Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/158/1 - Notebook - Part 3

24
6.28 Stewart reported. We have

located 3 enemy mgs in

a big round topped redoubt at

U 10 A 79.25. cd arty deal with it 

at once as it

is hampering our

movements

(uncertain [shorthand symbol])

Arty were put onto this

& no further trouble.

____________

The barrage hung for a long

while onto Greys Fm. - 23 mins.

The A Coy ws waiting in dead

ground ditches & shell holes for the

barrage to lift. Stewart cd time the left.

& see it. They crawled as close as

they cd get, & as soon as the

shells were getting ahead they pushed

on. As they pushed on there ws a

thick hedge ahead of Grey Farm

& thro this m.g. bullets began

to come - whistling - a tinny sort

of hiss like telegraph wires rubbing.

The guns cd not be seen at first.

The men located one (a cautiously

advancing squad of men taking

advantage of a ditch). They got

thro hedge - one man named Grey, a

Scottish miner runner, shot one gunman

at his post by creeping up - & the mate *

 

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25

gun. A number of

Germans were killed &

it looked as if betw 200 & 300

were lying between frontline

& Black Line.

 

The men were able to

keep right behind the

barrage - Potteries now

becoming troublesome -

Also from the trees in directn

of Undulating trench.

Covering parties were

sent out at once & two

men scouts got as far as the

Potteries where they had

got amongst some Germans,

whom they killed. These

2 came back. About

40 prisoners, 20 of whom

were wounded; were

taken by 34 & 35 - between

[[Kaumerader?]]. A couple were lying

dead & 6 like a nest of mice

in the dugout (wh had steel doors,

elec. light, full of food). The dug out

ws ordered to be mopped up blerx 

the 6  as soon as the coy got there,

& the 6 were shot.

The other m.gunners,

who were N.W., ran as the

Coy advanced & were shot

as they ran or ran into our

barrage. Many of them had

bullet wounds. Our mens shooting

ws good - one man ws called

by our men "the human machine

gun". He ws shooting germs

who moved during consolidatn.

The Farm had bn churned completely

up.

100 yds further than the Farm

the germs 34Bn started to dig

in. For ½hr it ws quiet - the

Germs began to snipe- 3 mgs

were up in Uncertain trench (see

my Douve Map). Abt 5 enterprising

men, sneaked up there ^right to place thro drains

etc, bombed dugouts & shot many germs.

One man shot 4. If barrage had not been on Potteries

these cd have bn taken.They bombed these

dugouts & came back.

 

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26

the front line & the black line.

Consolidatn of black line

began.

The 35Bn ws digging

the support Black Line.

The 34 Bn had to be

responsible for extending

the Black line & support line

to the River Douve after 

39 Bn had gone thro &

captured this edge o its

objective. 2 Plns of the 

Reserve Coy followed the

assault waves up to

dig this extra bit of trench.

They were in touch

all / time with the 33rd

& 39th - & overlapped a

bit on right, digging down

as far as Long Ruin.

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27

The left coy (D Coy) under

Capt Whitlock had to

make the advance from

Black Line to Green Line.

The Zero hour had been

gn as +10hrs. Later it

ws instructed tt a New Zero

wd be notified but no

New Zero came along.

The telephone commn

was smashed & all /

work ws being done by

visual & runner to

Bde as  forward. Shelter

ws used from forward

to Bn HQs & pigeons;

Shelter from forwards

to Bn - runner from

Bn forwards. The

telephone to Bde ws

out of actn within 2

minutes but was mended 

28

(^x by a junior offr. by hand)

At 3 p.m. Whitlock's runner arrd

saying tt he had waited till

1.40 pm &, as nothing ws doing,

had moved on to the Green

Line.

 

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29

No new Zero arrived. D Coy

c.x the offr ordered  Whitlock

decided to go forwd at 1.10 & he

did so. At 2 a message

arrived from Bde ^x tt Zero

we be at 3.10 pm. (+12).

This ws very disconcerting.

