27.
At 9.20 am Aug 27, 38 came
under its own a/ C.O (Maj. AJ.
Maudsley.); till then under Col. Storey.
Light rain.  Arty ws in
/ valley N. of Suzanne.
A Coy got in touch w
1st Divn. seeing a few of them
at daylight moving in a 
quarry at / xx xx bottom o / 
cliff at Eclusier.
C Coy got down to Vaux
Bridge.
3rd Pioneers got to work on
Vaux & Eclusier Bridges &
made a good job.
[The Boche had got away
at Frise Xing & Vaux Crossing
& cd be seen thick at Frise.
45 

Aug 28. ?28th
At 7.30 am B Coy had to cross
at Vaux Bridge.  The men
on / cliff top tt morning had
bn shooting at Germs coming
down in a boat from / N.
to demolish Vaux Bridge wh
hadnt bn properly demolished.
One of these ws still dead in /
boat near / Xing - A long
wooden structure.  Lt C.T. Crispe
had to go down there & report
if / Bridge were good eno for
arty - but / Germs had
half demolished it.
(The German ws at E of
Curlu in with full sight of all tt
happened on the Vaux Slope).
B Coy in 3 platoons
got quickly across the Peninsula
46 

N. of Frise.
Lt Bogle had to work to
Frise to find if it were
occupied - He got just past
/ first 5 houses - / Germs
were then occupying Frise
& / trenches on / Peninsula.
Lt J.C. Davis went w his pln to
La Grenouillere; & ∧Lt N.W.W. Sandiford
to the head of the Xing at
6 c Central - ∧wh later became
important.  They were there
by 3p.m. dribbling round /
edge - 2 or 3 men at a time.
Abt 5pm Capt Beattie ws
wd at Vaux Xing & Sandiford
took B Coy.
C. & D Coys had come to
Vaux Wood at abt 11a.m.  They
moved abt 2.30 to attack via 
47