Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/216/1 - August 1918 - Part 8

Vecquemont. B Coy had altogether
ceased to exist. The
New York Anzacs" - who had
come thro America on / way
to Engld & represented Australia
there - were these & excellent
men they were - went this Cappy
show).
At Vequemont they got /
word tt Peronne ws to be captured
& Mt St Q.
It ws there tt it ws decided
tt 22 Bn ws to be kept in reserve
& not to attack in / next show.
As a result of this Bn ws
to support at Mt St Q. tho'
there they were lent to 7 Bde
& had one coy on / rt flank in
/ firing line & one on / left.
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At Mt St Q.  22 Bn followed
23 & 24 Bn & took up positn
in / steep chalk bank beside
/ river. (Capt King & Lt A.W.
Smith wd. here)
5^th Divn were having a lot
of trouble w Peronne - they
were simply disappearing into
/ blue at St Denis - they were
too thin to mop up.
After Mt St Q had bn taken
the 22 Bn moved up in daylight
in arty formatn into Cottlieb trench,
Gott mit Uns trenches.
& Moineville Alley. The rt
flank at Gott mit trench
ws suppd to be in support
of the 53rd. 53rd went to over
^Gott Mit Uns trench
into the blue. Next thing they
knew ws tt 22 Bn had Germs
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in front of them & were / firing
fair noone on its rt flank
as 53 Bn disappeared. And
G.O ^22 Bn had suggested to Gen Robertson
to put this Coy into Gott Mit
Uns trench to make a flank.
They stayed here 24 hrs till
5 Divn made good / ground
ahead. A number of patrols
were sent out & one had a
brush w Germans -
Lt E. Thewlis MC.
ws wd by a shell.
After 5 Divn got Peronne
this Coy passed into Support.
The other 2 Coys remained
in Gottlieb, & Moineville 
The left Coy junctioned
with the Tommes on left -
of 7 Bde on the canal du
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Nord in a lock left of[[river?]] and in a lock left of
Haut Allaines. When the British sent out
parties and these met ours.
The British moved forward this
Coy too passed into support.
22 Bn then pulled out to
Cappy.
They were now / strongest
Bn in / Bde. They spent 3
weeks there - sports, competitions.
etc.
They started Large nos of
Yankees began to move thro
Cappy all night. The troops
began to think there ws a
stunt on. Then 22Bn began
to move by night marches in
easy stages & knew they
were in for it. The moves
were well done. The C.O.
knew of the stack before
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they left Cappy - Marched to
Roisel. Thence to Villeret
- reached there abt lunch
& marched on tt evg to some
trenches abt ½ mile W o / canal.
They waited there till 5 pm & got
a warning order to prepare
to move again. They got orders
to cross / canal, cross / Hindbg
line, & go to Billiard Copse
near Nauroy. It ws densely
dark. The ground ws v difficult.
Lt Smith & / C.O. went at / head
w a compass - crossed /
canal - & exactly hit /
corner of Billiard Copse & went
onto Small trench for / night 1/2 Oct.
That dawn
Col. Wiltshire got his orders
for ^an attack at 3 p.m. At Billiard Copse
- giving / objves.
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The men set off. They got
up into / Beaurevoir line
where / tanks were smashed
up. The whole Bn got up under
sunken banks without being
seen.  It ws 4.30 pm then &
a barrage ws on. They found
out aftwds tt this ws /
barrage for / attack. The
line ws full of dead Germans
- ghastly w them. Had to be
cleaned up before they cd get
in.  Wiltshire got ^back into Batmans
dug out & James got there
just after - Gen Martin sd
what time can you attack
The C.O. sd "half past 6."

The G.O.C sd  he fixed up wd fix up / barrage.
He hurried back to / troops.
As the barrage ws down he
had to go back with thro
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trenches. It ws 6.23 when
he got, there.  He came right
on Lt K Sutherland & Lt K. Anderson
(both M.C.) & sd "Attack in 7
mins" They dashed off at
once to the Coys.
The line moved off exactly
on time & beautifully.
(Just as they moved there
dashed up a horseman right
into / waves and sd "Col Wiltshire
here?" & delivered a message.
It ws / message for / attack
at 4.30. He ws a Light
Horseman.
As they passed thro
the 5 Bde straddling / road they
shouted: "Mind / Quarry"
The Quarry ws on / right o /
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road & there were Germans
there.  Some were bayoneted.
including a German Captain. Capt
Braithwaite, ws k (on the 2nd 2 of 22 on / map) 

[* rushing
a m.g.
Cpl Bonnett
ws k.
w him. 
Lt Paterson
ws k by
a m.g.
bullet
near
/ Copse
in 23C.*]

[* Capt Braithwaite

MC was the
only son
of Colonel
Braithwaite
of Preston
Victoria my
most intimate
friend &

had no 
superior as a
line officer in [[?]]  *]
On / left there ws a gap in
wh  Germ. m.g. gun existed. The
success signals didnt go up. The
C.O. went up & heard o / gap.
Our men had dug right alongside
of / Germs ( knowing they existed) * 
sd:  It ws Its alright - they will

know were here in / mg.
The Bn left ws abt at the Torrens.
It ws a model stunt. Only highly
trained troops cd have done it.
The transport  got almost to / firing
line tt night w / stuff.
As soon as / C. O. got back
abt 10.30 pm he got a ring saying

tt the attack wd be continued
at dawn in conjunction w /
 83
 

23 Bn on rt & 7^th British
Bde on left.  C. O. got / boundaries
altered so as to have a 
natural bdy in / Torrens Canal
betw. 22 Bn & British.  The
Torrens  gave good cover for troops.

The Co. ws able to get a message
thro to / rt Coy by telephone.

Then the telephone went (broke down) & he had
to go up to Lt Green O.C. A Coy
& Lt Proudfoot O.C. C Coy (centre)
(who had taken Braithwaites place).
C Coy ws to be near by;
Green had to move his coy
from La Motte Fm & get it
with across / road so as to 
move up & swing half right on
/ objve.
84
 

The barrage ws in front of
22 Bn for 25 mins to allow
/ left flank (Brit) to come
up.  This gave Germs / alarm -
the German barrage came down behind
our men & only broke up / phones.
The first Sunken Rd Proudfoots
(16 & 23) objve ws gained without trouble
Just on rt of 2nd rd
at 17 a 1. 4 ws a mg. wh
held them up.  Chalmers Coy
organised a pty & mopped
this up - & they got / objve.
This left the 3rd objve.  From
the brick kilns factory S of
Geneve & from Geneve itself
came a lot of oppositn &
/ casualties began to get heavy.
The barrage, never v. strong,
had gone on.
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