Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/274/1 - 1918 - 1941 - Part 7

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open to contributions
Accession number:
RCDIG1066712
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

6. Captures, by 3örd Battalion for the fourth phase are: 600 prisonors 100 machine Quns Soven 77mm. guus 5 Lieht Minonworfers 1 Medium Minonworfer 1 field kitehen. shall submit soparatoly a list of nanos of officer and other ranks whom I dasiro to bring spocially to your notice for work carried out botweon 26th and 31st August 1918. Lescons learnt during those operations will form the subjoct of a soparate communication. Ih s Brig.-Gen. Corna'ing 9th Australian Infantry Brigado. Brigade H.4. 9.9.1918.
(offonanttg egfannded ofte Trauar) EXTRACTS FROM the diary, of Private J.E. Bartley (No. 2280; (tl 30th Battalion, A.I.F.) (Bartley had been absent from the battalion for four months, the result of a wound received on 13/4/18) Only those who haveexperienced it can possibly know the sensation of going back to France after a Blighty leave. It is a kind of sinking feeling that grips a man which makes him realise the seriousness of his venture, and he realises to the fullest measure the risks he is about to take. But once in action that feeling vanished. It was the thoughts of such a trip, and not actually the trip itself, and once on the way the mind found plenty of food to "get busy on", and all thought of a thousand dangers was forgotten in the efcitement of the moment. The draft left Folkestone and crossed over the Channel to Boulogne, and after a train journey in those trucks once again the men stayed for a couple of days in dugouts in a wood...........After a while the men entrained once again, and detrained at a village where the wing of the 5th Division was. At this stage they were fast approaching the firing line. No. 2880 moved ahead of his mate, leaving him behind in the wood. On this occasion his companion was Pte. Morris of "A" Company, known as the Bully Beef Douai King........ The men detrained at , and marched to Aubigny near Corbie. The battalion came out of the line the same night, and No. 2880 found himself amongst his battalion again, but sad to relate his old platoon was gone for ever. It had been split up and the other platoons got the benefit. So he was attached to No. 13 platoon, and became acquainted with Sergt. Bradshaw. The trenches werd dug out of chalk. The Hun made trouble of a night bomb-dropping........... A few days later along came No. 2929. Soon orders came for the trenches, and on 25/8/18 the company went forward and took over from the lst Division at Proyart, with the villagé of Foucau¬ court on the left, and the trip in was hard and the enemy was shelling heavily. That night No. 2880 was S.O.S. guard. No. 2929 was one of the stretcher-bearers. The shelling was constant
2. and the supports were getting a rough time.. Next day was to be one of activity. The Hun outposts were very close and lay between Foucaucourt and the Aussie line. About 2 in the afternoon ten men from each platoon were to go over the top and capture the village. This was tried and abandoned, as they were held up with machine-guns. Rifle grenades were used on theso "one-man" posts, and Fritz replied with same and artillery and gas. It was cruel to see the men advancing in broad daylight in extended order, whilst the machine- guns played on the advancing line. No. 2880 and No. 2929 were among the chosen ten of 13 platoon. Luck favoured their advance, for a sap ran out towards the village, and this they followed until they came face to face with Jerry's machine-gun posts. There a duel took place, and No. 2880 was sent back to report that farther progress was impossible. l/cpl. Ossie Brown was in charge, and amongst the others were "Liddy" with his Lewis gun, and Fred Bowyer, and Joe Lansdowne (whom Fritz sniped). So the party went back, and Fritz made a slight show on following them down the sam. 14 Platoon had a raid, and Corps. Pickering and Smith and Bob Williams did some good work. They with others rushed the nearest machine gun post and came back with a Hun and a machine-gun, after wiping most of the nest out. One Hun managed to escape......... After the raid there was a general hop-over, and an advance was made in rushes towards the village. After a sharp fight Foucaucourt was captured, and a position was taken up in the deep Hun trenches on the far side of the village. Now on the left flank was a Scotch regiment, and in the advance they became dis¬ connected, and Corp. Watts was sent out under heavy fire to connect them up. For this he was awarded the Military Medal. Fritz placed an awful bombardment on this trench, and the Taubes came over and fired along this trench from above. The enemy was firing at point blank range with the whizz-bangs. A shell burst in front of the parapet, and partly buried No. 2880, Joe L--, Fred B----, and Sorge. Bluey Amps. No. 2880 was "blinded" for quite a while. His mates poured water in his eyes to
