Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/274/1 - 1918 - 1941 - Part 5

9.

a rustle & down / trench came 20 Gs w

rifles at the high port. J. dropped aimed his revolver

instantly & the leading Hun dropped his rifle

& held his hands up, & all / rest folld suit.

(J & pty were feeling their way up / trench cautiously)

The 15 men following behind then went through

/ Gs for watches - one digger had 6. J got ws gn one of

these & 10 mins aftwds put his hand in pocket

& found it smashed by a bullet wh he hadnt

noticed. J. then took the ply on to NW corner o

 

10

Wood (dugout prisrs had bn shoo-ed back)

w a couple of men to see

them part o / way.

The trench stopped abt 50 yds from wood. J. was

puzzling what to do, & cd see more Gs coming

up to refce those who were holding / edge o /

wood. The trench broke into a V & the 15 were scattered

over 30-40 yds. J. called a halt to plan his attack;

5 mins (probly) passed, when a red headed digger

sd "Let's rush the bloody thing." J sd no - fear. J had

 

 

11

to order them not to as he knew there ws a

G. m.g. in the wood. J worked back up the other

branch of the V & found it led up to / wood; so

he went back & brought / men up / trench - a

very plucky chap going first: at one corner there

were 2 Gs w a m.g. & they knew whoever went

round first wd get the m.g. However for

some reason the Gs. broke - There ws a shout "They're

running" & the pty went on after them. The

 

12

Gs xx had bn on / edge o / wood in a S.P.

Hand drawn diagram - see original document.

J & pty rushed this S.P. abt 20 yds (no losses so far)

The S.P. had bn firing on the 5th - when J rushed it

 

 

13

There ws a dugout & out o / dugout came 12 Gs w hands

up, surrendering.

As soon as they had cleared the S.P. Joynt

went into the wood & found, 10 yds in front of the m.g.

the A sergeant of the 6 Bn. No man of his bn ws

within 150 or 200 yds.

J went at once across to Permezel

& told him of his positn betw. 5^th & 6^th.

Two days later the whole line went Forwd

Or rather 8 Bn went on, 5 Bn didn't - J got ½ mile out

 

14

w no one on flank. He went out to reconnoitre

& while looking round ws hit w a fragment of 5.9

in the thigh. The G was shelling there heavily.

On Aug 23 evening J establd a line E of Plateau Wd

(after reaching the wood) - establd a

line E of the wood in an SW trench (15 of own & abt

50 of 6 BN).

J. returned abt 8.30 to his own Bn HQ (after calling

on 6 Bn) & found his Captain Commandr (Findley) had bn k. J then had to

move his ply coy up a bit & was heavily fired on by 

[*Hand drawn diagram -see original document*]

 

15

Gs in Herleville Wood. A pty of some 200 Gs. being brought

in as prisrs by 3 or 4 Scots was here mercislessly fired

on by the G. m. guns & cut to bits.

J. took his coy farther back; & was then ordered

E of Plateau Wood (the posn wh he had captd,) w his Coy.

He remained there reporting to the C.O. of the 8th.

Two days later rest of 8 reld the 6^th.

 

H.N. Aug 22.1918.

Carrie :- ^Letter to Monash 22.8.18. on leaving 4 ceremy.

"There are no tps who have given us as loyal & effective

suppt as / Austlns and I am sure I speak for all cdns when

I say tt we wd like to finish / war fighting side by side

w you."

 

August 1, 1938    REVEILLE     13

MERICOURT

AUGUST 22, 1918

August 22, 1918, will long be remembered by Diggers

of the 21st Machine Gun Company.

The company left the billets at Hamelet about 10.15

p.m. on the 21st, and marched about ten miles through

Vaire-sous-Corbie, Hamel, Cerisy, Morcourt, and arrived

at Mericourt about 2.30 a.m. on the 22nd. 

After the long march the troops were ready for a rest,

and camped in holes along the hillside overlooking the

main road and the river Somme. The transport section

and mules were located in the quarry, near a sunken

road at the end of the village.

When we awoke later in the morning, we found the hill

alive with 18-+pounders, and directly in front of us were

Fritz's observation balloons.

Our guns were giving Fritz a bad time, but we soon

found the balloons had spotted our transport, for, when

the mules were taken to the river for a drink, enemy

shells began to come over. The first shell landed about

fifty yards beyond our sleeping places and we were

showered with dirt. The next fell just near a mob of

artillery horses, as they were trotting along the road.

After that the shells came in showers; one fell on the

road directly in front of a motor transport full of troops

and the vehicle ran into the hole made by the shell, and

it was some time before it could be placed on the road

again.

