Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/274/1 - 1918 - 1941 - Part 10

H/N.

Gilchrist - Bullecourt.

Gilchrists brother ws k at St Quentin

on Sept. 1 1918.

H.N.

REVEILLE             October 1, 1932

23rd Bn. at Mont St. Quentin

Mr. Percy Frost, of the 23rd Bn., A.I.F., proud of his

old unit, thought we had done it an injustice by giving

credit to the 21st Bn. for an exploit which, he contended,

was carried off by the 23rd.

Mr. Frost, of course, had in mind the block published

in last issue showing the 21st Bn. moving from Elsa

trench to the brick wall of Mont St. Quentin. Perhaps

in justice to the 23rd Bn., we should have mentioned that

that unit had also attacked there, but our photograph, we

can definitely assure Mr. Frost, was of the leading wave

of the 21st Bn.

Mr. Frost says: "It was the 23rd Bn. that attacked the wall. I was

with the 23rd when it attacked. 'B' Co. was on the right of the Peronne

Road on the night of August 31, and on the morning of September 1

we crossed the road and Pte. MacTein, who was killed while attacking

an enemy machine gun crew single-handed, was recommended for the V.C.

The machine gun crew was captured.

"We then advanced along a trench towards Mont St. Quentin. We then

came to the brick wall, and three of us - Sgt. Dykes, Lewis Gunner Thompson 

and myself - went through the wood to the opposite side to where the

Red Cross huts stood. When we got within 20 yards of one of the huts

a machine gun was opened on us and Thompson was killed, his last

words being addressed to me, 'I'm done, Frosty.'

"We then came back through the wood and waited for a barrage to

open up on the side of the hill, as machine guns were troubling us. While

waiting for the barrage the mine on top of Mont exploded. We finally

took the objective and after being relieved went back to Cappy for a spell.

Lieut. Fred Jenkins was in charge of 'B' Co. during the advance,"

Mont St Q.

H/N.                     
Melbourne

673 Bourke St

8^th Sept. 1921

Cap^tn C.E.W. Bean.

Dear Sir.

For some time past I have been disposed

to send to you various accounts of the capture

of Mont S^t Quentin that I had persuaded

men of the 21^st Battn, and comrades of my late

Son Frank to write.

Last evening, when my wife and I were

having tea with M^r & M^rs Caleb Gilbeth, the

latter passed a letter to me saying, "This will

interest you, Robert."! It did :- it was your

letter to Major Treloar, (with whom I had been

discussing War records at the Exhibition earlier

in the day), relative to the attack on Mont

S^t Quentin and Gilbert's memorial of it.

After my son was killed at Mont

S^t Quentin, I was anxious to get as full a

report as possible of how he died and sought

out as they returned, many of his former comrades.

When I got into closer association, by various

means, with them I suggested to a number

of them that they should write their experiences

2

of the attack on Mont S^t Quentin. Simply, accurately and in

detail, for the benefit of the relatives of those who had fallen-

in the fight. How I persuaded men, who swore they could not

write is quite a story ... I then got into touch with the next

of kin of the thirteen men buried together on the Mount as shown 

in the photograph of the graves, sent herewith. So then I

forwarded copies of what I am sending you and you can realise

how they were appreciated by people starving for news of men

who had died so bravely. To Scotland, Canada, New South Wales,

Country districts in Victoria as well as Melbourne, Copies

were sent - I obtained portraits of the thirteen buried together,

which I am having [[quickly?]] reproduced, from a half line block, and

will distribute prints in the same way; fine manly lads

not a weakling amongst them. A noble Company.

Sir John Monash told me the Capture of Mont

S^t Quentin was one of the big things in all history,

and but few knew it.  You can tell it. It was the first staffers who did it.

I tried hard to get Sergt. Leverson V.C. to write his

version, but failed.. I am expecting a B. Coy Sgt to call &

see me soon, from where I hope to get an account of B

Coy's experiences, in the centre, between A on the right & C on the left.

