Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/201/1 - August - December 1918 - Part 6

Curlu thro / line estabd by
9 Bde who were sd to have
posts (1) at E End of Curlu,
(2) in the Quarry E of Curlu
& (3) at / N End o / Quarry.
These had been there but
the (1) & (2) became untenable
& had to withdraw & 38 Bn
ws not informed of this.
D Coy followed / bottom
rd to Fargny Mill & then
deployed S. o / Rd. & ^a little N o /
Rd.  Thence D Coy moved N of to go through
Curlu.  C Coy went N of
Curlu towds / Quarry.
As soon as C Coy got into
Curlu it came under heavy
fire from 2 strong German
posts almost exactly where
posts (1) & (2) had been.
48
 

Sandifords pln cd see / Germs
moving in the Riverside post
(wh completely commanded /
broken stump of a village) &
firing on our men; Sandifords
pln opened a solid enfilade
fire right into / post.
As D. Coy came thro /
village Lt Riddell (only son
of Mme An Maggie Stirling
- the Australian singer) ws hit
thro / chest (d. of w).  This
Coy had had its first men
killed as they got into /
orchard S. o / town.  Riddell
ws killed wd at / further end
o / orchard - there ws
no cover in it only little
broken bushes & debris - At /
49

E End o / town ws a bit
of cliff abt 12ft high - sandy
bank - on top of it some scrub
& there / Germs had 4 machine
Guns.  There ws another at
/ bridge head.
Sergt Cpl Gilhooley - A Coy scout
worked out thro / demolished
bldgs onto / rd, & tried to
rush the guns - but they
k. him as he crossed / rd.
The Lewis Gunners got their
guns up but were knocked
out one after another.
Under Sandifords Enfilade
fire & with C Coy working round
their to the left & D Coy working up thro
/ orchard / Germ post near
/ Quarry had to go & /
post on / cliff had to clear.
50
 

51
The Coys all got hot meals brought up
to / posts despite despite / continuous shelling
& / length o / advance - the B Coy
cdn't by be found till 2 a.m. on Aug 29 on
/ Peninsula.  The road along
under / v. steep cliff ws
tremendously shelled - & this
river side road ws shelled
from first to last - rt up
to Clery.  As Dutton / scouting
officer sd^(when asked why they didnt stay on / rd below
Vaux Cliff): "We stopped because
they were shelling; & then we
moved on because they were
shelling."
There were a number of Germs
dead in Curlu.  By abt 7 p.m.
D Coy got its posts past
the Germ. Strong point.  I
The position at night ws.
as follows:
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
L^t Pooles Pln had got thro
Curlu & along each side o /
road & finally got the m.g.
at the bridgehead opposite
sandiford & dug in at M.D.
Aug 29. ^Just Before dawn patrols
from the 3 line Coys pushed on
52
 

& by midday were thro Hem
& well on to Monacu.  Not
a trace of Monacu ws left.
Just as Bn H.Q. ws
settling at Curlu - for a
sleep having been going ever
since night morning of Aug 26 - in
came / Bdier - & sd. The I.O.
& Adjt were going to sleep &
the Doctor & Lt Dutton were going having
xx a swim ^"a swim, a good feed, & a sleep" they proposed: -
(& it ws thought
Within an hour or so Dutton ws killed. (It ws thought
tt Bdier ws coming in for
a snooze) when he sd: Get
Your Bn ready immediately
to move forward as / advance
Guard o / 10^th Bde; & they
must be on / move within
20 minutes.  Clery is burning
& if possible your Hqrs are to be
there tonight."  The lines were
53
 

very hard to keep up owing
to / constant shelling - &
the brigadier ws exhorting them
about keeping up these.  They
were salving German wire to
make up w out deficiencies
& had used 9 miles to then all
manhandled. [The space between
the ^Vaux Cliff & / river swamp ws a trap -
& the top o / hill ws in
plain view of Peronne & further]
The Bn moved out from
?Curlu/Clery ^in arty formatn covered by a troop of
13^th ALH under Maj Buchanan.
The Bn had to wait a long
which for this troop - moved
out abt 1000 yds before /
troop passed them.  The troop
having a v. long way to go
had to come up at fast speed
54
 

down / rd thro Curlu at
/ trot - They passed Bn
just at Wormwood scrubs
N of Monacu.  The ALH
after getting thro / infy
opened out on either side o /
road.  Shellfire came down
at once as soon as they got
to / head of Bn - 4.2 &
77.  They first tried to deploy
round the N side of Howitzer
wood but as they came
round /. N side of it at /
Gallop the heavy shellfire
dra met them - they doubled
& wheeled round at / Gallop
to / S. of / rd & went
straight up over / rise
until on / down slope by
Saucisse Wood trench they came on
55
 

heavy wire & m.g. fire.
The Germs cd be seen running
back up / road past /
high Bank W of Clery & up
hill towds / trenches on
29 central. & / high ground.
When / Germs Light
Horse struck these obstacles
they reported back to /
infy.
As soon as the L.H.
went thro, Lt Dalton w his
Scouts (abt 3 xx) ws sent out by
Maj. Maudsley to use his
scouts as a screen to find
out / situation in front. Bn
In / heavy shelling wh followed
he ws k. xxx as he ws
going towds / front Coy.  At /
same time Lt Poole (D Coy) ws badly
56
 

wd in / jaw & several men
hit - by several shells just abt
400 yds SW of Wormwood Scrubbs.
[The L.H. ws a screen -
as soon as they got in touch
w / Germs. the infy ws to
push forwd & do / work].
This ws What happened.
All / way Bn cd see
on its left front / high
ground o / old Somme
battlefield at Hill 110 wh
it ws intended to take;
x Copse 5 - a few stumps
wh ws scarcely recognised
when they got to it ws another
objve.
The m.g. fire from 110 & /
trenches on it ws so hot tt Bn
had to halt in / valley below
57
 

it & get / arty, wh
ws following imdly behind,
to fire on / approximate
positns of / m.gs.  All commn
from forward to rear ws
by runners - & this caused
a little delay - Signal
wire ws unobtainable.
Under cover of this
shellfire the Coys, wh
were now deployed from
Howitzer wood onwards,
worked up till by 10 pm
they were on a line
from Copse 5 down
Hennequin trench & thence
in a S.E directn to /
SE Corner of Clery.
The left Coy ws
in touch w 34 Bn.
 

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