Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/164/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 3

Conflict:

First World War, 1914–18

Subject:

Documents and letters

Status:

Awaiting approval

Accession number:

RCDIG1066779

Difficulty:

Germ barrage, 77s & 5.9s.

& minenwerfers from Molenaarelsthoek.

Also smoke, apparently, from

the German strong points. Lots of

the men lay down, covered their

head w their waterproof (there ws

a drizzle on) & waited, very

impatient. Boyd (adj & 6Bn)

who had done excellent work

getting / men into positn,

x Capt Eddy (arty liaison) Capt Lillie,

& Col. Daley were together sitting

in the trench when two 77s

dropped in & k. Boyd & Eddy

& wd. Lillie in jaw.

Lt. Opie (schoolmaster Geelong S.S.)

was killed in this barrage. This

ws very consistently heavy – it

came down very suddenly – (a few

intermittent 5.9s before it onto road

– then sudden start of barrage)

Lt Backman ws hit during / advance

after crossing the creek & hedge. He ws hit on /

head w a shell. Minster ws also hit

at this stage.

AT 6 a.m. this barrage weakened.

The first Germans met were

in a big shell hole positn abt 90 yds

ahead, towds Romulus Wood. This

ws in one case a big shell hole,

enlarge, with∧ galv iron cupola dugouts

in it, spades there as if it ws

in course of constrn. The

British barrage had fallen

beyond this.

About 60 yds beyond this

ws the first blockhouse to rt of

Retaliation Farm. The ground

here ws very marshy, & esp.

so in / wood.

The men were in fine spirits

w rifles & fixed bayonets slung,

& smoking German cigars.

6 Bn got forward to a

positn ahead of Romulus & Remus

Wood, abt 70 yds this side o /

Road. Here it ws recognised during

See original diagram

D COY C Coy HQ

A Coy HQ D COy HQ

Romulus Bn HQ Remus

7
29

the halt tt a movement _^to the left had

bn made ∧ by 78 Bn. to the left.Maj. Taylor

& Capt Pinney were reorganising

here. One o / support Coys A Coy

had to move into front in gap

between 6Bn & 7Bn on left. Capt

Pinney, keeping direction had kept

6Bn straight & so this gap existed.

The Barrage went up on to

the road during this halt, &

in some places, (esp. the Gates)

ws beyond I road.

~~8 Bn had~~ The crater &

the Knoll were not covered by

the barrage & were beyond 8Bn

objve. This necessitated direct

attacks on the Knoll & Crater.

There ws fire coming from there.

Accordingly abt ½hr. after the

halt C, B, A & a pln of D Coy went for

the knoll & crater. They were

under Maj. Taylor M.C. (A Coy)

(German Route at Ligney). ~~GFx8 Folly~~

& Capt Annear ~~(B Coy)~~ (C Coy)

They gave it a bombt of rifle

grenades first; crept up closer

& then rushed it from either

flank. On the knoll ws a gun

positn w a gun in it, &

another big pit (at first mistaken

for the crater) with small wired

& cemented dugouts, apparently

arty observatn stns, mined abt

10ft & then cemented.(There were

several such on the ridge near / road.

There were Germans in the

road ditch beside the crater, in

the crater itself, & on the knoll.

The surface o / road ws lower than

the sides.

They got both the crater & the

knoll ws some prisoners just

before / barrage moved.

Just after the capture of the knoll

Maj. Taylor ws badly hit thro

lung & liver by a bullet – &

died of wounds.

Capt Annear ws hit w a

bullet thro chest & groin when

attacking the crater; Lt Minster

who ws in the attack and crater

ws also hit _∧ by a shell- there ws spasmodic barrage.^.(He died of wounds).

Annear ws strolling w his

revolver out on top near /

crater, the Germans throwing

bombs at him & he firing

coolly at them abt 10 yds away

when he ws killed.

The troops upon the Road

were far better troops than those

down by Romulus Wood. They put

up a far better fight than the

others.

The three Coys A – C – B

reorganised along the road hurriedly

it ws at this moment Taylor ws hit.

They went forward and at barrage

over / hill. They came under

distant m.g. fire but got forward

to small loss.

