Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/272/1 - 1917 - 1932 - Part 6

27.
he was forthwith detailed for the duty (to take them to the rear)
& much against his will picked up his rifle & set off
back with them. Had only gone a few yards when we
were startled by shots at the back of us & looking
round saw Conley pushing these men off one by one
with his rifle using one hand. He got his three men &
killed them outright. The others were all falling into
shellholes & crying in fear of their lives. ........As soon
as he had got his "issue" as he declared, he
marshalled the remainder & made off back with them.
We all laughed at the idea of him keeping true to
his word. It seemed a callous action though.
Bullets were coming over like hail & it seemed
that there were machinegun posts in the trees ahead.
There was a large wood about 400 yds in front of us
Other m/guns were concentrating on this now, but
could not do much good until the actual position
of the enemy guns were located. It was guerilla
warfare during the few minutes we roamed through the
scrubbery. Fired into any clump of bushes we saw
at a range of 10 yds at the most. In some cases heard
a piercing shriek which denoted a human target &
then sometimes not a sound came........ It was
dangerous work & bullets were whistling past my
ears. The noise of shellfire gave place to the click
click of bullets on every side just like a swarm
of crickets in the trees......... The place was being
sprinkled with bullets & at times dust sprayed our
clothes.......... This really seemed ever so much worse
than shellfire.
Taking cover behind a little bush we were
down on one knee firing at a number of Germans

28
congregated behind a hedge ten yards in front.
A man beside me received a bullet in the chest
& fell forward ......... I was particularly afraid of
my grenades for if a bullet struck them my life would
be immediately cut short...............
Germans were falling into our hands so fast
that we could hardly dispose of them & sent them
back in charge of an escort in large batches...............
Rifle fire is becoming more intense & we are
being picked off like flies.......... Came upon a German
m/gun in a depression in the ground near a shrub.
All the crew had been shot with the exception of two
men & these were keeping the gun going. They swept
the ground in front & it was with difficulty, we advanced
upon them. When about 5yds from the gun & in full
view, they must have known they only had a few
minutes to live but they clung to that gun like
leeches undeterred by our approach. We fired
at them from a range of about one yard & they fired
that gun to the last. A bullet of course silenced the
gun & these men dropped back mortally wounded.
Have never seen anything like this audacity & I
must admit the heroism displayed was without
rival & worthy of great merit. Surely there are deeds
for which men are honoured with the coveted Iron
Cross..........
As often as not if a wounded man was found on
the ground x a bayonet was thrust through him or
else his brains were knocked out by a rifle butt.
Before coming into action we received a warning never to
pass a wounded man..........
Enclosed in thick shrubbery was an old farmhouse

29.
just a little distance ahead. We were tempted to
fire on this, when we observed a Red Cross flag
flying above it........... apparently an advanced
German C.C.S. Notwithstanding the flag above it
we approached this place cautiously.........While we
quietly walked up to the house an officer advanced
holding a revolver poised. The door was on the side
facing the enemy & we had to go round the front to get
in. All was quietness surrounding it................
As our officer approached the door we stood just
behind him with bayonets ready should they be
required. The officer beckoned the occupants to come
out & it seemed that there were a large number in the
place. A German with his arm in a sling walked
towards the door & when about a foot off our officer
shot him through the chest with a revolver
concealed in the sling. We were all so taken by
surprise that we had not know what to do. & just
as we had collected our presence of mind & were
preparing to rush in with the bayonet, our officer put
out his arms & barred the way. He was speechless &
in great pain but gave us the signal that we were
not to enter. We could not understand his action
& were strongly inclined to disobey orders. In view
of such treachery it seemed the only proper thing to do
to go in & kill every one.
The officer now called them all out & about
20 marched out with their hands up. This was not
a C.C.S. The red cross flag had been all a
I pretence. There were no wounded men here.
...........Had we had our way not one of the
brutes would have been alive now even though

