Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/205/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 2

8a
※ Night of 28/29 they stayed in / Quarry at
Cappy. (They arrd there tt aftn from
Froissy area). That night ^C.O. had 3 hours
sleep - men wd get more & started
at 5.30 am on / road - Going all
day thro first to Sunken Rd S. of Feuilleres
No sleep at all tt night 29/30. That
day got 10 mins dose.
※ The Coy Commndrs were called back
to Salvat trench to get these orders
from the C.O. While waiting for them
in the watery dugout the C.O.
fell asleep but they woke him when
they arrived. From then on there
ws no more sleep till after 6 Bde
had passed thro at Mt StQ. But
for a time, when Bn ws ordered
to withdraw to Frise it looked
as if rest were ahead. The C.O.
ws instrd to report to Bde for a
confce - & as soon as he got to
Frise ws warnd o / further operatn
at 10.30 - There ws only time for a shave
wash & bite & off they were again.
Night of 30^th no sleep. Night of 31/1 had
2 hrs sleep after 6 Bde had gone thro' in morning.
Night of 1/2 got 6 hrs sleep in Halle broken by
gas shelling.
20 Bn. 29 Aug.
(Col. Forbes)
The men in / bank S. o /
Somme E of Boscourt were
v. heavily shelled. The fire
ws no doubt directed from
Clery wh ws then held by
/ Germans. The orders for
Xing Somme on 29/30 -
Col Forbes moved into Salvat trench -
18 Bn were supposed to have
patrols working up / peninsula
to Omiecourt durg 29^th. That
night, on their reporting the
Causeway clear, 20 Bn ws to
follow them on & attack
Mt St Q ※ Quarter of an hr
before Zero Col. Forbes recd word
from O.Cs Coys tt 18 Bn.
had reported / causeway to be
 

to be blown up. It ws a stone
Causeway - solid..
The bridge across the Canal
where it formed / Chord o /
peninsula ws only a ^single plank
Acting on this informatn / troops
who were on / chord waiting to
go along were withdrawn to
Salvat trench, the Canal Bank (Chord)
(a good steep bank)
& the Bank in 16 A & B
Within an hour ^later the troops were
with drawn ^(on orders from Bde) right back to the
neighbourhood of Frise - the
Bde cancellation having
arrived in / meantime.
As soon as they got back
there they had breakfast & /
men washed their feet. They had
arrd there abt 8 a.m.
At 10.30 a.m. they started
 

again. This time they moved
via Canal Bank to Feuilleres
where the xd the river &
came up the lower main road
to Christiana trench - thence to /
bank where Col. Forbes was
already established.
At 5^th Bde Col Forbes had
bn told tt Clery ws clear.
At the bank he met Gen.
McNichol of 10 Bde who had
a sort of forwd HQ there.
He reported Clery as being clear
exc. for 2 houses in the N E
corner which a Company
had gone thro to mop up some
time before.
20 Bn ws sent on w
instrns to stick to / trench
system all / way round in

order to keep their movements
quiet & because C.O ws not
yet sure tt Clery ws clear.
(10 Bde thought they were in
Berlin wood).
The 12? Bty, meanwhile, under
Maj Sinclair did some magnificent
shooting in 7c (NW corner of
square) observing from 20 Bn
H.Q. Sinclairs bty ws attached
to 20 Bn for this operatn & crossed
/ river w them & were w him
to / end. Right thro they did
/ most magnificent shooting.
At 1.30 a.m. Col Forbes
recd by phone the orders from
13 Bde for / attack on Mt St Q.
He took these orders up himself
to the Bank at 7A 1.4 where
there ws a bit of a hole where Maj.
 

Macdonald was. The Coy Comdrs
were told to be there by 1 a.m.&
they brought along those of their
platoon commdrs whom they
cd get. The O
The objve for 20 Bn ws
from the Canal - Bepaume Rd Xing
down to Monhr Moineville
Alley just betwe S of the Road
Bend.
When they went off they
had nothing to guide them for
forming up. It ws pitch black.
They moved E NE abt to
Gottlieb when / barrage
opened - & then swung round
into line onto the objective.
In tt way they scooped dft
up an immense number of
Germans behind them. 

Once they onto / road they
say they cd have gone on for
ever had they had / men. The
Germ. ws running everywhere.
But they were getting trouble
from Anvil Wood or
Johannes trench - m.g  fire.
They dug in along / rd, made
themselves comfortable - took
their equipment off. Everyone
ws smoking cigarettes. But
a by gap existed betw them
& 17 Bn on rt. As a result
of this 2 Coys of 18 Bn in suppt
were ordered first into Moineville
Alley. Another 2 were sent
down to take up a positn
in Liberates trench. They did
not get to either place. 

3rd divn (44 Bn) ws to
come up on 20 Bns left but they
did not. They were somewhere
in Majdan trench. An offr ws
sent to their CO. & he sd he
wd send a Coy up. This Coy
didnt come early in / aftern
the Germs found this gap &
got down from Poinsot trench
to the Canal at the rear of
Feuillacourt. The ^20 Bn had to
withdraw to Oder trench &
Gottlieb trench - (Bn took over 600
prisoners & 65 mgs - Regt opposite
them ws the Kaiserin
Augusta Regt of Guards. They
had come in the night of
30/31 Aug.) 

Sept 1^st. 6 Bde went tho:
probly set after dawn
their zero ws 6am - too late
to do good.
Some o / wd in Feuillact
had to be left in dug outs on/ rd.
The Germs treated these
men well. He gave them hot
coffee etc & sd that their
comrades wd attack again
in / morning & get them
back again. The 6 Bde. attack
seemed to be a rushed affair.
The 21 Bn ws withdrawn
to ^rear Halle & Prague trench. They
stayed there till Sept 4. as
reserve to 14 Bde
They then came back to
Frise.
(On / rt of this attack
 

the troops - pln commdrs-of
19 Bn never got t ceal
knowledge of their objve
owing to the Coy Commdrs
having so far to go for their
orders & being unable to
tell pln Commdrs. The
Coy Commdrs were mostly
hit & 19th pcomds pln Commdrs
only knew tt they had to
take Mt St Q - nothing abt
the flank protectn. Part of
17Bn ws having a fight in
Parkwood in / morning
So 17 Bn went at/ hill
very weak.
The earliest troops of 6 Bde
wd be coming round/ Somme
bend abt 6.30 am on Aug 31.
 

One of / finest incidents of
campaign ws: a Bde of English
field arty came up into / little
triangle formed in / bend
o / Somme by / steep bank
& / two roads - this is a
hollow. They came in there
abt 9 a.m. Their observatn
offrs went out on horses,
selected positions - & / guns
were soon in action
Maj Sinclair of / 12 Bty rode
his horse up to Mt St Q. Said
it as too warm - Came back
shifted his bty into a better
positn & went on firing.
His bty came in to 7A central,
early in / morning.
One shell got a couple
of horses o / English bties.