Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/164/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 8

92
Offrs
Wd.  Capt Hopkins, hit 21 Sept. by
bullet in neck - remd on duty
Capt Hamilton also hit on head,
Sept 21 by bit of shell - remd on
duty Evac. after Show.
Lt T.P O'Connor hit in leg (?by bullet) Sept
20 after reaching objve.
Lt Trawin, Sept 20 after reaching objve.
Positn ws Consold in posts & offrs
were probly hit going from one to
other.
Lt C. Anderson  wd ^Sept 21 by piece of shell - grazed. - remained on duty.
(ws hit again Oct 4 - still in hosp).
k .    w.      
5      5 .   Took in 26 offrs.

7
93
Near B.W. Corner between B & D
Coys ws a group of ^3 or 4 big dugouts
150 yds or more from B.W.Corner.
One of these had a loophole &
fire came from it.  It ws only
firing in one directn.  As the flanks
went past them they fell, came
up & gave themselves up.
The map showed a group
of gun positns abt 100 yds
in front o / objve near the
rt flank.  The barrage ws
just clear of them & while Bn
ws digging in the Germs
were still there.  Col. Heron ?Herrod
went forwd to reconnoitre &
Capt Hopkins had already bn
dealing w it by rifle grenade, TM
& LG. fire.  This kept their
fire down but Casualties
were still occurring from
single shots. 

7
94
H. advanced / line & included
this point in our front.  The
rt Coy wh ws being harrassed
(Capt Hopkins) kept up fire
M.C for this
while left Coy moved round it
& took it.
The Bn ws then on its
barrage line.  Therefore, after
mopping up the gunpits the
C.O. withdrew from there till he
got the barrage table altered,
a further 200yds.  We then
went back & made this our 
line - Green line ws altered by 150yds.
After this there ws no
trouble exc. from odd snipers.
Towards nightfall a good
deal of movement ws noticed
behind Butte & down / valley 

7
95
of Reutelbeck in front of 8 Bn.
The L.Gs got busy onto the Butte -
whenever Gs appeared.  Artillery
got onto these.
Night was very quiet -
Sept 21. Next day there ws a lot of
Arty fire wh mostly fell on
Blue Line.  The front ws minimal.
But some small bodies of 3 & 4
Germs moved quite a lot
2 - 300 yds ahead.
The Bn had 2 ALTM
Stokes w them & accounted for
a fair number - The mortars
wd put in 2 or 3 rounds.  Then
Gs would hop out & L.Gs ^wh were laid
on wd open in bursts.  This
happened all / morning.  The
Germs. seemed to be trying to
settle a line.
Hand drawn diagram – see original

7
96
That night after abt 7.50
several SOS. were sent up
by 8Bn & 10Bn & 7Bn.
As soon as this centre
one went up the CO rang
up & sd it ws a mistake
- as it was.
Sept 22.  Abt 5a.m.? 7Bn ws
relieved & moved out without
trouble.
During the last tour, tho' many
were husky w gas only 2
were evacuated.  There ws
a lot of gas shelling but Bn
had nothing else to go than
look after themselves. 

ⓧ But see
Correction
Bk 178 p.10.

7
97
Oct 4.  All day    ⓧ
At Westhoek R before moving up
[*Offrs xx wd.
there. all in
legs by
Chance
shell.*]
Capt Campbell
Lt Dobbin
Lt R Hambrook (twin of other).
Lt Pollock  k.  putting out
tapes by an odd 75 shell wh
hit him.
Lt Heaton  k  in the preliminary
German Bombt.
Lt Booth  k.  moving up xx from
the crater, before going over / ridge.
Wd: →
Lt Banks  wd Oct 5 4 shell during Consoldn.
Salthouse  shot thro arm
just before reaching objve,
over ridge.
Hambrook (brother) Oct 5 4 shell
while lying on tape.
Dean same time as Salthouse , sniped during Consoldn on Oct 4.
Wyeth wd in barrage at
5.30, badly thro face, deaf
& blind
Tearl hit just after
reaching during consolidn. by m.g. during adv to 2 objve 

7
98
Anderson Oct 5 4 shell. during adv.
but before reaching 1st objve.
Hollyhoke hit on objve later in by m.g. at Broods rd
during adv. on Oct 4.

