Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/273/1 - 1918 - 1937 - Part 11

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VILLERS-BRETONNEUX

for it was realised , that, though the Germans enemy had failed

to gain as much as they he undoubtedly expected, yet it was

inevitable, that, if matters were allowed to rest as they were, he

that they the enemy would soon make a 2nd second Attack to gain the

remaining high ground and ridge slightly more to the

West of Villers-Bretonneux. If they he succeeded in doing

this, they he would be looking straight down into Amiens, and

all our lateral communications North and South.

General Sir Henry Rawlinson, Commanding the 4th Fourth Army,

thereupon decided that an immediate counterattack

must be made to regain our old positions, and for

troops to accomplish this formidable task he determined

to call upon the 5th Australian Division ^two Australian infantry brigades-the 13th (4^th Divn.) and 15th (5^th Divn.) whose confidence

in themselves and their leaders to carry out any duty

successfully, however difficult or dangerous, was indeed

unbounded.

On weighing up all the factors in the situation, it was

decided that a counter-attack in the early hours of the

night, assisted by a moon that gave some light, but not

too much, gave the best chance of success, though this

involved the mounting of an attack across difficult

country at night, with no artillery barrage to assist it,

against an enemy who had had time to consolidate

his position, and mount numerous Machine-Guns.

It is not my place to describe the attack of the 5th Australian

Division brigades.  in April 24th, 1918, which will always remain

in the memories of the Empire's Armies that fought in

France as a great feat of Arms.

There are many Australian Pens who have commemorated

It has been commemorated by many Australian pens,

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VILLERS-BRETONNEUX

and will ^be commemorated at again.

In my own immediate surroundings, I saw only one phase

of that attack in its initial stages, namely, that

undertaken by the 13^th Australian Brigade (Brigadier-General

T.W.Glasgow) across the country just South of the

Bois d'Aquenne and Villers-Bretonneux, against

Monument Wood, and the ground North and South of it.

This was xxx undoubtedly the most difficult task of all

the ^three 3 brigades that undertook the Counter-attack.

Between the 13^th Australian Brigade and their objective

xxxx were various lines of wire to be crossed, the land

sloped from South to North, and this in the dark would

tend to draw troops towards the Southern Outskirts of

Villers-Bretonneux and the Railway Bank, where the

enemy had many machine-guns, which were likely to,

and did as a matter of fact, enfilade the attack of

the 13th Infantry Brigade at close quarters, causing

many losses.

On the afternoon of April 24^th some of the 13^th Australian

Infantry Brigade Staff came up to 23^rd Infantry my

Brigade Quarters  headquarters to make preliminary preparations

for the attack of their Brigade, and to study the

ground to be passed over.

As the shades of night deepened, the 13^th Infantry Australian

Brigade moved into their allotted positions, South of the

Bois l'Abbe, and at 10 P.M the attack started off.

The orders issued were few and clear, as all ranks knew

exactly, what they had to do. 

In fact, just before "Zero Hour" one ^Australian Regimental 

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VILLERS-BRETONNEUX

Australian  Officer was heard to say these simple words - 

"Boys, you know what you have to do: Get on with it."

Then the 13th Australian Infantry  Brigade started off across

country by night, in the face of heavy fire against their

face and left flank, but, not to be denied, steadily

advanced xx and gained possession of Monument Wood,

driving out the enemy before them.

For a time their position was a dangerous one, as the 15^th

Australian ^Brigade (Brigadier-General H.E. Elliott), Infantry Brigade, who were which was  attacking from North 

of Villers-Bretonneux,had made its attack ^advance at a later hour.

The left flank of the 13^th Infantry Brigade was thus for

some time in the air. The attack of the 15^th, Australian

Infantry Brigade, however went very smoothly when it

started, and some time after midnight the two

Australian Brigades were linked up.

Eventually however it was found expedient to re-establish

a permanent line of defence a little in rear of the

old one. Furthermore, when day broke on the 25^th April 25th

it was found necessary to clear out a good many

German Pockets and Strong-Points in Villers-Bretonneux,

Bois d'Aquenne and the Railway Embankment, which

had been passed over in the night advance.