3. get the dirt out that had been driven in, and for a long while he was partly deaf. Every yard of that trench was shelled heavily, and Fritz delighted in firing salvoes of 5.9's.......It was a night of horrors...... Casualties were mounting up. All the runners were killed, and Tommy Goodhead and Ossie Brown were caught by a shell and killed. Davy Hutton and Peter Holder were killed, and many others. Late that night Fritz stopped, and was no doubt pulling his guns farther back. Thus passed the eventful day, 27th August 1918. Early on the morning of the 29th the advance was continued..... The line of the Somme Canal was finally reached by the 32nd (English) Division, 5th Div., and the 2nd Div. on August 29 south of Peronne. Patrols crossed the canal, but found the marshy ground east of the canal impassable for larger bodies and for the artillery. During the advance the enemy efploded a mine. The presence of guns and dead horses showed the effect of the artillery fire. The advance was continued through woods and quite level country for miles, and it was strenuous work crossing and getting in and out the Hun trenches, which seemod everywhere, and deep ones at that. At divers places he had trenches of immense size for stables. No. 2880, Joe L——, Fred B-----, and "Ruby", and two others moved forward as a screen ahead of the main body, and when going through woods this was a dangerous task..... After an advance of some miles opposition was mot with and the company was held up. Heavily laden and carrying rations and two bottles of water, the men had advanced in daylight facing artillery fire, which covered the main Hun retreat. At this stage they were leapfrogged by Pompey Elliott, and his men, who said, as he went through, "What did you stop for?" Captain Barbour, Mr. Wells, and Mr. Rush were the officers with the company at this stage. Next morning the advance was continued as far as Vovencourt, and a stand was taken upin a valley, which Fritz did not forget to shell, and badly wounded Ralph Hartley. A relief came along a little later......A day or so was put in in this valley. A Hun was found hung on a door entrance, but nobody would cut the body down, suspect- ing a trap. Eventually he was cut down and a good watch was found
4. in his possession. The men's feet were attended to there by bathing them in a foot-bath containing some beneficial preparation, but there seemed no cure for our old friends the chats.......Fritz had the usual "bomb" stunt of a night, and so when the 4th Division came along as a relief the men were right glad for a change. They on 30th August moved back to Follaine and dug in in a hollow....... A move forward was soon made to an old, but large, dugout, having old trenches round about. Here Fritz made bombing raids nightly. The canal was crossed early one morning, under full observat- ion from a balloon, and a position was taken up in an old Hun trench, with a village a little to the right. That night Fritz laid down a heavy bombardment, with gas, just as the hot food arrived. Not a breath of wind was stirring. A shell came in and killed Mr. Rush and Mr. Murdoch and the batman. On 1/9/18 the move was forward towards Peronne, and 4/9 found them in the front line again at St. Denis. The enemy shelled the line. Another advance was made, and at 4 a.m....digging in operation took place, and just when a good trench had been dug word came along to advance. The company was moving along a road when it was noticed that a figure had been following alongside and disappeared in the darkness. This man was then credited with being a Hun. Suddenly a in the wood shell came over and burst just off the road, and the Fritzes/opened up with machine-gun fire. The order then came to retire, but as dawn wes fast approaching, shelter was taken in a shallow Hun trench. But there was to be no rest that day. No. 2880 was first bayonet man, Charley Bruce was the other, and Corporal Watts followed behind as a bomber. In this morning they cleared the gap along the trench till they joined up with the .... Battalion nearly a mile away, but in the same trench. It was now daylight. The officer was standing in the trench, revolver drawn, as he was right opposite a Hun post. The gap was to be joined up that night. It was never joined up, as events moved too fast. Coming back a road had to be crossed in the open. Fritz saw the party and fired, but there were no casualties. Daylight revealed a wood in front and a village on the right. About
