Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/205/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 8

1
68a
X At this time Cameron reported
tt he saw over 100 Germs coming
into Beaurevoir & others in /
hollow S o / Cemetery.
He asked for an organised
shoot on the Anti tank gun & on
Beaurevoir.  The Anti-tank gun
ws shot up first by 4? batteries
wh made a brigade shoot of it ;
Beaurevoir ws shot up at abt
abt 3.30 p.m.
Lt Elliott Gassed R.O.D.
Lt Hainey wd in lg in morning in
Beaurevoir Line.
Lt. Toogood hit in arm in Beaurevoir Line.
Bn marched out to Hervilly 140
strong all included.
Cameron's Coy went in xx 70 came out 23.
the hedges in 22 A 77.  They
now had / canal absolutely
enfiladed. X
3 posts were pushed out,
one under Lt. Clarke M.C.
- one near / Farm, one N of
Torrens another NW of / Farm -
abt 3 men & a L.G. in each.
They stayed till abt 3pm
when things were quieter - White
House had now fallen - abt 11 a.m.
Bn ws in / Canal all
/ aftn.  The Germs held / hedge
till after dark.
In / canal they got a
message to say 6 Bde wd go
thro.  Outposts had bn put out
before dark; & these were withdrawn
as soon as a sentry specially
placed reported tt 6 Bde were
coming - so tt 6 Bde wdnt take them
69

for Germans.
6 Bde got a lot of prisoners
from / hedge.  6 Bde occupied
/ line o / Laghts thro 15 Centl. & 22
Central
At 2 am Cameron got a
message to witdraw Bn &
come back to H17B - Sunken
Rds.  They stayd there day
& night of Oct 4.
Oct 5.  Next mg at 10 am
they were told to be ready to move
by 10.30 am.  They came past S
of Jancourt & took up a positn
on / top o / hill 158 supporting
2nd Pioneer Bn.  They were shelled
by whizzbangs.  They 20 Bn were 93 strong
& had no losses there.  Abt 9 pm.
Cameron recd a message to take
70

over / Bn as he ws going to
/ Americans, & take 20 Bn
back to / original positn
wh it had left in H17B.
They stayed there tt night &
next night came back to
Hervilly x(oct 6).
The Tank Mionvey ws blown
out.  Mudhook & Mionvey
were 2 of 20 Bn tanks.
71

8 Aug 18 Bn (Capt Lane)
18 Bn. started behind 20 Bn.
When / show started everyone
got mixed - Compasses & /
sound o / guns. gave / directn,
Some germs were met in short
elements of trench - there
wsnt much fire - / Germs were
simply waiting rather helpless.
The main trench ws on
/ 1st objve.  There were a lot of
Germs in this.  They fought in
places.  Lane poked his rifle down
into one dugout & a man poked
his rifle up & fired aimlessly at him.
The fighting ws mainly - someone
telling anyone he met tt there
were some Germs down in some
corner he had past or where he
had seen them.  Collecting a few
men - going round x grabbing
72

them - generally from / rear.
It took a little while to get these
trenches cleared - there were
a good many bits of C.T &
so on in wh there were Germs.
Occasionally bombs had to be
used.
It ws beginning to get light
here - so they kept these
groups going & found many
Germans in / village.  There
ws a dressing Statn there in
dugouts w a lot of Germans in
it.  There ws not much Germ,
Artillery fire.
In the steep gully NE
of Warfusee there were a fair
number of guns.  Very few
Germs from there forward
probly got away at all.
73

There were horses in this gully
& in one case they were harnessed
in.  There were Artillery limbers
- / guns were mostly whizzbangs,
They didnt fight.
The 18 Bns had now gone
thro the main infantry line
& / first line of guns.  It ws
light by / time they were in this
valley.  The junction of the
valley & the Rd by a small
copse fixed the right of /
Bns objve & made it easy
to settle.  They dug in on
tt line, & 5th Divn moved thro.
They had not bn there anytime
when 5th Divl Arty came through
& went forward.
All the tanks wh were with the
18 Bn got up.  They were very
74

useful in some cases but
it ws so smokey tt morning
tt it ws difficult to say
what / which tanks were which &
what they were doing.
After While digging in B Coy
got a few casualties from shellfire.
The guns x in Warfusee Vally
did not seem to be firing when
18 Bn got close to them.
The Germans were clearly
surprised - they expected no big
attack.
Lt Sheath B Coy ws wd.  He ws
wd on / way to / rear & -
ws dressing a 20 Bn man in a
trench when a 20 Bn German
is thought to have come out of a dugout
& shot him thro / back o / head.  He
ws hit abt / first objve or betw
there & / second objve.
75

In Capt Lane's Coy only 2 men
were wd tt morning.  The
casualties were very slight.
Aug 9.  After staying a day in
these trenches 18 Bn recd
instrns next morning to
march up to ^take part in the further
advance.
Bn went straight up /
rd to / Morcourt Gully
& then opened into Arty
formation.  The German ws
dropping big stuff into /
gully & Lt Jones ws hit.
Bns went up independently.
Abt the E side of this gully
Maj Robertson came up on
a horse.  He told O.Cs. Coys
what ws objve & where the J.O.
76

Front of 18 Bn came from Y shaped tree
to the X rds at R 31 B 20.40
(rt Coy) & left Coy from there to /
rd.  They knew they were
to attack w tanks, & tt /
Objve ws the Rd from La
Hague S.wds.  There ws a vague
idea tt 3rd Divn ws attacking
on / left.  The Zero Bn on
reaching the J.O positn ws
fired on by m.gs. & rifles
from ^pot holes all along / front - &
so lay down in Arty formatn
under what cover there was.
Abt 4.23 the Zero hour ws
gn-at 4.30.  The tanks were
just ^before this seen coming up / road - / main
road.
There ws no barrage.
77

18 Bn ws just starting to
line out - standing up -
when / tanks arrd & /
Germs started to bolt from /
pot hole system ahead.
18 Bn fired on them w L. Guns
& rifles & pushed on when /
tanks came.
For a good while there ws
no trouble.  The troops remarked
tt it ws some battle.  The left
ws a bit in rear.  17 Bn
ws on / rt & came on w /
tanks.  It ws flat grassy country.
Germans were seen in a few
potholes - one tank put a 6 pdr
shot into a pothole from abt 10 yds.
(The little shell wd explode & wd
be dangerous).x
78