Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/275/1 - 1918 - 1938 - Part 10

                         Chap 11

                           PnP1

 

         Objects. steal prd. identificins

          (A) Merris-Materen.

              {(1) 15 & 14 Bdes  Hamel-Vaire Wd.

Earlier  {(2) 41 Bn - April Morlancourt.

                (3) Refer to Prom. Rd & Mont.Wood (opns tighten as no cover)

                (4) Ville - Morlancourt Advance May 2-9

                (5) Morlanct. 2 Div. May 18.

 

                      Chap III

                Ville - Morlancourt

 

 

                                  O knowles

                                   x 10/11 Vicy

                                        ?

                        To be read.

  Strazcele:

         for Keighley: 3 Bde & 11 Bn.    }

           for Cpl Lean ? 4 Bn.                }  3 Bde

          For May 10/11: & 11/12. 3 Bde.   }

           For May 15

                May 16/17 Maddox  } 2 Bde

                May 18 - 5 Bn            }

                May 19: 5 Bn (being rell by 1 Bde)

  Crops:  May 22: Bruggy } 1 Bde

                May 29/30. 10 Bn (centre Bn)}

                May 30/1. Rt Bn 3 Bde             } 3 Bde.

                May 31. 4 Bn 3 Bde                   }

        _____________________________________

Somme May 1/2 8 Bde Sol sec.

18 Bn       2/3 May. 5D encounter at Bouzenet . ?7 Bde.

                 3/4 May. 14 Bde. P.13 D7.9.

                 5.6 May. 14 Bde. P.13. D 7.9.

                 12/13 May 13 Bde. U5B.

                 17/18 May Lt Neville's patrol (55 Bn) P138.

                 20/1 May 12 Bde patrol gets ^Lt. mg.

                                  13 Bde    "         "           H.M.G.

Deranct:  April 5 - May 2. 2 Divn

Morlanct: April 5- May 27: 10 Bde, 11 Bde.

 

Localities where P.P. new.

              Deranct . ? only sniping

               Merrisn Meterem May 5 onward

               Ville- Morlancourt. ?Apr 13 on

               Bouzenct - Hamel - Vaire Wd. Apr 5 on

                (Marks & ditches)

              Roman Rd & Mont. Wood  May 2 on

                                          Mont Wd Ap. 30

                                 Ap. 5 on ptly in Vol V.

            For beginning of P.P.

                    to read

Somme   Diaries of 11 Bde Ap 7-20           }

Ap-May                      10  "        "    "                }

                                   _______________

                                    2 Div.                             }   April

                                    6 & 7         "    "              }

                                   ____________________

                                    8 Bde "      "   Apr May }

                                   13 & 4 Bdes 4 Div May 1 -22 V/B.

                                    ___________________________

                                    14 Bde. Apr-May

                                   __________________________

                                    May 1/2 8 Bde.

                                        5 Div April.

 

German      G. Histories

                                           15 May    1-14 June

                           Allt) 183  -243

                            ______________________________

                            Dct. ) 54 R. D.   10-11 June

                             Mostat.) 50 R. Po. 199. 107  107

                                                                              54R.

                                                                               50R.

                             Somme R)18. 24R .........................

                              Hamel )1.  24R. 77 R.

                              Vaire WD) 9B. R 108. ..................

                               V/B.) J.          108.    109.

                              Marcelcave) 109........................

                     ____________________________________

                              Hangard 208  - 14B -        225

 

Opp Austlns: 54R.  107. 50R. 18.  199.  24R.   1.  77R.

(on Somme Avon)  9RR.  108,  J.  109.

Opp Engl.      183 -243

Opp Fr.           208 -14B - 225.

Strazeele Merris:

   Opp Austlns: 

                                    11^RD.   156ZRV

V= read to June.      12D                                                         Have Read (at least to June 15)

                                     12RD. Ap & June.                                       Bd : 156IR.

                                      ?38D (Meteren & No)                             217AR

                                     48 RD (May?)                                             221RIR.

                                     ?81RD (May 7)                                            10RIR

                                     ? 11 RD (No. of Meterens)                        62 IR

                                     ? 79RD.                                                        263 RIR. (79RD)

                                      13RD.  (26 May)                                         3 B. Chev. Ryt.

                                       44RD (on rt early June)                        2 Bar- AR.

                                       4BD.                                                          To 17 June

        At this stage the British Government undertook to provide

additional transport for six divisions. The prospect of the

arrival of American divisions in France then was:

          Arrived by Jan. 1918      - 5 divisions

          To arrive in Feb.-March -3 divisions 

          To arrive April-Sept.        - 10 divisions (by old programme)

                                                           6 divisions (by additional transport)

                                                         __________

         Total by September           24 divisions, of which 18

                                                         would have been trained.

(?? Transfer       The actual growth of the American force in France is shown

this to              by the following list of arrivals there: (Note: The dates of commencement

a later               of arrival are shown. Completion of arrival was often might be

chapter)          considerably later). 