5, 1l a.m. a screen was sent out, being composed of No. 2880 and Charley Bruce, both laden with shovel and panniers and bombs, etc. The company hopped the bags and made for that village. Fritz retired, and soon the men were well on the far side of the village, named Bussu. (The patrol, however, was fired upon by their own men in error.) Still advancing and seeing a wood and a hill a mile or so away, with Huns running about on the top of the hill, it looked as if this was to be the next objective. Suddenly, however, they discovered that they were in the midst of their own artillery fire, and had to go back to get out of it, as their own shrapnel wes bursting overhead; and they were no sooner clear of this danger when they found that they had only walked into another, for Fritz opened up, and for some hours his artillery fell heavy all about and the village of Bussu suffered heavily. The bombardment continued till well after dark. It was fast and furions and he mixed gas with it. Some of the troops were in a sunken road, but they were soon blown out of that, as the Hun had a gun firing straight down the road. ........All this happened on the 5th of September, and that night at midnight they were leapfrogged by the 3rd Division Pioneers. .... Tired and weary the men made their way back, and all thought that at least there would be a couple of days spell. But it was not so. When close to Peronne the cookers were met with, and a meal of hot stew was given the men. Water bottles were filled, ammunition was issued, and with fighting order up the men marched all night, passing through Peronne, and,hitting out on the other side of that shell shattered place, daylight found them "falling" into an old Hun trench alongside a road, having passed for the first time, and a good distance back, the Yanks, who had dug quite "model"trenches. An early visitor that morning came in the shape of a Hun plane which took in the situation and turned a machine gun along the trench and flew away with the news to Fritz, before any harm sas done it. About half a kilometre away was a canal and Joe L—- and No.
6. 2880 and 2929 took a walk down and filled their water bottles, and had the pleasure of a wash - a real wash. There they saw Fritz's speedily work in blowing up the pontoon, which was/being put to its proper use again by some Tommies. Though tired and weary still no sleep was to be had. In about four hours they were over the top again, and struck trouble with Hun planes. Pushing forward they dug in on the edge of a wood, and enze enjoyed a night's rest. On 6/9 they moved up to a place named Mons, and on the morning of the 7th dug in in a bank....... On 10/9 the battalion moved back to Doingt, close to Mt. St. Quentin and Peronne. The men's temper was none too good when they found that as usual it was just dark when they got there, and there was nothing to live in but an open chalky old trench, so they went down to the village and soon had sheets of iron, etc., and before long they were fairly comfortable. ....... Close by was a field hospital, and the nurses found many of the diggers handy with the stretchers, loading hospit- al trains, etc. Some of them thought they ought to be rewarded with a nip of brandy for their services. Sometimes it came off, sometimes it didn't...... .. Then after a brief stay the"hard word"came along to move forward, and presently they all found themselves en route for the Hindenburg Line, which the enemy deemed impregnable. The troops lay in supoorts to three American divisions, being not far from Bellicourt. Great numbers of tanks lay in readiness too....... The night before the battle the troops were given an outline of the attack. No. 2880 and others had taken shelter in a Yankee A.M.C. dugout, and for a few brief hours he became acquainted with their methods, which, compared with those of his own company, proved high amusing to him. For instance, instead of the familiar "Attention", he heard the Yankee sergeant call out "Guys, stiffen" .. . . . . .. . .. The bombardment of the Hun line lasted for 48 hours previous to the attack. Zero hour was 5.50 a.m. on the 29th September. The attack started well on the 30th American division
7. front, but on the 27th American division front trouble was experienced by hostile machine gun fire. But it was a bad day for the Yanks, as things went wrong. They failed to co-operate with the Australians. The men of the 27th and 30th Yankee divisions were ineXperienced......... Divisions of diggers were to go through the Yanks near Bellicourt, and were to continue the thrust as far as the main objective Joncourt. This never happened, and from the outset the whole plan of attack was upset by the failure of the American divisions to pierce the Hun strongholds on the prescribed time. Many of the Yanks had never benn in an attack befors This fact probably accounted for their eagerness to jump off the tape before the barrage reached zero. They advanced so speedily that they were engulfed in their own barrage, but the men who survived got to the Hun trenches, and cleaned them up in the teeth of a machinegun barrage. Those who failed to reach the enemy trenches were the ones that were demoralised by the British barrage, and in their endeavours to escape it were entangled in the Hun barb wire. They were unable to escape and were obliged to take their chance amongst the hundreds of high erplosive shells that were falling, and when the diggers came along later it was pitiful to see all those dead Yanks lying in the shell holes. Once the barrage lifted the progress through Bellicourt proceeded apace, but hereagain ineyperience protruded itself, and the Yanks failed to clean up, thus leaving many machine guns in their wake to enfilade unwary diggers who were following them. There was no definite line and it was a difficult matter for the Diggers to know whether they had gone through the Yanks, or whether they were still following them up. To make matters worse a thick mist came up and wounded Americans were going everywhere, and one would tumble over them before seeing them. Other parties of lost men joined the ranks of the Diggers, and the harrowing tales they told about being caught in the British barrage will long be remembered.
