Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/211/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 5

39

This fight across / gully
brought them to / E Crest where
/ Red line was - on / rt
just E of Hope Wood. The
48 Bn at once moved thro
them. (The batteries attached
to / 12 Bde eventually finished
at Co E of Caroline Wood, but
and were there very soon after
the 45 Bn had got / place. They
followed / advance very close.)
The 48 Bn got forward
with some M.G. enfilade fire
from the left. The greater part
of the artillery fire the whole
of the first two days (until /
2nd aftn) came from Malard
Wood direction, & Chipilly Spur
This was in / left rear o / attack.

40
At Jean Wood. the Bde Hqrs
was getting direct fire from the
exact left flank.
[In Beryl wood (where
there ws a well) Gen Leane when
up there abt 2.30 on August 8.
was pinned in the valley by
8 inch fire, & 5.9 fire for
2 hours – he & Varley had to
keep as close as they could in a
hole in / bank - Whizzbang fire
mostly came from Proyart.
This valley & the valley in wh (at
24C 95.90) 48 Bn Hqs were,
were heavily shelled all day & next
day. 24 D  30.50 ws 45 Bn Hqrs. These
Hqrs were simply in huts &
not shell proof. At this spot one
of our Australian planes fell,

41

catching fire after a fight at
4 pm on Aug 9.
The 48 Bn on reaching /
valley (24 Central valley) found
it strongly held. It ws a
series of huts & holes in /
ground - a camping area -
& / Germans put up a fair
fight there. Two Mark 5 tanks
appear to have reached this
point. They cleaned this
out - & on the right where /
oppositn ws not so stiff &
/ Germans cleared they got
on quickly to the Blue line
at 19, & 25; on the left they
had a pretty stiff fight in
13c. The 16 Bn had had
some heavy fighting before

42

& their left flank ws swung
back S of Mericourt, & 13Bn

eventually came 16 Bn were
not in the fighting at 13 A
- the oppositn on / left had
dragged them tt way. 48 Bn
took the trenches in 13c 
by a stiff fight. D Coy of 48
Bn ws held up here near the
wood but Capt Twining worked
round w a party around.
on the N & cleared this.
The men were attacking
there thro a field of manure
heaps. (Some o / fields were
cultivated & there ws a big
camp in Proyart).
This night after dark
fighting patrols went out to

43
Proyart ^750 yds ahead & reported tt /
Germs were holding it lightly
w m.gs. Other patrols worked
this into / Engrs dump at
La Flaque. The Germs had
m.gs. & snipers there.
The line for Aug 8 ws
on / old French line.
The 13 Bn (relieved by 1st Bde)
moved up & took over left
of ground occupied by 48 Bn
up to 4 Bde Boundary;
& 45 Bn  took over rt
of 12 Bde from main rd
to Hospl in R 19 c. On rt
ws at first 32 Bn (then 29?)
Aug 9 -  stayed there. But on
night 9/10 they advanced,
again & swinging right ^more forward

44

xxxx  than left from R19 centl
 to Rd Junction at La Flaque
in 26 D. A huge Engineer
dump ws captd there by
45 Bn.
There ws only m.g. oppositn
in making this advance - no
one killed - a fair no. wd.
(On the night of 8 Aug. Leane
wanted to take Proyart & it cd
have bn done. But the flank
ws so far back tt it ws
not allowed by Divn. On
night of Aug 9 Leane wanted
to do it again but wsnt
alld to attack it. He accordingly
tried w fighting patrols to
work round it - this not
being an attack. But they found
/ road junctns & houses held w m.gs.

45

& cd not get thro this
night. The positn ws of
course very different
then. The German all /
came ws ^well organised N of
the river & wd have made
this difficult.
We were now within
500 yds of Proyart & had
patrols all night out to the
town. They met no German
patrols (In 6 weeks run in
front of Hamel the 12^th Bde
cdnt get a German patrol-
they only met one in tt time.
Finally Leane told 48 Bn tt
they must tt night get a
patrol or raid / Germans next
night. They went right up to
his wire & caught a German

46

who came out to urinate
in a shell hole just outside
his trench. This ws July 1 or 2
when identificatn ws needed.
A number of Germs ran out when
this German shouted. But our
people sent him back w one
man while / rest covered
/ retreat).
On Aug 8, 48 Bn ws on / Blue
line at 12.10 a.m. digging in. They
were not shelled so much
there – / trenches were good &
most o / shelling ws in
/ valleys in rear.
On Aug 9 - the advance ws  patrols went out at 
aft 7? & the rest o / troops went
up abt 8.

47

This finished / advance
o / 12^thBde. They were relieved
a couple of nights later (11/12^?)
[The 3rd Divn marched in in
pretty close formation N of
/ main road over / flat
plateau. The Germs saw it
as it ws before dusk. The
Germs tt night bombed from
8 p.m. to dawn, all night
long. He wd drop a flare &
then bomb. He killed the horses
of Gen Leane & others on Bde H.Q.
& wd the grooms at Jean wood.
Padre Devine saved / life of one
o / grooms, getting him carried
in & tying him up & staying up
with him all night putting hot
fomentations on him - he is sill
alive. Devine got a M.C.)

48

This ws / same night tt
10 Bde did its attack up /
Proyart Rd - the bombing ws
/ worst tt Leane ever saw.
[One feature of Aug 8 ws
/ large no. of prisoners taken
- over 900 - by the 12 Bde; &
abt 30-40 field guns incl.
3/8m. in Jean Wood, (& the
6in guns wh we saw in Grace
Wood).]
NB. on July 8? 12 Bde went out
up the N of Somme valley, & took
crossed the gully from in front of
Sailly Sec & advanced to / very
outskirts of Sailly Laurette;
At / same time they cut off
/ corner tt still remained NE
of Hamel to the Somme. This