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 thro 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.
76 

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 Gottlieb trench,
& Gott mit Uns trenches.
& Moineville Alley. The rt
flank at Gott mit uns trench
ws suppd to be in Support
of the 53rd. 53rd went thro over
^Gott Mit Uns trench into the blue. Next thing they
knew ws tt 22 Bn had Germs
77 

in front of them & were / firing
line. noone on its rt flank
as 53 Bn disappeared. And
C.O. ^22nd 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 M.C.
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 Tommies on left -
of 7 Bde on the Canal du
78 

Nord in a lock left of
Haut Allaines. When when The British sent out
parties & 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 no. of
Yankees began to move thro
Cappy all night. The troops
began to think there ws a
stunt on. Then 22 Bn 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 attack before
79 

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.
80 

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 G C.O. sd "half past 6."

The G.O.C fixed up sd he wd fix up / barrage.
He hurried back to / troops.
As the barrage ws down he
had to go back with thro
81 

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 /
82 

road & there were Germans
there.  Some were bayoneted.
including a German Captain. Capt
Braithwaite MC, 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 this
[[division]]*]
On / left there ws a gap in
wh a 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 all right - 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 conjunctn 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 C.O. 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 rear Coy;
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.
85