 

                                Officers                 Others          Divisions (commencement

                                                                                         of arrival)

           1917 

          To June 30       523                           13,836                   1

             July                 726                           16,022

             Aug.              1,616                            35,042 

             Sept.             4,046                         57,125                  26

             Oct.               6,064                         80,969

             Nov.               7,969                        118,254                 42

             Dec.              9,804                        165,080                  2 (?)

     

         1918

              Jan.            12,785                          203,003                41xx(?)

              Feb.            16,547                          235,342                 32

              Mar.            18,966                         288,655                3,  5

              Apr.            23,548                         406,111                   77

              May            32,642                         618,642               4, 6, 27, 28, 30, 33, 35, 90, 82

              June           40,847                        833,204              29, 37, 78, 83, 89, 90, 92

              July             64,224                      1,114,838                36, 76, 79, 91

              Aug.            61,061                        1,354,067              7, 39 40, 81, 85, 88

              Sept.            71,172                       1,634,220              34, 84, 86, 87           

              Oct.              76,800                    1,790,823                8, 31, 38

 

The "combat strength" of the A.E.F .on 23 Oct. 1918 is given by

General Pershing as 1,256,478, of which 592,300 was included

in the First American Army.

______________________________________________________________

                                     V of VI.

21

Pershing states (My Experiences in the World War, p. 556):

"Our experience with the British had shown that, due to differences

in national characteristics and military systems, the

instruction and training of our troops by them retarded our

military progress." his statement would probably be less

applicable to the divisions when fighting, as for a time two

of them did, as part of the Australian Corps.

 

                            The American Forces (A.E.F.)

 

These quiet months, however, are of importance in

a history of the Australian part in the Great War owing to the 

fact that during thus period, while most of the British

line was passive, two the two sectors of it ^held by Australian infantry were hardly ever still. Since their detached brigades had been returned to them after the crisis passed, the Australians now held were responsible for less than a tenth of the British front;¹ but a study These were the two sectors held by Australian infantry

__________________________________________________________

(Check by    ¹The British now held 85 miles of front (28 miles less than

French off.     before the German offensive), and the French, including 4

histy - end     American divisions, 362 miles more than before).

of Vol. V,        The Belgians held 21.

Tome 1)___________________________________________________________________

  

of the communiques will show that - even more than during the

fighting at Bullecourt in 1917 - for weeks together the

activity recorded was almost certainly continuously that of the Australian

front. The extent to which this was so/^was unknown to newspaper

readers in England or Australia, ^ and even to most of the troops in France

because in many cases the

communiques indicated only the sector and gave no hint of the

identity of the troops engaged. It would have been detrimental

to the Allied cause to do so, since German propaganda, in the

hope of creating the dissension in the Empire, was continually

stressing the prominence of the role played by the British and

French oversea colonial troops. Nevertheless the reader, if he cares

to do so, by a careful study of checking the daily communiques, will ^with the

recor ^events narrated in this volume with, find that, whereas the British

public - and the British Army ^army and public 

were under the genuine impression that the sections of the

oversea troops were mush overstressed, during this period, at

any rate (as during the Battle of Arras) the precise opposite

was the case - namely, that ^a large proportion of the successes which newspaper

readers week after week assumed to be those of British troops

actually occurred in sectors held by oversea troops and

particularly on the front of the Australians.

 

Just note

[2 For example, see extracts from

the diary of General 

Plumer quoted in

Plumer of Messines

by Sir G Harrington

pp. 178-9]

 

This condition which was well known to the British

commanders and staff ^staff actually concerned, nut not to others,

continued during most of the time occupied ^covered by this volume.

One of the reasons for it, especially in the early months, was

that the Australian divisions - and, indeed, all the oversea

ones ^those from the dominions - had been much less severely tried

by the German offensive

than had ^most of the British ones; they possessed other admitted

                                   Vol VI

                                    Chap 11

(The beginning of "Peaceful Penetration".)

 

The activity ^with which the Australian troops

deferently from all other along the front, even the

during this time of general quiet now began to pester.

 

their opponents falls into two division ^categories - first, that

which was initiated by the troops themselves, & second, that

operations devised ^devised by their commanders - of which the

first was, in its results, probably the more important.

The Australian "digger" & his officers,

finding that the Germans now opposed

to them ^him possessed nothing to match his own

powers & spirit, would.

not let their opponents alone. Always confident ^The Australian

division had not of victory, the Not so severely tried in the German

offensive as most of the British division, th and

elated by their success in checking ^stopping ^throwing back the final

thrusts wherever they had met them, on all five

Australian division were now at the height

of their confidence. The "diggers" had always ^never

really wavered in their confidence ^certainty of the ^ultimate victory, of the mind

and they now felt that they could beat the

enemy wherever they struck him. There resulted -

partly on the initiative of the troops themselves -