Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/121/1 - 1915 - 1916 - Part 4

39
[Quoted in Weekly Despatch Daily News
abt end of July]

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40
"Youngest there"  But Germ.
acct. sd tt they had their men
out in nomansland & men specially
told oft to pick out officers.
Only one offr in 60th ws
unhit. [3 coy commdrs K.; C. ok;
2 in C. K.; 4th Coy C.O. dangerously
wd thro head, adjt badly
wd thro both thighs - & all
junior officers exc. Lt. Hamilton
more or less badly hit. He  
lay in shell hole close to
German wire & got back 
v. much shaken. 21 officers
went out. (Lt Sterling, Mackinnon
K. & several others  - Total
casualties in tt Bn. 781
out of abt 887 in the fight —
1 offr 106 left to answer roll
call of those who went out).

41 
X  Cass captured these
guns.

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42
The Enemy put a m.g.
barrage along the Rue Delvas
gutters - wh ran diagonally
across nomansland. 
Enemy post. The line of 
The 14 Bde, & 15 Bde
where they crossed this
road simply ran into
this; & a regular line of
dead along this next
day showed the result.
A similar line
ws put across the Layes
River & the two together
prac. barred our front.
Some of the 60 Bn
sd tt the Germans had a
dam across Layes R.
That it ws crossed easily

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43
in advance but nearly
breast high in coming back.
There were many of
our dead along this river.
After Divn ws informed
by Bdier tt attack had
failed the Divn told him
to put 57th into line
& withdraw 59th & 60th
& 58th.    57th did splendid 
work bringing wounded in -
lost 30 men bringing in
abt 300.
The remaining Coy of 
58th ws used in digging
trench diagonally from
Layes to connect with
14 Bde who were still
holding, as it ws
thought they might hang on.

44
Diagram - see original document
where 15 Bde
got in.

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45
This ws to start from the Layes
Sally Port in directn of
Rue Delvas gutter. & right
The guns firing down it
had then bn captured.
This made Rue D. rather
useful. (most of our
dead were on left side
of rd facing Germans -
m.g. probly firing down
both gutters originally).
The 59th got ½ way across -
the nearer they got to the
14th the better they got on.
Cass sd tt on right
he had touch w a few
of the 60th & for tt
reason thought he ws
all right.

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46
The German Barrage at start
of fight ws on our parapet.
A lot of 5.9 & shrapnel.
It did a fair amt of
damage especially to
commn trenches & V .C. Avenue.
They also poured put shrapnel
onto nomansland & sometimes
shelled the 300 yds line;
& they shelled their own line
where the 14 Bde were
in it. By 7 a.m. all the 
people who had taken part
in the attack were out o I
front line & 57 Bn ws
holding it. Up to 7 days 
afterwds we got living
men in w their wounds
almost healed. The wd.
all had 2 or 3 wds - some

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47
6 or 7 wds. In one 
case where a wd. man
was lying in their wire
a German got out - our
men didn't fire as they 
thought he ws going to 
rescue him. He put a
bomb into him & blew him
up. Our men opened
fiercely on the German but he got
into a shell hole.
These were Bavarians
(who are very tough - the
German acct sd they 
were the Bavarians &
Swabians). Things 
quietened down abt
7 or 8. There ws m.g. 
on nomansland on the wounded.
But two boys got out & got

48
X Only m.g. at this 
time - no artillery.

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49
6 men in while the
Brig ws there at 8 a.m.
They were fired at. But 
[*X*] it was only when they got 
the 6th man tt he ws
killed - & one of the pair
wd. They had to go 70 or
80 yds. By 10.30 the
place was quite quiet.
Sometime in / morning
a message came to ask
our arty to cease fire and
Germans seemed inclined
to go out & get wd. in.
The 61st Divn never
got in at all in any
point.
The two Divns were brought
together under Haking - 

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50
a special corps for the 
purpose.
On 14/15th July Germans
raided the 58 Bn after
a very long bombt. obliterating
trench. Our men reattacked
& bayoneted a German. They 
got a Lewis gun - we have
missing men but are not
and one of these has since 
bn given in a list of prisoners.
of war. This raid ws after before
we had moved into positn
southwds. Attack ws
to have been made nex
on 17th. Bde HQ. had already
moved to Rouge de Boue;
Tommies took over night
of 15/16.  14th Bde & 8th Bde 
moved in on 16/17 - & were 
there (or many of them were not

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51
there) by time of attack
on afternoon of 17th. (No
zero hour given  - Bombt
ws to be 6. am, attack at
11 am; then put off to
4 pm - not before 4 pm;
then put off altogether).

52
14th Bde.  54th Bn.
A copy of this report
& messages is
attached.
This
information 
is additional 
to / report.
Maj. Holman
(formerly of L.H.) ws hit on
parapet. Our
offrs are being
drawn from L.H.
Midgley is now C.O.
of 54th.

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53
Heavy casualties before assault, 
in wh 3 of 4 Coy Commdrs were
k. or w. (2 offrs & many men were 
k. going from 300 yds line to ^ our front
line) - Enemy must have known
of attack & seen this advance
(only one sap cd be used)
- abt 5.30 p.m.
6 p.m. Jump off - 6.10 last wave.
The senior Major & remaining
Coy Commdr were lost in 
nomansland.  (Maj. Harrison & Capt. Jack
& Capt. Hanson were hit wd in nomansland.
Hanson went on to G. trench & managed 
to crawl back with last men.
Hanson ws in G. dugout -
(these were 30 or 40 steps down) He 
ws in fainting conditn. He woke
up & found himself alone - &
just managed to get back.)
Trenches & two m.gs taken easily.
Our men folld enemy abt 600
yds - & then came under our
own arty also. We retired to
German 1st system - 150 to 200
yds behind 1st line & dug a trench.