Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/218/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 10

31 Bn. camped at Hesbect in
trenches. Started early. Had
to use black Rd. 31 Bn had
to link up betw 32 & 117 Americans.
Abt Villeret large Nos of
Americans were coming back.
Before Villeret struck slight
traces of pepper gas_∧Blue X Sneezing & smoke -
you cdn't see more than 100
yds there. The Americans all
sd they had smashed / Hindbg
line & mostly sd things had
gone well but they were lost &
were coming back - No¹ - w
Germ. prisoners abt Villeret, at
8.30.
E of Villeret we heard tt /
attack had bn held up on
/ left but ws succeeding further
S across / canal (Americans sd
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this). Bn crossed a rly
line on / black Rd shortly
after leaving Villeret. Then
a Ball of fog closed down v
thick. Bn ws halted ^at once on / 
rd for 30 mins making
sure tt every one ws in
touch (They certainly were
on / Rds N of Quarry Wd)
There Bn ws closed up by
C.O. at once so as to be in
file. From there they moved
slowly on. By 9.30 they had
reached / outskirts of Bellict.
The C.O. Col Freeman got his
compass out - there ws a lift
in / fog. He looked up & 
there ws Bellicourt written
in big in Black letters on a
white ground on /  1st bldg on
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/ West side. The streets were
chocked w Americans, esp
V. gun detachments who sd 
they had lost their offrs &
didnt know where to go -
Col. Freeman had to find
American offrs, find & give
them direct orders to move
/ men at once out to E
of Bellicourt.
Bn pushed on thro /
town - streets were being
shelled by one H.V. gun -
fog v. dense still.
They emerged along / main
Nauroy Rd & were at once
(as fog began to lift - 10 or 10.15)
fired on by an A.T. gun from
a Copse at N.W. corner of Nauroy.

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31 ws support Bn - so 31 Bn ws
put by Colonel into trenches just
S. of the Rd next to 29 Bn.
Shelling began to get heavier.
probly bec. fog lifting & arty
& tanks pushing thro &
becoming visible. Possibly
on pln of 29 ws thro
Bellicourt before 31 - others
were moving thro at same time
as 31 - others ^of 29 later (these
wd be heavily shelled).
For 1¼ hrs in these trenches - 
patrols were out trying to
find americans. Patrols
reported thy found a few
Americans in potholes but
no organised line. The left
had obviously failed as
enfilade m.g. & shellfire ws

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coming from there.
Lt Avery ^(MC for this) ws sent out w
a L.G. section to silence / 
A.T. Gun at Nauroy wh ws
holding up proceedings.
He got up close & fired on
it – The crew were seen wd,
& the gun didnt fire again.
Our arty at first came
out E of Bellicourt to a position
just E of where rly crosses 
Rd. Col. Caddy ws w them.
He conferred w Col. Freeman
as senior Bn Commander as to
whether it ws worth keeping
guns there. Freeman sd he
didnt think so, & wd advise
Bde, & / guns were withdrawn.
The teams ^w / guns & tanks were standing
in little hollows - tanks were
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putting up ^down smoke bombs to cover
things. Guns weren't unlimbered
Abt noon a message
came from Lt Morpeth (31 liaison
offr of w 32) saying tt 32 
ws moving towds Magny la
Fosse & meant to try & get
/ original objve.
29 men C.O. of 31 decided to go
out & help 32 - only casualties
where they were from shelling.
Just when leaving C.O. found
a linesman coming thro
Bellicourt out to them w
a wire. C.O. sent him to
find his offr and get a telephone
(they were 8Bde sigs). Got
telephone on & got thro' at
once to 8 Bde t Col. Davies
who ws acting at Hqrs at tt
moment, & gave him / position.
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Col. Freeman had found /
Major commandg one o / Bns
of 117 American Regt, lost,
wandering abt to find his Bn.
out E of Bellicourt. It ws
clear this ^Regt cdnt do anything 
& so Col Freeman gave this
as his reason. He pushed
out towds Etricourt where
he found Maj. Wark of 32 Bn.
Their left flank ws resting on
Etricourt. Col. Freeman put
31 Bn on left of 32 & echeloned
slightly to rear to join 29Bn
(in whose objve Nauroy ws).
31 got no touch w 29 -
there were some 30 Bn people
near about - but Germs were
still in Nauroy & from E edge &
from Sugar Factory m.g. fire ws

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lively
Abt 5 pm. A German
c/attack appeared from / direction
of Estrees & Jancourt -
sections in arty formation.
They were supported by a
formation of aeroplanes who
m. gunned / trenches we
were in & dropped bombs
This ws abt 4.30 pm. When
we opened L.G. & Vickers fire
& rifles at long range / Germs seemed
to falter & get down in shellholes
& / attack fizzled out abt
level w / Sugar Factory. Some odd
R. H.A from / valley W. of Etricourt helped in repelling this.
Odd pties got further & we captd
a few wandering durg the night.
All tt aftn / Germs had
pelted / trenches left of Etricourt w
accurate shellfire & some men
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were hit.
The Night ws fairly
quiet. Patrols got some prisoners
from near / Sugar factory.
C.O. ws asking urgently for / gap on
/ left to be filled – next day
Nauroy ws covered by 29 & one Coy
of 30 Bn.
On Sept 30 31Bn
sent strong patrols towd / Sugar
Factory in conjunction w /
attack but it ws strongly
held by m.gs. Lt Gair, who
took one of these patrols ws
hit & d. of w. They were trying
to work thro / broken ground
to S. of Factory
Abt midnight on Oct 30/1
Col. Freeman got a verbal

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message from Bde stating
tt orders were on / way
to carry out an attack
at day break under a
barrage - on / Jancourt
Estrees line. They were
at / least to get posts
past / rly cutting in
8C where / German main
line ws – (w posts in Factory).
They were to be supported
by Tanks.
It ws a black night-
it ws most difficult to make
arrangements - no stars.
The attack ws well
launched under a good barrage
wh however fell behind /
rt leading Coy. One man ws
wd by this - otherwise no

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