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.

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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 while
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. 

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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 movemt ws noticed
behind Butte & down / valley 

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95
of Reutelbeek in front of 8 Bn.
The L.Gs got busy onto the Butte -
whenever Gs appeared.  Artillery
got onto these.
Sept 21. Night ws very quiet -
Next day there ws a lot of
Arty fire wh mostly fell on
Blue Line.  The front ws immune.
But 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 wd hop out & L.Gs ^ wh were laid
one wd open in bursts.  This
happened all / morning.  The
Germs. seemed to be trying to
settle a line.
Diagram – see original document

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96
That night after abt 7.50
several SOSs were sent up
by 8 Bn & 10 Bn & 7 Bn.
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 do than
look after themselves. 

ⓧ But see
Correction
Bk 178 p. 10.

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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
Teare hit just after
reaching during consolidn. by m.g. durg adv to 2 objve 

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98
Anderson Oct 5 4 shell. during adv.
but before reachg 1st objve.
Hollyhoke hit on objve later in by m.g. at Broods rd
durg 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 to 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
our post there.  Lay ws sent to the Canadian
PTO
Diagram - see original document
F was our first post.  Canadians used to have a post at G but this was heavily
shelled & ws unoccupied after the mornings advance.

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100
- went over first to Canadians.  Found a Sergt &
abt 6 men at an old brick buildg A. They didnt
know whether there were 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. 

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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 DC & a Sniper at ED.
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 8 Bn H.Qrs.
The positn ws tt the 50 Bn ws
holding / support line forward of the

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102
hilltop alright but the only post
of 46 Bn within 200150 yds of A ws
the post at A.
When at about E, Lay found
a number of either 4^th 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. 

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103
8 Bn Oct 4^th
Traill tells me tt the 8^th
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
dugout & 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.