30.
it meant the death of some of us. This officer is
out of action & will have to go to the rear now, a loss
that we can ill-afford. These men had to be sent
back also, escorted by a wounded man. The treacherous
brutes did not deserve to get off so lightly........... Our
object in coming over here was to kill Huns and we
intend to carry it out to the best of our ability too.
They are slaughtering our innocent women & babies
in England by their Zeppelin & aeroplane raids.
.....................
We had traversed fully 500 yards beyond our
objective now & still there was no opposition. It seems
that the enemy is thoroughly disorganised and we do not
know how far back he has retreated.......... Our attack has
not spent its force yet, but as soon as it has we can expect.
a big c/attack..........
All this time we have the smallest idea of the
battle proper. We know we are doing fairly well
ourselves. but apart from our own little affair know
nothing. There is no contact with either battalion on
our flanks. Have not seen them since we commenced
our advance. It is rather dangerous to be advancing
too far into enemy territory without having contact.
...........Realising the gravity of the situation, we
now took stock of our surroundings before it was too
late. There was no sign of our contact aeroplane which
we had long forgotten in the heat of battle.
We were in an isolated position much in
advance of the objective originally allotted to us.
It seems that our plans of battle so well rehearsed
by our late Captain Davey had died with him..........
At the present moment, although being led by
subordinate officers, there was lacking any definite

31
plan of action & we just formulated our plans
as circumstances demanded. Then again our
losses had been heavy & many young officers and
N.C.O.'s had been knocked out........
One hundred yards in front was a very thick
hedge & ½ a mile beyond that a wood. It was in the latter
the Germans were congregated en masse. Our barrage had
lifted & the only fire now came from our rifles and m/guns.
In the intervening space between the hedge & the wood
it was practically open country & offered no
protection whatever......... After reconnoitring our
position, we decided to take up a line this side of the
hedge & consolidate it. The day was getting well
advanced, & it was necessary to consolidate a position
before nightfall in view of a c/attack that we
expected..........
We now moved forward to the hedge, These few
yards were the worst we had traversed today & bullets
came over like hail. The dust was scattered just as
though large rain drops were falling. -- All there
bullets fortunately were falling low..... I at once looked
for some cover.
Looking ahead I observed that gaps had been
cut in this hedge in various places. The thought struck
me at once that in front of each of those gaps a m/gun
had been established & that is why we had been
subjected to such a fire ................I lost no time now in
moving away from the gap.... which I was innocently making
for & shouted a warning to my comrades who were
similarly placed. They all stepped aside & advanced
under cover with less danger to their lives. I had
hardly sidestepped when a man who was following
men me uttered a scream & fell in a heap in the dust.
He had received a number of bullets in the body 

32.
& appeared to have been killed outright. My own
platoon officer Lieutenant Smith, who was
walking alongside me, spun round & round
and grasped his hip. He fell to the ground with a
thud......... A young sergeant took charge of
my platoon now.
Reaching the hedge we hurriedly fell down
into shellholes. Artillery had become silent & we
concluded our guns were being drawn up to their
new positions. Getting rather late in the
afternoon & we would have to get busy soon in
digging ourselves in. Two of us had got
into a little hole. ........hardly sufficient to accommodate
us. It was a tight squeeze & we were forced to
keep low because of the flying bullets ..........Had
hardly settled down when my throat commenced
to burn & eyes and nose started running. The
realisation dawned on me that it was a tear
gas shell that had made this hole & some of the
gas still hung in the bottom .......... Owing to the intense
danger in exposing ourselves above the level of the hole
it seemed preferable to take the risk with the gas instead of
getting up to put on masks.
My eyes burned painfully & had to keep them closed
while tears flowed freely beyond my control........ The pain of
eyes, nose, & throat was excruciating & I raised my
head a few inches to try & get a breath of pure air. Opened
my exes for an instant & then dropped back into the hole
immediately. Just round the top of the hole bullets were
clipping away the dust, which was scattered allover my
back. We were in a fearful plight. Speaking to my
comrade I asked him how he was faring. He was equally
as bad as myself.........At once now we both rose
from our hole & in a few seconds dived into a larger
one alongside.........

33.
My comrade put his steel helmet on the muzzle of
his rifle & just shoved it above the s/hole for a
few minutes. Sure enough he got a bullet right through
it. This was a sniper that had done this.......... A warning
was shouted to men in neighbouring shellholes. They
heard it & replied they were trying to locate some of these
snipers, when they wd turn a m/gun on them......... From
the bullet hole in this man's helmet, it was quite evident
that it came from the wood.........
..........He commenced to shell us. Some large shells
landed in our midst. Orders were at once issued for men to
scatter. Officers & NCO's got up & went from hole to hole
to get their men well spread out. Not more than 2 or 3 men were
allowed in each........... In some as many as 20 were
(had been) congregated......... They all scattered as much as
possible.
Lying in the hole........... could hear the click click of bullets
passing through the hedge. The leaves were gradually being
cut off & fell down on top of us.......... It must have been
m/gun fire..........Suddenly a German darted out from
a bush with his hands up. About 20 rifles were
concentrated on him immediately dett......but he was too
quick & jumped into a shellhole with some of our men....
He wore the Red Cross badge on his arm ........... One of our
officers got him to attend to some of our wounded.........
A circus of German aeroplanes came over now. There
were six of them flying very low.......... It is the first time
today we have seen a German aeroplane. ..........All our rifles & m/guns
were concentrated on them, but without effect. They kept dodging
about & flying very fast just like swallows on the wing........... They
fired m/guns on our shellholes but we kept very low &
bullets fell harmlessly on the ground surrounding us..........
The language from some of our men was livid..........About
ten minutes and........... they returned to their own lines.......
To our great surprise our contact aeroplane flew over.

