Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/274/1 - 1918 - 1941 - Part 14

No 2, Copy
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CHAPTER XIII.
TROPICAL MEDICINE. THE WORK OF THE
AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Mont St. Quentin   (From Page 28)

troops, it was soon surrounded by the Australians, appearing 
out of the thick fog.  Only one man came back to

tell the story.  The heavy machine-guns of the 1st

Machine-gun Company were also lost, in spite of brave

resistance of the crews.  "Hand-grenades and other

munitions were used up, and the machine-guns failed us.

There was nothing left do do, therefore, but to answer

the Australian cries of 'Hands up!' by rendering our

machine-guns useless."

Consequently, one half of the two fighting battalions

of the Alexander Regiment had already been annihilated

before the other parts of the regiment could take any

active part in the battle.  The 7th Company had reached

a steep slope about 150 metres west of the canal.  Scarcely

had the noise of battle reached their ears, when the relieved 
81st Regiment rushed through the company, immediately 
followed by the Australians.  Thereupon followed 
wild confusion and hard fighting at close quarters.

A counter-attack was abandoned as not practicable, especially 
after a section of the 7th Company had been overpowered 
by the Australians, small remnants only fighting

their way through to Feuillaucourt.

Eventually the Australian shock-troops penetrated to

the dug-outs of the commanding officers.  The two battalion 
headquarters of the Alexander Regiment and that

of the 81st were taken by complete surprise and made

prisoners after a short resistance.  The same fate

awaited the 8th Company, of which only three non-commissioned 
officers and 12 men escaped.

The 2nd Australian Division was favoured by extraordinary 
good luck during its intrepid attack.  Without

any preliminary preparation, and favoured by the thick

fog, its companies pushed through the various gaps in

the weak German advanced positions.  Their attack coincided 
with the commencement of the relief in the

German lines.  The Germans were surprised and surrounded, 
and the greatest bravery was of no avail.  Yet

the Australians, though considered first-class troops, were

not entirely irresistible.  By counter-attacking, the remaining 
section of the 2nd Battalion of the Alexander

Regiment, assisted by parts of the Augusta Regiment,

regained the northern slope of the Seefeld Heights.  Two

trenches were retaken, and the Australians withdrew to

the forest of Thanne.

The storming columns of the Australians were clearly

drawn towards the elevation of Mont. St. Quentin, which

was silhouetted against the morning sky.  The foremost 
German lines had been overpowered so quickly that

the reserves of Infantry Regiment No. 94, which were

to support the Alexander Regiment, barely managed to 

occupy the outskirts of the village and bring the storming 
Australians to a halt.  The battalions of the 5th Australian 
Brigade penetrated into the gap between the

village and Feuillaucourt and overwhelmed the regimental 
headquarters of the 81st Regiment, which were in 

a natural crater, some 500 metres to the north of the

village.  The regimental adjutant reported the following:-

"The gallery was horizontally built into the crater wall, and formed

two bends is its backward course, which were to be our salvation.  We

awaited the arrival of the relief from the Alexander Regiment;

at 7 in the morning it had not yet arrived.  There were only 15 of

us in all-the commander of the regiment,   Lieutenant-Colonel Zimmer,

3 officers, and 11 privates.  At half past 7 the commander sent back a

guide whose duty it was to meet the relief troops half-way.   We watched

the guide climb up to the back of the crater-wall, and hardly had

he reached the top, when, with a loud cry he fell backwards. At

the same time an 'English' machine-gun opened fire at the entrance

at the gallery behind us.  Luckily the shots flew too high to be of any

real danger. We then hastily brought the injured guide back into

the gallery and treated his wounds.  He was shot in the throat, but not

fatally injured.  We made an effort to escape from the trap, but were

held back by a shower of bullets, fire by 'English' machine-guns.

boring themselves into the earth before us.  A few English Tommies

and black troops came down the slope.  Our next move was to retire
to the furthest portion of the gallery where the machine-guns could

not reach us.  The Australians (we discovered their identity at a

later date) threw a hand-grenade in the entrance, which unfortunately

killed the last musketeer who crept back into the gallery.  The

enemy, apparently coming to the conclusion that there were no more

living soldiers in the gallery, established themselves at the entrance.

We heard them conversing, but were unable to ascertain their number.

The terrible minutes passed, full of uncertainty. What would the Australians' 
next move be, would they force the entrance down? Bury us

alive- let us suffocate?  In this dreadful uncertainty we waited 2

hours".

Advancing from the north-east into the village and

park the Australians almost succeeded in capturing the

regimental headquarters of the 94th Regiment, which

managed its escape only after losing seven men.  Two

infantry guns were also taken by the Australians.