3

After I had sent John Castle's story to

my friend Guy Innes, Editor of the Melbn

Herald, he wrote me saying "I cannot tell

you how much it moved me." He knew

my son Frank before the War, shortly after

C.J. Dennis was living with him at our

orchard, "Sunnyside," South Sassafras,

where the "Sentimental Bloke was

completed, and where Web Gilbert used to

visit us, before he went to England in 1914.

As one of the founders of the Melbourne

Historical Society I hold that historical

records to be worth anything must be

accurate and _^should have, what Carlyle was so

keen on, veracity.

For this letter and what accompanies

it, blame your own. If I had not

read it I doubt if I would have written

and because this is much longer than

I intended, like Sterne, blame my

pen, not me - "It governs me I govern not it."

Yours faithfully

J.G.Roberts

MONT ST. QUENTIN.

On Friday the 30th. of August (1918) the 21st. battalion stopped

at a trench in front of a battery of 6" guns manned by English Tommeys,

behind them was a small village, Clery-Sur-Somme; we had been keeping

close up behind the attacking party for several days and the Germans were

making a stand now at Mont St. Quentin. On Saturday, 31st. of August,

we were given the order to prepare to move forward; we got ready, putting

our machine guns on the limbers as they were going to take them as far as

they could for us. We moved off in two's up a road alongside of a canal,

hidden by trees from German observation; we marched on and passed what

looked to be a large wooden bridge or rather the remains of one for the

Germans had burnt it down a few days before, it was still smouldering.

A few hundred yards further, we were halted and sat down along the road

for about an hour - meanwhile the 2nd. Division Engineers were making a

footbridge across the canal for us to go over. We crossed this bridge

in single file and after we had gone about another half mile, we came to

a Battery of 18 Pounders manned by Australians; they had their guns in

the open and were working very hard. We halted there, had our dinner and

took the guns off the limbers and cleaned them, the limbers had come to

this place by another road. The order then came to move gain and we

moved off in single file along another road. The Germans were trying

hard to shell this road, but most of the shells either fell short or passed

over us; we had some casualities. Our Company (C) was ordered to take

cover at the foot of a hill on the left hand side of the road. All this

time the Germans were shelling hard, some of the shells falling into a

swamp on our right. We then received word we would not move again till

after dark, but early in the evening a shell landed right into where we

were taking cover - wounding Cpl. Les (A.L). Baker, of No 9 Platoons Machine

Gun Section, in the leg. His wound was dressed and he was taken on a

stretcher to a dressing station a few hundred yards down the road, we had

marched up earlier in the evening. Frank Roberts, Roy Smerdon, myself

and a few others were sitting with Cpl. Baker when he was hit; it was

strange being so close together and only the one man getting hit. Some

time later a few of the boys lit a fire and some were sitting and some

standing round it, all talking about the day's work, when a shell landed

in the fire, killing two and wounding several. The two men killed

belonged to another Battalion that had just come up to us - one of the

wounded men was a 21st. man, but I forget his name. Our tea was then

brought to us on the limbers; we had left the cookser behind at the place

where we had dinner. After tea the order came to move again, the Germans

were not shelling so badly now, and we moved in single file, in Sections

along a road, which led to a village named Halle. We turned to our right

on to a railway line and followed the line till we came to a cutting where

we were told to halt. As we were going to stay for the night, we got to

work to make what we call a possy; it was very hard work and when we had

just about finished, we were told we had been brought to the wrong place.

We were taken back about a hundred yards down the railway line, then we

turned to our left into an old trench in front of Mont St. Quentin; here

we again set to work to make ourselves a possy so as to snatch a few winks

if we had the chance. We had to do a certain length of time each at

Gas Guard. We were told the 5th. Brigade were going over in the morning

September 1st. and we were in support to them. The 23rd. Battalion were

ahead of us - it is hard to say exactly where, as it was so very dark.

