Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/218/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 3

Nauroy to the SW. Rd.
Abt then a message
ws recd from 32 saying
tt they had moved to /
rt & their left flank ws
in / air.
30 Bn at this time
had not located 29 - they
hadn't been seen in / fog
& by now were under
cover. C.O. sent two _^ fighting patrols
one under Lt J.C. Yeomans
(a Colonial Sugar Works chemist
from Sydney) w 10 men

went out to Nauroy to find
out what ws in / village
& to deal w / A.T. gun.

One tank (the only survivor
of 9) had worked down

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past / mouth o / tunnel
& south to / S. end of
Nauroy & so up along /
W. end o / village Yeomans
got into this tank himself -
& with it he quietened the
A.T. guns & then went dow
up & down / main rd
firing shots into m.g. nests
till all seemed quiet. The patrol
formd left 2 posts E. of Nauroy
& they held these till taken
over by 29 Bn. Germs
worked down several times &
bombed the patrol wh seemed
in a tight corner _^ but beat them. The
Sergt o / patrol ws k. & one 
wd. They brought in 18 prisoners
& k. 8 of whom Yeomans shot half.
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Bn at this time ws lying abt

10 c 8.7.  Just at SE end of Bellicourt.
The C.O. acted on his
own initiative on getting a 
note from 32 Bn Commdr
tt his flank ws in / air.
Positn ws serious - 30 didnt
know where 31 or 29 were.
and Wark sent this note to
30 Bn having passed thro them
& knowing they were in.
30 Bn remained there
/ rest o / day & ws reserve
Bn. The patrols excep lost 2 men;
the 2nd patrol engaged / German more
Northerly German A.T. gun (of the
two) & wd _^ blazed at / crew w L.G. fire.
One o / crew ws an sergt N.C.O. & / 
other a private. They wd dodge
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into a shelter after firing a few shots
& then come out agn when another
target offered. One of our guns
got into positn behind a
broken garden wall just at
/ exit of Bellicourt by the
Nauroy Rd. He must
have seen / A.T. guns o /
Germs, but didn't fire & came
out shortly after.
The Germ. gunners were
under Vickers gun fire also -
- 30 Bn had 4 Vickers guns
attd to Bn & they were blazing
at these A.T. guns. The
2nd patrol under Lt Forbes
aftwds visited the _^ Northerly A.T. gun
- worked up to within 150 yds
of it & later to / place itself.
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During 29 Sept, 29 Bn called

for assistance of one Coy to

enable their flank to get touch

with 31.
30 Bn in reserve lost
abt 50 men from shelling wh
ws v. heavy w v. little
protection. Early in aftn

29 Bn relieved Yeomans'
post.

During aftn C.O. 30 Bn &
I.O. went forward to / Sunken Rd
leading to Nauroy, & found abt
150 Americans there, lying on
their backs - in no ones charge
exc. one lieutenant. C.O.
eventually induced / offr to put
out a L.G. post wh commanded
/ gully to N.W. After a gt deal of 

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advice they did this.
HQrs of 30 Bn ws in / tunnels.
Abt 3 p.m. Lt Harold 1.O. located
a small opening abt 4ft by 2ft
leading down into / tunnel from
the surface of / open. He and anor.
went down w candles - abt
30 ft down to an alley wh branched
in all directins. The main one
went down 5 or 6 flights of 
steps & ladders to / canal 

towpath. They found barges
there including one w 20
German wd men on board - 

some pretty bad. There were
2 other barges w a very rough
breakfast left on / table - 
/ barges were in filthy conditn
such as we wd not have permitted
an Australian Bn to approach.

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At the time they went straight up

agn - reported all o.k., &
occupied the top storey o /

dugout - (Later on tt night

they went on an inspection
o / canal & found a whole
American m.g. coy, in / canal;

/ offr came up & asked what
he sd do - Col. Street told him

tt he wd use him, if necy,
as reserve.) There were also
(later) a n^o. of stray Americans
there who had lost their gear,
& were sleeping everywhere.
We only had C.O., I.O. Adjt.
Sigs & HQrs 30 Bn there.
That day, before this, the

Divl Gas Offr (having lost his

job in / fight owing to / positn)

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went souveniring up / tunnel.

Next day / Germs same offr
went down w 2 others (Lt

Brown, Bde Gas Offr) to

explore further. They cd see /
light at / other end when there
ws a loud noise - they were
thrown on their backs - & 
Brown came back w mud all
over his face & clothes -

peppered w stinking mud &

slime. The Germs had evidently
blown / tunnel in.)

The Coy wh 30 Bn sent up

got to the place easily but

had some difficulty in finding
31Bn on rt where / gap ws
big. During / operatn on  /
Sugar Factory this coy had to 

26 

sit tight - they were principally
in shellholes - under /
barrage. The Germ. sniping

ws v. good; & _^ as his area
shooting made them dodge
from hole to hole the m.gs
gave them a bad time.
Capt Zander ws O.C. of this
(B) Coy. On aftn of Sept 30

after the above fight Lt Doust
M.C. who ws going round to 
see if all ws o.k. after /
heavy barrage, ws shot
thro / heart by a sniper
During / day a sqn
of _^ 8 German planes dropped
bombs on Nauroy, but
caused no casualties.

(The Sugar Factory attack Zander

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sd, did not have a chance
- no one got near / objve -
it ws a regular fortress.
The Germs kept up

heavy harrassing fire all tt
night on / reserve positns

& caused more casualties.

By midnight on / second day
30 Bn had lost 3 offrs 75 o.r.
Oct 1.  At 1 a.m. orders were
recd to send a coy to 31 Bn &
a coy to 32 Bn. Together w
Bns from 14 & 15 Bdes these
were to carry out a minor
operation to get / high ground
overlooking / Beaurevoir
line (including the high grd
overlooking Joncourt. British
Divn on / rt ws attacking
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