Mont St. Quentin seemed to be lost for the Germans,

when the 1st Battalion of the Alexander Regiment was

ordered to counter-attack from the south-west.  The

fires by the Alexander and the remains of the 94th Regiment.  
The German shock-sections advanced with a 

loud "Hurrah!" and the Australians were driven headlong

down the western slope of Mont St. Quentin.

"The first thing we saw, having reached the top," related a combatant

in the Alexander Regiment, "was retreating 'Tommies.'  We stood and

shot after them.  It was impossible for me to bring my machine-gun

into position, as everyone was pressing to the fore. As we ran forward

we passed two German field-guns, the carriages and barrels of which

were unmistakably marked by English characters- marked over and over

again with white chalk.  The way back was cut off by a large natural

crater.   A trench had been dug out at the bottom, in which the staff of

the 81st Regiment had established themselves."

But to return to the story of the adjutant of the 81st

I.R.

"It was then agreed in whispers (he says) to make a last attempt

at escape.  We prepared ourselves to make the effort.  Huesmann,

Lance-Corporal Larsch, and myself were the first to rush out of the

crater.  A shot rang out, and poor Larsch fell back dead!  We

naturally hesitated after this occurrence, but a second later loud

cheering was heard from the top of the slope, caused by the fact

that a company of soldiers led by their sergeant-major was charging

the surprised Australians.  They sped up the opposite of the slope,

abandoning their loaded machine-guns.  My batman, Johann Niehaus,

paid his attention to the English machine-guns, and the others finished

off the 25 odd blacks."

Thus the summit of Mont St. Quentin-Feuillaucourt and

the line of the great road were again in German hands.

However, all further attempts of the Germans to advance

failed.  The historian of the Alexander Regiment writes

that the "Australians were very tough!"  Perfectly even

opponents had clashed against each other, and both were

guided by the same strong determination for victory.

The difference was that the Australians did not lack fresh

and numerous reserves, whilst the decimated remnants

of the German regiments - the Regiments of the Guards

(Franz Alexander and Augusta), and the infantry regiments 
Nos. 122, 94, 96 and 95 - had to depend entirely

upon themselves.  This factor was to bring the decision

on the following day.

General Monash had recognised early in the day that,

in spite of the surprisingly rapid advance of the 2nd

Division, he would have to use fresh forces on the northern 
bank of the Somme. Therefore, he ordered the 14th

Brigade, which had followed the retreating Germans to

Barleux, to cross the river to the west of Clery and support 
the 2nd Division.  On the high river bank at Buscourt 
the Australian companies were awaiting the moment,

when they would be able to get over the pontoon bridge

which crossed the river at that point.

"As we waited," says Lieutenant H. R. Williams* of the 56th Battallion 
(14th Brigade), "our company commander, Lieutenant Bull,

pointed across the river in a half-right direction to a hill about three

miles away, saying 'That is Mont St. Quentin.  The 6th Brigade will

attack the Mont, and our job is to mop-up Peronne.'  The buildings

of the town could be seen above the trees.

* In his book "The Gallant Company," page 242.

" 'When does the show start?' I asked.

" 'This afternoon,' said Bull.

" 'Well, we will need lanterns for the attack if we are to be sooled

on to Peronne, as we cannot get into position before dark'."

And thus it happened:  the 6th and 14th Australian

Brigades prepared for a fresh attack on Mont St. Quentin,
and we also prepared ourselves in case of alarm.

" The night was raw cold," writes Lieut. Williams, "and we huddled

together for warmth.  Tomorrow we were to face a task as stiff as

any ever set before the Australian Corps.  But tomorrow could wait.

To-night our weary bodies craved sleep."

On the following morning a fine rain was drizzling.

It was the 1st of September.  The battalions of the 6th

Australian Brigade were lying at the foot of the hill of

Mont St. Quentin.  Other parts of the 2nd Division

advanced to the north.    The Germans still tenaciously

clung to the Ransbach Ridge and the flat heights to the

north of Mont St. Quentin.  The 14th Brigade made

rapid progress in the south.  The 53rd Battalion, advancing 
upon the sugar factory between Peronne and Mont

St. Quentin, suffered particularly severe losses in the

wire-entanglements as its soldiers were taken by heavy

fire from the flank.  They were supported by the 56th

Battalion, whilst the 54th Battalion soon reached Anvil

Wood in the direction Peronne.

Liuet. Williams, of the 56th Battalion, relates how his company

came to a halt in a sunken road near Anvil Wood.  "Here I saw

two German machine-gun posts, each with their entire crew lying

dead around the guns.  In one post were the bodies of sixteen dead

Germans, including an officer.  They had fought to the last.  We

received word that the 53rd Battalion was held up round the cemetery

to the left of Peronne, swept by machine-gun fire from the ramparts

of the town . . . .  Some of the 53rd Battalion dug themselves in

among the graves of the cemetery.  A company of the 56th Battalion

had become involved with the latter phase of the 53rd Battalion's

advance, and were now holding a position among some hutments and

a railway line near the cemetery."

