Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/140/1 - August 1916 - Part 4

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 A machine gunner of the 4 Aust M.G.

Coy w Vickers Gun hung on all

day -

Sergt. Chapman.
_______________________________________________________

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13th Bn.

A Coy went in on Aug

9^th. to support 16 Bn.

& dug commn trench over

across to 16 Bn in Points

78-89 - almost along the

road. Lost only a few men

- abt 5 k & 8 w. thro German

arty barrage.

Bombing sectns went over

w 16^th bombers under L^t Wilton.

Aug. 10. A Coy moved back into

O.G.1 & rest of bn

came up into O.G.1. H.Qrs

up in O.G.1 not at the bell.

The Bn HQrs found in tt dugout

(in the back part of it wh had

partly fallen in) 6 German

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There ws uncertainty at this time as

to where the line ws. Divn wd not believe

tt they were as far as the Sunken Rd - 

wdnt hear of it - & the arty told the inf. that

the barrage had to be a bit uncertain for this reason.

This adv. ws done in

3 waves - & they got

abt 50 yds out before our

barrage opened. (Germs

didnt see them) This ws

1st time 13 Bn had got out under

barrage & they were a bit too keen.

Hand drawn diagram – see original

 

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prisoners who had bn in

the dugout for 6 days since

it had bn captured. A signaller

poking round found the a little

hole & found / Germans beyond

it.

Night of Aug 10/11. The 13Bn moved

out abt 4 p.m. to relieve

15Bn in "The Loop". (R.34

a 6.5 to 8.0. 
Hand drawn diagram – see original

The road from 65 N.Eastwards did

not seem to exist at all - no

trace of it, altho' they searched

for it.

A & D Coys, A on rt D on left

went over by themselves &

took from 65 to abt 50

yds N.W. of Southern end of

cutting on Sunken Road at

R28 34 A.1.9.

49A

Hand drawn diagram – see original

 

The road thro 34 central,

running ENE, was on the

bottom o / valley & Germans

held both sides of valley &

/ road. We used to snipe

at 250 yds at / Germans in

our ^rt rear on this road. They

had a strong point abt R34.B.7.6.

The night after this ↑ attack a sniper

was taken at 34 B1.6. with 2 water bottles

½ loaf bread, 2 lb tins of lard, bag of iron ration

biscuits, tin of bully; & 300 rds of ammn. The man

who took him, ^[[wd know?]] in the dark picked up ½ a brick →German 

surrendered as he was in act of throwing. The German ws looking for a sniping position.

 

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The barrage ws from 10.57 to 11 p.m.

at midnight for abt 3 mins.

It was a difficult change

of front in a heavy fog, & no

land marks. The attack

was by these coys alone, &

A Coy swung to left & reached

point abt A.B.C.   B-C. the

Bn Coy dug - The Germans

at this time were still in O.G.

(where marked & in trench leading

to Point 55) O.G. ws very

strongly held. (In 50 yds

of it on the next attack we captured

4 m.gs. & another is supposed

to have bn blown up in a

shellhole in front of it).

On this night there ws m.g.

fire from the oblique rear in

both flanks - from O.G. &

from Courcellette.

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On Aug 11. abt 3.30 p.m. the left of

13 Bn cd see Germans advancing

agst 16^th Bn & British & brought

enfilade fire onto them. Maj. Murray

says the German losses were very heavy.

They seemed to be in 3 waves - extended -

But they never looked like doing anything.

 

The 13Bn ws at this

time on the reverse slope

& wanted to get command;

& also to stop / Germans

getting observation from

their dugouts. The Germans

lost observation after this

attack. They used to snipe

into Tom's Cut from there also

w rifles - all this stopped.

henceforth & / Germans never

again had observation for their barrage

on these trenches from there.

 

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Aug 10/11 3 offrs wounded, / missing

(Capt. Barton - never found, a Sydney barrister,

still thought to be a prisoner) -

Loss prob. abt 30 - many men were

wounded from rear by ^German enfilade

m.gs. There ws no hand to

hand fighting - a few prisoners

were sent in.