On Oct 4 there were several
dugouts on final objve - down
slope - little possies - these were
linked -
There ws no real c-attack.
The Germs were seen assembling
but no advance ws made. 

99
X Where Lay met 6 Bn.  Went 6 Bn HQ.
Sent out to patrol with one Sergt Maj one
o.r. 6 Bn & 8 men of 8 Bn.  Came up some
each side of rly to Y abt 50 yds from
dugouts.  Patrol of Germans ws seen
moving as Z.  They seemed to be a
screen or covering pty.  Lay reported to C.O.
6 Bn ws reld - 8 took over.  Presently a
message came from Candicas saying tt they
had patrolled to Decline & cdnt get touch with
own post there.  Lay ws sent to the Canadian
PTO

Diagram - see original document

7
100
- went over first to Canadians.  Found a Sergt &
abt 6 men at an old brick buildg A. They didnt
know whether there were more troops ahead, or where offrs
were. They were 46 Can. Bn.  They were in front
o / wall & didnt know what they were doing.  Lay
told them he ws going to patrol.

Diagram - see original document 

7
101
Coy H.Q. (50 Bn. reserve).  L. asked for a
guide to their front Coy.  They sd they cdnt
give one, as they found / Coy ba L. went
out w a runner (Winchcombe) &
patrolled the Canadian front to abt
E.  Here they found there ws a m.g.
at B, another at D C & a Sniper at  DD.
They had to crawl to get clear.
Went back & reported to Col. Mitchell.
Then went over to 50 Bn Coy HQrs
& asked for a guide to Bn H.Q.  He
ws taken to Bn H.Q. to get a guide to
front line but Bn HQ cd nt give one.
No one had bn over.  He then asked
for the offr who had bn on the patrol
& ws told he had bn shot.
HQ. got in touch with the ^Support Coy,
& on what the Coy told them they
gave L. a note to effect tt their line
had withdrawn to the original
outpost line.
It ws by this time 7 a.m. & Lay
came back to 8Bn H.Qrs.
The positn ws tt the 50Bn ws
holding / Support line forward of the 

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102
hilltop alright but the only post
of 46Bn within 200150 yds of A ws
the post at A.
When at about E, Lay found
a number of either 4th or 3rd Div.
dead! All Some had boots removed &
some boots & socks also.
A L.m.g. ws placed at H to
protect our flank when it
ws found / Canadians were not
out N of the line.

8 Bn p.t.o. 

7
103
8 Bn Oct 4^th
Traill tells me tt the 8th
Bn when it reached / bottom end of
Remus Wood (or Romulus Wd) ws fired
on, direct, by the guns on the top
o / ridge, not more than 400yds
away.  He cd see the flash of the gun.
The shells were mistaken for our own
shell bursts & he had to go along to the
23 Bn ?24Bn who were waiting for / barrage
to lift & tell them tt these were German
shell - & not on any account to wait
& get behind the barrage.
The gun ceased firing ^long before we
got to it but it ws beyond our
first objve ; but they had to go on &
settle this oppositn at once, tho'
it ws in our light protective
barrage.  The guns crews & offrs &
NCOs to the N of the Crater, from
the Arty dugouts on / crest, worked 

104

^x Finally a flag ws put up thro
the steel trap in / top o / sunken
dugouts & waved.
Diagram – see original document

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105
& fought hard w m.g., revolvers, &
bomb & before we rushed them their
bombs were falling over our heads
& behind our leading people. They fought
well these Germans. ^X
An artillery staff ws chased down
/ hill / far side but we had to
give up / chase because it
went right into our barrage.