Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/247/1 - 1917 - 1933 - Part 20

19.

wounded men ....... Snow began to fall & the ground

was fast becoming whitened only to be suddenly

blackened in places by the burst of shell.

The bombardment ceased like a shower of rain

& then there was a violent burst of machinegunfire

At the first sign of this we were immediately ordered

out of our xxx dugouts & to prepare for an attack by 

the enemy. This news was anything but cheering.

The snow became dense xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxx----- We had to watch & wait. Suspense was killing

It was now we could survey the devastated trench.

The bombardment had completely wrecked it & killed

or wounded many. There was not even time to attend to the

wounded. Their groans were pitiful. S/bearers of course

were busy & the prisoners  . . .  we had here were made to

carry stretchers away from the line. . . . . . .

Our machine guns were firing x rapidly from

different vantage points, for the enemy was in sight not far

from our trenches. . . . . . . . .  a determined attack was made

on our guns with bombs. They commenced to burst over our

trench & things became most unhealthy . . . . .  We had plenty of

Ammunition & now commenced to use our bombs. . . . . . . . There

were sufficient to throw one after the other, bullets were

hitting the top of the parapet yet occasionally we peeped out

to see what was going on. A few fell back shot through the

head. Our officers especially were watching operations & issuing

orders . . . . . .  I could not resist the temptation to look over the

parapet & received the shock of my life to see steel helmets only a

few yards away in shellholes. They were throwing bombs into

our trenches . . . . . It became dark & snow was 

falling heavily . . . . . . .  The blood seemed to freeze in my veins

as I imagined I could see the enemy on the parapet in the

uncertain light. Could hardly  muster sufficient strength

to throw another bomb.

For some time past it seemed that our bombs were

20.

not taking effect & realising that something was wrong someone

examined the bombs _^we were throwing. . . . . . To our intense

surprise & disgust the bombs were . . . not even detonated.

The wrong cases had been brought up to the front line

For a long time we held on here. . . . . .but when our

ammunition gave out we had nothing but the bayonet.

All surplus rifle cartridges had been handed to the machine

gunners. . . . . In places our trench had been entered

and our own men were driven out at the front of the

bayonet. The situation was ghastly. . . . . . .The danger now

was our chance of being surrounded. . . . . .  We knew

little of what was going on. . . . . 

It seemed an indefinite period of waiting when

orders were received to fall back on our old support line

trenches. This was terrible news. . . . .  Great

excitement prevailed . . . . . . . . No ammunition to speak of

was left behind. Silently we crawled out of the trench

& made our way as quickly as possible across the snow

covered fields. It was fairly bright & the snow reflected the

light of the raising moon. We were guided along a

partly dug sap. which offered the barest protection

from German rifle fire . . . . . a number of men

received bullet wounds . . . . . We could not move very

fast & just passed along as though on parade at some

camp mule away from the firing line. . . . . .  It seemed

an age this short passage although in reality we ^only had a

few hundred yards to go.

It was with a sigh of relief we reached the sunken

road near Lagnicourt where our old support trenches were

. . . . .  We had now to get to work & fortify this position

for it would be our new front line. Things seemed very

serious. Here we were further back now than before the

attack this morning. . . . .  No one was deterred by our

recent reverse; but officers were planning to recover

the ground we had lost before being relieved. No

battalion likes to hand over to another until it has   

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made up for all reverses. To attempt to regain this 

ground just now seemed a hopeless task. We were

not strong enough & the enemy was offering great

pressure. The sunken road was being shelled

mercilessly & it was out of the question to get

supplies of munitions. . . . . . . . . .

It came as a great surprise to us for just as we

were about to prepare our trenches for the night orders

came round that we were to be relieved by the 52nd

Infantry. We had only been in action 24 hours & now

were being withdrawn. We were down hearted to think

we had failed in every phase of the attack. . . . . . .

We now commenced to vacate our positions,

leaving in a straggling column & passing along

the sunken road towards the village of Lagnicourt.

The relief had not arrived as far as we knew

but could not have been far away when we were

ordered out. The road was under shellfire. . . . . . .

Quietly walking along it seemed that our

army was a rabble today. Nowhere was there a

sign of any order such as usually exists. . . . . . . 

