Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/217/1 - August 1918 - Part 7

got into / trench and may have
done some damage.  That
Next morning 7. Bde went thro abt
dawn.  There ws still fire on
/ trenches & Cpl Verdon ws
k. by a mg. bullet after this.
B  Lt Holt getting into Elsa trench
abt 10.15 am.
D  Lt Cope abt 3pm  (as above)
A  Lt Dickson k by a shell abt
8 a.m. in Gottlieb trench
C Lt Sennitt  (as above) crossing / r

D  Lt Ball D Coy with Cope. wd. by m.g. bullet
thro / face during / fight on
aftn of 1^st.
Total casualties 110.
A Coy Commdr ws Capt Sullivan.
Capt McNeil ws gassed (B Coy) on Aug 29. when
Lt Quirk took over.
Going to Frise Lt Finlayson M.C.
& Lt N. Taylor
both by m.g. during consolidn
at Frise.
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24^th Bn Montbrehain
D Coy ^ Capt Fletcher's wh had bn in reserve
at Beaurevoir was next to
23 Bn at Montbrehain.
They were on / tape. abt 2 hrs
before / start.  They had no German
shelling on them there.  There ws
a fair barrage.
Half way up / hill
ws the railway line wh ran
on a bit embankt there.
Just after they crossed it
they came under mg. fire from
/ village - you cd just see
/ trees & outline of it.  The
Germans shot got down their
barrage here, abt / same
place as our barrage ws falling -
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This barrage caught a good
number - from there on to /
top o / hill - Lt Baldie
(a reinft offr.) ws killed there.
One whole section also
ws wiped out there.  From
there up to / top o / hill
they met very heavy m.g. fire
This ws from / village on /
rt - they came into view of
it as they got on / hill.
They got on / top o / ridge.
The m.g. fire there came from
direct front v left flank from
a little left o / rly cutting.
(This ws afterwds knocked out
by a tank.  This tank came
up after they were held up
on / hill.  He ws lost & ws
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patrolling there.  He spotted
this m.g. & it didn't trouble
them afterwds.
Lt Gear M.C. going forwd
w his pln ws k by the m.g.
fire from straight ahead.  They 
were then getting over in 2s
& 3s abt 150 yds from the
Sunken Rd.
Capt Fletcher ws next
k.  He ws in / sections
behind.  As he led them forwd
he ws k. by a 77 shell.  This
gun ws firing over open sights
at the tank.  The Coy ws in old
artillery positions at this time.
The Coy hung on where it
was.  It ws just in front
o / village on its rt, but on
/ left ws 300 yds from the objve
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where they had to swing round
& meet 23 Bn.  Just at
dusk Lt Calvert sent out
Cpl Saffon who estabd a post
in contact with 23rd Bn.
When the Yanks came tt
evg.  / flank ws secured.
Lt Forbes ws wd as

they got on top o / hill - well
ahead - he ws hit first by
our shrap then by / German.
D Coy ws reld abt 11
pm by the Yankees.
A vickers gun post had bn
estabd the other side o / rly
line during / day.
At / start the Germs had started to
run ; but when we were held
up they came back.  The tank
ws blown out pretty soon within
abt 10 mins.
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21 Bn. Montbrehain.

Hand drawn diagram - see original document.
They had to go from
just beyond Ramicourt (J.O.T
ws just on / edge o / village &
cemetery) The Bn had to attack
w its left on / main street & go
thro / village up to the house &
Copse in 25B.  & the rt to abt
2C 8.2. including the Sunken
Road wh runs S from E end of
village.
The rt Coy got straight thro
to their objective.  They had a pretty
good barrage - opening patchy & then
increasing to a heavy barrage.
They moved off in ½ platoons on
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file.  They were shelled on / J.O.T
by casual shells & had some
casualties.
The German barrage came
down at the first halt when
they were under getting to /
rly.  This barrage came on our
pioneers old front line wh
ws at the rly cutting due SE W
of Montbrehain.  The second
wave especially lost thro this
barrage.
Capt Sullivan, O.C. of A Coy
& C.S.M. Thomas were k there & all
/ signallers with Coy Hqrs. by

a shell at / rly.
Over / rly line, due S. of the
western end o / village were two
quarries.  One had 8 m.g.s in it
& some 3 were in the other -
[*Lt MacConochie of D Coy took over
A Coy when Sullivan ws killed.*]
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These Germans laid down heavy
m.g. fire as Bn ws approaching.
The large quarry ws facing /
wrong way for / German but he
had a trench along / edge of
it w 5 mgs. in it.  They
enfiladed the rt flank o /
rt Coy & did caused a lot of dam
casualties.  On the right the
L.G.s covered these quarries
while / sections crept up to
them by short rushes.  When
the 21 Bn got close to them they
surrendered (the bigger quarry cdnt
be seen for dust & smoke till
they got right to it).
The Pioneers were further
right swinging round to make
a defensive flank, & they were
held up along / rly.
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68

※ Abt / same time fire ws coming
from a sunken road running
S. towds 7 central.
The rt pln of A Coy ws
the one ws suffered by this.
Lt Bennie ws shot thro / heart
by m.g. fire from there & killed.
Sergt. Moore ws k in / same
place & ws lying across his
body. Lt Blencowe when
they came down thro /
village came in behind these
Germans, & got abt 20 Germans
out of this post.
Just here they found
a British private a V.C.
of the Notts & Derbys with another
man dead. They had done an
attack / day before & some of their wd
were found in / village (where there had bn
a German hospital in / church.)
The next obstacle ws an isolated
house abt / S.E ?W corner o /
village, at / beginning o / 
street. There ws a m.g.
firing from the top storey
window. One of the Lewis gunners
cut this window out - & 2 Germs
were found dead there w a 
m.g. later in / aftn.-^※
Lt Blencowe went up
tt street through / village
with half a pln (abt 8 men).
He went up / main street.
A few Germs were got out of
cellars. He worked round
then thro / Sunken Rd in 1D & 
where it crosses / rly he
found in a house cellar
7 civilians - & 29 in a 
dugout on / rt o / rly nearby
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He saw a couple of these
civilians on / steps - there

were not Germans (as far as
is known) in these cellars). The
tank caught up abt there by an
RE. Dump. Lt Maconochie
searched / dugout in this &
found 19 or 20 civilians there. They
were so enthusiastic tt he cd hardly get away.
They were mostly women & children.
One lot ws barricaded w beer
barrels - our men going in

after / beer found the civilians
behind it. That aftn they gave
the men (who revisited them) coffee &
milk.
The tank got to the R.E. &
ammn dump just N. o / rly
abt 1 D 9.9 X  He went up /
sunken road firing his guns
at the German 77s in Doon
[*^※. At the R.E. Dump (German) the officer got out of this tank - grease from head to
foot - & oil: He sd to the Aust. infantry around tt he has never attacked w Austln
infantry before but he ws glad to do so then.  His driver looked out  o / tank behind him
also grease all over.  (That tank eventually camped there as it ws safer than coming out).*]
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