Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/164/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 5

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we wd die at our posts if they wd support
us & we were they promised to support.
Our m.g. barrage ws seen by MacShane
to scatter / Germs - they took cover &
sneaked over again to left. We only
had a few paniers of mg ammn
left in the post.
At this time the Canadians
were seen to be sloping off. Palmer thought
they were being relieved. Macshane
went across & found some men
by their Coy H Qrs but they were on
/ way & wd take no notice.
Their offrs had gone.
[It turned out when their
[* x wrong*]
2nd Divn came in tt portion
of their line wh ws too advd.
had bn ordered to retire.
The word seems to have gone
right along / line & all retired.]
7       53
tt their retirement had taken
place. He then went along /
rlly towds Decline - it ws
pretty well dark by now.
He saw a pty moving at /
West end o / cutting, S. side.
The moonlight ws too strong
to allow close observatn
& / enemy being in strength
Lay decided to come back
for further instrns.
It ws at this point tt
Capt Pinney left. Next day
/ Canadians were to attack
agn. This ws put off. On the
28th ^a new Canadian Divn (2nd)
came in & did / whole
attack over again, taking

7      54
this time both N. & S. portions of
Decline Copse.
6 Bn at / same time
established a post in Decoy Copse.
During attack of 26^th Oct.
During the whole of the day the
barrage ws on the front line
held by 8 Bn & support positn;
& during day the shelling on
Decline Copse ws exceedingly heavy.
The men & LGs used to be kept in
the dugout in / Rly; & a German
m.g. and 2 L.Gs. were kept w
a few men in / trench, the
men being constantly relieved.
Between 15 & 20 men were lost
in the post in front of Decline
Copse.
On 28th after the the shelling ws not

7     55
so accurate. After the Canadians
had taken the same post, 6 Bn
(who had reld 8 Bn) had to take
over / post from them & estab.
another ½ way betw. the original
line & Decline Copse, on S. side
of Rly, besides tt in Decoy Wood.
There ws no c.attack &
6 Bn handed over their posts
to 11 Bn.
-----
Lay when he went out to take
over the posts found 6 Bn had
withdrawn. ^On coming back to Bn H.Q. He ws told to find
out what / positn ws. He
went over to try & find /
Canadians. He found 2 men,

7      56
one of whom ws a Sergt,
sitting on / wrong ^(front) side of
a piece of brick wall somewhere
on N Side to the N of our
original front line. They knew
nothing exc. tt their Bn had
come back. He went on
& found one or two more
groups all without offrs, & no
idea of what ws happening.
He fussed around & managed
to find one wd offr. being carried
back by 2 sbs one of whom had
been in / dugouts in / cutting
w C.S.M. Palmer during / day.
He cd give no information
This ws in the Canadian support line.

7         57
No one cd tell him anything, C.S.M.
Palmer ws w him. He finally
found a Coy H.Qrs & they only
knew tt they ought to be
somewhere where they had
started from. He obtained a
written statement from them to
this effect.
He managed this by
offering to take them up to their
own line where their men
were, wh ws a good way
behind their original front
line. The Coy Commdr. & others
did not want to go forward;
so he got statement from them
to say tt they did not know
definitely where their front line
ws but tt it ought to be where

7      58
it had bn before / fight
forward of their original
line - they acknowledged tt
they had come back.
Lay came back &
estab. commn between their
nearest posts & ours.
Then on queries coming forward
from Bde he made another
trip - abt 2 or 3 a.m.
This time he got to Bn H.Qrs
& practically did / same - got a
statement from Bn. tt they
did not know where their
line was.
He returned from this tour
in time to meet the Bdier at
Bn H.Q. at 5 am, going since
7 p.m. There ws heavy mud. He

59
Cpl. Goodwin, a signaller, a mans
man, ws wd ^by a fragment in / throat in the
tape but wanted souvenirs so he went on w / [*attack,*]
Decline Copse  ws blown up & covered
in mud - brought back 2 souvenirs
& a message. He cdnt speak
-but he answered questns by
gestures & in whispers. He called
in first on Capt Pinney in 8 Bn
lines & went on to H.Q. 8 Bn.
On arriving at the ^Coy HQ pill box he
first pulled out a bundle of cigars
& handed them round; ^to offrs then a
pipe -he cdnt talk, but he grunted.
He also had some fine glasses, a bayonet
& belt. Prisoners were mostly sent
back without escort.
[The 13 pln had bn carrying / flares
& ws wiped out - / rly ws /
only place to walk].
Bde ws ringing 8 Bn (Ulrich) anxiously for
news. Scraps of news had come back from
9th the front. Prisoners were seen coming back
on / rly. But the news wh Goodwin
carried ws the first wh arrived in detail.
7      60
went out with anor. offr. (during
the second wandering) to Decline
Copse wh he found held by
2 active m.gs. He had 2 bombs
(wh he always carried) & wanted
to tackle the m.gs. but / offr
w him persuaded him not
too.
-----
Sept. Pte. Wills, a youngster
of 18, ws sent back
just before / retirement w a
message. He ws wounded on /
way in / thigh & cdnt walk any
further. He ws wst overtaken
by our pty retiring. They asked
(CSM Palmer did) what ws / matter.
He sd he had bn wd but he
knew tt they were going back & 

7      61
they were not to worry abt
him. He wd be all right.
Two of them however carried him
back.
When told to retire they fixed
bayonets & sd tt they were
going to hop out & meet /
attack. They were full of fight,
w good N.C.Os.
L/Sergt Seissler, a young N.C.O.
ws badly wd in arm early
in aftn but he carried on.
doing excellent work & had to
be finally ordered back.
Sergt "Dodger" Evans (a Melbourne
footballer) ws wd up there on /
way back. He did excellently &
ws badly hurt in / leg muscles.
MacShane too did excellently - it ws
a big responsibility for a young offr
to know what to do when / Canadians

7      62
retired.
The signaller carrying the Lucas
lamp ^never got to our old front line
& ws never seen again.
-----
Sept 20.
6 Bn ws on whole of
front for 1st objve.
11 Bn on left; 8^th Yorks
on to rt.
Abt ¼ hr. before the
Bn ws in the Bund & got
up 2 Coys into Menin Rd tunnels
near Clapham Jn & forwd line;
2 Coys in front of Halfway House.
Going up tt night they passed
thro a gas shell barrage near
Zillebeke in gas helmets for ¼ mile.

63
Diagram - see original scan
7      64
only 1 casualty.
On night of 19/20 abt 11 p.m. they
filed out (the two rear coys having
joined up) onto tape lines.
These were 50-70 yds ahead
of the old line (wh 6 Bn had bn
holding). They got into positn
without incident. The 2 rear Coys
found / ground on / way up very
slippery.
Abt 3 a.m. the Germs.
put over a light barrage wh
struck in rear of our line - rather
longer than / usual Clapham Jn
barrage.
2 Coys in front 2 in support.
Abt ¼ hr before Zero a
German prisoner ws brought in from B Coy