The road leading from Bellicourt to Joncourt was a veritable death trap. Many good Australians were sniped there, some of them not with machine-gun bullets, but with heavier stuff, which was fired point blank. These were the guns the Yanks should have dealt with and put out of action. One could actually hear the shell leave the gun, and when that is the case the gun is close handy. The Australian casualties were fast mounting up, and some of the ranks bore a depleted aspect. They were held up temporarily and forced to go back to the village till the tanks arrived, and Fritz seeing this turned a barrage of guns on the village, and bullets were actually coming from snipers who were lying in the thick undergrowth surrounding the village. The tanks got amongst the snipers. When the Diggers first joined up with the Yanks on that September morning, everything was in a state of chaos, and it was largely due tonthe initiative of the Australian commanders that what appeared to be a rout was turned into a brilliant victory. The American casualties were heavy. Their inexperience cost them dearly, but it must not be imagined that they did not give a good account of themselves. Their qualties were highly tested at Bellicourt, and the manner in which they stuck to what appeared an impossible task gained for them unbounded admiration and the highest esteem of the Australian troops. On the morning of the 29th the battalion moved forward through a country heavily shelled and much gas was lying about. As they adanced they met many wounded Yanks going to the rear, and it was noticeable that they had Huns as stretcher-bearers. At Bellicourt later on the wounded were placed in a blanket and carried out in that manner, and Fritz had to lend a helping hand there too. As the advance continued the Yankee trenches were gone through, and it was also a very noticeable fact that these were packed with men. A smoke barrage was put off and it was difficult to keep in touch as it was so thick. Out of this fog Fritz poured in shot and shell, and the machine gunners had a great say in the matter also. Very soon a wood was reached and after that it
9. became daylight once more, and the tanks in front got into action whilst they were fired atvat point-blank range. Bellicourt was reached and a position taken up across the railway line, and at the mouth of the St. Quentin underground canal. This entrance was then used as a dressing station, and a descent of about a couple of handre hundred feet brought one to the water and the barges. In rushing across the railway embankment that morning No. 2880 fell and severely sprained his ankle. Luckily he was able to lie up there for many hours. Sergt. Shep. became a casualty. Night time came on and the men dug in, but Fritz placed such an awful bombardment on the town and swept the valley in which they were dug in so heavily that wet night that things were very uncomfortable. The following night the bombardment was thick and heavy and gas came over. No. 2880 and two officers"got" some of this gas, which was none too pleasant. About 4 a.m. word came along to move forward, and so in the pouring rain a start was made towards Joncourt, and after a while it was found that they had "got off the map", but direction was soon picked up, and a little before dayligh they had crossed the death trap and passed into the front line a little trenches, and moved out about 200 yards in front, just/before six in the morning, and "lined up on the tape". At 6 a.m. the British bombardment opened, and another advance was started towards Joncourt. The shells of the sweeping barrage swept every inch of the ground. One of the officers, Mr. A-----, lost his leg going across. The Huns replied with artillery. Prisoners, were taken in the village, which abounded in deep dugouts, and so Fritz was forced out of it......A position was taken up outside Johncourt which commanded a fine view of the rising ground ahead, and Fritz getting away. The machine gunners and artillery played on the men who were lying down in extended order in the open. No. 2880 was lying flat on the ground, with machine-gun panniers at his head, and was busy trying to scratch a hole with an entrenching toolin that position, and in about a couple of hours he had dug a hole about two feet deep to lay in, which was badly needed as

