Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/223/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 9

in / crop.  By tt time,
however, / Arty had a
gun in action on at flank
of 8th Bn - & tt shattered
any attempt - practically firing
case shot.
From then on / attacks
on / right ceased.  The Ts had
dug in on / far side o / gully
- in / wheat crop, into wh
we crawled out a good deal,
there were no trenches.  This
ws / positn when 2nd Bde went to
Helles.  There ws by tt time one
line of ours dug w CTs to
Hqrs.
79

Helles ^Traill 8 Bn.
At Helles 8 Bn formed up
in Krithia Creek - Capt Posingham
(As / Staff man - a fine man - of
/ type of Jess) ws k. by some over
bullet just as they moved.  went
up by Coys, extend ing as soon
as they got to / trench where / 2 divns
were.  Half way up this trench
they hopped out of it (knowing they
had to go half left) - Gartside w
w them then - made a direct
line facing / objve & went
on & passed over / Tommies.
Near / objve 2 Coys were
left in support ^& 2 joined / front line -.  They then joined
up w 6 Bn & Bennett ws in/c.
Gartside ws k. there.
80

80A

After careful comparison with the German
& other accounts I believe T.'s second
acct. to be highly generally accurate, & I think
he must have been suffering, when I
first met him, from the great shock of
the wounds received by him at Pozieres.

Traill  has / reputation among those who have in his battalion of being thoroughly
reliable, xxxx xx though he is sometimes ^I think a teller of startling
stories - he has related some to Bill Dyson.  But
^※I cannot explain the difference between
the two accounts.  Either Traill was shell-shocked
when he met me after my visit to H.M.A.S.
"Australia" in 1916^x, or he must have been
deliberately inventing, or he was remained on tht
second occasion silent concerning the outstanding
details described in his first account.  I dont
think he xxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx
to me for history. ※
C.ew.B. 3/2/29
[NB Compare this with Traills previous
account to me]
8 Bn Pozieres.
Diagram - see original document
Coy Commdrs were
called to
Coulters HQ in
Arty dugouts
abt x 8 pm.
& told tt they
had to go into
Pozieres &
estab themselves
"as far as they
cd".  2 Coys
(A Traill  B James)
to go first; C (Kirsch)
Support; D (Harry)
reserve.  They cdnt say where they
wd be, but tt ws / order.
[*[P.S The bombt from 5 am ws hellish.]*]
81

They had no map - & were
shown no location.  Traill
refused to go till he got a definite
location.  This ws eventually gn.
The 3rd Bn ws warned tt the 8th wd
be coming thro there & what T.'s orders
were.  They were told to form up
in / main street & tt they must be
there by 9.  They didnt, as a
matter of fact, get there till 9.30
They went:  B — A →  Traill knew tt /
Reserve Coys were to get into / wood
behind 3 Bn - & tt ws all they
knew - Both were to keep touch w
3 Bn.  They went in overland /
whole way, leading up in small
Columns of ½ plns in Single file.
They assembld at / main street -
it ws recognisable then - roofs of
houses were still visible.  They struck
82

/ main street a little to / rt
o / church.  They formed up.  B Coy
ws to be on rt & A on left.  Owing
to / darkness A Coy ws on / rt &
B on left.  The German ws quite
quiet - hardly a flare going - wdnt
have known there ws a soul anywhere
They pushed forwd towds
/ Cemetery.  They halted at / orchard
- no Germs met so far -
(it ws something like Hamel ^then but
not such a substantial village).
They halted in / orchard till /
return o / scouts who had bn
thrown out.  They reported tt they
had no touch w / Boche.  So Bn
pushed on & / left ws halted on
Kay trench a bit short o / Cemetery.
(They had passed a little isolated
83

trench just beyond / orchard - no germs
in it).  T. cdnt get in touch w /
rt at all & so dug in w left on
xx K. trench (A&B)  He found he
still cdnt find anyone on rt
& / 1st Bde Post on / left ws not eno
to rely on - so he pulled in the
right Coy (B) & got it to dig in
as B ^{. . .} C in a line of posts - in /
ruins o / village, exc. on / left.
Just as / rt Coy ws drawn back
a terrific fire went up from / Centre
front at / positn where / rt had
bn - flares going up constantly.
Traill knew these Germs must be in
/ open.  He guessed tt / Germs
had left K. trench on our approach
& collected in / open there - . He had
bn over / ground in front himself
with Fay (Lt. then now in Flying Corps)
84

& knew tt there ws no trench where
these Germs were.
This proved right. T therefore
T. sent the CSM. Norman up K trench
on / rt to test it - & he got up a
good 200 yds. w a few men.  Traill
then got a block in at / top of this -
& estabd a m.g. post at / extremity
of it at Z.  There ws no more fire.
Bn dug in without trouble & were well
dug in by day in fortified shell holes
mostly.  That ws / positn in wh / 'plane
found them next day.
At 5 am. the bombt opened &
continued all day increasing as / day
went on till, abt 3 pm. / word ws
sent back tt / Germ ws attacking
from both flanks left & right.  The
Germs were coming from J. to S. but
/ main sttack ws from / Cemetery.
T. ordered / right Coy forwd to take a
positn straightening / line - Capt James
85

of B Coy had bn wd by then.  A Coy
ws also pushed forwd in order to get
out o / bombt, wh ws heavy.
A lot of casualties were sustained.
The rt Coy ws just in action - at
bayonet grips - when T. ws wd.
They drove this attack back.
(Fay wd be able to give further
details of the remainder of this
attack.)  Trail ws shooting at them for
some time before hit by a 5.9.  He ws
put in a cellar - & / cellar ws
broken in by a shell -  When he came
to he was covered w bits o / cellar.
Then he ws blown up on / stretcher.
In / reconnaisance T. & Fay got
abt 300 yds past / Cemetery.  The
runner ws sniped - & killed - but
tt ws / only casualty.  The Germs
had apparently seen us forming up
on / rd.  This ws v. silently done.
One single flare went up as they moved
off / rd.
Good wire reconnaisance ws after T ws Traill was hit.
86

223
(Quinns
(Nek.
(Hill 60
43 Bty.
Aug 8
Lagnicourt
& Dernanct.
2nd Div Cross
Pozieres & Traill.
See Lt Allen
17 Bn x T/Bn
for right at Mt St
Q. Aug 31. 1918.
223
[*shorthand*]