Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/204/1 - August 1918 - Part 6

42 Bn B Coy. 
Marrieres Wd
Bouchavesnes.
at midnight on Aug 29
B Coy of 42 under Temp. Capt Trudgeon
came under command of
Col Morshead 33 Bn. & Coy
in the Terraces in B30A.
During assault at 6 a.m. on
Aug 31 on lst & 2nd objve by
33 Bn. 33 Bn reached these
without v heavy loss & decided
to go on to ^first Exploit line.
They did this without undue
loss & decided to go a further
Exploitatn on the main Rd
in 20 D. English troops were
operating on left. They reached
there by 7 pm. After having
left lst Exploitation line 33 Bn
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lost so heavily tt they had
to take on B Coy 42 wh
had moved to rear Road
Wood, & throw it into the front
line. Total Bayonets 62.
The 33 got part o the way
to 2nd Exploitatn objve &
then put in 42 Bn B Coy.
B Coy worked up Apremont
trench & other C.Ts abt the Old Quarry
in 22C. (33 Bn only had 80
[*?20C
or D*]
bayonets). Trudgeon had
to fight bombing & working
w L.Gs. After fighting worn
Germans the 42 here came on
new Guard Troops & they fought
v. hard. The men took over
2 bombs per man & fought
the rest o the day w German bombs.
50

They got to the road w
heavy fighting, & decided
to go on to the 3rd Exploit
line near Quarry Fm.
(to the hedge just this side of it)
2/Lt Jackson Warwick newly
joined ws k. there. 100 yds
w. of Quarry Fm. Very few

of B Coy were able to reach this
line & the Germs fought well
& were numerous - our men were
tired. A Lewis Gun N.C.O
cpl. Mann w 2 men, being
surrounded by the Germs, after
inflicting heavy casualties
dismantled his L.G. & threw the
parts away. He withdrew himself
& his men, in line w abt
a dozen more o the coy to
abt 200 yds E of Main Rd.
51

(DCM for this.) Capt Trudgeon
& 2/Lt Snelling (newly joined)
the only offrs left, joined in
the hand to hand fighting &
decided to remain where

they were - 200 yds E of
rd. As the germs appeared
likely to launch a heavy
c/attack, night ws falling &
the men had had no food since
breakfast. Also they were
on a crest. (Both these offrs
got the M.C.) The line ws

v. thin - abt 33 & 42, out
on their own, nothing coming
up to them. Behind the Germs
m.g.s were piles of empty cartridges.
The 9Bde had been gvn orders
to get the commanding ground N of
52

53
※ At 2pm on 31st 3 Coys of 42 were
to attack from old Quarry (C 20 Centl)
E. but got only to trench from C.20 centl.
to E end of Road Wood. Patrols sent

out met heavy mg fire & penetratn
without a barrage ws found impossible.
Lt Stanford (newly joined) ws wd by
shrapnel in head & d. of w.(rear
in 20 C Centl).
In aftn betw 3 & 4pm Lt. Tardent from 20
C Centl saw Germs drilling men down rd

(sunken) from C 2D81 into Bouchavesnes
& Alf cut on the English front, arty ws
turned on & they were scattered.

the valley & they fought all
day to get it.
Prisoners volunteered
tt they had volunteered to
stop the Australian advance

※B Coy were reld on
night 31/1 by res 42 &
41 reld
Diagram - see original document
The Road ws the hopping off
line for Sept 1. The Patrols
were sent out to bring in
anyone out in Posts E o the
rd.
Where Warwick ws k one of
42 ws badly wd and captd by the
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Russian Guards. 41 Bn
retook him next day. He (Pte
Ogg) ws badly treated till the
mornings attack - took
everything off him. When
the barrage started they gave
him a drink of coffee &
put him outside the dugout.
(a 9 Bde prisoner ws taken
also).
Beside Ogg ws a 33 Bn
wd man unconscious, being
taken to the rear by the Germs.
He ws on a stretcher by Ogg.
Ogg took all his personal
effects & identification marks -
 & this later proved tt this man
ws wd, not killed.
55

 Sept. 1. Zero ws at 5.30 am
- 30 mins too late.
Most of our corps
arty was helping the British on
the left & our barrage ws v.
weak compared w the left.
The Germ. ws holding the line
from Quarry Fm & then S.W.
along the trenches to the Road.
The oppositn ws m.g. from
posts in the trenches esp. the
trench & copse in 22D, Scutari
trench wh ws full of Germs &
Haut Allaines. Also the
Spur & trenches near Copse 22.
The Tommies did well & got
to this objve - tec and connected
with 42 Bn in / old German winter
trenches in 16C.
56

The sere 11 Bde ws to
exploit on reaching its
objve - & the exploit Coys
of 42 & 41 went out under
     (B. Capt K Uren
 41 (C Capt French
Uren ws killed as soon as they
moved thro A Coy, by m.g. fire.
Capt French got far out - & took
prisoners & sent them back.
He had no one w him (rushed
on ahead of his Coy). He waved
to them to go back - a dozen or
18. One fired after he had surrendered
& his back ws turned & hit French
badly. The men who were follwg
up k. all these prisoners. To be xxx
Fr. got M.C & bar - a splendid
offr - from Charters Towers - a
school teacher.
57

The 41st ws (w 43 on their rt)
to take Scutari trench. They
got practically very near to Scutari trench
but 43rd ws not up on the rt.
One Coy of theirs ws behind
rt of 41 & 41 held Kassa
& Yassa trench. It ws from
here the Exploitation pties
went out & it ws they wh
nearly got to Scutari - they got
onto the high grd in 32C & 31D
but it ws touch & go to get
the wd back (see diary)
Capt Uren k. on this
Exploitation by m.g.
Lt. Mitchell k. by shell practically
on reaching Kassa trench
2/Lt Rigg (first fight as offr) k.
in the first attack
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Capt French wd as above.
(?2/Lt Horton during the attack on Exploitatnts high grd.)
This only left 5 offrs in the line.
The whole day 41 Bn ws
subject to heavy m.g. fire - 
they were pinned to the trenches wh
were old trenches filled in -
it ws a most difficult positn
- the ground conformed to the
flight o the German m.g. bullets
& owing to the lie o the land
it ws difficult for the batteries
to get up. Wd had to be left
in many cases till dark.
Out of 400 - 120 casualties 5 offrs.

11 Bde had a frontage of 3000 yds - 
while British Divn on left had 1200 yds

front.
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