However, the arty which

rung up, sd tt

Whitlock wd be all right,

& he stayed there but

they had no touch with

37th tt night.

Whitlock ws k tt

evening.

The first evg. abt 4

pm. the germs were reported

as massing in front of the

Potteries. These troops all

looked spick & span, bright

grey uniforms & grey helmets.

30

Abt 2.15 G.O.C. informed them tt

a c. attack ws developing.
 

at 3p.m.

Capt R.Stewart

 

38
31

There were a couple of

Stokes mortars of the 9 LTM

Bty behind beside Grey Farm in

trench ^betw Ulster Reserve & black

line. These threw two

stokes shells into / trench

but they did not explode

at once. Germs jumped

out & were caught by L.G.

The next two shells lobbed

fairly in amongst /

Germans & exploded.

The Capt Stewart. Coy Commdr there

thought there were abt 30 or

40 germs. This trench,

(continuation of Ulrica Row

& Ulster Drive), seemed

a good trench. The

Germans were moving

into a depression in

front o / Potteries.

32

Raid to find flank of

Messines Attack.

 

38
33

17 & 18 May 1917

[The 2 German Raids agst

the 34Bn at Le Touquet

both signally failed- The

Germs had ^possibly seen gas installation

or suspected something -

or more probly they wanted

to find limits of Messines

Attack - The first raid

ws made after very heavy

bombardment - wh caused

abt 27 casualties - & blew

the trench to bits. He came over

& found one rifleman

and offr of watch at his

post - 1st man got on

parapet & sd "Haands oop"

The man sd. "Hands up be

buggered" - shot Germ. who

fell with rifle, bombs etc

into the trench & rest fled.

 

2nd night 5 men

got in to gap betw. two

34

^x Cpl. Ham

8th D.C.M.

 

38
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localities exactly where

gas was installed & gap strengthened They were all

sho to hold it. Rest of pty ws kept

out by L.G. & arty fire,

& these 5 were found by

a L.Gunner^X who shot

3 on ground & 2 as they

jumped back over parapet.

This raid also failed.

 

The Germans raided twice

at [[Hougleries?]] lines all this time

agst British troops.]

 

From 7am. the Germs cd be

seen moving in uncertain

Trench - this ws reported

in fair nos. at 8.5.

Abt 8.15 am the Germans

started to dribble forward

down Uncertain trench & into

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dead ground, shell holes

etc abt 400 yds ahead

-in front of Potteries

Fm. The Stokes were got

onto them (Stewart showed

the place to Lt Chapman,

Stokes Gun offr.) & he put

some beautiful shells into

them. They panicked -

30 or 40 of them - & ran,

our men sniping them &

shooting w L.Guns - they

cleared back into Potteries.

(very similar to Turk attack).

[to get rifle fire before you

consolidate.]

 

In the evg. abt 10 p.m

just after our arty had

driven back an enemy

c.attack on other side

of river - They came

out in abt 3 lines & our

37

Stewart saw these walk

into our barrage where shrap

ws cutting up ground - They

got into it, wavered, &

got back for their lives.

 

38
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barrage got onto them -

& they scuttled back. Stewart

saw 150 to 200 men in

3 waves just at dusk

just before dark making

down the river.

Hand drawn diagram – see original

Their flank ws

on the river.

Just after this

had bn repulsed

an enemy

party of 5 men went in

full marching order

stumbled right out to front

of our green line trench

& were shot to pieces by

L.G. at abt 30 yds. They

seemed to be part of

the other stunt - our

barrage ws then behind

them.

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39

At Dawn & dusk our

arty seemed to put down

barrages. The German

barrage ws deeper & not

so concentrated.

There ws a lot of

movement in the Potteries

all the time, but an hour

before dawn our curtain

of fire seemed to come

down automatically.

German planes used

to sneak over early

before our planes were

about, shooting at our trenches
with the bright sparking

tracer bullets, but our

L.Gs. cleared made them get

higher / next time, & as

soon as our planes

came abt the Germs. were

not seen.