8
Captures by 33rd Battalion for the fourth phase are:
600 prisoners
100 machine guns
Seven 77mm. guns
5 Light Minenwerfers
1 Medium Minenwerfer
1 field kitchen.
I shall submit separately a list of names of Officers
and other ranks whom I desire to bring specially to your notice for
work carried out between 26th and 31st August 1918.
Lessons learnt during these operations will form the
subject of a separate communication.
H. A. Goddard
Brig-Gen.
Commanding 9th Australian Infantry Brigade.
Brigade H.Q.
8.9.1918

 

EXTRACTS FROM the diary (^ apparently expanded after the war) of Private L/Cpl J. E. Bartley (No.2280;
30th Battalion, A.I.F.)
Bartley had been absent from the battalion for four months,
the result of a wound received on 13/4/18)
Only those who have experienced it can possibly know the
sensation of going back to France after a Blighty leave. It is a
kind of sinking feeling that grips a man which makes him realise
the seriousness of his venture, and he realises to the fullest
measure the risks he is about to take. But once in action that
feeling vanished. It was the thoughts of such a trip, and not
actually the trip itself, and once on the way the mind found plenty
of food to "get busy on", and all thought of a thousand dangers
was forgotten in the excitement of the moment.
The draft left Folkestone and crossed over the Channel to 
Boulogne, and after a train journey in those trucks once again the 
men stayed for a couple of days in dugouts in a wood. . . . . .  After
a while the men entrained once again, and detrained at a village
where the wing of the 5th Division was. No. 2880 moved ahead of his 
mate, leaving him behind in the wood. On this occasion his
companion was Pte. Morris of "A" Company, known as the Bully Beef
King . . . . .  The men detrained at xxxxxx Douai, and marched to Aubigny
near Corbie. The battalion came out of the line the same night,
and No.2880 found himself amongst his battalion again, but sad to 
relate his old platoon was gone for ever. It had been split up
and the other platoons got the benefit. So he was attached to No.
13 platoon, and became acquainted with Sergt. Bradshaw. The
trenches were dug out of chalk. The Hun made trouble of a night
bomb-dropping . . . . . .
A few days later along came No. 2929. Soon orders came
for the trenches, and on 25/8/18 the company went forward and took
over from the 1st Division at Proyart, with the village of Foucaucourt
on the left, and the trip in was hard and the enemy was
shelling heavily.  That night No. 2880 was S.O.S. guard.  No.
2929 was one of the stretcher-bearers.  The shelling was constant

 

2.
and the supports were getting a rough time. . Next day was to be one
of activity. The Hun outposts were very close and lay between
Foucaucourt and the Aussie line. About 2 in the afternoon ten men
from each platoon were to go over the top and capture the village.
This was tried and abandoned, as they were held up with machine-guns.
Rifle grenades were used on these "one-man" posts, and Fritz replied
with same and artillery and gas. It was cruel to see the men
advancing in broad daylight in extended order, whilst the machine-guns
played on the advancing line. No. 2880 and No. 2929 were
among the chosen ten of 13 platoon.  Luck favoured their advance, for
a sap ran out towards the village, and this they followed until they
came face to face with Jerry's machine-gun posts.  There a duel took
place, and No. 2880 was sent back to report that farther progress
was impossible.
l/cpl. Ossie Brown was in charge, and amongst the others were
"Liddy" with his Lewis gun, and Fred Bowyer, and Joe Lansdowne
(whom Fritz sniped). So the party went back, and Fritz made a slight
show on following them down the sap.
14 Platoon had a raid, and Corps. Pickering and Smith and Bob
Williams did some good work. They with others rushed the nearest
machine gun post and came back with a Hun and a machine-gun, after
wiping most of the nest out. One Hun managed to escape . . . . . .
After the raid there was a general hop-over, and an advance
was made in rushes towards the village. After a sharp fight
Foucaucourt was captured, and a position was taken up in the deep
Hun trenches on the far side of the village. Now on the left
flank was a Scotch regiment, and in the advance they became disconnected,
and Corp. Watts was sent out under heavy fire to
connect them up. For this he was awarded the Military Medal.
Fritz placed an awful bombardment on this trench, and the
Taubes came over and fired along this trench from above. The
enemy was firing at point blank range with the whizz-bangs. A
shell burst in front of the parapet, and partly buried No. 2880,
Joe L-----, Fred  B------, and Sergt. Bluey Amps.  No. 2880 was 
"blinded" for quite a while.  His mates poured water in his eyes to

