Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/204/1 - August 1918 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.
Diaries and Notebooks 

Item number: 3DRL606/204/1 

Title: Notebook, August 1918
Includes references to the 38th, 41st and 42nd
Battalions, Broodseinde, Proyart, Marrieres
Wood, Bellicourt and "peaceful penetration".
AWM38-3DRL606/204/1 

D
204
42nd Bn
41st Bn
Aug 8.
Aug 10.
— 11
Typed
-177
Original   DIARY NO. 204.      
AWM 38    3DRL 606 ITEM 204 [1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C. E. W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial.  But apart from these terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.
These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true.  The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind.  Often he wrote them when very tired and half-asleep;
also, not infrequently what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered.  Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing believed.  Further, he cannot, of course vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded.  But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events.  The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true.  All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sept.,1946.     C. E. W. BEAN.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN
Fenner, Appleton & Co., Ltd., St. John Street, E C. 2-17. 30 M.

1
38 Bn 30 29. Aug. (from Lt Sandford who ws
m/ of this Coy)
Operatns started at Curtu.
L.H. in front - a screen.
Check at Howitzer Wood. L.H. Held
up abt trenches in 4 B & D.  38 Bn
lay in those trenches for while till
4 p.m.
A patrol of 40 Bn & some
38 Bn cleared this oppositn.
Then Bn came on
Across country S of Dock Alley
B Coy in support at the big
bank where /. rd forks in 5 c.
Abt dark a runner
who had missed him came
running up. He extended
his 40 men thro Clery -
Going thro Clery extended
they never saw a sign of
a Germ. German ws shelling

1

2
Clery all / time intermittently.
They got right thro / village.
There ws a German post
at / Bldg imd N. of /
Bridge at 12 B45 .75.
It ws a bldg on a rise -
a slight rise & a broken bldg.
They stopped on / W. side
of this bldg (the walls were
in better conditn than in
most o / village. The post
was pushed as far up as it
cd get to try & get / bridge
- abt midnight.
All night they were
moving along ^in the front W edge of
/ village - & runners
going thro / village back
to Hqrs of Bn - but no one
ws fired at all night.
2

3
As soon as 38 got established
near / bridge the post was
quiet & remained quiet
all night. Some of 40 Bn
got there next day.
[As soon as it became
daylight this post became
v. active & there was musketry
fire from there all / morning.
The runners had a v. bad
time as / post had a good
field of fire in / main street
& along / river bank &
anything tt showed there ws

fired at.
Just abt dawn / Germans
blew up the bridge at
Omiecourt -
All / shooting at people
in / village came from E of /
3

4
village. Some of 40 Bn
worked up thro / village
on morning of Aug 30 &
they were shot at all /
way - they eventually got
thro / village & cptd this
post.

5
41 Bn
Broodseinde Lt Dunbar 
and "Alma " (Oct 4. 1917)
Diagram - see original document

6
[*(These Bns had been
amalgamated
when this was
obtained, prob.
Nov. 1918 C.ewB.
22/6/39)*]
41 }
42 } Bns Aug 8.
41 Bn:  Bn had been at Hamelet;
burying cable etc to Hamel; then
they pulled out to Corbie to
practice, equip & organise
for 2 days (they had a
facsimile of the ground, /
barrage ws imitated etc.)
The barrage ws oblique
to / advance. This had bn
practiced. Zero ws 4.20 am.
Bn went up by C track
wh ws blocked, & got
in place 1 hr before time.
There went up lights
in front o / Tommies. The
Germs sent down a barrage
on them & a certain no
of 77 shells on our 11 Bde
6

41 & 42 both had this
barrage on them. It ws
getting light. You cd see
/ German lines. At zero
there ws a foot of haze in
/ gullies; this quickly thickened.
There were some casualties
in the Bde ^from tt Germ. barrage but the escapes
were lucky. The German had
sent up coloured flares
in front o / Tommies at
abt 4 am. - red & green
& golden rain lights galore x ^opposite / Tommies
at Sailly Laurette. [The
Tommies made a good bit
of noise before this - you
cd hear them across / river].
The German front
line (wh xxx the Bn had
picked out from air photos)
7

 ws on the fore slope of the
opposite hill - in pot
trench elements wh were
fairly well connected up.
There were m.gs. in a zone
system of defence. The
42 Bn crossing / valley
came under heavy m.g.
fire from / left right.
Diagram – see original document
The  / mist came down very
thick - 10 mins after / barrage
you cdn't see 50 yds.
8