Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/225/1 - 1915 - 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 21 Centl.
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 dusk 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 Willow  This left only
2 Coy Offrs, ^both in C Coy - Lieuts Bull
& Nancarrow.  The other 3 Coys
were in commd 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 bank.
Imd Coys crossed /
bank they met very heavy m.g.
fire from / Ramparts.  They cd
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see / heads & 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
shell holes 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 & / 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 man 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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22
Diagram - 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 aftr
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
onto / 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 ws reld by 57?
a Bn of 15 Bde.
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The casualties were abt 230
out of 360.
56 Bn Bellicourt. Estrees Oct1/2.
(Lt Watt & another offr)
At this time 56 Bn ws
2 Coys strong: A & B.
TGhey were in / Hindbg line
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 / junctn 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 Germns
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 whizz bang gun here.
31 side slipped at once & let
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