Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/222/1 - August - September 1918 - Part 10

When Mc C. & R. got over

/ top the Tommy Sergt & his

2 men followed them immediately

& dug splendidly; this sergt

ws a first class man.

We had to go on or risk

/ danger of being cut off as

a trench came in behind our

pty – so we had to go on &

get thro tt barricade & m.g.

post.

It ws just break of day

when they started. By / time

they got to / barricade it ws

a very dull light w much

smoke shell & the pty at

first on looking over / barricade

thought tt / Germans were

Tommies. Later m.g. fire &

92 
 

bombs (flying almost
at once) showed tt they

were Germans. Then it

ws clear tt / Tommies

had not got to their objective.

Our casualties were 3 men

wd on the m.g.

one who Sergt R. had bn shooting at /

m.gunners w a rifle over /

top. When he jumped down to go

run round ^with m/c another man

took his place & he ws shot

thro' / ear. (slightly). This ws

abt / time M/C came up.

July 4. ^D/B says tt Monash in the conference before /

attack decided in a masterly fashion

the question whether infantry shd

control tanks, agst / protests of

Gen. Courage.

93

15 Bn.

Sept 18. 1918.

Bn ws actually in / line

w ^only one Company in front line. One

Coy had bn in suppt & 2 in reserve.

One Coy left closed & took half /

front. The other closed in behind it took the rt half of front line &

/ other 2 came up on / rt. behind

them.  Barrage good.

Vick. Gun barrage seemed tremendous.

This ^V.G. barrage ws so heavy tt it

made some wonder at / first

instant whether it might not be /

Germs who had got a m.g.

officer w / maps on him & who

might be prepared on tt acct.

Then One officer ws hit by a m.g.

bullet at this moment (Lt Jamieson

-wd). When it ws realised tt it

ws our barrage its effect ws very

cheering. 

94

In this stunt Germs were captd who

had that m.g. barrage on them &

they sd it ws awful.

Abt 50 yds away Germs were

met who had clearly moved

out to avoid / barrage & surrender

Where 15Bn was there ws thick

fog as well as / smoke. At times

you cdnt see 5 yds & / men

came thro it like ghosts. There

ws misting rain & mist before

/ barrage came on - as on Aug 8

the mist became thicker after dawn.

It ws v. hard to get direction.

The wire ws zig zagged & officers were

met several times by C.O. (Col Johnstone 15 Bn)

studying / compass. It ws compass &

/ barrage wh kept them straight.

It ws easy to follow / barrage bec.

the smoke shell were not dangerous.

& showed up well - you cd see 

95

several of them, giving / line.

The Sunken Road Due N. of

Le/V. was full of wire. It ws v.

deep (12 ft). On each side ^on / top ws a

steel picket & barbed wire apron.

In / centre o / road ws a

big full concertina coil. This

ws German wire. The German

ws in the rd. to the right down

/ hill. And further up ws in

/ trenches exactly ahead - w

numbers of m.gs. There ws

a fight there. The troops on /

left got round & turned a their m.g.

down from / left. The barrage

also took a lot o / fight out o /

Germs. A Germ. offr ws k here

& half a dozen men. The Germs.

surrendered. We had noone k here.

96

On the S. end of the road
cutting Sergt Holt D.C.M. ws

cut off from / rest of his pty. He

& Pte Williams were cut off. They saw

some Germans fighting firing w a

m.g. They decided to rush them

& did so. They were taking these

Germs prisoner when a Germ.

N.C.O. who ws in/c of them got out

his revolver & shot Holt dead.

Williams shot him. A couple o men

hearing / firing came up, &

they shot a few more Germs. &

took / rest prisoner. Holt took

it for granted (as our people hold /

Germans in low esteem) tt / Germs had

all surrendered. He ws a great Rugby

player - one o / finest in / A.I.F.

(5/8th) & ws a fine fearless man. He

probly paid / penalty of his fearlessness.

A few more Germs were met

after this but they all Kameraded.

97

They got to / 1st objve without

any trouble. For / hr here

the 15 Bn dug on / Brown line.

Then the 2 Coys (previously detailed

for support) took up / lead, the others

following on.

The barrage ws a bit erratic

from here on. Some Germs were taken

on / trench just W of Danger Copse. These

Germans had been watching / Bn dig

in for an hour but had only bn

game to fire a few erratic bursts.

Our L. Gunners were sniping at them.

The barrage ws also annoying them.

These Kameraded as soon as / Bn

moved off.

At the Priel Crater there ws a

deep dugout full of wd, containing the

Bn Commdr o / area, Dr, adjt.,

& Hqrs. The Germs had m.gs. there

& fired on / Bn & cd have made

things difficult if they had had the

guts; when the Bn closed they

Kameraded. Johnston questioned

the Dr & he spoke French well.

He sd "You'll find a lot more men

further on, but I dont think you'll 
98

have much trouble w them." He had

bn talking to them on / 'phone. He

wanted to know if it wd be very

dangerous going back.

The C.O. & / gas sergt (on search

for information) rounded up abt

200 prisoners in tt valley - they

were w our men, being sent back

from / little isolated m.g. nests &

positns w wh this country is

covered. Our men who were

fighting like veterans simply walked

around these places - it ws

their last fight & their best.

(only 7 were k.  8 d of w. &  I offr.

& 39 men wd.)

The line on / top o / hill ws

wired on both sides, w many

deep dugouts - / old British

Outpost line; but / Huns put

up no fight there. We got abt

200 prisoners there. The Bn pushed

out a line of posts & finished up.

there.

Later in / evg Col. Johnston got

orders from Bde to place a Coy under

orders of C.O. 14 Bn. and moved
99

C Coy up.  C Coy ws with the 14th

moved up to / S.E rd in S 20

central (this is not really a

Sunken Rd - it has a shallow

bank on / far side of it).

On 19/20 they C Coy moved into the

Hindbg Support line.

On 20/21 15 Bn took over / front line

from road in S21 C 8.8 to left Bde

boundary.

That same night at 9.45 G.O.C.

rang up & sd tt word had bn recd

at Corps from a French prisoner tt /

Germs were withdrawing. G.O.C. instrd

Johnston to push out, make all /

ground he cd, & hold it. 13th wd

cooperate on rt & 12 Bn on left.

C.O.  told Capt Bradley (front line Coy)

to push out to / German line in 9 21 B

& get it if possible, not go further. Anyway

to stay where he got to. Bradley.

got thro some outpost m.g. oppositnt 
100

as  far as Peg ? Copse (in 21 B).
There ws pretty heavy fire from /

trench in front. B's instrns were not

to undertake heavy fighting. He

hung on at / copse, & tried to locate 

^/ troops on his flanks (he ws there w / whole

Coy) but the flanks were not to be

found. 12 Bn got up to / bank

in 21 B 3. 8, & 13 Bn to near

21 Central.

Bradley ws thus out alone,

but he dug in there. The instrns

as to positns to be reached were too

vague for a successful operatn.

The next night he sent guides

down & guided / troops on his

flanks up. He had one man wd

up there but had to look out

w active patrols to prevent being

cut off.

On / night of 23/24 a patrol

under Lt Francis Captd 2 offrs, one

aspirant offr & 1 private who were

coming up w orders for a raid.

They were a new unit wh we did

not know to be present.
 101