Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/251/1 - 1915 - 1936 - Part 29

Lieut. Gascoyne Roy, 18^th Bn. Hangard Cemetery Copse.
Officers were told there wd be arty suppt. All we
G. Roy got ws TM shells - eno to keep the Gs
heads down.
Sgt Grey in/c 2nd wave.
G. Roy went to left of wood. Anor pty to rt. ^Sgt Bishop
thro middle
———
Lined up abt 200^x from Copse wh cd be seen ahead.
with it on a road – left fl. ^some way south of Hang^d Copse.
No Germs were net
1^st wave ws divided into 3 pties.
Level w front of wood ^& N. of it was a German post.
G. Roy's pty had passed this on S. before he
saw them. There ws a cut N & S thro wood.
As soon as we got to this cut a Corpl
(Mapperson) drew G R's attn to / fact tt
"there were 100^s of Gs" behind them.
These were rushed from behind at once &
surrendered. There were probly 30 - 40
They were sent back.
We turned back; fired some firing
ws coming from a deep depression in /
wood. We fired about 5 rounds rapid
& rushed the place & found a Company
H.Q. a few Gs were k. Place ws taken
in a few seconds. A
Pty then came thro' / wood &
Frewin & Bishop also appeared. F & G.R
divided / men up - no fire then - &
began to establishd three posts. The carrg pty
 

2
[*Scouller.*]
 

was to bring tools.
While his ws being done Lcpl
Porter ws sent out with (He ws on
rt w Sgt Smith) - he was looking
round & saw a German patrol
of an offr & 2 others. This had bn
sent out to find our position.
"The offr - Hans Herrig - ws sent
back in/c of wounded but possibly
escaped."
We were dug in 4 feet or so. Duncan's
pty hadn't arrived. L.G. ws on rt w
Pte Price in/c. None on left. Frewin
went back for another L.G. for the left
- to our f.l. After a time as he hadnt
turned up G.R. sent Pte Scoullar, &
moved along to rt. He came back &
found Porter w / prisoners & Scoullar
shot thro' / chest (from front). Sent back
Sc. in c. of Germans. Shortly after tt
some Gs were seen to get out of a trench
 

3

close ahead, & line out. They started to
adv - & we dispersed them immediately. Then
heavy firing at abt ^30-50^x range. They were
using m.gs. They now found / existence
o / line. Price on rt was engaging
4 mgs w his L.G. - all now concentrated
on him. While this ws going on carrg pty
came round N.W of wood & came under
direct m.g. fire , & were scattered.
G. Roy dashed out to try & reorg &
bring them up. Just started to move
them forwd - Saw Dunc. & told him he
only had 40 ^x to go, when G.R ws hit.
They moved on a bit - G R had rolled
into Coy H.Q. Duncan shortly afterwds came

& called & told G.R. to get on his back
& carrd him back 100^x & put him
in a shell hole.
Duncan ws k. shortly after.
G.R ws lying out until Maxwell (wandering
abt) picked him up.

[* G. TMs were throwing
bombs behind us
thinking we were
on edge of wood.
Saw nothing o /
French.
G.R cd find no
Gs on rt.
Empty trenches
there - No
sign of
French.
& sent up no light.
——
They were to
send up a
light on
reaching
positn.
—— *]
 

Gascoyne Roy's
Sketch (June 1935) of
Cemetery Copse action
—————
 

[hand drawn sketch-see original document]
 

H.N.
19th Battalion, Hangard Wood.
From Capt.P.V. Storkey, (May 1935)
The officers of the attacking company were told that
the wood was lightly heald and that
on getting through the wood they would find the objective
road, with a ^a good clear field of fire of 400 yards, and
They lined out ^and lay down in the open just northeast of the western
wood. Storkey went to sleep, and the opening of the
barrage did not wake him. It was evident to everyone that "something
was wrong with the barrage." It was very thin and
ragged. Storkey did not wake until the his men had gone 70
yards or so, when he hurried on after them. It was just
daylight and they xxxx had some 300 yards of open space to
cross before reaching the wood. From somewhere in the wood
on the right front came extremely heavy machinegun fire. Capt.
Wallack was hit through both knees. Lieut. McDonald was killed.
Before reaching the other side a large part of the company
had been hit. But the survivors reached the wood and xxxxxxx climbed
through a wire fence into it. It was entirely young growth, mostly about head
high, with taller saplings here and there. As Storkey, now
commanding the company, with Lieutenant Lipscombe and their
men made their way through it they were caught every now and
then by in part of the maze of mid telephone lines that ^in recent fighting had
been laid through it. As. they pressed on, trying to get in
rear of the force - whatever it was - that had been firing
on them when in the open, the bush thinned a little. ^After working round they Suddenly
xxxxxxxxx to the south east and south they suddenly
came out on an opening, perhaps seventyfive yards In length.
 

2.
a clearing, lying to the south and rather behind them; and
along the western side of it, in half a dozen short trenches
- each apparently a machinegun post - were nearly 100 Germans
the riflemen and half a dozen machine-gun crews, firing far
with their backs to Storkey's party, but firing for all they
were worth at the such remnants of the company as were still
attempting to cross the open, and, possibly at elements of
the 20th^Battalion which may have been observed by them to the south
west.
Storkey had only six men with him, and Lieut. Lipscombe,
who just then came up, had only four. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
They were all of the company that, after its heavy casualties,
could be expected to arrive, but Storkey's nind was instantly
made up. Shouting to his man as if the whole battalion was
arriving he xxxxxxxx led an immediate charge upon the rear
of the Germans. Before these could recover from their surprise
a number were shot through the head at close quarters.
Most of the rest xxxxxxxxxxxx at once put up their hands. They had only to swing
round one of their machineguns and the Australians would have
been xxxxxxxxxxx annihilated Storkey's confident manner gave the impression that many others were
behind, and on the first sign of hesitation to obey his order
to climb out of their trenches he shot three with his revolver
(which then jammed), and his men rolled in a couple of
bombs into the saps and then ducked while they exploded. Thirty
Germans were thus killed, and the rest - three officers and
50 men - surrendered and were at once sent to the rear under
a small excort.
 