It was morning before we could tell where we were ourselves. Early on

the morning of September 1st. - Sunday, we were standing to, waiting for

our artillery to open up. Everything was fairly quiet, until our guns

opened up, then the Germans guns replied and some of their shells came

very close to our trench, but we were lucky we got only a few casualities, 

and they belonged to another Company. Mont St. Quentin was captured by the

_^5th Brigade on Augst 31^st but the Germans counter-attacked and recaptured it. While waiting in the

trench, a lot of German prisoners came down about fifty yards off, and

Ted Heath, who was with his chum, Frank Roberts, went over to see if  he

could get a souvenir off them, as Ted and Frank were both great souvenir

hunters. The order was passed round to us to prepare to move at a

moment's notice. We went across open country in Artillery formation, and

when we had gone about half a mile, a mine (German) exploded - we had just

passed over in time; the ground shook and flew in all directions; a wire

was found later leading to this mine, a trip wire. The Germans were using

their machine guns on us now as we were making for a communication trench

which led into a trench from where we were going to hop over. We lay

- 2 -

down to take cover from the machine guns and while the Germans stopped to

put a fresh belt  on their gun, we ran to the trench in parties of threes.

One man (whom I did not know) was killed while running for the trench.

We went along this trench till we joined the 23rd. Battalion; we had to

"keep down" the while as the Germans were playing along it with their gun.

A Lieutenant was killed with a bullet in the head, as I went past him, I

thought it was Lieut. Cope Holt. We managed to get to where we wanted to without

further casualities. We were then told that we were going over the top

at half-past one (in daytime). The Artillery fired an Isolating Barrage

for one hour before we went over; we moved around to our hopping off

position, word came "time" and over we went. The first thing I noticed

was a man taking a photograph of us as we went over.

C. Company was attacking on the left of the village of Mont St.

Quentin, our Platoon No 9 on the extreme left of the Company. I noticed

a broken brick wall to our right as we advanced and we all fired at a

German as he ran from the ruins of the village, but he was a long way off.

We advanced in single file and were all in good humour, talking with one

another, and Frank Roberts called out to me - "all right Jack". We did

not meet with any opposition until we had gone through a small wood. In

this wood my attention was drawn to an Australian lying on a stretcher,

he was calling to me for stretcher bearers, I called back to him that there

would be some coming behind us, he had been lying there since the last

attack on the village. I noticed that by the colours on his tunic. After

we passed where he was lying, we began to meet with heavy fire from the

German Machine Guns. A pal of mine (Roy (A.R.) Smerdon) was No 1 on the

Machine Gun of our Platoon, I was No 2, Frank Roberts No 3 and -- Tognulla

No 4. We noticed on our left, a German Machine Gun Crew firing across

the front of us on to No 10 Platoon on our right.. The Machine Gun team of which were Ted (O.E.) Heath No 1,

W. T. Rabling No 2, A. E. Kelly No 3, I forget the name of the fourth man,

Roy Smerdon held his gun in front of

[*Gilbert shares this in his memoirs*]

him and bringing it with a sweep as he fired, put the German Gun out of

action, as we saw a little later on. We then noticed another post from

where some Germans were firing, but as Roy could not get at them from where

we were, as we were going up an incline at the time, he got me to stand

so that he could rest the gun on my shoulder, and that worked well. Roy

did good work with his gun. We came to a German strong-post in a crater,

it was held very strongly. The Germans were throwing bombs over at us.

They could just get them over, and we were held on account of these

bombs.

Sergeant Lowerson, who got the V.C. came over to us from No 10

Platoon, and saw we were held up and gave us the order to bomb them and

then rush the position. When close to the cope edge of crater with Sergeant

Lowerson, Roy Smerdon, who was on my left, could not get the pins out of

his bombs quick enough for his liking, as he had his machine gun in one

hand, which made it awkward, so I straightened the pins for him. I

noticed another pal of mine, Frank Roberts (on my right) fall, I knelt

over him and said "Well Rob has got you"? he said "yes" and after that,

"straighten out my legs, Jack", which I did, as he was in an uncomfortable

position, and he died, as soon as he finished speaking to me, and before

I left him. I was with him no longer than two minutes. He was hit by a

piece of German bomb apparently on the right side, as there was blood there.

