Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/159/1 - June 1917 - Part 4

37
Also Incendiary Shell 
thrown onto them at
Creslow Fm. in the wood.
5 Plns went by Green line,
5 by brown, & the former
had to vary their line
in Plugstreet thro heavy
gas.
Remaining 6 plns w 37 Bn.
39      38
hit by fragments - 102
casualties. At train near
H.P. corner dump an HE
shell hit column. One
L.G & team ws hit all
knocked out.
5 Plns. jumped off
just N. of Douve from
Waikato trench. They were
there 10 mins before Zero.
This 5 plns ws 50 strong.
Runner saying tt they had
gone over top ws k. on
way - so no particulars
of this ever came back.
1 pln consisted of 2 men 1 offr
   "               "         '   7    "      1 NCO.
South of Douve 5 plns
reported in positn at 2.40 AM

39        39
In N. party 1 pln commdr
& 3 men were k. in
front line.
[T?] & 5 4 3 1 plns
assembled near
Seaforth Fm. had to reach
Ulrica trench, Ulnar Switch
12 11, 6, 10, 9, 12 were
N of Douve.
12 had to double along
N of River in Nomansland to
assist the 5 near Seaforth
to place their bridges across.
The N party didnt carry
bridges; S party carried
8 bridges - carried them

39      40
upside down & lowered
like ladder.
11  6  10  9 plns had
to take Ulna Beak,
Ulna Support & Ulna
Avenue.
40^th did not show a
head over parapet till
Zero - nor a bridge.
Went over at Zero
Abt ½ way across a
m.g opened from directly
in front on the Beak.
An offr ^Lt Crosby & 6 men ^of 2nd wave ran
round by river & got
this in back.
Diagram - see original document
The m.g. did not put up
fight at all.

39     41
The 12^th pln did not have
to help in bridging, but
went into front line &
dodged out & replaced
or repaired bridges if necy.
(In the afternoon of second
day Germs had a balloon up
& shelled these bridges -
but before then no trouble).
There were Germans in
Ulna Switch in good dugouts.
40 Bn took abt 110 prisoners
They put up no fight - some
ran & were shot. Our people
had one o / German
m.gs. in action all /
time (this ws in Ulna
Switch). The arty had

39      42
smashed trench & covered
dugouts but not smashed
dugouts.
At 7.30 Capt Chisholm
sent back. "Kindly convey to
the arty & m.gs our hearty
appreciation of their
magnificent barrages. Some
of our men kept to within
20 yards of it & I had to
order them back in some
cases."
"No estaminets in sight
& its a bit dry too. Tell
Lane if he does not send
water Ill . . . . . Chis".
4.27 am. From ^Lt Cecil w Baldwin 

Mopped up trench along Douve
& am guarding bridges aaa

43
[10.30 pm June 8.
Water tested at Messines.
Found to contain 30% of
Arsenic Acid. For urgent
action.]
39     44
Reached Ulna support
all OK. Gathering in
coy by degrees - will then
advance abt. 200 yards
from Ulna Support & dig it.
aaa Great Sport.
Pioneers dug Commn trench
across Nomansland where they had
a Russian Sap ready to
be blown. They contd this
to ^German front line & 40 Bn took
it to Ulcer Reserve.
40 Bn at abt noon ws ordered
to concentrate men & resources on
consolidating BLACK LINE.
Giblin of 40^th (D Coy)
was with 37 Bn. That
night (7/8) after 37 Bn
& 47 Bn had been withdrawn

39        45
from Green Line, D Coy
40 Bn still held on to green
line betw. R. Douve &
Ungodly Ave. until after
11 p.m.
After they
At 9.3 a.m. June 8, D Coy
ws put back under commd
of C.O. 40 Bn.
Abt 9 p.m. that night
40 Bn. 37^th & 38^th were all
concentrated on black
line under Maj. Storey
(37 Bn).
Men of 40 Bn got as far as
Schnitzel (far beyond their

39       46
objective). There ws
a big dugout at Schnitzel
wh they tried to get
into - but after 2 hours
trying it ws not possible
to get in.
Ulna Switch was a
German nest - & the 
guns were asked to deal
w it a couple of days
before.
Pte J.D. Jeffrey, B Coy.
ws unconscious thro gas
during approach march & carrd
to Charing X clearing stn.
On regaining consciousness he
ws told by MO to keep
quiet but repr disregarded
this - left stn & came on to

39      47
firing line reaching it at
Noon 7 June. One way up
he collected 10 LG. magazines
& carried them to firing line.
He carried 2 wd men
back from Nomansland to only way.
He ws badly wd in left art
when in Black Line at 1 am
on 8/6/17. He refused to leave
the line stating tt he cd still
carry ammn."

L/Cpl F. J. Cunningham
badly gassed - had to be
helped to assembly trench -
collapsed there, led ^section over at
Zero - collapsed agn at
objective - remained
in/c of sectn till 5pm 7th
when badly wounded.

48
1. L.G. Corpl. gassed w
whole crew - Ammoniated -
at dressing stn - pulled
together & went on.

X Many of M gassed or
k in Nomansland.

39       49
Pte W.G. Gale also gassed
collapsed in Assent trench
but went on at Zero.
Took messages tt evening
thro' heavy fire shrap & HE
fire from & to black line
& fainted at end of it.
Bn went in 530 strong.
Lost  316.
                        Offrs     o.r.
k                                    30     30
d of w.                            4       4
w                        6        167    173
shell sh.                          6       6
M.X                               102    102
Injured                            1         1
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