Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/209/1 - July - October 1918 - Part 5

(around the Quarry /wire
ws tremendous) w pillboxes
& 60 m.gs. were taken on
25 Bns front.
On reaching / wire
in some parts / Coys cdnt
get thro it. On / left
Sergt Sierwright crawled
under / wire abt 50yds
from a strong German
post. He rushed along /
parapet o / trench & / whole
Garrison of 52 Germs
& 7 m.gs. surrendered to this
one N.C.O. (The Coy ws.
making a frontal attack
& / Lewis guns wd be going
& this assisted him). These,
Germs must have had so
many defeats tt as soon
46

as they saw our line start
they must have given up
in spirit. Otherwise the
attack ws impossible. Our
barrage ws not ^as heavy
by many times as it has
often been & cannot
account for it. They had
to take 3 lines of good trenches
& isolated pillboxes echeloned
besides. A German offr
who ws taken there sd to Col.
Davis: "You Australians are all
bluff. You have no troops
at all. We had less the
300 bayonets in / attack &
w a loss of abt 80 men
he took 25 Bn took between
600 & 700 Germs. & k abt 200;
Took 60 mgs & a few
47

T.Ms. also Pozieres (later return
as pie in rest billets,)
& several bicyckes & a piano
from a dugout.
After / tanks caught up
they made a couple of lanes
thro / wire - this helped
Bn to get thro. The whole
hold up on this line wd
not be more than 10 or 15
minutes. In the Lormissel
Farm ws a big ammn
dump - after we took it
we steered clear of it as it
ws consistently shelled &
/ dump blown up by a
stell burst.
Te Re The 20 Bn cd be
seen on / rt during / advance
as far as Torrens Canal.
48

At / Beaurevoir Line
26Bn wh followed thro
went out towds /final
objive. Later when they
came back to / ditch
25 Bn sent out C. Coy. Capt McSkinming up
to reinforce them
The Bn consisted of 3 Coys.
The other 2 were used to
form a defensive flank on
/ right - part down the
ditch W of Kukrie Valley, &
part in the Second Beaurevoir
Line NE of Mushroom Quarry
Diagram - see original document
Cloy ws in
ditch w 26 Bn
Abt 3 ft 6in deep
pretty good trench.
A Coys ditch ws
v. shallow - the had to dig
in. D Coy had a good trench.
Word came tt 5 Bde ws
going on to conform to present
49

line of 7 Bde at 4.30pm. & /
barrage came down but  not no
attack. The attack took place
at 6.30 when they came up.
25 Bn ws relieved abt
1 -2 am. by 7th British
Bde. The men had marched
18 Kilometers & were in
full marching order w packs
up. The had no knowledge of
whether they were to attack
or no / folly morning.
They did attack at 6 a.m.?
but / message giving on
Bn Commdr his De0
orders for / attack (much
less his Zero hour) did not
pass thro ^his Bde forward
station until 10 min before
50

zero & he ws 20 mins
away. (c./. 9th Oct. the
year before - those other
Manchesters - Same Bn
had bn reld by 25 Bn & had
bn to Italy since).
25 Bn then moved
back to positn occupied
before relieving 20 Bn (trenches
behind Folemprise)
Stayed there till from early
g of Oct 4 to att 2an
mg 5 0ct. They were to
have been relieved by some
Americans but these never
turned up. (A guide went to
meet them, & bring them up
& had got them some distance
when an American runner
51

caught them up & diverted them-
(planes were dropping bombs
around v. close)
Finally 25 Bn recd
orders to move back without
relief to Hargicourt.
This ws done without
te incident.
Af Oct 7. Bn marched
to Roisel & entrained at 3.15pm.
to Amiens. wh ws reached late
at night. 
Oct 7/8 marched by night
from Amiens to Berteaucourt.
abt 15 miles arriving there 5 a.m.
8 0ct.
On Oct 11^th word ws recd
tt 25 Bn ws to be amalgamated
with 26 Bn as from 12th Oct.
52

This ws carried out by
6 pm on Oct 12 as far as
transfer of personnel ws concernd,
the new bn retaining name of
26 Bn. A & B Coys were orginal
26 Bn. C & D Coy were Original 25Bn.
each coy returned its own offrs
& N.C.Os throughout - whole
25 Bn wears 26 colours as a
base w ½ size 25 Bn colour
in centre.
17 July Attack gave in some ways
a promise o / work wh ws
done later. It ws hurried, ws
done w very few men -&
had very big objectives. There
ws guite a heavy fight on / E
end o / mound - where /
53

Germs c/attd twice; once at
day light next mg. ^July 18 then
again at dusk July 18. Col
Davis commanded this time;
Maj. Page at Hamel; & Maj.
Davis at Morlancourt
Davis left Aust joined as a private in 25th Bn.
Pozieres:
Capt. J.E. Nix ws a reporter on
A Townsville paper.
Lt W.P. Healy ws on /
staff of / "Sydney Sun." He became
R.S.M. & ws killed at Flers.
Lt^H Healy, who ws killed at Zonnebeke
ws w Paton & got his brother
transferred to 25Bn ^on Gallipoli from 17 Bn.
A big Irish Guardsman - Pat
[[*1916]] O'gorman ws in the attack on July 28/9
lying before /wire. He lay in a shell hole for
a bit. Then he got tired of that method. "Come
on chaps -lets have a charge"  he sd- & dashed
up & at / wire - & he ws killed],
 

25Bn
Q.MS. Davis, who was killed by a
shell at Bonnay, when he ws lying
half conscious was thinking all /
while of the meat wh he had
undelivered, across / road. He
ws trying to get up & get to it. Don't
let / boys say tt meats lying here
&I never got it to them", he
kept saying.
Mon July 19th Col. Walker, 25 Bn. at Messines
before Pozieres ws going round & found
/ men crouching in / trenches. He
asked why they were not firing.
"There has been our Coy Commander
killed there this morning w a bullet
thro his brain", they sd; & / next
men who put his head up got a
bullet thro' it. they sd. 
Oh whats this abt selling short?
They had got up
[[*periscopes after tt & had them shot at once &
an officer who put up a stick had it shot through*]]