Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/143/1 - 1915 - 1916 - Part 4

40

Hand drawn diagram - see original document
 

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41
12 Bn Cont.
Straight out for them – shot one, bayoneted
another – and ran away – Mancer tried
to work gun but cdnt. Later he carried
it back to dug out in our lines. He got a
military medal for it. It ws handed over
to 24^th Bn.
Hand drawn diagram - see original document

Bombing post estab. here on right flank w short

connecting trench across the road

There was a sniper abt point 48 under
apple trees or a little W. of them. We used to
reconnoitred this When we The trench post 48
was always a bit of a mystery. Vowles walking
up it the night of the fight (to replace Love—Love &—
 

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42
12 Bn (cont)
Newton having bn hit going over) met two Germans
in dark coming down it & fired at them – shot
leading man, he thinks, & dived Eastwards into shell
craters & had a lot of diffy in finding his way to
Courcelette Rd trenches. The Bde sent up after fight
to inquire if this trench were empty cleared up – parties
working in our parallel trench were continually sniped from there
This we passed on to Vowles. Bombers were definite
tt they had gone thro' it & left no one in it. 9^th Bn
ws told to go thro it at all costs. Lieut. Monteath went
thro it from end to end & met no one.
When Gellibrands lot went in they reconnoitred
this & found it empty  – with cement positn in it.
When the patrol left a sniper almost
at once appeared to turn up in it again – It
There were eventually 3 trenches more or less parallel there —
ours (partly dug, to E of it); German under trees;
German W of trees. 

23
43
45 Bn. Pozieres
45 Bn. Went in evg. of Aug 5 – pitch dark – by
 Chalk Pit Rd., Walkers Ave, into O. G. 2.
O. G. 1 & 2 had bn taken tt morning by 5 Bde.
There ws heavy barrage on Walkers Ave. going in .
— had about 12 knocked out. A & B coys moved in
At junction of O. G. 1 & Walkers ave junction trench
& dugout were full of dead  – both ours & German
but mostly German in Support trench, ours in front
line. Maj Chapman O. C.  D Coy was k. by
h.e. shell ten mins after reaching line. The shell
blew him down a dugout. Two platoons manned
O. G. 1 x from Bap. Rd to where Walkers Ave meets trench
These two platoons cd not join up to one another owing 

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44
45 Bn.
to heavy shelling. In front line, from Wind mill for
100 yds S. of Bap. Rd there was a gap. Then 2 platoons.
(Other 4 platoons were in O G. 1 & 2 S. of Walkers Ave).
The commn trench between O G 1 & O G 2 just to
N of where Walkers Ave came in cd scarcely
be traced. Had to run across here in sight of
Germans. Germans were abt 400 yds in front
of firing line.
After 36 hours continuous shelling, on Mond
morning, Germans c. attacked. They came abt
½ way across on our rt. & came within bombing
distance on outer left. They came walking over
apparently thinking they only had to step into trench.
Not one of our m.gs ws working — they were so filled

[*45

23/4 Sept 1916

⇠   B             C                             A                     D

                   part got              got in                 got in

                         in                     after                  but

                                                  Littler                  didnt

                                                   died                    stay long.    
            

52. Bn at

Mouquet Fm.}    *]

23                                                                                 46

45 Bn.    
up with dirt of shelling. Men were firing at them
c. attack ws at dawn – just as light began to grow.
The bombt on trench had been traversing along both
one line, up to other, down it & back again for
36 hrs – This lengthened before attack. Practically
all / men had bn buried at one time or another.
L^t Draper of Newcastle (45 Bn) ws k. while
evidently talking to his N.C.Os, for they were lying dead
around him. Most of Drapers platoon were hit
– & relieved by another platoon.
Shelling ws worst from Rly northwards in front
of 48 Bn. The Germans had a couple of snipers out
in front of our trench abt 200-300 yds away near the
Windmill Rd. There were German wd. lying in fron in
O.G. 1 & they cdnt be removed for 3 days owing to stretchers
never being free from the carrying of our own wounded. 

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47
45 Bn.  Other 2 Coys went in later & began on system
of saps out from O.G.2 north of Munster Alley.
45 Bn lost 350 to 400 from shelling alone.
The Cookers of 48 Bn were near old German
gunpits in Sunken Rd. when one German h.e. shell
(prob 5.9) got abt 14 k & 27. wd. (41) of them.
The shelling ws mostly H.E.  After the c. attack
shelling ws not so concentrated & they were able
to get rations up.  On Mond. morning they got hot
tea thro from the Cookers. Ration parties used to
come up thro Walkers Ave.
 

[*

The following note is to be inserted in Book No. 143,
preceding immediately notes beginning "12th Battalion,
April 25th, 1915" (p.48).  Note made after Mr. Bean's
return from Gallipoli, March, 1919.
 

In this –
Owen's Gully should probably be Wire Gully;
Lone Pine may be Johnston's Jolly; and
Johnston's Jolly may be German Officer's Trench or
Mortar Ridge.
----------------------             *]
 

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48
12 Bn Ap. 25. 1915
NB - In this   – Owen's Gully may shd probably be Wire Gully
           "     "     –  L. Pine may be J. Jolly
 & J. Jolly G.O T or mortar R.

Sunday.    Connell w _^part of Maj. MacPhersons platoon 12 Bn.
went past Brands guns – three good guns
& possibly another — ammn. lying abt — our
men had already hurried past them to
left front down the valley (there was an
old farm down the _^?Owens? Gully there to left front
prob. on the other side of Legge Valley). _^Sergt Connells
men went to right front on to po top of
?L. Pine Ridge where Ts. had a long
good trench (3'.6" to 4' deep — not sand bagged)

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

leading across rear of L. Pine apparently to
Gaba Tepe. There were a few dead Ts.
in this & C.s. men shot a few in this
trench running as they ran up Owens Gully into trench. 

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49
12 Bn Ap 25.
They got to this trenches. Fire from a m.g. on
left ws & shrapnel were now coming
from N. [The order had first come to dig
in abt where line eventually ws placed.
This might have bn 10 or 11 a.m. Witham had
gone off with C. Coy a long time before  – probly
9 a.m. -– down towards right – down back of
hill. After a while Maj. Hurcombe
(then 2nd in C. of 10^th ?) ordered them to advance
in small parties (abt 20 at a time — 12th
had previously filled in gaps — so they were
all bns. mixed. But they tried to number
off & re-[[?]] of sections there — the Mena 

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50
[* 12 Bn      training being very ingrained). They
Ap 25 *]      mistook this for an order having
intention of occupying Gun Ridge.
It was      The T.s were running away when
they advanced — got up in scrub &
bolted –  those tt cd be seen.  Others probly
lay in the scrub & sniped. Part of the
12^th (A Coy) had gone on long before to
left front. C's party cd see the Australians
moving on the left front. (J. Jolly or beyond)
as they went. They met two scouts _^of another Bn coming
up valley who sd they had bn sent in
as messengers by an officer of advance 

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51
[* 12 Bn.             party to report tt advance pty ws in 
Ap 25/15 *]         touch w / enemy who was massing
in the gully on the left. (probly advance
pty got in as soon as scouts, taking
a shorter way).
C's party were abt 15 mins
in trench on L. Pine – but had to
be careful on acct of shrapnel & mg -
on way out they had seen T. m.g
on J. Jolly (probly) to N. side of gully.
One party ws going at it from front. C's
[* or L/P?*] party raced at it up the slope. The crew – abt
12 or 15 men in this little party in trench –
were busy w people in front of them. Two