Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/218/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 8
29 Bn. Lt. Anderson as 'as the' I.O.?
29 Bn Sept 29 ws in open
trenches at Hesbecourt. Moved abt
7.30 aft. hot breakfast were
to be at assembly positn Villeret
at 9pm. Night had bn
v. cold & wet. Roads v. greasy
had bn misty rain but sun
came out brightly in morning.
Rd had bn reconnoitred
day before by Adjt. 1.0. &
an offr from every Coy. Capt. ∧C.A.M. Derham
M.C. was in command.
The main diffy before
getting to Villeret ws / artificial
smoke. There ws a dense fog
of it - you cdnt see a yard
ahead. The arty put down smoke
on / flanks - & there ws a
screen produced at / guns
themselves - Bn thought it ws
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fog. In any low lying ground it
ws v. thick.
29 Bn moved in arty
formatn keeping black road
as a guide & met / fog
1000yds before Villeret.
When Bn got to Villeret they
halted & made it a closer
formatn to get thro / fog.
Still in arty formation, bringing
/ whole of the diamond formatn
in as close as possible -
Everyone ws waiting / word "go"
at Villeret & were found there
& got together. It ws v. anxious
indeed. There were guns at
Villeret.
Bn moved keeping gently t
the Black Rd as / centre of its
formation, but went round N side.
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of Quarry Wood. There were
Americans there. There were
plns coming out w rifles
slung over their shoulders,
walking back along / rd. They
were asked & cdnt give any
information. They sd /
fog had disorganised them.
They were without orders &
didnt know what to do.
29 Bn had a liaison offr
attd to / American Regt
& hadnt heard from him -
they took it these were stragglers
& they went on w their job
wh ws to get to / green line
& start. They also found
detached groups of Americans
left in shell holes not knowing
what to do; & also taking
cover in / black Rd.
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※ The smoke ws a blessing
at this period. The Germs had
an O.P. in a tree near / tank
fort at Nauroy Wd wh might have
bn used - anyway if they
had seen / congestion they
wd have smashed into it.
29 Bn then realised tt these
were just a few detached men
& knew nothing - & so 29
pushed on.
Bn went along near /
black road to Bellicourt.
The road here ws a mass of
men, engrs, tanks moving
up ※. Before entering Bellicourt
they sent ∧several patrols into / village
to find what ws doing - Fog
still came down at intervals
as if drifting abt. Patrols
reported tt several of our tanks
were in / village wh apptly
ws evacuated by / Germs; but
tt arty fire & mg. fire ws
terrific from / left flank. By
this time 31 Bn (in support) ws
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coming in rear & so increasing
/ traffic on / rd. The 29Bn
sent anor patrol right thro
/ village to / E side. They came
back & reported tt they cdnt
see any Germs tho' a few
Americans were in a trench
imd E of Bellicourt.
It ws then decided to
put Bn right thro to / E side.
The order ws gn to Coys to get
thro to / E side & take up
positn in / trenches E in
order just to find cover, in
4D & 10A. The Bn Coys
went independently but all
got thro without casualties
thro 77 fire never ceased
& reported their locatn by runner
to Bn H.Q.
75
Positn ws 400 yds E of
Bellicourt near / Black Rd
in 10 B.
They decided to do this
without waiting for informatn
from / Americans; & the Bn
liaison offr. w / American
117th Reft reported tt he
cd get nothing definite
bec. of disorganisation.
[2/Lt Pephley (liaison offr) scouted
abt till he found 29 Bn]. He
sd / positn ws v. obscure,
he didn't think any Americans
were in front of Bn. He
told Bn this before they sent
the Coys thro' Bellicourt.
They cd see tt fire ws being
concentrated on / village,
w engrs & pioneers making their
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way forwd there ∧to green line but hung up -& tanks -
all lining up there - they
wd be in a nasty hole - so
they decided to go straight thro
& clear of Bellicourt at once.
HQrs ws at 10 Bn in trenches also.
They intended to go on to get
to / green line at 11 -
they still thought / Americans
were ahead, but m.g. fire
from Cabaret wood Fm
ws terrific. Tho' 117 Regt
had failed they still thought
other Americans must be
ahead.
Tanks were to be met
E of Bellicourt & O.C.
tanks reported there on time
Tanks were in / village. From
77
there, by plan, they were to
go on to / Green line to /
tanks leading in attack formatn.
When Bn got into this
positn ∧in 10 B in order to find out
what ws / strength of all /
rumours & decide from there
what ws to be done.
A patrol ws sent
out wh reported tt Nauroy
ws still held by / Germs. While
it ws out several Americans
(one line of abt 20 skirmishers)
who had bn out in front, were
retiring at / double into
our line. On being questioned
they sd tt there were any
amt of Germs in front &
/ left flank & tt no other of
their men were there.
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These Americans were a
little W. of Nauroy -
they must have realised
their positn by seeing Germs
as / fog cleared - & ran
back for safety. They seemed
to be running from /
Bellicourt Nauroy Rd. across
to / trench in 10 D.
On receipt of infmn from
patrol of 2/Lt Williams (above
mentioned patrol) rooted some
Germans out of a dugout
at / point where the C.T. crosses
the Nauroy - Bellicourt sunken
Rd - it had bn a signal
Stn or dressing stn.
It ws then decided to
occupy / Le Catelet
Nauroy Line. 29 Bn had
no one on its left - they
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got word from 32 stating their
positn & tt they intended
pushing on . (This message
reached 29 Bn an hour after
it ws written) 32 Bn ws
pushing over to / rt S.
of Bellicourt - & it sounded
a long way to / rt. They 29
had scouts out wh cdnt
find / left. Nor cd they
find anything on / rt, but
this message settled their doubts
in tt directn. (It ws sent
to 29 Bn).
At this time the 29 Bn
had m.g. fire & 77 fire coming
heavily from N: & cd see
a 77 gun firing on high ground
just in front o / wood NW of
Nauroy 11 D. 5 .9.
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