Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/132/1 - August - September 1917 - Part 3

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12
LAGNICOURT.
On night before Lagnicourt the
Bapaume Town hall blew up -
probly by a clever acid arrangement.
Three offrs of 13^th Field Coy -
Molloy Stuart & anor were buried
in one part. Maj. Parkes who
had got up gone out to spend the evg
w some friends was away.
At 11.33 up went / Town
Hall. The 3 offrs thought
tt it ws merely tt / house,
wh ws above them & ws
burning, had collapsed &
they considered it a splendid
joke tt Parkes when he
came back wd not find
his way in. They were not
in any way upset as they
knew they wd be dug out - they
simply went off to bed -
Presently they heard

30
12
the a succession of thuds
above them - & thought tt /
Germans had put down a
barrage after blowing up a
mine - by this time they
guessed it ws a mine.
It ws really the picks of
the 13th Field Coy coming to
help them. They dug as men
have never dug before -
shifted 500 tons of rubbish
between 11.30 & 1.30. - &
in 2 hours they had  xxx
a hole big enough for them to
shout thro!  Is there any
one down there? they asked
How is it?
The air's not too good
ws / answer.
They xxxxx enlarged /
hole & a few minutes later
dragged Molloy out first. If 

31
12
he cd come / other two
cd follow, Parkes sd.
The 7 Light Horse traffic
control who were got out
were sleeping in another
part. They were in bed when
the crash came. At the
enquiry next day one
o them told Colpitts tt he
& two others climbed out &
tried the trap doors. "It
wouldnt open, so we got
back into bed again" he
sd. They noticed tt  /
candle ws not burning
too well before they were
got out.
The 13 Field Coy were having
a second go at

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12
Lagnicourt
About March 31 -
when the 52nd Bn ws holding
/ line at Lagnicourt -
the post noticed _^ at dusk out in /
manure field a man
move. They went out
& brought him in after dark.
He ws a 26 Bn man.
He had bn there amongst
/ manure heaps since
the day Lagnicourt ws
taken. He ws wd in /
head, his brain showing, &
a great gangrened hole
in his thigh. But he was
absolutely cheerful. How
is it doc? he sd as he
held down his trouser leg
for / doctor to get at / wound
as he lay on / stretcher.
The Doctor said he had
a chance.

32a
Pozieres Aug 5-7 or later
Pozieres July 23 or 24.
Lt Taytor (of B Coy 8 Bn) w a man of B Coy
named Bailey went on prodding out towds
Germs. When he came on an offr & abt
10 men. He covered / offr & asked him to surrender.
The Offr ws going to surrender till he saw tt T.
only had one man w him. Then he turned
to run. T. shot him dead w his revolver at once.
He didnt attempt to run. He waited to deal w the 10 men
& they shot him. He ws a magnificent keen bold officer.

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"If the Doc says I've a
chance tt'lI do me"
he sd cheerfully.
Hand drawn diagram - see original
Graves
Capt James 8 Bn ws k. on July 23
or 24 when out ahead of his Bn near
Pozieres Church - got _^ in stomach by a m.g. of
1st Bde - it ws / highest part of Pozieres
& they were not clearing / crest. At tt time
8 Bn ws prodding abt, not clear where
the Germans were or were not (B Coy) .

R12/34
6.     12000. [shorthand]
7      3000 [shorthand]
11     (2nd C)  12000 OP. [shorthand] ea. [shorthand] 2
12     14000 OP [shorthand]
         13000 OP [shorthand]
         10000 OP [shorthand]
13     9000 OP [shorthand]
         12000 OP [shorthand]
14     10000 [shorthand] ea.
         3000 [shorthand] stomer.
16.     8000 [shorthand]3 EA.
17     13000[shorthand]
18.    3000 OP [shorthand]
         [shorthand] EA.
19.    OP [shorthand]
         [shorthand]
20/7/17   9000 [shorthand] _^ one EA [shorthand] EA OP
           10,000 saw 8 EA [shorthand]
21      12000 Dived [shorthand] EA
         [shorthand]
22     12000 [shorthand] 2 EA [shorthand] EA
[*R.12
End of book.*]

34
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[shorthand] etc to infantry collision
our shells.
6/8/17   300 ground patrol NE of Ypres [shorthand]
8/8/      200 fire on trenches and defence posts [shorthand]
              200   "      "      "
9.           2000 [shorthand]  EA [shorthand]
              3000 fire on 2 2 [shorthand]  EA ([shorthand])
10          300 drop bombs on infantry.  [shorthand].
              3000 Lt Wells and [shorthand] brought down EA 2[shorthand] and flames this side
11           20 to 2000 fire on trenches Lt Wells wounded
              3000 T piece broke.  Landed just behind lines crashed
13          2500 [shorthand] EA [shorthand]
14.         3000 [shorthand] with 2 EA [shorthand] Richtoreus [shorthand]
              4000   3 [shorthand] out.  Had to return early.
15.          3000 fire on 2 EA [shorthand] R's [shorthand]
16           500 - 3000 [shorthand] long barrage.  5^th [shorthand].
              3000 very cloudy.  [shorthand]  E A seen.
17           3000 [shorthand] with 2 lots of 4  2 [shorthand]. Got one down.
[shorthand] 
Robertson 45 Bn
numerous discussions amongst new men.

35
[shorthand]
Enamelled mug.
Soap.
Hun's Boots for Herb.

36
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Aug 24 Contd.
...well, those bottles
show what.
See White abt Gilmour
& A W R S
[* ? 3 accs*]
Maj. Campbell of one of our
C.C. Stations had tea at Corps
HQ in Hazebrouck. He sd tt
the C.C.S. he is head of had been
pushed by the 5^th Army DMS
too far up the Ypres-Vlamertinghe
Rd, & had been a target for a
long range German gun.
The day they were badly shelled
the nurses refused to leave the
wards but stayed there & put
tin basins on the patients'
heads - the best substitute for
steel helmets - & actually
cried, some of them, when they

37
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were ordered to leave &
go to safety.  S
The hospital ws also
attacked w bombs by aeroplanes.
One fell while the _^medical officers were
in their mess & killed one
offr there. The nurses tents
were sandbagged round &
slightly deepened, & seven o /
tents were blown to ribbons
above the level o / sandbags;
so tt it is pretty certain tt if
they had not bn sandbagged
some o / nurses wd have
bn killed.
Aug 26. Rain part of today in the morning.
I took the photographers
to xxxxxxx Hill 60 in
the afternoon in order
to introduce them to this

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area. They are to stay
3 days there & get various
photos of the salient which
have never bn taken - the Lake,
Zillebeke, Dormy House, Observatory
Hill, Sanctuary Wood, the
place where our guns caught
it - all the photos which
Gen. Charteris says are useless
& he does not want _^ for the British records; also
some of shell barrages in
the Ypres sector over our 
artillery.
We went up - with Gullet
& Dyson & Dan Lindsay - &
carried their baggage to the
105^th Bty. A German plane
had come over early this
morning & flown very
low over all these batteries
- he chased one offr w his

39
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m.g. & went low over the
105^th guns amongst others.
Then he must have gone home
& looked up his photographs
& picked out 4 clearly marked
little white constructions.
The guns were well camouflaged
& did not show, but the
infantry had built 4 new
sandbag dugouts a little on
one side; & onto these presently
descended a heavy shelling.
Gullett, Wilkins & I went
on to find the 3rd Bty
which wd show us where
the incident of the Howitzers
took place. After passing
around the hill left of Hill
60 we found the 114^th Bty.
Kingsmill _^ brother of the Bty Commdr
who ws killed, ws there; he