Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/209/1 - July - October 1918 - Part 3

& were going to use it

for a barrage in / aftn)

Bde ordered them to 

stand fast where they

were, abt 150 yds short

of objve - they cd see

1^st Divn.

C.Os. were sent

for to Bde H.Q. at

the pigeon House, Harbonnieres.

Brigadier issued

verbal orders for another

attack next mg. to be

carried out by 26 & 28

in conjunction with 5^th

Bde.

26 Bn wh had bn in

Vauvillers till then relieved

at 1 a.m. on morning of 11^th
19

prior to wh 25 Bn had

laid a J. O. tape across /

whole front.  This ws 

necy as there ws 100 to

150 yds betw posts & it

ws fairly dark.  Their

attack ws timed for daylight

on 11 Aug.  Eather & 26 Bn I.O.

(Pearson) did this.

When reld at 1 a.m.

on 11 Aug. they moved

back to positns vacated

by 26 Bn in & around

Vauvillers & stood by to

support / attack if required.

The attack succeeded, so

25 ws not used.

During / German retaliatn

the ∧Germ put a lot of gas into Vauvillers
20

(v. heavy indeed on Framerville),

On night of 11^th Aug. 7^th Bde

ws reld by 6 Bde. The details in 

Vauvillers were in good German dugouts & cellars - rest       

in trenches - No

gas casualties

owing to

very

strict

precautions
& previous

experience

at Paschendaele
&

Mericourt

26 & 28 came back into

/ old French line East of

Harbonnieres & 25

& 27 on / tramline imd

west of Harbonnieres in 

10 D.

[N. Australian soldiers

nor British had left any

trace in / village.]

It looked as if 8 Bde had

caught it in front o / village

& had been unable to get

ahead & got back into /

old Amiens line.

During 9^th Aug it ws

impossible to know if you 

were miles out ahead of others
21

or if they were miles ahead

of you - No one knew, at / front.
 

From  At Harbonnieres the

Germs were still shelling with

a H.V. gun the balloon wh

ws imd W of Harbonnieres

& wh went up from / middle

of the 25 Bn Camp - Its

predecessor had bn put down

on Aug 9 (aftn) by one of

our planes after a brave afternoon

dash agst our own barrage. the German H.V. gun.

On Aug 11 Germs were shelling

this balloon w H.V. Shrapnel

& Lt Harrison ws xx. wounded

by a pellet in / head.

This made the 3rd OC. of

D Coy to be hit in 3 days.
22

Aug 8.  Lt. Templeman ws k

during / advance by our own 

barrage.

Aug 9. Lt. Adair wd. near

NE of Vauvillers by shell.

Lt. Inghram mortally

wd (& died later) abt / same

place also by a shell.
23

Bn went back to Bussy.

Stayed there till 27 Aug.

Moved up & attacked

thro 6 Bde just E. of Herbecourt.

 

                        27 |

This       25 |   28 |
order?            26 | 

 

25 Bn moved on to E of

Flaucourt. Very few casualties

this day. Stayed there till

Aug 30 aftn.  Then moved across

to left bank of Somme near

Clery.  Were stopped just before

Xing & remained in shell holes bivouacs on / Canal

side o / peninsula of Omiecourt.

All tt night (to let other Bdes

cross) till aftn of Aug 31.
24

25 Bn then crossed ∧(on night of 1/2 at Omiecourt) & moved

round to Galatz & Agram Alleys.

On evg of Sept 1st the C.Os.

were sent for to Bde ∧near Boscourt Cemy abt

abt dark & verbal orders issued

for an attack at dawn on 

Sept 2.  Maj. Page ws

a/in commd this time.

Page got back to Bn abt

1 a.m. It ws a very hurried confce

at about 3 a.m. - where they made

an agemt for breakfast & /

move up to J.O.T.

½ 28 |    27 |

                25 |    →

½28 |     26 |

This ws / first they knew o / attack.  Breakfast had bn

ordered previously - dry bread, cold beef, cold tea.
no milk no sugar

For 25 Bn the J.O. ws xxxxx

700 yards from there.  This had to be done all

1000 yds but objve widened

by 5.30.  The leading Coy reached / tape at 5. 5 am.  They front

were all there betw 5.10 & 5.15 after great anxiety.

The front started on width of 1000 yds & widened

out to 1500 on objve.  The Coys were
25

                  C |      

 B |   D |             →

                  A |  

The idea ws tt each Coy shd

have 500 yds front eventually,

D Coy feeding into / gap betw A & C.

The Coys were each 3 plns.

The advanced Coys advd w

one pln extended as a line of

skirmishers over each Coy

frontage.  The other 2 plns advanced

75 yds in rear in lines of

Sections in arty formtn.

Directn ws v. difficult to maintain

on acct of no previous reconnaissance

& / formatn o / hill ahead

tended ∧to make the troops to move to /

left.  The troops were brought back
26

during / advance onto their

proper front by signal - & ended

on their proper objve.

They jumped off from

the Bapaume Rd just N.W.

of Mt St Q village.

Oppositn ws first met

in / German line of outposts

just E of the wood - runne this line ran

more or less N. & S.  These were

overcome with out difficulty

6 Bde were gassed just E of 

/ wood.

The German's main line

of resistance ran from the post

point of Hill 115 & along

Brunn trench.  The m.g. fire ws

terrific - / heaviest we have

met in / war, & imdly

stopped our advances abt 400
27

[*Capt Fletcher - a fearless man - did most splendidly
throughout this fighting.  At first it looked hopeless.  Then when
Sergt Anderson & his pty went on so*]
well, everything seemed all to be plain going.  Then when the 120
Germs came up & they only had 2 m.g. magazines left
it looked v. black again - then up came the V.Gs. &
it brightened
Sergt Anderson & Cpl. Anderson (both
Murwillumbah boys) did their two shows on
their own ^initiative - one out in front of the S/P the
other up / trench.
28
 

to 500 yds from / German line.

It ws just abt here tt Maj. Page,

who ws coming along in front o /

reserve Coy w Bn Hqrs, ws

hit.  Capt Cross ws hit (O.C.

B. Coy, on left).

A small pty of one L.G.

section had worked up Lugus

trench & had knocked out a m.g.

position in it, abt a little E of

/ junction w Laibach trench (under

Sergt Anderson - they got it

w L. gun).  They were now

right in / German main line

of resistance.  They immediately

fired on & cleared out a post

abt 50 yds on / rt wh ws

occupied by abt 50 xxxxx Germans

the X of trenches just on top of

Hill 115 ws very strong indeed - Their
[*The Cpl Anderson who held out in front of the S/P ws a brother of Sergt Anderson. Fletcher on finding them,
Fletcher himself reconnoitred the big S/P on / hill & sent only ^sd to the small pty.
"I know you cant take it", he sd, "but go on & hang on to them."*]