Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/88/1 - September 1917 - Part 4

D37  28
above the Douve.

That night the men consolidated
the new positn & dug C.T.
back to Green Line. They
got right under the surface -
5 or 6 ft & had / place
fire bayed etc. They lost abt
50 men; no offrs.

This attack ws made
under barrage. The m.g.
ws firing at them before 
they rushed it.

The 4th Div. had zero
hour at 10 p.m. & the
3rd Divn got the retaliation
for this during their approach
march.

[why didn't Corps pre-arrange
this].
The Retaliatn used
to go mostly for Black Line.
 

D37  29
The next time 43 Bn
went in ws On 30 June
for "The 18 Days"

They went in in suppt.
just S. of Messines Ridge.
They were there for 5 days
(working pties in front & support line)
& then went onto front line.
43 Bn found line already
advanced 500 yds; they
advanced it in the
centre up Steignast
Avenue another 500
yds. This consisted chiefly
of pushing out posts at
night ; digging in small
post; & then linking up.
 

D37  30
This ws necessary
in order to get drainage
& to get out of enemys
observatn of our ground.
We were originally on a
Fore slope, & we wanted
to get onto a Reverse
slope. We got slightly
up the Reverse slope
& it ws this slope wh
we won on night morning of
31 July.

In these 18 days 43 Bn
had over 300 casualties.
These were about half
from m.gs bec and
snipers, because there
were no C.Ts. Batmen
getting up offrs luggage
were hit.

They dug Adelaide
Avenue - Pine Ave & x
 

D37  31
Cross Ave. were there
before they got there -
Pine Ave ws practically
straight & completely
enfiladed. Men simply 
didnt use it.

By July 31 Cross Ave
from Petit Douve Fm to
Support Line (wh ws
the new line wh 43
11 Bde dug - as one o /
forward lines in the 1000 yd
move) was duckboarded
& drained - & this draining
kept it fairly dry.

The approach march
 

D37  32
on night of 30/31 July
ws thro' this trench.

For this attack see
the Bn Memo. (very full).
———
The windmill is not
in existence & wd not at
this time have bn
recognised as a windmill.

But During the prelim.
bombt it ws knocked down.
At time of 18 days the
whole of the circular
mill & wheel were visible.

D37  33
Anzac 2nd night.
Hughes 7^th Bty on the
Peninsula -
ws dug in by men
of 3 Field Coy A.E. on
night they got / guns up,
by / men lying under
/ guns as they were
firing & scratching away
with their entrenching
tools.

Book 88.
D37  35
L. Angel, Grant St,
2nd Bde signallers. Victor
[*/ Germans*]
Sept. 3. Monday. Met  [*if*]
Fred Leist & Power, & stoppe got out [*recovery*]
at Folkestone when we heard   [*one is*]
/ crossing had bn stopped - some
sd mines had bn sown in /  Channel.
Stayed at the Pier Hotel -

Leist is a man o / world
- Power a very shy gauche
chap, intensely nervous
mainly, I think, because of
his deafness, a lovable man.
Leist's chief attraction, to me, is
his anxiety that Power should be
chaperoned & well looked after, not
left too soon to himself amongst
strange scenes & people.

Sept 4. This morning before
we sailed came news tt
Russians had deserted their
over & our searchlights caught
 

D37  35
line before Riga & / Germans
have got the city.

It is a problem to know if
there is a possibility of recovery
in / Russians yet.  Everyone is
talking of it. There is a good deal
of comment to / effect tt /
Russian temperament has shown
a wonderful cap capability of
recovery; but tt Russia will never
be good for another offensive.
"We sho might have _∧had a chance of finishing it
this year if / Russians had not
let us in", is a comment I
have heard from many Australians

At / same time - one it is
all good to have Russia solidly on
/ side of democracy; & her democracy
may fight for us more effectively
in Germany than even her armies
wd have done. Brought Leist & Power
to Hazebrouck - The Germans had
xxxxxxxxBrought a plane
over & our searchlights caught
 

D37  36
it for a time in their beam -
We saw were at the D.A.G.s at /
time & all retired to / cellar.
The old owner o / house ws there -
next him his old wife with her
long strong off white face & blue
almost unseeing lined eyes,
& the family fox terrier curled
up on her lap. la The
girl - the servant - a plucky
little _∧round faced beggar that on previous
occasions had refused to come
down stairs until everyone else
was down there - sat next;
& by their side & opposite
sat a dozen jolly Australian
clerks in khaki on benches
& barrels round / wall.
The solitary candle threw a
bold bright light on the old
peoples faces, & the glinting black
bottle ends behind them, &
the whitewashed under the low
arched recesses behind them,
 

D37  37
& the whitewashed cellar
wall - all in brilliant
light & shade like a picture
by Rembrandt.

We read today of the
telegrams which have been
disclosed between by the
Russians in the New York
Herald (Paris edition) in which
they the Czar & the Kaiser were trying in 1904 to
arrange a treaty with one
another against Great Britain
behind / back of France. It
rather alters my personal
conception o / Kaiser, tho' /
way in wh he offers / Czar reams
of ^detailed advice ^as to how to manage his
own affairs, is exactly characteristic.

Wed. Sept 5. - Took Leist & Power
to the 5^th & 1^st Divns & ^then moved
up to Hoograf to ^new Corps HQs. The
2nd Corps, wh. has handed over
to us, was bombed there last
night & xxx one of their officers