Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/223/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 2

Late on night of Oct 2. 18 Bn
got orders to attack w its
objve as the furthest line of
wire or the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme
system.
The J.O. tape ws a
little in advance o / Sunken
Rd from Joncourt to Estrees.
They had to crawl out to this positn

from part o / Sunken Rd -
& were behind it on / N.
During / whole night
Bn ws gassed.  There were
no gas casualties durg /
night.
On rt Capt Paine met
v. little oppositn;  he gained
his whole objve & 17 Bn
followed thro him.  The wire
ws not cut - only one shell

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got properly into it.
On / left they met v.
heavy oppositn.  This was
where Maxwell got his V.C.
The tanks were a little late
in arriving - there were 6
of them.
One went over on / rt, got
away up / hill & was knocked
out;  there ws an A.T. gun in
/ white cottage wh knocked 3
tanks out as they went into
action.  The other 2 cd do
no work as they were short
of ammo petrol - they expected
to get up in [[?]] hrs but owing to /
broken ground & / [[Hindly?]] system
it took 9 hrs.  The Capt. in
commd o / two last tanks sd he wd go
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frwd if Maj Robertson wanted,
but it wd mean / death o /
whole lot.

Lt Maxwell and Lt Dryden
bombed up / trench[[shorthand]] from / rt & got
/ Germs out & let / guns infy come
thro / wire (17 Bn).
Lt Scott wd. dofwds. on morning
of attack in / attack.

Lt Flockhart wd. in / attack

before reaching / trench[[shorthand]] on left.

Lt Niell wd durg / attack.
Lt. Irvine, MC & Bar. wd leading Coy.

Lt Musgrave durg attack.
[*[[Irvine  Musgrave]]*]
327 [[personnel? shorthand]];  247 Bn strength all incl. 112 casualties.
The front [[linked/bunched?]] bn / sunken Rd to /
centre of Estrees
The tapes were laid from / NE end
o / bank in 9A to the near

E end of Estrees.
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The left ws held up by 2 pillboxes,
one on either side o / rd in / first

Beaurevoir Trench [[shorthand]] & also by / White
Cottage.
The right got thro.  The 18
Lancs. Fusiliers were in / x rd
just S. of Wiancourt, before the
Lancs Fusiliers had got to Swiss
Cottage.  The Lancs caught it

heavily at Swiss Cottage, but as

/ Germs left it, the 18 Bn & 17 Bn
caught them w L.G. very heavily
in Enfilade & k. a great many,
as they were getting across / slope behind.
The right pushed forwd thro

Wiancourt - 17 went thro & an
Coy of 18 went thro (A. under
Capt Payne) in close suppt.)
Meanwhile / left flank ws still held
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near / Roman Rd.
The Bns had got into
the Beaurevoir Line up to abt the
2nd C.T. South of / Roman Rd.
Owing to / fire from White

Cottage 19 Bn had sheered left &
there ws a gap on / N.
In the Beaurevoir Trench[[shorthand]] S. of
this S.P. there were a couple
of field arty positns, wh
were held as S.Ps & a Pillbox
in 9A 1.9.
327 Germs were taken in
the length of trench[[shorthand]] taken by 18 Bn.
 - 5 or 6 posts in tt length.
19[[17?]] & 18 Suppt Coy went on to was in
follg positns at 12 noon:
Scattered elements of a Coy, abt
a plu strong, ws in the area of the 2 C.T.s
abt 27 [[South?]].  (Lt Dryden DCM in
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charge (C. Coy).
Lt Maxwell (VC.) MC. DCM.
ws in /c of a pty in / Sunken
rd just NW of Wianct.
Capt Payne had from B H5.A 90.70.
into the X rds in B29C.
The Germ cd be plainly seen
holding the trench in 22 B & 23C
& had 4 field guns wh had bn
firing directly at / troops but were
now dismantled not in action as we were only 500 or 700 yds away.  The country
in 28A & B & C ws all comnded
by / Germs there.
Our troops stopped there till
23 Bn reld at 4pm. & went thro
at 6.
Before Maxwell went forwd
he had bn on / flank o / Germs in
27C.  An English speaking German
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jumped up & sd tt they were

willing to surrender.  M. ran across
w abt 4 men.  They grabbed him
& disarmed him.  When they were in
/ midddle of it our shells fell in /
S.P.  Maxwell had a small
revolver in his gas helmet wh
he pulled out & shot a couple
of Germs w - & they ducked
back for our own lines - one
ws wd - / others got back allright.
These shells were / beginning of our
barrage. bombt of / S/P.  As soon as / barrage
ws over M. jumped in w his
men & / Germs surrenderd.
The men Our cdnt be warned before
/ shelling & some o / shells fell in
our positn but no one ws hit.
The A.T. gun wh knocked out /
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tanks ws firing thro a window of
White Cottage.
The Tanks arrd late.  They were
knocked out by this gun.  One whippet
ws stopped by turning over on its side.
The whippets were not expecting
oppositn but were just going forward -
On big tank got near 29  [[cmtl?]] &
ws knocked out there by almost / last
shell fired by one o / four 4.2
guns (abovementioned) on / rd.
Our line in / Sunken Rd in
28B & 29C cd nt be seen but
as soon as you got forward o /
ridge you cdnt live.
17 Bn ws digging in just on /
edge o / ridge.
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Bellicrurt (NB  Be very cautious of this account from all thro)
Lt Pasfield 111 How Bn ws attd to
3rd Bn of 105 Rgt 27 Am. Divn
for liaison & to estab arty. support
where necessary.  [The facts are very shakey
& entirely doubtful - Not to be relied on without confirmation.]
American front line
ws 700 yds ahead of Duncan Pst.
P. who had just returned from
an army school ws sent up at
1 a.m.  Left Duncan post at
7.10 a.m.  Col of Col. of our own 11. Bde told
him to rept to Capt Buckley
O.C. 317 Bn 105 Regt.
3rd Bn shd have left at
7.30 but they left earlier.
They had gone from Duncan Post
before 7.30
There were Americans at
tt time attacking / Knoll.  They

seemed to go over quite
well, & P. followed.
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There were Germs in Gillemont

Frm but they were temporarily
silenced & gave no trouble
to P as he passed N or it.
P. followed all / way what he
ws told ws / 3rd Bn of 105
In 9 [[Centh.?]] he found in /
trench on / side of a Sunken
Rd an American offr
who sd tt / O.C. 3rd Bn had
gone S.E. from him on
a Compass bearing.  He
shd have gone NE.  The C.O.
seem ws sd to have been the
only remaining offr in Bn.
P. had to estab liaison w /
troops below[[?]] Le Cat. & Vendhuille
& he went in tt direction.
On crossing / knob in 9B he
18