Then, he says, word came through that the 54th Battalion had

gained a foothold in Peronne.  "About 11 a.m. I saw the first German

prisoners of the fight, a small party in charge of two slightly wounded

men of the 54th Battalion.  The prisoners were decidedly different

from those we had seen during these last weeks.  These were all big

men in good uniforms, and wearing white shoulder knots on the uniforms.  
They belong to the 2nd Prussian Guards Division . . . .  

The intelligence staff of our corps headquarters was surprised to find

among the few prisoners taken during the fights at Mont St. Quentin

and Peronne, men from many units of the German Army.  It was

soon learned that volunteers had been called for to hold these positions

against the coming attack from the Australians. It was no wonder, therefore, 
that the 6th and 14th Brigades had to fight like demons.   The

German machine-gunners could fairly be ranked with Leonidas's Spartan

Three Hundred, as they fought by their guns to the death, and continued 
firing when all hope for themselves personally had vanished."

The rain gradually ceased, the smoke of the bursting

shells and shrapnel mixing with the damp mist. The

6th Brigade repeatedly attacked Mont St. Quentin, and

from the so-called "Elsa Trench" its companies moved

further and further ahead.  They were repulsed four or 

five times,  but always stormed forward again.  Captain

Sullivan, of the 21st Battalion, was the first to enter the

village, where a hand-to-hand fight commenced.

At about 3 p.m. the Australians had surrounded Mont

St. Quentin from two sides.  Their artillery opened a

devastating fire on the village, and then the storm broke

loose.  Already in the first onslaught some three companies 
of Australians drove the occupants of the village

into the farm lying in the east.

"It was close on 3 o'clock in the afternoon," writes Corporal Barget,

of the Alexander Regiment.  "All of a sudden we were covered by

enemy artillery.  Shot after shot fell in our trenches mingled sometimes 
with grenades, and in the park to our left rose deadly red starshells.  
There was nothing left to do but attack.  Our machine-guns

were ready - our fingers pressed the triggers, and then followed the

thundering noise of fired bullets.  Everywhere were flat steel-helmets,

appearing and disappearing; the whole valley swarmed with enemy

infantry.  We shot at the figures springing towards us, vanishing and

reappearing like lightning. And- damn it!  To the left the 'Tommies'

were already behind our lines.  The company commander cried out

something to us which was lost in the terrific noise of battle.   Suddenly

a sergeant of the 2nd Company appeared conveying cartridge-straps.

I had no idea where he came from. The position was becoming more

dangerous every minute. To the left the enemy stood close behind us,

and to the right swarmed in masses into the valley.    In front there

were these ducking figures which seemed impregnable against our shots.

We were already using the third case on the roll, and my shoulder

was paining me badly.  The sergeant kept on shooting whilst I watched.

Suddenly he pointed to the left and yelled something at me.  God help 

us!  The enemy there was only 100 metres away, and kept disappearing

in the trenches and craters.  My men, having realised that it was

almost over, endeavoured to escape from the inevitability of being

taken prisoners, and crept along the trenches to the left.  The sergeant

and myself now stood alone in the trench, and our cartridge strap

was used up.  I tore the machine-gun down to the bottom of the trench,

but it was too late and I had no time to reload it.  What then took

place, did so in the space of a few seconds.  In a flash I saw over

the covering, the sergeant loaded his weapon, and I took out my pistol.

On the trench, not 10 metres away, stood a 'Tommy.,' his weapon

aimed straight at me.  Quick as lightning I turned to the left in order

to bend down and escape from range, but it was too late - something

hard hit my left shoulder and I was thrown back against the trench

wall.  My arm felt suddenly very hot.  Then a form sprang into the

trench - that of the Australian with the glasses."

The few who managed to get our from the village and

the park were taken to the south of Allaines.  Then the

fighting ebbed down.  Both friends and foes were worn out

and at the end of their strength.  The uneven fight was

resumed, however, in the morning of September 2nd.  The

Germans retreated hesitatingly, covering the retreat

to the Siegfried position.

Mont St. Quentin was a battle which scarcely finds a

parallel as far as the courage and tenacity of both assailants 
and defenders and the fierceness of the fighting is

concerned.  Perfectly equal opponents were on both sides.

They paid for the day with the greatest losses, and on

both sides on the following day a single battalion had

to be formed of wha had previously been two or three,

to such an extent had they been decimated.   For friend

and foe alike, for victors and vanquished, for Australians

and Germans, Mont St. Quentin will remain an unfading

leaf in the laurel wreath of glorious history.

22 August 1936.  DIE BRUCKE  25
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