Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/224/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 5

Once / Germs were on / run
it ws a race betw them &
us to see whether we wd get
them before getting into Peronne.
There were 2 Bridges, one on
/ Clery Rd, & one to S.W.
- a plank bridge near some
huts & broken ground in /
moat at NW corner o / town
This advance ws mostly at
/ double - as fast as / men
cd go - half walk half
double - On rt flank they
were held for a while
near Radegonde.  The barrages
were area barrages & our
men got to Radegonde before
/ barrage had lifted.
The Germs were running towds
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both bridges.  You cd only
see abt 100 yds ahead owing
to rain - After passing /
second line the Germs didnt
fire much.  They had no time
to get down & fire.  Our
men were potting at them
& reckoned it / best sport
they had had.
In Quinconce wood
200 Germs were taken.  They
had bn organised by  German
colonel - he had got together
a lot of stragglers & ws forming
them up to march them off
to Peronne.  Two men -
Ptes Patterson & Pte Brown
got / lot of them - they
covered / Colonel w a rifle &
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/ German Colonel told his men
to drop their rifles.  He ws v.
surprised to find only 2 men coming
on to take / surrender, tho of
course he knew there were more.
These 2 men marched / prisoners off.
The Colonel marched at / head of his
men - he wdnt march in w them.
[This ws / Colonel wh paid a tribute
to our men at / prisoners cafe -
Gen Hobbs later told Bn so].
As Bn reached/ bank
o / canal, very scattered,
they were right up agst /
battlements.  They estabd touch
w/ flanks & reorganised -
found 53 on left flank -
Then B Coy entered / town by
the left bridge w one section of Vickers
guns
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When first / Bn arrd at
/ moat - abt 7.30 a.m. -
one o / men who had seen
several Germs, whom he ws
chasing, ran after them.
Pte Scobie - had just got down
to / bridge, when it blew up -
/ Germs had run over it.
Scobie came back & reported
tt / bridge ws destroyed.  This ws
before Bn had stopped to reorganise.
The Southern Bridge did not
blow up tho there ws a mine
on it.  ^Lt Macarthur, M.C., Cpl Buckley & those
w them had bn held up by
our barrage at St Radegonde;
& so as soon as tt lifted
they went out on, & Lt Macarthur
& Buckley & some 2 others went
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down to reconnaitre
/ wooden bridge - Macarthur
went first & ws shot by
m.g. fire from / battlements
- they cd see / bridge.
Buckley then went & he
ws shot also just starting
down towds it - Sniped
thro / forehead.  A couple more
men were k. there.
Abt / same time Lt Houlder
Holder who ws there w /
rt flank waiting / decision
what to do ws k by a 
field gun firing from Peronne
at abt 150 yds range.
This gun ws on / corner of one
o / bldgs abt 27c8.3.
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the pty Bn reorganised
in / shelter of a bank on wh shrubs
were growing, out of view.  News
came tt t rt ws held up &
2 offrs had bn k.
To then Lt Doddimeade wd
on way thro down to Radegonde
wd. Lt Patman near the huts by the
wood bridge.
Capt Dowling, Senior offr in/c
firing line, sent word to C.O. tt
he ws entering Peronne w ^left of Bn & 2
V. Guns.
During / halt, Pte besides
Pte Scobie's reconnaissance,
Cpl Hall (later V.C.) went down
& reconnoitred / approaches
to / town & cd see tt there ws
not much Enemy organisatn there
- he wsnt fired at.  He didnt
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actually cross / bridge.
When left of Bn moved off Lt
Ing of the 14 M.G. Coy ws leading.
They went in sections in
single file - 10 or 15 yds between
sections.  They met no resistance
for / first 50 yds or so - only
a few bits of planking were
possible - these were not on /
bridge above, but were put
across / bottom o / moat
sufficient to allow them to X
the water (wh wd be abt 6ft deep)
These planks were first fixed
by some of the 54 Bn. during the
wait - After / x left Coy
moved over the Germs fixed Engrs started to
fix up / bridge at once.
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On getting into / town a
pty ws at once despatched
to / rt to mop up the mgs
wh were holding up / rt pty.
L^t Small ws sent down there
& several small pties under
NCOs (Dowling Downing details /
sections as they came along)
& they came on / Germ posts
from / rear from amongst
/ houses, & / Germs put
up their hands at once.
One big pty ws up on / upper
battlements o / big citadel in
Peronne; one pty fired ^up at them
w a burst of L.G. fire - & they
surrendered.  Within 20 mins
the rt ws reported clear & /
rt 1/2 Battalion crossed / bridge
of planks into / town.
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Hand drawn diagram - see original
1 ws a big Causeway Br.
w a barricade
of old timbers,
stones, etc.
in 53 Bn area
2. ws an old stone bridge blown up
earlier in / war, rebuilt in
wood by British, reblown,
& rebuilt by Germs & now
blown again.
3.  ws just duckboards.
The Bn then worked thro / houses
to / S.E. side o / town.  They found
Germs sometimes in / cellars,
sometimes in / rooms.  Just to
start w they fired from / upper
windows - mostly distant shots.
Once we got to close fighting they
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threw it in.  The right half
bn worked along / V/Carbonnel
Rd & as far as / rly bridge
beyond it.  There they got
touch w the 15 Bde - L^t W.L. Agnew
ws w this pty.
(L^t Harvey ws in/c of
A Coy & Agnew in/c of C) after
Macarthur's death). In /
houses there they captd
over 100 prisoners.  The Germs
were mostly prisoners who
had run away from in
front of / attack - they were
sitting down & waiting for orders.
When we got down to /
bank opposite Flamicourt, a
large n^o of Germs ws noticed,
marching, under an offr
in column of route, retiring
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