Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/88/1 - September 1917 - Part 10

                          
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accounted for.  They got up to the H.S15
abt midday. They called at different
times.
Butler has got a German code.
Other papers were coming on a runner
who was blown up.
_____________________________________
35 7 Sergt Maj 
He is a gt gt friend of Antill's. He used to be in 49 ds Divn. knew them at Le Banque Switch.
He had a v. high opinion o / Aust. infantry
He sd still he didnt think we wd be able to compete w their
heavy guns.
The Att ws expd on the 18th. They had bn told tt / Australns
were training for it. The barrage upset them. Each time our
protective barr. came down they sprung to, & this had annoyed
them. He expressed / gtest admiration for / TMs, &
advised them not to wear their badges.
He picked up a dud 18 pr after he had passed our
lines, put it carefully on one side, & sd
※ "They're valuable - they're valuable." He has
a 1^st class from X.
[*Autos? *]

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The sectors in / H.S15 wh they had come to c/a
from were points to guide them & not for them to
occupy & c/a from, the intentn being tt they shd not
stop in the Flanders [[Stallwing]].

   F. S.
They adopted / wave formation after they got over
/ Keiberg.
They left Waterdamhoek abt midday.

They went over the Keiberg later. The S.M. & a Coy officer
stayed behind to [shorthand]
The other 2 went on ahead for the C/a wh ws to have
tn place at 5 or 6 pm (Sept 20) The Coy offr seeing
no signals went forward. He didnt return.
S.M. went forwd & found a few stragglers -
abt 30 (50 ∼) & led them on
back to the H. Stg wh had bn gvn him as a
point of direction.
He left them there & then went on. 

                                           
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D37
As they came over / Keiberg they came under
gas-shell fire. This caused them .......
& affected their moral. 
Capt J   3 d 8.4.

3rd Bde( Chateau Segard)
tomorrow Dickebusch

Steenwoode tomorrow morng 23rd.

2 Bde. Zillebeke 
Dickebusche
Ouderdom
1 Bde Hooge
_________________
5
7 Reninghelst xx 23.
2 Div H.Q. H21 D5.2
left at St Hubertushoek

                                                      
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The German Sergt Major who
told / above story ws captured
yesty (21st) by Seymour of
2nd M. T. M Bty who
had to cut wire tomorrow in 
front of Julien trench & decided to
pick a shellhole in no mans land to
observe from.  He got / infantry
to cover him, & ws crawling
out from shellhole to shellhole
covered by infy & folld by
his men when he saw German
move in neighbouring crater. He
seized bayonet & rifle from
man behind as quickest
thing to do, & saw one German
hand go up.  He nearly jabbed
him, thinking he ws feeling
for _^his revolver, when _^ / man rolled over & / other 
hand went up.  It ws this
same Sergt Major.
Wertheim interrogated
him & got some funny things out 

                                                                
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of him.
   Burke the arty offr (?Lloyds
Bde) ws in shelter in front of
infy when infy went past
&  had to explain from interior
who he was - & listen to a
very audible discussion
outside as to whether it ws
good eno to give him a bomb.
  The observers went w /
3rd wave, & some of them got
tel. lines right out!

   The 10 Bn saw an officer
killed in Glencorse wood, &
simply went mad & killed
most o / Germans they found
there.

   1st & 2nd Divns are
tomorrow being recd by 4^th
& 5^th, & later by 4^th.
1st & 6th Bdes now in. 

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The _^ 60 adv guns have many of them
gone upon tanks.
The S.M. sd that a British
offr had bn captd who had
told them all / plans for
the offensive.

Sund 23 Sept. Germans put a 
barrage on our front line
this mg. along Polygon Rd at
anyrate, where our divs. went
& killed about a dozen men
there.
     We went up & found tt
part o / trench abandoned for 
50 yds left of rd. Then 5th
Div posts in craters in
trench abt 150 yds to rt
rear, in "wood" wh ws
just a low limp of small 

                                                          
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D37
scrub.  Leist, Gullett &
Gilmour came w me. I
havent time to describe
[*see pp 95-100*] / day^x Germs were shelling their
own line.  Another fine day.

Sept 24 The Germans at 5.15
placed a barrage on our 8^th
Divl front. Probly they will
do this every morning for
safety.  A wireless ws heard
last night from rear: "Do you
think / English will attack?" The
answer ws "No". (May have
been a ruse)
    Another fine hot day. I
went up to tell Wilkins what
photos to get: and found he had
got them on the second day - the
man rest with him ws hit on
finger by a sniper. 

                                                   
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D37
I have so much to do in
the way of administration -
arranging for records & photos
& the Xmas Book & fifty other
things, that I have scarcely any
time to get the history of this battle;
add to it that my car is laid up
(on the opinion of Farmthorpe tt I
shd get another in substitutn) &
tt another has not come - & I
am at my wits end how to cope
with this work.
3 Dec 1931    ___
It is a long time since that trip on_∧ with Gullett, Lesidt & Gilmore Sept 23
but I remember this much:
      After leaving our car - probably
just beyond the Menin Gate, we walked
up through the 2nd Div's sector, across
Bellevaarde ridge _^& Westhoek. Here we got little
fire, but a 5.9 shell was bursting at
intervals on _^one of our lines.  I think it was our red line trench but it
may have been in Bellevaarde ridge.
Anyway it was on one of the lines
that ran along a depression in country
which reminded me of the Libyan Desert. 

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It was dry & dusty & the shell
plumped down & crashed when
we were quite close to us &
hurried us along.
    We reached the front line
held, I think, by the 6th Bde, &
worked along it to the right onto the
Polygon wood plateau. Our troops
were holding a continuous trench.
No sign of the enemy in front although 
we heard that they had been seen there.
xxx Our movement could have 
been seen by / enemy & it struck_∧
me that we must be endangering
our chaps in / front line by
showing ourselves there. However
they were very kind & didnt
show any annoyance. As we
neared the Polygon Wood we
came on a length of trench
which was occupied only by the 
dead. It had been shell lashed with
shell that morning, & the remnant
of the garrison had been withdrawn
out of it _∧ along / trench & not sent back. The 

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officers in charge told me tt the
trench ended here, but we would 
find the continuation of the
front line about 120^x in
rear.
      Gullett & I got out of
the trench (which ended near
the road through Pol. Wd
to Glencorse Wood) & struck
across in the direction indicated
to us.  Polygon wood, through
which we were passing, was
merely a stubble of thin
sapling - stumps projecting
between shell- holes. The
dusty track was visible
running through it. About
Leist & Gilmore followed us
at about 50 yards interval.
There was no sign of a soul
either in front or behind us.
We reach At 120 yards
we came on a line held
I think by the 58^th Bn- anyway