Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/224/1 - August - October 1918 - Part 7

pick up guides at / 
last house on / Bellicourt
Nauroy Rd, in Bellict.
Bn left 4 a.m. for J.O.T
but guides werent there.
It ws raining & v. cold. They
then went to 29 Bn Hqrs
who produced 2 runners &
an I.O. who took Bn along
Bellict -Nauroy Rd to where
the C.T. crosses it. There
pack mules were & a picks
& shovels were issued to / men.
Eachman Bn started
to Nauroy
Diagram - see original document
A & C were to lead. Half way
to Nauroy, over / top,
59

commn ws broken half
way down C Coy, wh
put / two last Coys off -
the Bn ws hastening to get
to zero & / weather ws
v. bad.
The I.0. lined them up
on a rd in Nauroy.
This Rd faced / wrong way.
The whole of A & ½ C got
lined up there when
/ barrage dropped -
rest out of touch, no
sign of 56. There ws
a big gap on / left
to 15 Bde.
60 A Coy)
17  C Coy  ) 77 men ws
all tt were there when
60

61
※This barrage ws v. good exc.
for a whole bty falling short /
whole way. This hit at least
15 men before they saw what
ws happening, when they side
stepped it.
They were to tell / here objve by the
barrage halting, & they did this; but
this bty ws short to / end
& objve ran like this
Diagram - see original document
barrage dropped. They took
over 56 Bns sector as
well as their own & barrage
dropped short into Nauroy※
when it lifted they followed
it into & met no mg.
no oppositn.
They had gone abt 250
yds when 56 Bn came up
in column of Route onto
/ field. They marched
past 54, shook out, &
squeezed 54 in. 54's other
coys came on w them. Benson asked Vine Hall to come
in on the left in the front line,
Bn ws disorganised by ^all this
but reorganised on final
objve. There they got onto
their proper sectors.
56 Bn went on to Estrees
where Capt Benson had a
62

consultation with L^t Watt
& it ws decided to push on
& see what cd be gained.
Watt pushed on.  A Coy
54 went along to occupy /
Sunken Rd on Walts left to
Folemprise Fm. All A Coy
went there, & ^2 pln of C Coy just
forwd o / crest.
D & B & 2 plns of C
were on / reverse slope
consolidating.
15 Bde didn't come
up on left for some reason.
54 had these coys in support
as a defensive flank. There
they joined on reverse slope to
15 ^th Bde on main objve
63

When 56 withdrew Benson
withdrew his 1½ coys also to
main objve.
56 went fowd agn later.
This time Benson didnt sent his
Coy down agn as his Coy wd
have to go straight down to N
end of village in view o / Germans
who by now had pulled
themselves together & were
playing w m.gs. &
putting in counter preparatn.
A defensive flank ws put
in from left of 56 back to
15 Bde which ws still in
/ main objve.
A divisional order came
up then to push on. Capt.
Benson ws in a quandary
64

what to do when Col Marshall
came up & went to see 56 Bn
& about came back &
confirmed Bensons arrangements
& told him to stay
The 54^th ws in a much
shelled area, but had few
casualties. They dug in where
they were. After 1½ hrs German
shoot ended, exc. where he saw
movement
Abt dusk, after sunset,
54 Bn shifted to / Sunken Rd.
in A 24 D at / head of Soult
Valley - & a bit ahead of it -
making / front line. They were
in touch on both flanks w
/ front line (Vine Halle's 2 Coys
in front & Bensons in suppt).
65

They dug special trenches there &
stayed till mg of Sep Oct 2
when 2 Div passed thro.
54 came out along
red route to positns of
night of Sept 29 & follg days.
x
66

54 Bn
Peronne. V/B.
(Col Holland)
There ws a Rd wh abt
bisected the sector of 54 Bn.
German attack seemed to be
bounded by this sd of The Warfusee
Fouilloy Rd. 54 Bn had
2 posts in 19 B & 2 in
13 D. These were pln posts.
The Germ barrage in / morning
seemed to be on / area S.
of this Rd.
24 A 6.4 ws Bn H.Q. near the
2 trees.
The posts were echeloned
abt 19 B 8.8 & 8.4
C.O. had bn round / posts
tt night & had come back &
67

& ws just reporting all quiet
when down came / Germ
barrage.
The Germs came on abt
1½ (?) hrs later but were
heavily fired on from our posts
wh held. The germs seemed to
come on w their rt on /
road - pretty thick. They
seemed, when stopped, to
swerve to  / rt into /
gap wh ws made by /
 Bes Kings Royal Rifles swinging back on
/ rt.
Col Holland moved his
supports up & reserves up
on rt to cover / flank thus
formed. The British had a
line of old parts bent straight
68 

back & round to  / rt -
but / Germs never actually
got hill 104 itself.
56 Bn came and formed
a continuatn from 54 Bns
rt flank. to the Cachy Rd wh
went under / rly.
Lt Harvey ws / pln
Commder in/c of rt post.
55 Bn ws dug in to /
banks in front of Hamelet
had 2 Coys to move if
needed.
69