Lt Hyde ws also killed

as they were going / slope.

They had to go forwd abt 400

yds beyond / road. There

were scattered dugouts & shelters.

There ws scattered sniping & distant

m.g. fire from the Keiberg R.

beyond / valley.

After the protective barrage

came down a patrol of 6Bn

went out thro' Celtic Wood & brought

back a few prisoners, of a much

finer stump. Some about Celtic Fm

~~back up~~ fired on our line & ran, but

didnt surrender — & were caught, one

of them, by our m.gs.

Our men got their trench down

quickly. The far side o / Ridge

ws beautifully green. The trench were

quickly camouflaged. Carts cd be

seen moving, cows grazing, smoke

going up from chimneys.

Our trench were quickly camouflaged.

A German bty ws firing direct,

but the H E shells grazing the crest,

were inaccurate & did little harm.

The Germans were seen

abt midday in some numbers

behind a farm in Keiberg R. x

moving to it from behind / Ridge.

(They were also seen taking up

again some sort of a line

in front of ours, abt 500yds from

our front on our side o / valley

bottom. A c.attack ws not

feared on a/c of the lie o / ground.)

The arty ws got on to the germs.

on the Keiberg spur (by Lucas Lamp to

Maj. Taylor

Capt. Annear

Lt. Hyde

Lt. Boyd

Lt Minster

Lt Backman

Lt Opie.

Lt. Gilchrist, k. during the advance before they reached the crater.

wd.

Lt Tutton in barrage

Lt Rowert wd by a bomb on the edge of Romulus Wood.

Lt Thomson S.A. During advance (shell)

Lt Goad During advance (shell)

Lt Martin During advance (shell)

Lt. L.M.Watt (nephew of W.Watt)

arty on Westhock (& intermediate

Stn at Anzac R.) & the arty found

the position indicated.

The distant view ws not clear

eno' for seeing Bruges.

The Bn had brought up some

of the hemp & straw camouflage,

& put turf onto their parapets.

The Germs did not see them; next

day Oct 5. German planes came

very low & fired flares but even then

they found very few posts w shells.

The main barrage ws back at

Romulus & Remus in the swamp.

Bn H.Q. dugout ws blown in, — 2k &

5 wd. This ws probly 8 in or a large

shell.

All the officer casualties were in

the preliminary Barrage or durg / advance.

Hand drawn diagram

13. 14. 15 plus for this

stunt are 1 2 & 3

6th Bn. 28 Oct.

Went in again from

Albania trench (where they had been

for 3 nights – no dugouts, wet, doing

a little carrying – shelled at night –

a very nasty corner) to 8bn HQrs.

leaving at 1.45 am26 Oct.

The idea ws for one coy to attack –

/ pln actually to hop over, / pln

remain in support, keep ∧(1 pln) to remain

in reserve. Strength of Coy ws abt 80.

It ws supposed to be a full coy.

/ Pln under Lt Gay, abt 30

strong, ws to attack; a post ws

dug night of 25 Oct. abt 250 yds

out from Defy Xing, on the rly line

The trench ws dug at AB, but when

D Coy went out it found it full

of water & so occupied a series

of shell holes at the foot of rly

Bank near the post. Gay's Pln,

McShane's Pln ~~wnet~~ out there.

Carrying pln ws led astray by

guides & ws in front line.

The plns moved out to

this trench along_∧ side of rly. A commn

trench had bn dug along the ~~embankt~~ bank

on rt hand side of rly out to

the post. [This & embankt] were

afterwds heavily shelled).

The 2 plns got out to this point

shortly after 4a.m.

At Zero hour thro an

unreliable guide the 3rd pln wh

ws carrying material did not

come up to 8th Bn Line until Zero.

Lt Macshane ws in/c of the carrying

pln until then. He ws unable

at to rejoin his pln at tt time

(No 2 14 pln). Capt Pinney had bn over

& arranged w / Canadians /

day before – the Canadians were

on the top of the Ridge further N.

The 46th Canadian Bn. ws on

Last edited by:

Loretta Corbett

Last edited on:

15 October 2024, 6:17 pm

Last updated: 15 October 2024