Some of the shells fell close to us and some in the river

Somme, so we hurriedly vacated our positions and went

into the village to shelter among the ruins. The shells

dropped close to where the transport limbers and mules

were, and some of the buildings near us were hit.

The situation was becoming desperate and we were

chased all over the village. During the afternoon the

shelling was transferred to the river, as Fritz had probably

observed the mules being taken for water. We

decided to shift to the sunken road just outside the

village, as the shells were continuously passing over our

heads and bursting in the ruins of the village.

About 6 p.m. the machine gun sections were preparing

to take up their positions for the big attack in the

morning, and just as No. 3 section had assembled in the

quarry a 12-inch shell landed there, near where some of

the men had been resting, and burst over the 30 men

comprising the section. Pieces of shell, chalk and stones

over them.

Three men were killed outright and 17 were wounded,

three of whom died later in hospital. Only ten men were

left in the section, which had to be reinforced to complete

the required number.

This occurrence upset everyone, and no one felt up

to the task required of him the next morning. The

sunken road was like a dressing station, men lying about

covered in blood, having their wounds dressed. Some

had legs and arms off, and face and chest wounds.

The three men killed were Privates Pat Harrington,

Campbell and Robinson, and they were buried the next

day in the cemetery at Morcourt. Pat Harrington was the

life of the section; he had enlisted in the 8th Reinforcements

of the 1st Pioneer Bn., and was camped with me

 

in the Sydney Showground, and we sailed together in the

Anchises. He came from the Northern Rivers of N.S.W.

During the evening we moved to a new position at

the other end of the village, and just as the transport

left the quarry another big shell landed there, and the

debris completely covered the dead men.

The transport returned to Morcourt early next morning

and we were only a few hundred yards behind the

front line at Mericourt. A day or two later we went

to Cerisy Valley. - 3609 Pte. E. J. INGHAM, 21st M.G.

Coy., A.I.F., 2 Lyton Stuart Ave., Manly.

 

Aug 23 1918. Proyart. from LT Dollery, 12Bn.           H.N. 1 23

The 12th did not begin really to attack until they passed through

the 1st who had got up onto Froissy Beacon. Part of the 1st had

got away to the left there, and had apparently left Germans on the

heights immediately opposite ?Chuignes ?Chuignolles who fired heavily

on the 12th as they came down into the valley to attack - cutting

about the wheatfield through which they were passing so that

they had to creep on their stomachs with the m.gs cutting the blades

above them. The German shrapnel was badly burst immediately overhead

and just failed to lengthen sufficiently.

When the 12th pushed thro the 1st Dollery was next to

Tulloch of the 11th and they went more or less together. The

Germans were beaten and were fairly ready to run back. Dollery

pushed on over the open top of the ridge until he came to the

Bois Carre or near it, almost to the edge of Olympia Wood. His

men had some shots at the German gunteams which were racing off with

guns from Olympia Wood, and over the next rise. At 1100 yds he does

not think his L.Gunners hit any, Major Foster, who was with the Bn

that day was due for his Anzac leave. He was an officer who had

been much tried, but he had come back to the unit after wounds, and

asked to go into the fight of the 23rd. Just as he was leading his

men out from Froissy Beacon he was shot through the head, by mg or

sniper. Lt. ?L...... carrying a bomb with a pin out was hit, and fell,

and the bomb exploding killed him.

There were no troops for 100 yds to the left of the 12th.

Section rushes(to whistle) were used at Froissy.

Aug 25th. On Aug 25th, owing to the advance of the 3rd Div it was

thought that the 1st Div might push on and capture or cut off Germans

who were in a pocket formed by Olympia Wood, Cappy etc. Accordingly

 the 12th and 9th (?any others) were ordered to advance. There

was no barrage and they were to start at 3 pm. (?) Dollery was ordered

first tosee that the quarry near Olympia wood was clear of Germans so

that they could not be enfiladed. This he did "fairly easily" and

afterwards went on into Olympia Wood.

Something went wrong with the 9th and they did not advance

for two hours after the 12th. The 12th had to go over the top, and

they did so in one continuous advance - not by section rushes. The

Germans had as usual a picked type of machine gunner in his rearguard

posts and they cut the 12th about terribly. It was a hopeless advance,

and the losses were pitiably heavy.

When the 11th came up the party under Dollery was having to

be withdrawn from Olympia Wd, and the 11th taking for them for Germans

fired on them. That night the Germans retired from the positions which

the 12th failed to reach.