What made him ask me to straighten his legs, I do not know, unless it was

on account of the peculiar position in which we two once found a dead

Australian. We threw a few more bombs and Roy Smerdon fell, hit in the

chest with a piece of German bomb; he seemed to be in great pain and

said, "give me a drink of water, Jack", but I could not give it to him,

as we were told never to give a man water if he were wounded in the chest

or stomach; it was hard to refuse him, but I did it for the best; I

thought he might be saved, but died later. We had just taken the strong-post

as Roy Smerdon fell. There were no stretcher bearers to be seen

anywhere. I went to take Roy's revolver off from him, but it seemed to

hurt him so left it, but took his Machine Gun and fired half a magazine

into some Germans, who were running from the strong-post, but I had a

stoppage. I was the only one left out of Roy Smerdon's Gun Team.

L/Cpl. Kelly came over to me from the right of the crater just as the

crater was taken; he had Ted Heath's Gun with him. I heard, later, Ted

had gone out wounded. We fixed Roy's gun and left Ted's gun, and as we

were running to get into a trench to join Sergeant Vic. Edwards, Kelly was

hit in the leg by a Machine Gun bullet; he took cover in a shell hole.

[[?(shot on _^13th ? Rouen?)]]

- 3 -

but must have gone afterwards to where Roy was lying and got hit again.

I could not believe it when I heard Kelly ^was killed, but I saw him later

lying near the crater. I joined Sergeant Edwards and Pte. G. G.H. E Dobson

who went to see if he could get any stretcher-bearers, but could not.

Two 24th. battalion stretcher-bearers came along the   trench and we told

them where our wounded were lying.

Our Platoon did not have an officer in charge of it. Sergeant

T. H. Wignall, was in charge of us - he was wounded in the stomach and

hand, and went out. He spoke to me as he passed, but he seemed very much

in pain. Pte. N.J. T. Norwood was wounded in the shoulder. He shook hands

with me as he went out and we wished each other good luck.

Bert Bulluss was also wounded by a bullet in the leg. I did

not see Tognulla after we had taken the crater. He went more to the right

of it carrying Machine Gun Ammunition.   Just after we had captured

the crater, three of our own Stokes Mortars landed close to us, one right

into the Crater and two on the right of it. The one that landed into

the crater, wounded one of our Sergeants, named Smith, in the hand. It

was after we came through the wood that we met any opposition from the

Germans, we came into open country then and were advancing up an incline

to a crater; from the wood to the crater would be between 70 and 80 yards.

The Germans started to throw bombs over at us, when we  were about 20

yards off the crater; it was then that our men began to fall. I noticed

one of our men, named May, rush a German Machine Gun, but he fell wounded

in doing so. He was only a boy and had not long been with us. None of

us knew where we were going or how far we had to go; we did not know

where our objective was. On the night of September 1st. a lot of men

belonging to the 7th. Brigade were sent up to take out our wounded, but

it would be hard to find a lot of them in the dark, - they were lying

around everywhere.

That night, what was left of our Battalion and the 24th. Battn.

held the line. Pte. Rabling and myself were the only two left out of

two gun teams - we were taking it in turns, one had an hour on the gun,

while the other one rested. When it was dark, Sergeant Edwards and Rabling

went back and got Ted Heath's gun - Dobson was put on as a runner that

night. The Germans were shelling us with their 5.9, one landed right

in our trench not far from Rabling and myself, killing some 24th. Battn.

men. A party of men from the 7th. Brigade was sent up to carry out our

wounded. The Germans came over in planes and dropped bombs around where

we were. Next morning, Monday Sept. 2nd. the 7th. Brigade went through

us and moved the Germans further on, leaving us in reserve again. Our

Company was put into some big German dug-outs. On Tuesday afternoon,

Sept. 3rd. we started to bury our dead; we also buried some dead Germans,

to which I was detailed, that were lying about; only a few of us at a

time could go out, because we were under observation from the German observation Balloons. Eleven of our men were buried side by side in one

grave; a big cross was made out of timber in the dug-out and a piece of

[*※*] biscuit tin nailed on to it. Each man's name was punched on the tin with

a nail by Pte. A. Green, the cross was then carried over and put up.

There was no burial service as far as I know, as we were still under shell

fire. We had then to get all the Machine Guns together, which we

had captured from the Germans, we carried them out to the road, and Dobson

remained with them to help load them, and they were carried away on the

transports that brought up our rations. We were relieved and went back

to a place named Cappy for a spell, which lasted a month. The 21st.

finished their fighting after taking Mont Brehain  Oct. 5th. I was wounded

in that attack and never joined the Battalion again as after Mont

Brahain, it was so reduced in strength that it was absorbed into another

Battalion. On November 11th. the Armistice was signed.