Of course discipline still existed but there was

no need to enforce it, for I have never seen men

behave in a better manner. They would do anything

Lagnicourt was as dangerous now as early

this morning. Many shells xxxxx _^fell over the village

& burst with a shattering roar almost at our feet.

In the gathering darkness, flares began to

illuminate the skies........

So far so good. We were now coming out on the

ground where our field guns were emplaced.

These were still firing incessantly. The snow

became heavier & it was still inches deep. . . . ..

A few men became casualties. . . . . . It was good to

see our dugouts of the previous evening again. . . . . 

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Orders were that no time was to be left ^lost here, for we

had to get away to some sheltered place for the night.

The moon began to rise high now & the Snow reflecting

it made the place as bright as day. Suddenly shells

began to fall on top of the bank just above the dugouts

It was too close to be safe & this made us hurry.

I passed casual a remark "one has only to fall

on the side of the bank & there will be some casualties";

for we were all in groups at present which is not

allowed. Men are always instructed to be as

scattered as possible under shell fire. The words

were hardly out of my mouth when I heard a shell

coming straight for me. My heart nearly stopped

& I came out in a cold perspiration. The sensation

was awful. I thought my last moment had come &

escape was impossible. It just cleared my head

& landed a few yards further on. There was a

terrific roar & when the dense black smoke cleared

there was a silence from the crowd of us, except a

call of s/bearers from the dressing station close by.

Just at the time the shell landed six mules were

passing with a couple of limbers going for water.

It fell right between the wheels of one & the driver

was thrown off his mule, also another man sitting

on the limber. The both limbers were broken to

matchwood & round a big crater in the centre of the

road was lying a terrible mess. Mules were lying

dead & some of them that were only wounded were

kicking. Many of our men laid there with all their

equipment on. Four of them were dead. Those who

only had slight wounds walked to the d/station.

Some of those lying there were face downwards in the

mud; but we turned them over & their faces were

hardly recognisable with mud & had a ghastly

look. Wounded mules hopped about on two or three

legs & were instantly shot. . . . . .  This was what

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was termed a "coal box". . . . . . . .

. . . . . as shells were still falling here, we had

orders to vacate the spot immediately. . . . . .  The storm

was now of blinding fury & one would hardly see a

yard ahead. . . . . .  After what seemed a long time we

came to the German cemetery to which we had been

directed. . . . .  Here we waited & stragglers were

coming in for a long time. . . . .  A roll call was taken

to see how many casualties we had had. . . . . . .

Standing here in the cold was dreadful .. . . . .  For two

hours we remained here until every available man was 

collected. . . . . . . As soon as a place (to bivouac for the

night) had been found & things were quiet as regards

shellfire we left the cemetery. . . . . .  _^(and) came to the old

sugar mill. . . . . .  The march, short as it was, was most

xxxx enervating.

On our arrival. . . . . . . . . a [[?]] issue was brought

round. . . . . .  a fire had been lighted & now a

ground gathered round it to get warm. They sat on

beams & anything that could be used to sit on. . . . . . 

They discussed the events of the day mainly &

mentioned the fate of many beloved comrades. . . . . 

I dropped into a good sleep (in an outhouse). . . . . 

Suddenly we were awakened by a terrific explosion

quite close to us. . . . .  another violent report followed.

While we hastily put on boots & an overcoat

preparatory to leaving this place at once, groans could

be heard & then many loud voices. Orders were being

issued. . . .  & we ran to see what was being done. To our

intense horror, when we came upon the scene of the fire,

it was a regular shambles that met our gaze. About

 20 men were _^all lying about the fire dreadfully mutilated 

& in great pain. . . xxxxx. . . .  We sorted the men out. . . . . 

The A.M.C. staff & a doctor were immediately on the scene. . . 

The sight was ghastly. . . . . . .  One man, Brown. . . . . was

24

almost beyond recognition. . . .  His eyes were blown

back into his head. He shouted at the top of his

voice "Goodbye goodbye Australia", I'm done"

Pathetic in the extreme were his xxx wild exclamations

& only too true; for within a quarter of an hour he

was lying stiff. . . . . . . .  The fire was the cause

of this tragedy. . . . .  When it had been lit, it was over a

heap of debris. Unfortunately there were two German

bombs here and . . . .  they explode, accounting for

every man that was sitting around the fire. . . . . . . . . .