Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/170/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 1

AWM38
Official History,
1914-18 War: Records of C E W Bean,
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks
 

Item number: 3DRL606/170/1

Title: Notebook, September - October 1917
Includes references to the 17th, 18th, 25th, 26th
and 27th Battalions, Broodseinde,
Passchendaele, Menin Rd, Lagnicourt and
Bullecourt.

_{AWM38-3DRL606/170/1}

28 Bn Ypres
26 Bn Ypres
& Lagnicourt
& Pozieres
25 Bn Ypres
17 Bn Ypres & 
Lagnicourt  
Ap 15

Original      DIARY No. 170
AWM38      3DRL 606 ITEM 170 [1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C.E.W. BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

The use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But apart from these terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every
reader and writer who may use them.

These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what
was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half-asleep;
also, not infrequently what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered this, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time of writing believed. Further, he cannot, of course vouch
for the accuracy of statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure such accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence herein should be read with this in mind.
16 Sep., 1946.                   C. E. W. BEAN

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN

1

8            
28 Bn.
__________
28 Bn Ypres
26 Bn Ypres
& Lagnicourt
& Pozieres
and 7 MG Coy 
25 Bn Ypres
17 Bn Ypres & 
Lagnicourt
Ap 15

20 Sept went for green line -
3rd objve.
There ws some diffy at
Hellfire Corner Birr X Roads
owing to German shelling, darkness,
& rain.

The guides put the 28 Bn on
its proper route - onto Menin Rd
from 127 South at Birr X,
thence along rd to beyond the culvert;

thence by duckboards to left thro
Chateau Wood. (Track we called F track)

There ws shellfire (heavy) on
Chateau Wood & first casualties
occurred - Past Chateau Wood betw.
1 & 2 am. Lost Lt Walsh there - d. of w.
on way down.

Guides led Bn from xxxx valley in front

2

8    
of Bellevarde to Forming up positn
on rear slope of West hook —
on road in J 7 D 97. The place
was v. well selected by Bde & C.O.
— barrage over & short.

The Bn lay on its tapes there -

in shellholes.

The Bn lay there till 8.10.
Abt 3 mins before zero Germs.
started with H.V. & w H.E. along top
of Westhoek. Not many casualties.
The drizzle stopped at 3 a.m.

[At zero you cd have seen
a man moving at abt 70 yds].
Germ. sent up No coloured flares in front of
Germ 28 Bn.
__________
When 25 Bn went off, the Germans
in pillboxes in the Hannabeek
Valley, just this side of the
swamp opened out thro /
barrage. The flash o / m.gs

3
(Diagram - see original)

 

4

8       
cd be seen. They were
firing from loopholes & mainly outside
the dugouts. Our barrage ws
on them. A good many wd.
were found in these dugouts
when we reached them, & killed
also.

The German barrage came
down at once but fell behind
the waves. Here the first
identificatn ws obtained here,
& ws sent back.

The Germ. artillery took a
good time to shorten, & the waves
missed it until the first objve.
Then he started firing on his old
pillboxes. The 25 Bn dug in on
the Red Line in J 8 B. This ws
on / rear slope o / hill & there
were not many casualties.

The next objve ws the 27
Bns - (Blue Line). They went for
Albert Redoubt - their boundary

5
                                         ↑
Original order    A   B   C   D   
Coys were a bit mixed in boggy
ground; & by / end o / advance they
were sorted out as follows:-
                                        ↑
Final order.        A    C    B    D   

As a matter of fact this attack
formation is very rarely absolutely
attained - but the order helps.
The N Z Divn on Oct 4 (so 10^th Bde officers
tell me) did shake out into its
proper formation wonderfully well
& quickly.

 

6

8       
ws in the gully betw Albert &
Iron X_ There ws no hand to
hand fighting in this part o / 
advance - but m.g. fire at
indirect at longish range.

There ws an hours halt here.

It ws at this point tt the
28 Bn jumped off. The Bn did not
lose heavily in going up & reached
27 Bn line in time to go straight
over as arranged. The 28 Bn
came up extended - & came thro 
27 Bn in line. The 18 pdrs increased
/ min before the left from 2 rounds
per g. per min to 4 rounds.
That ws noticeable ^by noise & bursts also - it ws all
shrapnel -

On left in A Coys sector
there were a couple of pill boxes
from one of which a m.g. ws
active. This gave some trouble
but ws rushed by Lt Watt & Sergt

7

8 
Pritchard. They shot the Germans
& got the gun - [Watt ws k. by
concussion that night on /
green line _^on aftn of 20^th by a shell wh burst
near & k. the whole L.G. Post
including Lt Smith; ^X Sergt Pritchard
ws / only survivor of / post in
this shell hole. He later died
of gas poisoning abt Nov 1. from
mustard gas.]

Albania Wood cd be seen
ahead & Germans running
through it. The Green line here
ws on the reverse slope with
no field of view - & the Bn
therefore moved its right up
onto the plateau & dug in
imd. in rear of Albania
Wood. Indeed in putting out
wire they wired the stumps in
Albania Wood. Plenty of tools

8

^X During / advance the _^German aeroplanes
were exceedingly active, planes
coming very low.

 

9

8       
were carried & so they dug in
very quickly - each section
wiring its own bit. They utilised
a lot of German wire wh ws
lying around there. By night there 
ws a continuous line

The Bn lost here pretty heavily.
The Butte in Polygon Wood overlooks
the place completely - so close tt
every man cd have bn seen;
& the positn ws visible from
Broodseinde.^x

During / advance Pugh ws
hit thro both ankles by a m.g. bullet
just before / final objve.

He ws / only offr hit during / advance.

During consolidatn Lt Mellish,
Nind, & Ryder were wounded
by shrapnel - a good deal of
sniping came later from Anc Zonnebeke
way.

10

8      
Abt 3 in aftn. of Sept 20. Germs
were seen dribbling down / road
past Jabber House w / apparent
intention of massing in Albania
Wood. They were in full kit -
Arty ws put onto them & nothing
came of it. The arty got a disturbed
them obviously. Our m.g. barrage
ws splendid.
____
The first night ws quiet w
periods of heavy shelling - searching.
On Friday morning things were
ominously quiet w Germ. arty
tho sniping ws active from Zonnebeke,
Tokio Spur. At 3 p.m. German
planes came over in great
force, including 3 Gothas; they
were apparently ranging their arty.
with flares. As soon as A bty got
a good shot in it wd switch
off. This went on for abt an hour. 

11

8       
There ws movement in front o /
S. Africans but nothing came of
it owing to our arty.

At 5.50 down came an S O S 
xxx barrage & abt / same time
an intense bombt from the Germans
evidently preceding an attack.
D Coy saw some men on rt flank
& got m.gs. & rifles onto them,
but no attack reached our lines.

Abt 4 pm tt aftn a German
ws seen lying in a shellhole 40 yds behind
28 Bn line. He ws An ^T.M. offr
went up to him & found a
Germ. Sergt Major in full
attack kit, w / nominal rolls
of his Coy on him. He had bn
sent out to reconnoitre for a
attack & had somehow got
in between our posts.
So far as is known he
didn't give this information before / attack)