No 4385,

Pte. John Castle,

No 9 Platoon,

C. Company,

21st. Battalion, A.I.F.

 

[*※*] This Cross is now at

the Melbourne Exhibition

Austn War Museum.} 8/9/21

10/1/20

 

Dalhousie

16 Hall St.

West Brunswick - Melbourne

[[*?*]]

MONT ST. QUENTIN.

Barely two and a half months before the Great War ended, the battle or 

fight for the high ground, Mont St. Quentin which dominated Peronne, lasted

nearly three days. Press reports that I have seen, in describing the operation,

referred to it as the biggest piece of bluff in the war.

Writers also said that our losses were the smallest that an attacking

party had suffered. Both of these statements are likely to be very

misleading.

The first Australian assault upon this great German stronghold was

launched by one of the 5th Brigade Units on the morning of Saturday

31st August 1918. With the assistance of a barrage they "hopped over"

at daybreak. Although they reached their objectives, and accomplished

much, they were unable to hold the ground they had won. Before a strong

well organised German counter-attack, they were driven back, and forced

from the ruins of the village.

Reaching a sunken road at the foot of the Mont, they made a stand, and

repulsed two more counter-attacks, inflicting heavy losses. The

operation having failed, and the necessity of taking the position being

urgent, two more Australian Battalions (23rd and 24th), were taken

forward under cover of darkness that night. At daybreak next morning,

Sunday 1st September, these units made a most determined attack, and

success was almost achieved, but, owing to rather heavy losses in Officers

and men, the attack broke down, and the Huns still retained possession

of the high ground. All this time, during both attacks, our Battalion,

the 21st, had been in reserve, slightly in the rear. The shelling

from the German 5.9 guns was very severe, and we had many anxious

moments during the night of the 31st.

Upon the morning of the second attack, whilst we were waiting in a 

railway cutting, we had an opportunity of seeing the wounded coming

back. In mixed groups, Huns and "Aussiens", helping one another in

turns, moved slowly to Clearing Stations in the rear. We were greatly

encouraged by the sight of batches of German prisoners coming in. As

each Hun appeared, a crowd of "Diggers" would rush forward from their

trenches, and in spite of the shells that were falling fast, subject

each prisoner to a thorough search, (ratting for souvenirs). From our

own wounded we received word that the attack had failed. We then heard

that there was a possibility of our Battalion being called in, for a

third attempt; this proved to be correct.

In due course we moved forward in artillery formation. The ground

over which we advanced was dead level, and we were under direct observation

from the enemy positions at the top of Mont St. Quentin.

The Germans were now fully roused, and as we went forward, we were

subjected to heavy machine gun fire, and it was a most difficult task

to reach the shallow German communication trenches, leading up to

the foot of the Mo^unt itself.

As we advanced, the intensity of the enemy fire increased, and with

one accord we all started to run for cover. Just as our Company (C),

reached a broad-gauge railway line, a big land mine exploded, and threw

a volume of dirt and metal a couple of hundred feet into the air.

Although we felt the concussion from the explosion, we did not sustain

any casualties. The Hun who fired the mine, evidently made a miscalculation,

for the mine exploded some seconds too soon.

The machine gun fire was now deadly, and men were falling upon every

side. It was so bad that we were again compelled to seek shelter in

another old German trench. Here we had a rest. Getting into this

particular trench, one man loaded with various things, took a running

header from the railway line, and did not stop rolling till he reached

the bottom of the trench. Surveying the country from this trench, we

could see our wounded from the morning's attack still lying about, and

later we had to pass by many who were badly battered. I saw one man

crawling back to the dressing station with his right leg off at the

knee. His one complaint was that his 'fags' had run out. Receiving a

smoke from one of the boys, he continued on his way smiling.

A light barrage of shrapnel broke upon us at this stage, but luckily no

one was hit.

X Whilst sheltering in this shallow trench, Lieut A. Sennitt came along

and informed us that we were to attack at 1.30 p.m. The remnants of

the 23rd and 24th Battalions had been collected, and they were to

'hop over' with us.