By midday on the 25th cleaning-up parties of the 8^th

Division and ^the Australian Brigades had cleared out all these

nests, capturing German prisone^rs and Machine-Guns,

and comparative quiet reigned once more.

So ended happily a stormy 48 hours, after as what at one

time threatened to be a serious disaster to the British Lines

in France, and which was only averted by Australian

Values and Australian Arms.

G.Grogan: Brigadier General

late Commanding the 23rd Infantry Brigade.

Diagram - see original document

[*H.N*]

Lieut. Harvey. 54Bn. V/B 24/4/18.

Suppt trenches were blown in. Capt McNab of Coy took

them back to Reserve Line of trenches.

Just before the bombardment Before this Harvey saw a patrol - 4 Gs coming thro

w waterbottles. Sent up a V. light, put L.G. on them.

H went out. One cd speak Engl. He had bn told

there ws no oppn - they cd go into V/B & fill

water bottles w wine.

During bombt Harvey thought he saw Gs

come up to wire. Took Sgt Joyce & Cpl -

went over to 2/R Bde & asked him not

to shoot - he ws going to reccre. Cd see

nothing when he got there. Minnies were on

front trenches - had one man Pte Ward hit.

During bombt H. had been looking to ammn

supply - found them low. ^Abt 3 or 4 am took Joyce to Engl.

regt & tried to get some. When he got

there there ws no one there. Both the

f.l. & m.g. crew had gone. H. got ammn

from the empty posn & sent a sectn o /

pln over to hold / empty trench. Cdnt say

if posts S. had bn abandoned, but N.

post was. (This ws during bombt wh seemed

to be of same intensity all through. There ws

gas in it). H. told them to keep a good look

out. Thick fog came down towds dawn. We

cd hear a plane, v.low, came down &

zoomed up but cdnt say if it ws G. or Brit.

. 2 .

Abt 7 a.m. mist ws lifting & cd see Gs advg. from Vaire Wood

down into the depression - in line. We had v. light

wire ahead. Gs came to top of ridge we were on

& put a m.g. there. When H. saw them coming he

turned to / boys & sd: Get ready, here they come.

Abt 30 in / trench - a single pln p. P. on rt

wd be 30^x away. P. on left (Winterbotham) wd

be 50^x away. Where H. saw Gs coming he had a

rft w him. He said "Here they come, send

up the SOS". He put a live cartridge in,

& blew it to pieces.

H. was also keeping look to rt & cd

see G advg past us there towds V. B.

(in Single file). From the trenches on rt

they fired on rt fl. L.G. & smashed it.

This ws v. soon after they were seen, &

showed they were in / trenches on rt.

The m.g. they had emplaced in front

ws giving trouble, tho' whole of H's men

were on top of trench. All were standing out there,

H. got a Mills grenade & fired it, &

w luck it fell right on / machine gun group -

3

Meanwhile. Gs estd a mg. at head of depression

(B) & were trying to enfilade us w m.g.

fire. Every time they opened H's left

hand L.gunner opened on them. When

everything had died down, these Gs started

to walk out, getting timber to build up

their posn. We let them come out till

5 or 6 were there, & when they went to

get back we opened fire. That quietened

them.

In / night time at dar When bombt ws at its worst we saw

a figure coming right thro it. It ws

Capt McNab. He visited every p. o /

Coy to see things were O.K. Harvey sent to

boys w him in case anything happened.

H. also told him tt his rt fl. was

was exposed. _^Soon after dark that night he sent

some reserves down to occupy the

post. H. was visiting tt post and happened

to look out in front & saw a v. strong

German fighting patrol. H sd "let them

come near". & opened on them. This

4

dispersed them - they ran all ways. One v. tall

German jumped into / trench. Sd something in

German & then jumped out & made a run

for it. One of the boys picked up his rifle.

& got him in / leg.

HN.

V/B 2.

Extract from Tank Corps file (24-27 April 1918).  

Examination of a German Sergeant-Major of 4th Guard Divn.

(dealing mainly with particulars of German tanks).

Prisoner with 8 men surrendered to two tanks between Bois Aquenne

and Villers Bretonneux.