34.
He was very high but we could quite distinctly see
the identification in the two black streamers from the wings.
Our first intimation of his presence was the noise of his
Claxon horn. He blew this repeatedly as though expecting a
signal in return. Each one of us carried a green flare
which was the signal to the aeroplane of our whereabouts;
but strange to say not one thought of using it. I think most
men were waiting for an order from their officers before they
would use the ground flare; but most of our officers being
shot, the few remaining did not grasp the situation or else
overlooked it. Several times our aeroplane came over
& went away again. It looked as though he was searching
for us. I was not very much experienced as some
of the others about me were & I really thought it was
advisable to light a flare & give him the signal. Just as I
was about to set alight to the one I carried, I was urged
by my comrades not to do it because the light would
give our position away to the enemy. This seemed to
me to be absurd, because the enemy already knew we
were here, whereas our own people did not know
where we were. There was such an outcry at my
attempting to do this that I refrained, thinking these men
had had more experience than I. and I may be doing the
wrong thing. At the same time I had the idea in my
head that a signal should have been sent to our
contact aeroplane.
I heard a conversation between an officer & the
Sergeant Major. The officer maintained that we were at
our objective whereas the latter insisted that we had
long ago passed our objective & were now about 500
yards past it.........the majority of us thought we
were a long way past it. That trench where we had
such a gruelling was undoubtedly our objective & that
is the point at which we should have stopped.
..... I
For a time we had depended on runners

35. [*this hell*]
and S/bearers, to maintain contact with the rear.
All our runners have been killed & our s/bs have
suffered severe casualties. It is an impossibility
to send out any more runners on a/c of the peril to
their lives. During the last hour. - we have not
seen a s/bearer & have many wounded men here
waiting to be carried out. No man could walk about
in the forward area in this rifle & shellfire.......
Lying in shellholes extended a kilometre or more
out in No Mans land from our old front line
trenches, no means of communication with the rear.
all supplies of munitions food water etc cut off,
with a better defiant enemy at bay, the prospect of
holding our position.....seemed remote.........
We could observe the great activity of the enemy in
the wood but half a kilometre ahead. It was
evident he was consolidating to launch a
vigorous c/attack. The rapidity with which
the m/gun fire was developing suggested an
ominous foreboding. In our newly won positions
no determined attempt had been made to
fortify them. Exhausted from the attack our
forces were endeavouring to recuperate their
spent energy for a renewed & more powerful
defensive action.
An hour had passed ........ and we
were still crouched low in whatever cover
was offered by shellholes. The rapid fire of
m/guns precluded all possibility of moving
out at the present moment. Artillery was
silent after the tumult of a few hours before

36.
It was an uncanny silence like the calm
before a storm. Overhead there was just the
continual click click of bullets & occasionally
the "swish" of a shell. The air was thick with
smoke, which gave the sky a gray appearance.
It was urgent to get a message to the
rear........ for it appeared we were isolated...........
It would be suicide for any man to attempt to
carry a message to the rear in this m/gun fire.
None of our s/bearers could work for that
reason. At the moment an officer asked for a
signaller, to converse with him & see what could be
done. A young signaller of Chinese
extraction named Shang from the north of
Queensland jumped up with his flags
& almost without intimation from the officer,
took up a position behind the ledge shielding
his body behind a tree trunk & waved his flags
almost in vain. It seemed hopeless to get
communication from the rear & then again
there was the grave danger of being shot before
he could succeed. It was a daring deed to
wave these flags right out in the open with such
little cover. A sniper could have despatched
him in a moment. After some minutes however
this young gallant was rewarded for his
self sacrifice. A signal was received from the
rear......... about two kilometres away.......... He
signalled for an artillery barrage at once to
try & stem the German c/attack that