3

Storkey and Lipscombe and the handful of men who remained
with them then pushed on through the wood xxxxxx
in search of their objective and its "good field of fire."
But They found a road, but the scrub continued xxxxxx
chest high xxxxxx to the very foot of the gentle slope beyond it, and only
ended in the bottom of a valley, Beyond xxxxx this rose a bare
knuckle on the crest of which, 400 yards from Storkey and
Lipscombe, at least a battalion of Germans could be seen
hurriedly assembling along a reserve trench, almost certainly
with the intention of counterattacking, if that step should
be necessary to restore the position. To dig a trench xxxxx
in the bush, with a field of fire of a few yards and dead
ground ^close ahead would be absurd, and to dig in at the foot of
the bare slope would be equally so. After hunting round
vainly for some site with any field of fire, Storkey and
Lipsconbe decided that ^a blunder had been made in the plans; no place there was defensible and they
xxxxx only reasonable course was to withdraw their men tot
the nearest tenable position - the jumping off line for the
attack. Fortunately since seizing the German outpost line
they had met no fire worth mentioning, and they only came
under moderate fire xxxx when withdrawing across the open
west of the wood.
xxxxxxxxxx On reporting to the battalion
commander that he was back at his starting point, Storkey
was ordered immediately to xxxxxxxx take his conpany back to the objective
xxxx. He answered that the objective was an impossible
one and anyway there was very little company to take. He
would go if necessary himself; but before he went he would
 

see the brigadier and make sure that he knew the conditions
at the far side of the wood. The xxxxxxx arrival at that moment
of his fifty prisoners and their officers xxxxxx gave a
more pleasant turn to the interview, and Storkey afterwards
had his interview with Brig.Gen Smith, who appreciated
his information. ^x
xStorkey who spent the afternoon in going forward and ^helping to bringing in
numerous of the wounded men of his company from the open in front of
the Jumling Off Line, was awarded the Victoria Cross
 

9259.
 10 June 1935.
Captain R.A.P. Hamilton, M.C.,
"Kiama"
82, Consett Street,
Concord West, N.S.W.
Dear Captain Hamilton,
I have been writing for the Official History the
account of the fighting on 7 April 1918 at Hangard Wood, but
am much troubled for lack of any sufficient record. I am
particularly anxious to find out anything I can about the work
of Lieutenant Coolahan, who was wounded and taken prisoner
and died in enemy hands on May 3, and should be most grateful
for notes of any recollections that you could give me.
The chapter will shortly be finished, and I
should be greatly obliged if you could find time to write to
me at an early date. If you prefer, it might be best to
arrange a meeting at my office.
Yours Faithfully,
C.E.W. Bean
Official Historian.
 

7.
Apr., 377-9, 387-9, 382-3, 392-3, action during Austln.
counter-attack, 391, 392; Second Bullecourt: increase of
strength for, 413-5, preliminary bombdts., 415, 419, battery
crews rested, 419, programme for battle, 421-3, alterations
in programme, 451-2, 453, ^opening barrage falls, 3 May, 431, 435,
436-7, 439, 464, shell expenditure, 467-8, action during
battle, 509, 3 May, 481, 486, 4 May, 505. 5 May, 503, 511,
shells 3 Bn., 503-4, 6 May 512, 517. 7 May (7 Divn's attack),
520, 521-2, 8 May, 526, 11 May, 528, 529, 14 May, a 534.
15 May, 535; Second Army forms mobile xxxxx H.A.G. to assist trench
ralds, 565; xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx supports xxxxxxxxxx 10 Bde's raid,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  27 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Armentieres sector, 27 Feb., preparatory gas and smoke bombdts,
566, box barrage, xxxxxxxxxxxx 567n; during German raid on
42 Bn., 26 Mar, 570; counter-barrage, during xxxx Ger. raids
at Le Touquet, 17-18 May, 570; shells 38 Bn., 27 May, 585n;
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Battle of Messines, 609, barrage
programme, 573-4, guns employed, 580-1, preparations in 3
Divn., 578-9, preparatory bombdt., 31 May-6 June, 581-4, 588,
600-1; opening barrage, 7 June, 593, 594, 595-6, portion moves
forward, 609, 611, action during battle, 612, fires on N.Z.
posts, 614, defeats Ger. c/attack, 616-8, for xxxxxxx programme for
afternoon attacks, 620, 621, 622, barrage falls on Austln.
troops, 638-41, 642, 644,action on 8 June, 656, 662, fires
on 44 Bn., 649, 9 June, 667, 10 June, 671-2, 673-4, portion
withdrawn to rest, after battle.  712n; Third Battles of
Ypres: strength of, compared with that of previous offensives,
701, bombdt. commences, 15 July, 701-2, exposed
positions of guns, 703, Austln. arty. enters battle, 703-11,
counter-battery bombdt. begins, 28 July, 707, bravery of
Austln. transport drivers, xxxxxxxxxxx 729-30, feint attack
against Warneton Line, 31 July, xxxx 715, barrages ^planned to advance
more slowly in pillbox attacks, Aug., 732; Battle of
Menin Road: plans, 725n, barrage to be in five successive
lines, 736-8, programme, 743, 744-6, main bombardment opens,
15 Sept., 749, 758, excellence of barrage, 20 Sept., 760-1,