 

3.
get the dirt out that had been driven in, and for a long while he was
partly deaf. Every yard of that trench was shelled heavily, and
Fritz delighted in firing salvoes of 5.9's. . . . . .It was a night of 
horrors.  . . . . . Casualties were mounting up.  All the runners were 
killed, and Tommy Goodhead and Ossie Brown were caught by a shell 
and killed. Davy Hutton and Peter Holder were killed, and many
others. Late that night Fritz stopped, and was no doubt pulling his
guns farther back. Thus passed the eventful day, 27th August 1918.
Early on the morning of the 29th the advance was continued. . . . 
The line of the Somme Camel was finally reached by the 32nd (English)
Division, 5th Div., and the 2nd Div. on August 29 south of Peronne.
Patrols crossed the canal, but found the marshy ground east of the
canal impassable for larger bodies and for artillery.  During
the advance the enemy exploded a mine. The presence of guns and
dead horses showed the effect of artillery fire.
The advance was continued through woods and quite level
country for miles, and it was strenuous work crossing and getting in
and out the Hun trenches, which seemed everywhere, and deep ones at
that. At divers places he had trenches of immense size for stables.
No. 2880, Joe L-----, Fred B-----, and "Ruby", and two others
moved forward as a screen ahead of the main body, and when going
through woods this was a dangerous task. . . . .After an advance of some
miles opposition was met with and the company was held up. Heavily
laden and carrying rations and two bottles of water, the men had
advanced in daylight facing artillery fire, which covered the main
Hun retreat. At his stage they were leapfrogged by Pompey Elliott,
and his men, who said, as he went through "What did you stop for?"
Captain Barbour, Mr Wells, and Mr Rush were the officers with the
Company at this stage.
Next morning the advance was continued as far as Vovencourt,
and a stand was taken upin a valley, which Fritz did not forget to 
shell, and badly wounded Ralph Hartley. A relief came along a little
later. .. . A day or so was put in in this valley. A Hun was found
hung on a door entrance, but nobody would cut the body down, suspecting
a trap. Eventually he was cut down and a good watch was found

 

4,
in his possession. The men's feet were attended to there by
bathing them in a foot-bath containing some beneficial preparation,
but there seemed no cure for our old friends in the chats. . . .  Fritz
had the usual "bomb" stunt of a night, and so when the 4th Division 
came along as relief the men were right glad for a change. They on
30th August moved back to Follaine and dug in a hollow. . . .  A
move forward was soon made to an old, but large, dugout, having old
trenches round about. Here Fritz made bombing raids nightly.
The canal was crossed early one morning, under full observation
from a balloon, and a position was taken up on an old Hun trench,
with a village a little to the right. That night Fritz laid down a
heavy bombardment, with gas, just as the hot food arrived. Not a 
breath of wind was stirring. A shell came in and killed Mr. Rush
and Mr. Murdoch and the batman.
On 1/9/18 the move was forward towards Peronne, and 4/9 found
them in the front line again at St. Denis. The enemy shelled the
line. Another advance was made, and at 4 a.m. . . . . digging in operation
took place, and just when a good trench had been dug word came along
to advance. The company was moving along a road when it was noticed
that a figure had been following alongside and disappeared in the 
darkness. This man was then credited with being a Hun. Suddenly a
shell came over and burst just off the road, and the Fritzes ^in the wood opened
up with machine-gun fire.  The order then came to retire, but as dawn
was fast approaching, shelter was taken in a shallow Hun trench. But
there was to be no rest that day. No. 2880 was first bayonet man,
Charley Bruce was the other, and Corporal Watts followed behind as a 
bomber. In this morning they cleared the gap along the trench till
they joined up with the .....︎ Battalion nearly a mile away, but in
the same trench. It was now daylight. The officer was standing in
the trench, revolver drawn, as he was right opposite a Hun post. The
gap was to be joined up that night. It was never joined up, as
events moved too fast. Coming back a road had to be crossed in the
open. Fritz saw the party and fired, but there were no casualties.
Daylight revealed a wood in front and a village on the right. About 

 

5.





 

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