The acuteness o / salient

ws beating the German barrage on

/ front line - but / supports

got it.

 

Aug 11/12. This night ^at 10 p.m. without any barrage. A & D Coys 

went out again ^alone upon objve

not reached night before - in one wave.

(28C 3.1½- 8.2). This ws a

trench on right, with 4 big

dugouts - but no trench on left

There were seven hundred gas

shells in these dugouts & 2

complete telephone installations

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- they were artillery dugouts

& one evidently then ^in use as

a German O.P.

Casualties this night abt 6.

(none k).

We took 7 Germans.

The Germans counter attacked

agst D Coy on left in half light

of early morning. There ws

only a steady ordinary shelling

of our line - they attacked

without bombt. They sent a

bombing party abt 60 strong

supported by abt 250 men 200 yds

in rear of / first lot. We saw them

abt 50 yds away, but, being

uncertain who they were, alld

them to come within 20 yds.

The men were ready for them. The

Germans threw a bomb. A German

officer who ws leading thro' this

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bomb. It blew off Sergt Brown's

leg, & wd 4 others. The

German offr who threw it, ws

shot as he threw it (he ws

wearing the Iron X) by abt

18 bullets; The bomb wd

4 other men & tt ws all

(incl 3 brothers Partridge)

/ damage / Germans did.

Our 2 Lewis guns (A & D Coy)

in trench on edge of Sunken Rd

fired abt 1200 rounds into

the 2nd body (in fairly close formatn).

Of the bombing pty, not one

German got back. 14 were

made prisoners (1 wd) &

rest killed. Of The second

party had little cover - there

being few shellholes there yet,

& most lost v. heavily.

A party, fully 50 strong, of

German s.bs., were working

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Hand drawn diagram – see original

 

(※ from behind over the N end of

Courcelette. It ws

still there when the Bn

went in the second time)

This was oblique frontal

fire -

At the same time our

own heavies & field guns

used to fire on the Sunken

Road. The infantry there at

first thought they were German

Guns from Thiepval. When

they realised their position they

saw tt this ws impossible.

No arty obvservation officer up

there - Tom's cut ws v.

nasty.

 

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for 2 hrs bringing wd in,

some of our men were

speaking to their doctor who ws

dressing the men on the field.

We began then to get heavy

shelling from 5.9s.^※(one battery)

& whizz bangs. They wd

snipe a single man with

Whizz bangs The Germans used

to snipe w rifles from near the

waggons (on the Courcelette Rd

from M. Farm) but caused no gt,

damage. The whizz bang

sniping ws severe. The 5.9s

S of right on to our trench.

You cd see for 500 yds from

here - the two waggons, &

the heaps of M. Farm & the

Zollern works on top of the

hill (higher than us, across

the dip.) The dip was much

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bigger down. Courcelette way.

The Germs. were walking in

small parties down tt way.

 

Aug 12/13. at 11 p.m. C coy had

a silent stunt - a small one,

but impt & quite successful.

They dug a line from

the positn W of the Sunken

Road to the 3 trees. (so tt

line came down into valley,

& then up again to positn

held by 16^th).

Their losses were small.

 

Aug.14/15. Day of 13 Aug ws

v. quiet;

 

Aug 14/15. Only 13 Bn ws left

of 4 Bde at this time. 50^th

ws on left & 51 Bn on rt.

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[Diagram. See original document]

 

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The left Coys. (C. & part of A)

were very heavily shelled all

day. It looks as ^if the German

batteries had bn shifted during

the quiet day before.

That night 14/15, three coys

of 13 Bn were to make an

attack with 50 & 51 Bns.

A.B & platoon of C made

the attack. D Coy in support.

Objve of 13 Bn. ws:

O.G. up past 91 (inclusive) to 73 & back

to 04.

News tt 50 Bn cd not

attack arrived abt 8 pm.

Under original plan the

13 Bn ws to take 73, 04, 94, 03,

24 with 50 Bn on its left.

The change ws made at last