Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/216/1 - August 1918 - Part 7
ws due to / V/B gns shelling &
subsequent casualties without
replacements – (Ville Sur Ancre
ws also expensive) –
The attack had to be done
on a front of over 1/2 mile with
90 men ( 30 being kept out
in post line as support. One
Coy of 21 Bn ws kept as reserve).
There ws limited arty
available – the guns were busy
w 3rd Div. For this reason
the arty barrage ws arranged
in lanes only on certain
selected points –
Three Coys went over
B . 36 strong on left with 24th
A Coy in centre – 24 rifles
D Coy rt 30. strong.
The interval betw / men wd
have been abt xxx 12yds; this
made it it impossible to attack
in waves. So they decided to
attempt / most important
points by going in with arty colours.
Bn commanders themselves
were doubtful of / wisdom of
this attack. But / higher
command thought there wd
be no resilience or no Germans.
At / start D Coy. (right) out of 30
men 18 reached / objve.
They had fighting on / way.
Lt N. J..Madden M C an
original man of / Bn ws killed –
they got to their objve & the
frontage worked to 400yds. These
18 men held t trenches all day.
The Coy Commandrs name
ws McCartin. He found tt /
Crucifix imd on his left
ws still in German hands
(i.e. Coy on his left had not reached
objve)
McC. had bn going over.
He went back across / open – &
ws hit thro / face this time –
& rang / C.O. up from / supports
& sd what / positn was –
tt he had made a dash in /
open past / Crucifix. What ws
he to do. The Coy of 21 Bn ws
still in reserve.
While McCartin ws speaking
to the C.O. Braithwaite of 21 Bn
who must have bn thro with xx McC
by / telephone seized it &
sd - “Look here Sir this fellows
dying – he cant possibly go back
again”. The C.O. sd to McC. to
(L.A. McCartin M.C.)
an [[original ?]] man & a
good Geelong footballer
came out t receive med attention.
C.O. told him: Alright, McC. I’m
going to send up another Coy
wh I have here."
McC. Sd. " very well, Sir” &
left, & ws never heard of again.
Presumably he tried t get over /
top to his men again & ws
never heard of till 22 m. gunners
later found his dead body &
buried him. Bn thought he had
bn evacuated wounded.
This left Lt L.R. Speak in/c of
this Coy – He got comm w G.O.
thro the 23 Bn. ※
Col Wiltshire then sent
Sullivans Coy down thro 23rd
& past speak & then down the
X
※ Lt Woods of 7M.G Coy here
ws with the attack. He folld just
behind Fultons party in order tt /
gun might be in to cover consolidation.
He had volunteered to go into this
fight in / place of an officer who
ws killed on a reconnaissance.
When he saw tt / party ws
held up on / road he rushed
up to his gun & placed it
right on / road. Before he ran
up, bombs were bursting all
over / place on / rd. He ran
right up to where these bombs
were with a crew of 8 or 9. He
put / gun on a mound – his
crew were close to him & he working
/ gun himself. A Lewis gunner
rushed up along side him. Then a
bomb came over. Woods grabbed
it to throw it back & it burst in his
face. He lay there apparently dead but
ws alive when picked up after dark & died in hospl.
C.T. from the Crucifix to
our line.
The centre Coy ( Evans &
Fulton were w this).
[Diagram - see original]
※They found tt they had ahead
of them a road to only one
bank to it & a trench just
beyond it. A m.g. ws onto
them from near / road corner.
This Coy ws split into 5 sections (as under).
They reached / road & started
a bomb fight w / Germans in
/ trench. Fulton & Evans were
both hit & Sergt Ellis & several
others K. & / Coy ws finally
driven back. Ellis ws fighting
throwing bombs – 24 went in & 14 [[ ? st out]]
The balance came back to
/ trench & ^ whole were remnant ws put ^in up
the C.T. towards / Crucifix.
One man who got onto / road
(a runner, an elderly man
named Holloway,) & tho he wsalmost / last left there he chased
^a German ws put up out o / C. T.
wh a party ws working up! Holloway ^[[?]]
ws on / parapet on / left o /
Comm trenches ^up which the section ws working. 3 Germans had bn K. & this
Germ. started up & bolted over
twds / Crucifix. 2 sectns
(under Fulton & Evans ) were
to go for / Crucifix & when Evans
saw F. held up or vice versa
he ws to come across & help –
They were as under (70 to 80 yds between each)
[Diagram - see original]
Holloway chased this German down / road
& harpooned him.
The left Coy ws under
Lt H.W. Westaway. They were
abt 33 strong. (the strongest)
Lts Brian Armstrong (son of Bp of
Wangaratta & HW Mallinson
were w this.
On their left Rigby of 24
(wh ws attacking w (same small
parties) simply disappeared
into / blue.
We know now tt most
of them were k on / way. They
sent up the S. O. S. + one runner
got back w a verbal message
to say tt / Germans were working
in on them.
Col. James got no word from
Rigby but Westaways Armstrongs post ws
dug in on / objve a few
yards away from Rigby –
on a road – Armstrong
ws captd.
The other 2 pties
converged (having losses) They
were to go 100 yds rt of
Armstrong. They found themselves
right up agst a German post
wh ws behind a ledge w a
m.g. They got into a big
shell hole here. The Germs were
firing a m.g. into this.
Westaway ws K. here by a
bomb. They cdnt move.
As soon as they found themselves
there unable to move (the COy Sergt
Maj. E.R . Bregenzer D C M
jumped out & called on / Germs
to surrender but they k. him.
Nothing ws known of this
party except tt a runner
came back to a similar
message to / other & a
report abt Bregenzer
(both runners had bn wd
The shell hole ws examined
later & a cross us in it to
"6 unknown Australians" (in
German). A report ws got
from Braithwaite tt he cd see
a small party of Australians
being marched to / rear
(Rigby ws captured also).
Armstrong & Mallinson
(who ws w West away) had a
conference, & decided tt they wd
have to surrender. The attack
from the Crucifix down ws a
failure. The 24 (left of these
pties) had to withdraw to its
own lines. So / attack
from the Crucifix to / left
ws a failure.
The Argyll & Sutherland Yorkshire Light InfyHighlanders with 670 men
relieved the 70 to 80 men of
22 Bn. The German took
these trenches next morning & dug
in at the rate of one man
per yard. The Koy L/s c/ottd &
drove him out
[These Germans dug in well
in the trenches, so it looks as if /
German had attacked & her
bn driven out by c/attack].
22 Bn went to Vecquemont
for 4 days & came back to
Cappy (got all the Bde reinfts at
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