(2).

The trench from which the attack opened, presented a terrible sight.

Many dead, both German and Australian, were lying about. Our light

Trench Mortars opened out on to the places where opposing machine gun

posts had been located. As these started to land, the Hun gave us a

fireworks display, numbers of green and white flares being fired into

the air.

While we watched these flares, the order came "Over with the best of

luck". Yelling and shouting, the men of the 21st Battalion rushed to the

attack. Each man seemed to realise that we were going to have a tough

fight. The ruins of the houses in the village had been converted into

a series of strong-posts. In ruined houses and behind broken walls, the

Germans were waiting for us.

In spite of the sweeping fire from hundreds of machine guns, the boys

continued on. When the Huns saw that we could not be held, they foresook

their guns and started to run. Ere they could reach their trenches further 

back, they were mown down with deadly rifle and Lewis gun fire. Roy

Smerdon in our platoon (No. 9), did great work, with his gun using his

gun from the hip on the hose principle.

Having driven the enemy from their outposts, we pressed forward in better

heart, in spite of the numerous gaps in our ranks.

Our next difficulty came in the shape of a rather thick wood, and we

cut our way through the undergrowth, pushing nearer to the main line of

resistance.

As we cleared or "mopped up" all opposition on theg ground, we were

subjected to heavy machine gun fire from positions that had been established

in the trees. The men who manned these posts had a hot reception

when noticed, and were quickly silenced. The attacking parties were

now very weak, and wounded were making their way back. The scene at

this stage was one that I shall never forget. German dead, wounded, and

also sound Huns lay everywhere. In saps, bays of trenches, and all such

places which afforded protection, dead and wounded lay huddled together

in heaps, the wounded crying out for assistance. Those Huns who had

survived, in attempting to escape were shot in their tracks, Sgt. V.

Edwards putting in some deadly shooting, saying - "there's another

bastard - - got him!" - "another" and so on, as each shot took effect.

Many of our comrades by this time had passed out. Roy Smerdon, after

doing magnificent work, fell mortally wounded, and as Jack Castle

stooped to assist him he murmured "Don't Jack, it hurts".

Sgt. Wignall, our Platoon Commander, after leading us with good

judgement, fell wounded in the stomach. He was in great pain, but still

persisted in directing the attack as best he could. Placing him upon

a German blanket, Arch. Green and I carried him to safety, where he

received first aid attention from a captured German Red Cross man.

Getting back to our platoon, or what remained of it, we perceived

that our job was not yet finished, the Huns in their main positions,

which was yet untouched, being full of fight. In our immediate front

was a great mine crater which was absolutely lined with machine guns.

This was the key position of the defensive works, and it had so far

resisted all attempts to take it. To reach this it was necessary to

rush across about 60 yards of dead level ground. As we rushed forward to

take it, the machine gun fire increased, causing many casualties

among us. We were also subjected to a shower of broom-handle bombs,

(spudmashers). Those of us who survived these were compelled to beat

a retreat to a trench in rear. It was in this rush that Frank Roberts

fell, and died within two minutes. Several of our wounded mates were

lying out between us and the Huns, and, true to their name, the Huns

opened fire on these poor helpless men with machine guns and revolvers.

At this time things were looking real bad for us. We had no idea how

matters were going upon our right and left, as no communication had been

received from either. There seemed to be a possibility of the whole

attack breaking down. The four of us who were sheltering in the

trench facing the crater did not feel strong enough to have another go

(Jack Castle, W.T. Rabling, May and myself).

Being reinforced by three others including Sgt. Lowerson, it was decided

to make a last effort. At a word from the Sgt. we charged again.

Machine gun bullets were whistling through the air, bombs were coming

thick and fast. German Under-officers fired revolvers point blank at

the little band as it charged up the hill, the splendid example set by

Sgt. Lowerson inspiring us all. Running right up to the edge of the

crater, Lowerson hurled his Mills bombs fairly in the middle of them.

Each of us in possession of bombs did likewise with good effect

Here Sgt. Lowerson received a wound in the leg. Turning casualty to