Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/207/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 3

fire. The tanks had gone up
/ road (on Bns left) & were

[[?wea]] out in front. They (/ tnks).

were firing pretty heavily.
At this point Bn broke
down into lines of skirmishes.
These posts fired a few
flares, & a few shots - & 

then got up to retire. Bn
cd then see them in / light
o / flares & opened on them, 

After this the coy they reformed & they retired.
into arty formation & 
continued to advance. 
The next oppostition
was near the Crucifix at / 
final X Rd. [The huts on the 

map near here do not exist]. 
19 
 

The coy again shook out into

line - took a few prisoners
in potholes & shell holes 
& fixed their outpost line
on the objective. They 
were just behind /
Crucifix - scattered posts 
covering each other. The 
tanks after the Coy ws on 
its objve were heard
coming back & returned
to / rear down / road. 
The tanks probably went 
abt 200 to 300 yds ahead
& then A bit left.
B Coy dug in with 
its left on the Bray road, 
thence round W of the Crucifix 
& around the head of the 
20 
 

first reentrant. Here 
(as soon as / posts began
to be established) they got 
in touch w 50 Bn 
From the posts esp. 

round / reentrant , ^the E of Bray,

the Church, & La Neuville 
were visible. 
Things were very 
quiet during / night.

Flares were coming from /

bottom o / cliffs & from 
the next ridge E of Bray. 
Aug. 11. An aeroplane came 
over at daybreak & dropped
flares all over the positions 
of 49 Bn. 
Abt 9am. the German 
21
 

arty opened with all 
calibres & gas & lasted
till abt 2p.m. They were 
firing from a ridge ahead. 
There were 49 casualties 
in B Coy (110 men) alone. 
There were a number 
of Germans at times noticed
working down / canal bank
southwards. All this afternoon 
the Germans were dribbling down
the face of the slope NE of 
Bray into the dead ground
NW & SW of Bray. It 
looked evident that his idea 
was a converging c/attack. 
There seemed about 3 Bns 
in all (coming down in dribles
for 4 hrs) to NW of Bray. 
22
 

A message ws got back
to the arty & this shelled
/ reverse slope with heavies
(it ws too steep for 18 pdrs).
No attack developed against
the Crucifix front. The German 
eased off into harassing fire
for / the rest o / day. (A red bodied
German plane with short wings 
used to come over very low 
down at dawn & dusk. 
Every rifle & L.G. ws turned on it.
It ws coolly come round & throw
drop a bomb near any post 

wh annoyed it.) Our fighting patrols
were out ahead alll night
& got in [[?conlict]] w German 
posts wh were working abt 
300 y.d.s ahead either wiring 
or digging. The covering parties wd be  
 23
 

what fired at our patrols.

They were down / reverse slope.
49 Bn ws reld on
right of 14/15 - & came back

to a sunken Rd ^thro 19 central in support. 
On 16/17 they were reld
by 3rd Divn. The back areas
were all fairly heavily shelled - 
[[?Gresaire]] Wood ws heavily
shelled all / time. 

Aug 1 - 7. Domart - Hangard.
When 49 Bn went into
Hangard wood its line ^there ws
in two Quarries w small 
T head saps, They had relieved
a French Arabian Bn ^ in support Aug 1 & in / front line on Aug 3. The 
French had left about 3000 to 
4000 "grenades in a dump in / 
 24
 

24a
When B Coy 49 Bn ws reconnoitring
to take over the line from 15 Bn
on Aug 3rd a German patrol
got in between 2 posts of 15 Bn 
& were ousted but cleared
without casualties.
The same day a tank offr 
walked out from / front along /
rd S. of / wood & was going
towards / Germans when he 
was called in by a Sergt of 
15 Bn.. 
On night of Aug 7/8 at dusk there was a Canadian lieut.
& a Sergt who came thro to reconnoitre. They went straight 
out towds Hangard Village & were fired on by a German 
mg. post & both wd. The offr ws shot badly thro / chest. He 
crawled in to a post of ours. The Sergt came in to report.
It ws not known if he had any papers on him wh 

cd have given / show away. The 5/Bn may have 
found him on / way in.       
quarries & a couple of their

grenade rifles (where / bullet
goes thro'.) The 49 Bn 
fired abt 350 grenades from 
/ quarry each day. Firing 
at / point where the ^Germs fired

his m.gs & flares at night. 
The Germs one day retaliated w 
rifle grenades. They saw where 
these were coming from & Lt [[?Cults]]
& once a rifle grenadier took 
out 2 rifles w cup fixtures

one on each flank of him.
While the German fired 6 they 
fired 10 & 11 respectively - 
& no more grenades were 

fired. But / Germs turned on 
a pretty heavy arty. 
25
 

49 Bn. Aug 10. As B Coy ws
getting settled near / 
Crucifix they rooted out 2 or 
3 Germs. One German in
a hole there wanted to 
attract attention without
attracting a bullet. He 
kept low & kept on calling 
"Alloo alloo aloo me 
Corporal." Lt Cults 
cottoned onto what it was 
He sd. 'Alloo alloo alloo
me Australian Officer 
Come out you — — — "

A big German came out. 
The rt flank of B Coy 
about the head o / ravine 
was at first not in touch 
26
 

with 50 Bn. A small 
party of Germans under an 
Offr with a mg. in a 

hedge took up a position 
& tried to bluff us by 

firing the m.g. The Our scouts

were out & tackled this 
party. The Offr ws wounded 

badly & the rest [[?bolled]].
The offr ws found next 

m.g. The 5/bn brought him 
in & the German snipers
down by / river banks
on / right fired on them & 
shot them. B Coy lost 5 S/bs, one 

killed (Pte Sutton) & 7 wd 
When the Germans of 
Alloo fame ws waiting at 
Coy H.Q. they told Capt Tambling 
[[?OI.C]]
27
 

a pitiful tale They were 
all 3, (two others were there ) were 
under 19 years. They had bn 
there 4 days. They sd "the
next thing we knew when 
English soldier came along."
Tabling sd: "Not English - 
Australian!" They all three
jumped up (after sitting there an 
hour) & sd Kamerad Kamerad!
 The big chap at Bn H.Q.
asked Maj Arnott "whether 
he ws going to be killed or not."
A scout called Hockey 
(they were out abt 100 yds ahead 
in 3!s - during / advance to 
stir up any trouble tt might 
be there) came on a Germ.

Post firing on our advanced 
Plu (Lt Strike). Hockey ws