Prisoner stated that, in his Division, they had a very low opinion

of the British Infantry. The junior command was considered to be

very ignorant. With regard to the Higher command, he stated that

German officers frequently pointed out to them that the Flanders

Battle and various attempts to use British Cavalry against unbroken

lines showed the stupidity of the British Higher Command. He also

stated that it was generally considered that the British Cambrai

attack produced the greatest opportunity of the war, but that it

was generally considered that the British Higher Command had made

no preparations to exploit the success.

Prisoner stated that it was generally considered that the Australian

troops were about the finest in the world, and that the Germans were

loth to attack them.

He said that the general opinion was that the average of the French

troops was as high as the average of the German troops. Prisoner

said that they could have captured their objectives south of

Villers-Bretonneux with very little opposition but that they had

been let down by the German 77th Divn on their left.

Dr. Bean.

The abovementioned sergeant-major cannot have been the

one that who was captured by the 8th Div. early on Apl. 22x.

According to the 8th Div. & other records the latter, was to  belonging to

the 3rd Coy. 93 R I R (4th Gd Divn.), was captured with another man of

the 93rd early on the 22nd. The above man  It would seem from

the above notes that that S.M. who, who was taken with eight others, was 

captured by the Tank Corps on the 24 25th.

A.W.S.

The Times

Literary Supplement

8/5/1930

EVERYMAN AT WAR

EVERYMAN AT WAR. Sixty Personal Narratives

of the War. Edited by C.B.

PURDOM. (Dent. 6s. net.)

The title of this symposium is a happy one.

In the first place, it owes its existence to an

invitation by Mr. Purdom, the editor of

Everyman, to his readers to send him accounts

of their War experiences. In the second,

these are not the reminiscences of professional

writers or men of any one type, class, or military 

calling. They are mostly men in the

ranks, but they include one captain and

several other officers. The majority write of

the Western Front—a special section being

reserved for three "Old Contemptibles" of

1914—but Gallipoli, Macedonia, Palestine,

Mesopotamia and German East Africa are

also represented. Unfortunately there are

only three airmen and three sailors. There

are also three women and two prisoners of

war.

Just a few of the writers have obviously

aimed at literary effect, but these are the

least effective, with the exception of Mr.

William G. Johnson, whose account of the 

storming of the Wadi esh Sheria in Lord

Allenby's first Palestine offensive is a remarkable

piece of writing. Otherwise, the best

narratives are the plainest and most
straightforward. Of these Corporal Bernard John

Denore's account of the retreat from Mons,

which comes first, is typical. It is a picture of

perpetual marching, hunger, thirst and bloody

feet, with interludes of rear-guard fighting,

which are dismissed in a few words. In fact,

the fighting seemed to him the least important

and trying part of the affair. "We seemed

to have the measure of the Germans, and yet

we retired." Sergeant J.F. Bell's account

of a German attack at Ypres on October 29, 

1914, is more dramatic, and Mr. Anthony

Hossack's story of the first gas attack the

following spring still more so, but they are

both more or less in the same vein. One of

the best accounts of a battle is by an officer,

Captain S. J. Worsley's "Delville Wood." Few

are out of the ordinary run or describe adventures

which we do not think might have 

befallen any one of us, but therein lies their

fidelity. They are the War. There are,

however, one or two extraordinary incidents

in a different category. One is Flight-

Sergeant Lewis's story of his jump from the

basket of an observation balloon ripped open

by shrapnel, when he first fouled the cable,

and then, having got the parachute wound

round his body, dived on to the top of his

fellow-observer's parachute—a chance in a

million. The other, Lieutenant F. Mitchell's

"When Tank Fought Tank," is quite unique

and, as the story is also exceptionally well

told, really belongs to the high literature of

battle.  It is an account of the tank fight, the

only one of any importance in the course of

the War, at Villers-Bretonneux on April 24,

1918.  If the reader feels that hitherto he has

been meeting familiar adventures he will

assuredly find excitement enough here. We

have space only to mention in addition an

excellent account by Corporal J. C. Morgan of

the life of a Labour company at Ypres,

Mr. W. Wainwright's story of the landing on

the Mole at Zeebrugge, and Quartermaster-

Sergeant Harry Drake's little record of his

treatment in sickness by an old Frenchwoman

at Famechon. But almost all have the stamp

of reality and hardly one has the air of

exaggeration.