Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/167/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 4

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on / side facing / enemy, opp. 
the door, & brought the men 
in.  While they were carrying 
them a shell wd. Gale - 
who came in & ws doctored
by / Bdier - & a couple of 
extra men went out to finish
/ carrying.
When they got in Tuckett 
sd he wd go out & get some 
cocoa ∧& milk for them from a the ^signal dugout 
(where they worshipped him)
abt 150 yds away. Ten
mins. later he had not returned.  
The Bdier knew he wd be as 
quick as possible so he rang
up ∧the signals. The reply ws tt
he was not there. They at once 
set out to look.  A few mins  
later a signaler put his head 
in / door of Bde HQs. "I'm 

afraid we have bad news 
for your, Sir" he sd "- Mr

4            40                               
Tuckett -."

They had found seen, 
quite close to H.Q. dugout, 
an electric torch burning.  
The It ws in a shell hole. By 
it was lying Tuckett, smashed 
up. He ws brought into 
Ypres & buried / next morning
Tuckett's son (in the Bde H.Q.
Sig section,) his brother (Capt
in Divl Sig. Coy) the Bdier & 
Gen Monash were at / 
funeral.  Tuckett ws a 
West Australian, a post 
& telegraph man.

It took 2 hours to bring 
these wd men 500 yards.  
They were mud from head to foot.
In Hamburg Redoubt 
after it ws taken there were 
numbers of German wounded.  
We cd not get rid of our

4          41                                             
own wd, let alone the German 
ones. owing to mud.  Amongst them ws a 
German youngster of 18 or 19, 
writhing in pain, & calling out all 
the time, vater, vater:

4       42                                 
19 Bn.
At 2am. 4 Oct moved from 
Chateau Belge to line - 
to Rly wood at 4am & 
Westhoek at 8.

At 10.30a.m. to 
Anzac spur.
At 5 p.m. Col. Pye ws 
fatally wd when going forwd 
towds Anzac to see some of the
Coys - by a 77 H.E. on the 
duckboards. He was carried 
back & died a 6 p.m. in 
the dressing stn & ws buried 
at cemetery at Belgian Battery 
corner. Pye joined Bn in 
middle of March 1917 from 
17 Bn - where he was 2/in C.

He ws an original 17 Bn man, 
having left Aust. with Bn on 
May 12, 1915. He was Coy Comder 

43
Diagram - see original document

4        44                            
He was a medical graduate 
of Sydney & a number of 
university scouts - (Byers his 
old 2 in C. followed him in 
commnd of 19 Bn). He was 6 or 
7 weeks in Gallipoli at Quinns 
as acting 2 in C.

[*Beiers*] [Byers in/c of A Coy ws
in the Kaiajik Dere attack 
on Aug. 27 - Pye then being 
2 in/C.]

Pye left Gallipoli at beginning 
of October with dysentery & heart 
trouble. Eventually he ws sent 
back to Australia. He reported 
back in France on Dec.11.1916 
He got his DSO at Malt Trench 
for organising & carrying out 
c-attacks up the trench towds
7 Bde. ∧He was transferred to 19 Bn in March He ws at Bullecourt &
came w bn to Ypres.

45
Diagram - see original document

On night of Oct 6, 19 Bn dug ∧(under some fire from this gun) 
a post in Daisy Wood
on left edge o / wood - by daylight
it ws seen tt Germs had a shellhole
emplacement abt 50 yards away
in / wood. A practice barrage opened
tt mg - & / post ws withdrawn. The mg
opened & got the L/C in c. of L.G. The German 
then retired bec. the men going back to fetch spare part bag were not fired at.

On Oct 7 at daylight 20 Germ. planes or so 
came over - none of ours - probly to spot front 
line & remained 3 or 4 hours.

^Left Edge of Daisy wood ws opposite left & D Coy. Germs 
had bn shelling genly all day; ½ hr before dusk they
came down on our front line at very long range 
on our front line with 4.2, 5.9, whizz bang (a few) & h.v. 
4.2 - Germs had a whizz bang battery (wh only fired
at night) on foreslope behind a little dip behind
Assyria.  The first shot fell right into the trench - the
5.9 hows were behind the Morsleede Ridge - only glare 
of shot cd be seen.  At this time Germs were holding
posts at far edge of Daisy Wood along tramline - They 

4        46                               

Col. Byers Beiers took over (having 
just got back from C.O.'s school 
Aldershot) on Oct 5 at noon. 
19 Bn relieved tt night 25, 26, & 
27 Bns after dusk. The 3 Bns up 
there were all mixed up 
after / fight. They had an 
old German trench for front 
line, converted, pract. 
continuous & a fairly 
continuous suppt line - 
known as Desmond trench in 
D 22 C. close behind Moulin
Farm. The front line ws abt 
250 150 yds ahead of the Road 
well down the slope with 
Dairy Wood ahead of it.

On Oct 7. abt 5.20 pm. 
bodies of Germans were 
seen moving forwd from 

47
used to push mgs out into Daisy Wood 
at night - when (if far eno' up) he had us 
on skyline and cd snipe -

The Germs had 2 or 3 Pillboxes 
on the tramline or thereabouts and cd be seen
nipping occasionally from one to / other - 
at least 4 were sniped.  There ws a 
lot of activity under / Red X Flag on 
Oct 6 & it looked as if Germs had carried 
out a relief under it.

