Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/166/1 - September 1917 - Part 5

46      52
The Germs. got onto the
Red line & a good many
men were lost on / left.
The Red Line ws reached
¾ hr after the start, & 
the German Arty ws on
it ¼ hr later, the plane 
having come over in /
mean time. Our own
contact plane ws over a
little later doing excellent
work - abt as low as /
German.

Bn ws reld at
5.30 on / night of Oct 5.
They lived on their 48 hrs
rations; plenty of Germ
bread from pill boxes. One
jar of rum for I Bn -

40          53
Abt 100 yds over our
own line we passed thro
newly erected uncut wire
thin but nasty if oppositn.
The Germs must have bn
out since / last barrage.

On the ridge we had
our German Arty observers. They
had wonderful observatn.
officers. Thro' their glasses
they cd see right into
Ypres - they were living
in / Pill Boxes. 3 incl.
a major, all wd, were
sent back prisoners.
They were grumbling at
being kept & sd tt as they

46        54
were offrs & ought to
be sent away before /
men. A ^German batman who
ws wd there & ws worse
ws sent away before
them -

They had a wonderful
pair of periscopic binocular,
field glasses in the
pill boxes on the W. of the
rd, 30 yds & cd see
everything in Ypres.
-----
The Germs

55
Diagram - see original document.

46        56
8 Bn: 20 Sept 1917.
Front line to left of
Clapham Jn. From

Diagram - see original document.

All Bns were close
up to dodge / barrage.
The 8 Bn ws in front
of the existing frontline -
abt 30 yds out.

46         57

Were at Chateau Segard,
Dickebusch.
Left abt 8pm.
Reached Zillebeke Lake abt
9.30 by road on S.W Side
of lake.

Remained there till midnight.
It began to rain - they
had only their waterproofs,
& they were lying on /
top o / bank. A few
shells were put into /
lake splashing up /
water - but only one
near.

They were to move
abt 11pm but owing to
some hitch in units
ahead they only moved
abt 12.

46      58

The track ws well marked
for the 8 Bn but they
missed it ahead.

Apparently a tank (wireless)
went over the track at
last moment, & one
o / leading bns wandered
onto another tape - it
ws an hour before the
directn ws righted.

Going ws good but slow
- just a crawling pace, constantly
stopping. When they got
near the front in Sanct. 
Wood they began to wonder
if they wd be up in time,
as it ws getting late.

It ws just as they
were approaching Clapham

46          59
Jn tt / Germans seem 
to have retaken the
post (Crimea Post)
on our rt & put over
a barrage, abt ¼ hr
before the start. The
leading Coy ws just
arriving - the barrage
caught Clapham Jn
& C Coy (leading) ran 
into it. They had a 
good few casualties.
Capt Evans M.C. ^of Bullect A Coy rear Coy, ws wd
severely in / back-
he wdnt let / men
stay back to bandage
him up as he feared

60

Diagram - see original document.

46        61
they wd be late. The
bearers got him aftwds
going back for him
but he died of wounds
tt morning.

The Bn all got onto
the tape - screen in front
in artillery formation.
rest in arty formation
behind it - all closed
up together but in groups.
They were to move off
all together & then shake
out into waves but
remain in their arty
formation.

Our barrage ws
very good - they moved
off at once. The German
barrage got slightly into
A & B Coy - this ws mostly
the bombt for his attack

46        62
At their 100 yds every
battalion ws mixed up -
the rear ws anxious to get
ahead - one big mass
of men moving behind
our bombt.

At once every other
man lit a cigarette - they
were in top spirits tho' wet.

The Germans had a 
line abt (probly) 300 yds
ahead. This line ws
very much wrecked - 
the wire was walked thro,
well blown up. In this
line were a few Germans
- perh. 10 to 100 yds -
a good number had bn
k. by / barrage. All these

46          63
had bn k.

No opposition ws
struck - a m.g. ws rattling
on / rt but scarcely noticed.
a few men dropped but /
gun ws a good long
distance.

From there they went
on to 1st objve - abt
from / SE corner of Glencorse
Wood to E of Fitzclarence
Farm. This seemed to be
2 or 3 pillboxes. There
was a god series of
abt ½ dozen pillboxes
on this line.

There ws a pillbox
abt 150 yds N of Fitzcl. Fm