Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/215/1 - August - September 1918 - Part 2

left front & silencing them.

As the infantry went

forwd by section rushes

to / Gully's edge there ws

fire not only from E of

the Gully but from / banks

& the thick scrub on our

side o / Gully.  There was

abt 100 Germs here, very

hard t see; & they were

firing over the dugo the roof

of their shelters.  Capt Hall

ws killed just on / edge

o / Gully w / leading Coy.

Capt North's Coy ws just

behind.  He saw / trouble

& moved straight up & took

charge of Halls Coy.  Hall

had bn working his Coy

 

 splendidly w whistle &

hand & was probly sniped

on tt acct.  (Hall is a

Melbourne man - he is the

4th officer in Commd of H Coy who

has been killed).

North is a Brisbane Solicitor

-he was in the fight at

Bullecourt & lay out in

/ snow w a broken leg

till rescued by the adjt

Capt xxxxxxx Vanstan

abt mid night by daylight

next day.  He went to

Aust. & got his M.C. at

Sailly le Sec in / attack

towds Sailly Laurette; he

ws hit later by a shell at

Lihons during one of the 

 

 

sudden German strafs.

When we had worked

into / wood on / gully

side to within abt 100 to

50 yds o / Germans they

surrendered.  The 46 Bn

moved across / valley

-got no interference

from the Germs further

N who were busy w /

45th Bn.  The Germs

had left the hospital by

this time & run back.

There were Germans in Richmond

Wood.  As these Germs

cleared the 46Bn moving

up there cd see Germans

in another [?] on the back

top o / bank 100 yds w

of Hope wood, firing on the

 

 

45th.  They worked behind these

& settled that opposition

allowing 45 to get ahead.

As the Bn worked out

into / open past Hope &

Richmond Woods the Guns

in 30D cleared out.  Bn

moved to its objve just

E of the house by the hut

hospital.  45Bn reached

its objce abt / same time.

The 5th Division on / rt were

not yet up, & 46 ws

able to get into the hospital

huts where they found some

very good lager and a

German officer.

It was as the Bn ws

abt moving up on the E side

 

 

o / gully by the red brick

hospital tt the armoured

cars went thro.

On the advance our 

heavies lifted from gully to

gully at abt ½hr intervals.

The advance ws so

rapid that it used to 

reach the gully before the

heavies had lifted, & had

to wait there.

One other tank of 46Bn

ws hit near the X roads in

30A. otherwise the tanks

got thro!  They eventually

worked down into Richmond

Gully with difficulty &

the 12 Reserve Tanks

seem to have lain up here too.

 

 

K.  Capt Lignt  Hall (as above)

Capt Symons of left Coy - he ws

hit in front of Sasau Wood.

________________________________________________________

 

46 Bn.  Sept 18

 

46 Bn ws just E of

Soyecourt abt a good mile

W of the Rly wh ws ¾ mile

W of the start.

They formed at 6.30, an

hour after zero.  It ws

raining & miserable.  Everyone

was soaked while they were

forming up.  The men had had

a hot breakfast at 3am.

It ws very misty.  The

45Bn had 1500 yds of front

to cover.  It went over on a 

 

 

2 Coy front

________      ↑       _________

   D                            C

________             _________

    B                            A

 

They moved from assembly

position in artillery formation

on this front.

After crossing the rly

there ws a heavy belt of

wire wh ws hardly cut at

all, & the German barrage line

ws on the wire.  The

barrage opened just as

Bn got there.  The 2 leading

Coys were pushed thro /

gaps in / wire very

quickly without serious

casualties.  The following Coys had

 

a few casualties but Bn

H.Q. following seemed to get

/ heaviest.  The RSM ws hit,

runner killed, 2 L Gunners

wd.

From there it ws a good

steady plod.  The maps had

become a pulp & were

difficult to read - they picked

up objects wh they were

looking for - wood Cambresies

& so on.  They had to

get touch with 1st British

Divn on / rt, but from 

the start cd not get touch

with anyone there.

They got into 48 Bn

objve & first caught up out

own troops here.  45 were

 

 

just going on; 48 digging in;

46 arrived a bit before time

& / men o / [three?] were

hard to distinguish.  While

46 Bn ws organising, the

fight ws going on ahead

w some parts over / crest.

45 moved out & 46

ws to follow 600 yds in rear.

A lot o / offrs went out right

on their tail & waved their

arms to / men.  When /

men saw their own offrs

ahead they joined them up &

/ Bn w easily reorganised

ahead of 48 Bn objective -

men recognising their own

 

By the foot o / slope o /

next gully 45 Bn ws done up

on 45 Bn.  They had to wait

while 45 Bn ws getting / Germans

out of the posts o / old

British outpost line,  xx & (most of

them) out of Red Wood.

They followed, 45Bn round S of

Red Wood.  The slope from

Red Wood S.S.E. is very heavily

wired w 3 belts of German

wire & they had to pick

their way through it.

While going thro there they

got touch w / English on / right.

The Tumulus on the right ws

a good guide.  There had

bn no fighting at the Tumulus.