During / bombt ∧men were standing to & it ws clear he was going 
to attack - Just as German bombt finished 
one o / men drew Capt Taylors attentn 
to right, opp C. Coy - in the Hedge S. of 
Daisy Wood - where abt 50 men were 
spread out along the Pillboxes.  They 
were standing up.

Taylor went back to left - S.O.S. 
went up on rt, then imd. on left, then 
on whole front from rt flank to left flank - 
at least 4 S.O.S. The left ws hidden from 
observatn by the dip of the hill into / 
valley.  This ws abt 5.30 pm (wh ws the 
stand-to hour for us.) Within 2 minutes 
the S.O.S ws down. Nothing more ws seen of /
Germans.

[The German used to work an 
orange flare splitting into 2; according 
as he fired it rt & left the arty wd 
shoot rt & left.]

(cf 9 Oct.) At this time there ws not in evidence
the m.g. post just N of Daisy Wood - the 
G. mgs. were (1) in Wood (2) in Pillboxes 
in Hedge S of wood.

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Daisy & Dairy Wood.  S.O.S. 
ws sent up - Barrage came 
down & nothing more ws 
seen of it.

The German had shelled 
heavily for ½ hr before this - 
he shelled his own cemetery 
at the X Roads especially 
heavily.  There were 150 men 
in 19 Bns Front line but only 
2 were k & 8 wd.

The phones were all cut - 
but presently news began to 
come in to H.Qrs of Bn, in 
a Pill Box in D22 D 3.4 
across Rd from the Gasometer. 
to say the German ws bombarding 
them.  Finally one from Taylor 
"We are being systematically 
blown out of our trenches.
It is ∧perfectly clear tt the Hun will 
attack in a few minutes."

49
Col. Byers ws called out of his dugout 
at this time by someone saying 
tt our men were coming back.  He 
went out - & there, sure eno, 
on top o / hill were abt 100 men 
coming towards him. At It seemed 
like a disaster. Suddenly he heard 
a high voice "Come on you 
buggers - where the hell are 
you getting to - - - !"
It was Col. Ralston. The 20 Bn 
had to side step & / hour for it ws
/ middle of this barrage - most 
trying. Ralston pulled them 
together & got them through. 

4      50                                  
3 mins later up went the S.O.S. 
& ws answered quickly.

On night of 7/8 Oct. The 
23 Bn reld. the two Support 
Coys in Desmond Trench. 
The 23 Bn ws too weak to take 
front line also; so the 2 front 
line Coys ∧of 19 Bn stayed there & Bn H.Q. 
& support Coys moved back 
to Anzac.

Instead of the 100 men from 
Caestre, 23Bn only got 40.  The 
23 Bn ws terribly done & Col. 
Byers wd not hand over front line 
to them without authy of Bde, wh
also agreed to 19 staying.

Result ws tt arrangement 
for 19 Bn to take make front 
wave of attack of Oct 9 cd not 
be carried out.  The 18 Bn ws 
to have made 2nd wave for 
this attack, but after the tour in

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the trenches & Raid they 
were changed to support Bn.
& 17 & 20 were to go over 
in that order - 18 in Support - 
19 in Reserve.

9 Oct At 3 a.m. 2 Coys & Bn H.Q.
moved up again to Broodseinde 
Ridge on left of old positn in 
Desmond Trench gathering in the 2 Coys wh had 
bn left up there.  They packed 
in abt 4 am to left of 
Desmond Trench. During day, 
23 Bn had dribbled their men 
up into front line; 19 had 
dribbled theirs back (The C.T. 
was a little to the N of the (invisible) 
Moulin Farm - running across 
to road - then over rd into trench on 
far side.  It ws a goodish C.T.)

When attack started at 5.20 
19 ws in Desmond (to left) 18 in Desmond

51a
FORM
No.
e:- Either give map Reference or
k your position by a 'X' on the
on back.
ctive.
..........and is consolidating.
.................and has consolidated.
...........(Place where you are).
. . . . . . . .
............on Right at. . . . . . . . . . . .
Left.
................................on Right.  
Left.
 . . . . . . . . . ..

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next to them - packed up close - 
17 Bn in frontline; 20 Bn close 
behind them.  As soon as these 
assaulting Bns went over, 
18 Bn had to move up to 
occupy old front line of 17; 19 
to old positn of 20 Bn. To 
be there 1½ hrs after zero.

At 9.30 am A Coy were 
told to take positn from D 18 A 7.7 
to D 18 A 20.95.  This was 
more on the left of the rly than 
on the right.

At 10 a.m. word was recd
tt all / offrs of A Coy had become 
casualties. They had got together 
to have a word, when a shell 
got them all.

[*? FB Forster*]  Lt. Foster A Coy O.C. 

/ arm broken -
2/Lt HEB Smith killed (his brother 
also ws killed later)
2/Lt Hayes, wd & shell shocked.