Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/224/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 3

original positn & remained 

for / night. At abt 5 a.m.

Sept 2. follg morning orders were recd 

for Bn to assemble at I 21cntl.

to attack in / directn of St D

at 6 a.m.

O.C. Coys were to report to 

Bn H.Q. at once for fuller instrns. 

The Coys were moved up into positn.

Lt Musgrove ws k in doing this. by a shell. 

There ws a heavy mist. Going 

from Bn H.Q. to Coy. Capt Mann  ws wd. 

by m.g. bullet.

Capt Dalkeith ws wd 1st day [*Aug 31*]

on returning from / rendezvous 

abt dust in trenches NW of 

Quinconce. 

Lt Williams, Lt Hicks & Lt Bullock were

wd at jumping off positn the 

second morning.

[The 2nd Divn had startd their

attack at 5.30 & 56 Bn came in

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for retaliation & had to move 

to assembly positn thro this wh 

ws v. heavy. 

Lt William This left only

2 Coy offrs, ^both in C Coy - Lieuts Bull 

& Nancarrow. The other 3 Coys 

were in command of the C.S.Ms.

Sergt O'Connor ws a/C.S.M. of 

D Coy.

/B /A /C /D ⇒

The Coys by / time they reached the 

J.O. positn averaged abt 45 men.

They passed thro 53 Bn wh 

ws holding line. They were 

on the N side o / rly line dug in

to / rly bnak.

Imd Coys crossed / 

bank they met very heavy m.g. 

fire from / Ramparts. They cd 

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see / head & shoulders o / Germs 

there. The mist ws rising - / 

light ws growing. These Germs 

were S. of / moat. a/CSM O'Connor

ws w / leading Coy. All / 

m gunners were hit by 

m.g. & shellfire. The CSM 

& 8 men went on (sigrs & runners)

Their left flank ws on / 

Sugar Factory abt 800 yds

from J.O.  There were only 

shellholes to get into. [later, 

going out scouting, O'Connor 

found 55 Bn in / sugar factory, 

attacking m.g. posts wh were 

still there. The

After O'C. got to near / 

Sugar Facty he cd see on 

/ rt in Peronne the 15 Bde

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coming up in small pties thro 

/ streets. They were being held up

The Germs were on / extreme E 

end o / ramparts & 15 Bde 

ws coming up thro / streets. 

O'C.'s party got a sight on

these Germs (abt 15 of them) & 

opened up rifle fire - L. Gunners 

had all bn hit. O'C. drew / 

fire off the 15 Bde onto his 

own pty & / 15 Bde were 

able to get along. The Germs 

then retired out of the Ramparts 

& ran up into St Denis Wood.

You cd see our bombing pties 

& small pties dodging round / 

houses & getting to / E of 

/ town.

This eased / positn a lot.

It ws abt 11 a.m. The only 

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m.gs firing now were a 

couple from St Denis Wood.

When O'C saw tt everything 

ws all right he went back, 

leaving his pty in/c of Sergt 

Davidson & went back to see 

if he cd get a few guns & 

some men. He got 6 guns,

ammn & 30 men of all 

Coys ^from betw J.O.T. & his positn. He imd placed them

in outposts - 6 men to 

each gun. He put them

in a line from / Sugar Factory 

to / nearest corner o / moat 

- one post right on / moat.

One msn hit in this period.

They were there till 11 p.m.

When he ws settled down

he left pty under 2 Sergts 

& then took a runner along to 

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Hand drawn sketch, see original

 

search for an offr. He 

went right round his line to 

/ rly bank & along it & 

there found works offr

Lt Harvey.  O'C reported to him

his positn.  He asked if it 

cd be held agst an attack & 

O'C. sd "Yes".

Later, on / rly bank, 

he found Lts Bull & Nancarrow 

& got them to give him some 

men to fill in / gap 

between / Sugar factory & / 

rly line (on O'Cs left).

This joined 56 & 55. up 

to then only 2 men of 

O'C's pty had bn guarding 

/ rly line - in case 

anyone came along it 

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Abt 3 in aftn after German 

planes had gone over, dropping 

small bombs on the now 

completed line, Germs put 

down a heavy barrage of 

all calibres & gas. Shortly after 

there ws a lot of movement 

in St D wood & Germans 

began to trickle into / Gully 

in front of 56. They 

were gn a few bursts of 

m.g. fire & nothing came 

of it. The Germs came down

on to / road.

The rly bank hid O'C. 

from 2 Div on Mt St Q.

Capt Wyllie 55 Bn 

told O'C. tt he ws in touch 

w 2 Divn. He ws at / 

Sugar Factory.

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That night after dark O'C 

took out a patrol w 6 men 

- before then he had only 

bn in touch w 15 Bde 

by Semaphore - & went 

down to / moat & round 

/ ramparts & reported to an 

offr there (who asked Are 

you / party wh has bn out 

there all day?) This 

Offr showed O'C round  

/ positn.  O'C then returned 

& handed / patrol report to 

Lt Thompson ws then with 

the O'Cs party, & handed 

over to him.

That night abt 11 pm

the 56 Bn was reld by 57? 

a Bn of 15 Bde.

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The casualties were abt 230

out of 360.

56 Bn Bellicourt. Estrees Oct 1/2.

(Lt Watt & another offr)

At this time 56 Bn ws

2 Coys strong: A & B.

They were in / Hindbgline 

in left rear of Bellicourt. Warned 

during early hours tt they were 

to attack & gn line from / 

Roman Rd to / Hospital. 

The form up ws hurried - as 

Bn reached / J.O. point (wh 

ws ahead o / line held by our 

troops) the barrage descended. 

It ws a fairly erratic barrage 

w a salient of shorts in it 

near / junction of 56 & 54.

The Bn reached / Sugar Factory 

with / barrage - Bn had 5 tanks

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(2, 2, & 1 in reserve) - the tanks 

were barging ahead into our own 

barrage. (One ws hit later but 

not seriously by a shell of ours). 

The 56th had to move right 

to join 5 31 and thus came 

astride / Roman Rd.

In / Factory abt 12 Germs 

were captured & no m.gs. It 

ws only an outpost defence.

Behind / banks in 7

central there were further Germs - 

numbers cd be seen on Mill 

Ridge running away ^over / hill before / 

barrage reached them.

The rly cutting ws /

objve - no germs were found there. 

It had bn / main line (crest line). 

They got a whizzbang gun here.

31 side slipped at once & let 

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