Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/222/1 - August - September 1918 - Part 4

The Coy commdr ^Capt Wilson sent back
a message from there -
"Am through Morcourt.
"100 prisoners. Casualties
"Nil. B- dry work"
This ws sent by a pigeon
& inst. of going to Bn went
to Divn & was their first
notificatn of Morcourt
being taken.
In / advance thro / Gully
before Morcourt / Germs
wd fire a few bursts of m.g.
fire - then clear out as
infy & tanks got within say
500 yds. (But B coy had
m.g. fire from Chipilly &
beyond Morcourt).
Lt Appleton of C Coy & 
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Capt Harris, D Coy,
were was badly wd. on the
hill where B Coy ws
held up. Capt. Cole ^MC of
B Coy got a slight wound
in / head there but
carried on. The m.g.
wh killed Thompson ws
just on / reverse slope
o / ridge S. of in
S. of Cerisy (Q15 centl)
This ws when B Coy ws
first held up coming over.
Col. Crowther went forwd
at this stage as / whole
line ws temporarily held
up (H.Q. ws follg). He
pushed on A & C Coys
seeing tt they cd get on with
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less difficulty. One tank
stuck to A Coy right thro.
It ws commanded by a
Sergt (whom Bn recommened
for D.C.M.) & it got beyond
Morcourt to beyond Bns
objve - (& went on, it
is thought, & assisted
16 Bn afterwds).
A C & D Coys dug
in along the Ridge thro
17 central (the Red line).
Here they had a
good deal of trouble from
field guns (& m.gs, firing
from Mericourt. No
oppositn ws experienced
from Chipilly wh is hidden
by / contours from there.
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By this time also / Germs
n. of the river were probly
pretty anxious as we
were beyond them.
The Germs in Chipilly were
not noticed retreating but
the Bn thought they got
away tt night.
4^th M.G. Bn brought
up their guns (3 vickers)
on B Coys left into / Sunken
E. & W. Rd. abt ?9 N central, & together
w B Coys Lewis guns
they got onto / German
field guns N o / river.
The Germs x cd be
seen leaving their guns occasionaly
but coming back again.
They blew out two o / crews
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of the 4^th M.g. Bn Coys.
guns.
These guns were
wonderfully quick in
switching on to targets.
Our The arty, wh followed
300 yds behind, were
very quickly up - They
were 4^th Divl arty.
They took position on got onto / ridge
across E of / valley from
Forbes Wood & started
firing on / German guns.
But before they really
were going 3 guns were
blown out by direct hits.
The ^rest o / guns (these were smashed)
got into action eventually
in an orchard S of Morcourt.
33 

The tank commander
going across the hill S
of Cerisy to see what had
happened to the 15 Bns
tanks ws also killed
- a Major. The 15 Bn tanks
were to have come forwd back
& helped 14 Bn at
Morcourt, & he ws
going back across / hill
Nwds to see why they
had not (All were
knocked out.) He ws k
by a shell.
16 Bn passed thro
14 Bn & went on in face
of heavy m.g. fire without
any barrage at all to
support them,
 34

Capt. Trumble (M.O.) wd.
by our shell at / beginning
He ws carried back by Germans,
he w a map in his hand
telling them wh ws / safe way.
Col Moriarty, a splendid
N.C.O ws hit by a shell.
Padre Roland took
charge of the medical
personel when doctor ws
hit (& bound up / doctor)
(Appleton ws / one who
ws w Jacka & Dobbie at
Pozieres - wd. at Pozieres,
killed in this fight & buried
there.) xx xxxx
That after 14 Bn
Swung back a defensive
flank along / river as
Chipilly had not bn taken - 
35

(abt 1/2 way to Cerisy.) -
15 Bn ws further along.
That night a Bn of
1st Divn came up and
dug in along the low ground
bordering / river. The Germs
were then known to be in
Chipilly. There seemed
to be no one on the
toe of the Chipilly peninsula.
At / time when 16 Bn
ws at its furthest objve,
the British N of / River
were still held up 2000
yds E of Sailly Laurette.
Chipilly ws to have bn
taken ^well before we went
past the xx bend.
 36

16Bn Aug 23.
(from Capt. Aarons)
13 & 16 Bns were the pivot
of the days movement, (not
making a flank because
/ attack merely straightened
/ line.
C. Coy ws rt of 16 Bn,
It went up its trenches without
seeing a Hun.
On left of 16 Bn 15^th Lancs
Fusiliers (?16th). X
Smiths Coy went up
Tilleull avenue Alley.  in B D &
occupied Tilleull trench. 
McCarthy worked up
Courtine alley & another
trench north of it not shown
on / map.
 37

His Coy consisted, as did
Smiths, of abt 50 men.
Before / show started there
were 3 squads, each of 5 men,
from A Coy, in reserve in our
front line. Each ws: 2 bombing
squads & a L.G. squad.
(A squad wd now ^all take bombs
& shy them as hard as they
cd.)
As soon as Mc/C got
to / end of Courtine alley
he sent some men round
Courtine trench & others round
the loop ahead of it.
Mc/C met oppositn
first at the point where these
two trenches run into the C.T.
& fire trench wh were the
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