Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/241/1 - 1918 - Part 2

88
Touch with 13 Bde ws

obtained next day.

Officers lost

Lt Faulkner k by a shell (abt 6 others]

in / trench next morng.)

Lt Muter k. with Capt Morgan by

a shell in / trench next day.

Griffiths badly wd by a shell in /

head - near / crucifix, 2nd 

day.

Capt Morgan k. with Muter, & buried

close to the forked rds.

Lt Meara ws just before / start.

Sniping ws heavy on / right

next day - the Germans being on

/ ridge overlooking our positn.

Shelling ws heavy.

The positn round the hangars

was maintained & handed over.

9

87
57 Bn Peronne.

On 29 Aug Bde went forwd.

On Aug 30 they were in posts

just E of / rd which runs

alongside / canal - 57 Bn at

La Chapelette by the old bandstand

& hospital.

In the early morning of Aug 30

the posts were pushed to / Canal.

There were no regular Canal

Xings in this sector - 57 made a 

couple of small duckboard

crossings - the duckboards had

floats attached to them & were 

dropped out onto / water.

The Germs were / other side o /

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86
Somme & on little bits of hard

ground in and abt / Somme

to wh they had duckbd tracks.

They cd not see us working on

/ canal being hidden by / rushes -

the work on / canal ws

uninterrupted.

Orders were to find (or make)

a Xing. For this patrols were

sent out into / marsh to 

find any tracks tt might exist

or where old bridges might 

have been. First patrol ws an

offr, N.C.O. & 12 men (Capt Peacock) -

They crossed / canal abt 11 am

& ^after looking about for a good while worked out into / swamp

along fairly hard ground for abt

40 yds. There ws a track there

wh had bn used - & patches

of water wh had to be waded thro

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85

-  / bridges had all bn taken

away. it From / end of it cd be seen

only a succession of strips of

water, rushes, more water &

more rushes. Peacock came to /

conclusion tt troops cdnt be got

across without bldg a bridge. He

came back & reported this & they

got an Engr Offr up Lt Gilbert &

another (who got M.C. for this) of 15 F.Coy.

They got material up.

Work ws started tt night.

The patrol went out ahead. waded

thro / water & held / hard ground

just ahead while / Engrs built

/ bridge. They were seen at this

work wh continued in day time

& were fired on from a post

(wh seemed to be in / rushes

abt 40 yds into / Somme from / far

bank). You cd lie low on / duck

12

 

84

& most of this firing wd go

over. They used small folding

canvas boats in the work.

All went well till abt

40 yds from / other side. This ws

reached abt / second day (the

work ws continuous exc. for

intervals when all knocked off 

together. A post ws on / track & 

whenever the pty came in this post

used to go to / bridge head &

lie down there.  (The work wd be

knocked of for 2 or 3 hrs - sometimes

waiting for material). The bridge

ws entirely on floats, abt 4ft

wide across / water betw islands

& tied up to / bank by wire.

You cd run across it standing up

before they got onto you. This bridge

13

83

was xx abt 3 B 9.9.  by

"Ecluse".

They had got abt 200yds

onto a bit of hard ground. They

had knocked off on reaching this in

/ morning & went back abt 1.30

pm. on Sept 1st. The patrol passed

the post & pushed along the narrow

track thro / reeds. The track ws 

just a parting in / reeds - not

worn - probly used by / Germs

to cross / Somme before. The patrol

crept ahead parting / reeds. They

got near / end o / strip of dry

land (perh 20 yds) when / reeds

finished. There ws a strip of little 

water abt 10 yds wide there. The

first man - Pte Bisset ws just

parting / reeds when two mgs. opened

[*The plan ws to push thro reeds & , as soon as located gun to rush it

- the rear pty (13 men) then to push thro' & cover further work.*]

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82

fire straight away. Bisset ws

hit at once & this first burst

got abt 6 men. Other mgs. on / 

land, awakened by / racket, opened 

fire also. The whole pty lay

flat but / fire ws so low tt every

one in / ^ fore pty (exc. Peacock who

was following Bisset) ws put out

of action - mostly k. There were 11

in tt party 6 officer & 10 men)

working pty on / bridge were

pretty safe. Peacock lay some

time till / Germs were only

firing bursts & then plunged into

/ water wh ws a narrow strip &

got back.

They went abt out agn abt

2 hrs later & were driven off again

by intense fire.

The next day 58 Bn had

succeeded in pushing round Peronne

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81
& so no more attempts

were made to cross direct.

58 Bn Flamicourt

57 Bn went in agn abt

3rd Sept. At this time 58 Bn

held ramparts on NE side

o / town & round the edge o

/ river (the causeway).

Peacocks (D) Coy ws with 

When Ferris (58 Bn) ws

wd Peacock ws sent for to

take over 58 Bn. 58 Bn

moved back tt night into 

trenches near Orme de

Barleux. They were put

in again ? Sept 5. They were

to go in along the rly & then

attack S. to the Aulnaies 

Wood N of Le Mesnil gradually 

swinging so as to come out 

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80

on the Athies Rd, North

of Le Mesnil, facing East.

There ws v. little

oppositn. The Bn moved

as ordered,

& reached 

objve.
Hand drawn diagram – see original document

In doing this C.O. noticed

to rt some Germs moving on

/ rt bank of / Somme opp.

La Chapellette. They were

running away. It struck him

tt this must be / post wh had

held his party up at /

bridgehead. Bn HQs attacked

at once & wiped this post

out. They found a post dug

in abt 40 yds ^out from / bank -

They were just getting away. In front

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79

of it were / men who had

bn left there dead - all exc.

Bisset. Some months later a

letter ws recd from Bisset

in Germany - the first bullet

had just grazed his skull & 

stunned him - & he hd bn taken

by / Germs.

As the 58 Bn ws moving

S. it noticed abt 2 Coys of

men moving in dashes in

lines towds the E. They

took these for Australians but

presently realised tt they were

Germs. They were crossing the

Athies Rd towds Cartigny.

58 Bn halted on the Athies
Rd. & were reld tt night by

57 Bn.

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Appendix A

pp. 12 - 13

pp 1 - 11

p 14.

App S. pp 16 - 20

Here insert typed statement of All Publications

which is amongst appendices a/c (marked S)

Then pp 20 - 21

App. T. pp 22 - 29.