Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/170/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 2

12
^X Tye ws cut off at Bullecourt
at / head of his bombg pty by
Germans who came down one
of the C Ts  betw O g 1 & 2 - &
he & his pty cut their way back.
K        Watts   }
           Smith  }
           Walsh  }   4
           Tye       }
wd.  Capt Montgomery  }
         Capt Pugh                }
         Lt Brown MC            }   6
         Lt Mellish                  }
           "   Nind                    }
          "    Ryder                  }
Total o.r. 297. (54 k abt 70 K. 227 w. )
X. Gill ws on a stretcher wh raised him
above the sandbag barricade around / tent.
8     13
This shellfire lasted v. heavily
until 7.50 p.m.
Lt Brown M.C. Flers ws hit at this time
^X Lt Tye killed.. M.C. Bullecourt May 3 (by one of ours) (by one of ours).
Lt Capt Montgomery ws
sniped in abdomen on mg. of Sept 21.
He survives.
28 Bn ws reld night
of 21st Sept by 21 Bn.
Came out v. quietly to
Halifax. Moved next mg
to Reninghelst.
At Reninghelst on Sept 28.
a German low flying Gotha dropped
a bomb just outside the C.Os
tent in the corner of H.Q. lines
betw. 9 & 10 p.m. The bomb
Diagram - see original document
made a hole 2 ft 6 in
diameter & 9 in deep.
Capt Gill (MC R[[?]]d). ws killed; also / sergt
& 2 men. ^X

14
2/Lt Conroy M.C.(Bullect. 1st line in line) M.M. (Flers w
6 Field Ambce). went in w advance
pty on mg of Oct 1. & ws k by a
shell.
Germs were within 20
yds here. This sniper ws
k later.
One of our guns wh fired
consistently behind / church
accounted for 50 men of 6 Bde & no
less than 70 in all are put down
to it.
8       15
Col. Read, Maj. Darling DSO, (DSO in Africa)
Maj. Brown DSO MC (who had bn
in/c at Bullecourt)
Lt Flower, Gillete & Burt, & a few
men were wd.
The machine had passed over
once on way towds Hazebrouck
& bn fired at by L.G.
On its way back abt ½ hr
later it shut off its engine, came
into a low cloud, saw / tents
& dropped / bomb.
Oct. 1/2 When 2 Divn came
back they reld. some of
9 Bde. 33 Bn.
D on left from rly to swamp -
B just in rear front of church
to island. A Coy in reserve, C in
suppt. The relief ws v.
difficult owing to guides losing
themselves, flares, & plenty of
German activity. The positn

16
& ws k later by one of 25 Bn
offrs who set his flares alight
w a revolver shot
8      17
ws a trench abt 2 ft deep - cdnt
go deeper ^on rt it ws isolated posts. - Germans had 2
snipers abt 30 yds ahead of the
trench - This man fired flares
all night. The role of 28 Bn ws
to lie low & show no activity -
there ws no shelling in front line
but v. heavy on supports -
St Josephs & Muhle.
The 28 ws reld by 25 Bn
at 10 p.m. on night of 2/3.
28 Bn fell back to Bellevarde.
Oct 4. 28 Bn ws bn in reserve -
to Bde & moved up to
rear slope & top of Westhoek.
At 6.30 moved to St Jos.'
Inst. & Ridge - Lt Harris M.C (Bullecourt) &
Capt King M.C. were both
wd by shellfire - the m.gs for
barrage were at this place.

18
^X Lt Coburn of this pty ws wd.
8        19
& it ws heavily bombd.
The 28 dug in abt 100 yds in
rear & missed this barrage.
A Coy ^under Capt Glyde went w 25 Bn as
a carrying pty. with Lts Compton & Boundy.
(Glyde and Compton were wounded).
25 Bn spoke very highly o / work
of this Coy.
Another pty ws told off before
/ attack to carry bombs - under
Lt Cleverly (who survived by ws
killed fatally wd by a beam thrown down by
 shellburst in trench on Oct 9.)
Lt O'Grady ws w this party & ws
wd; xxx the pty carried thro.
At 10 am a pty left carrying
ammn & bombs under Lt Tozer,
& carried right through.
What ws left of Bn ws
ordered up under Capt Hargrave
to be placed ^X at disposal of COs
of 25 & 26. Half went to each w

8         20
L.Gs. They were part on red &
part on Blue Line. These pties
did not lose heavily but / carriers
did, working from the shelled
area by Zonnebeke. A reserve of
remnants ws formed near / gasometer.
On night of 5/6 28 Bn from
ws relieved supports & front line
ws relieved & went to Westhoek. The remnants of
/ rest wh cd be collected being
placed near / gasometer.
H Qrs were near the Gasometer.
On night of Oct 6. 28 Bn
went as a whole into the reserve
positn just in front of Zonnebeke.
Few men were lost tho' there ws a good deal of
shelling. Stayed there till early on mg of
Oct 8 when they were mostly brought
out to Kit & Cat. They reached here
from daylight to 10 a.m. 100 men had
to go out cable laying during /
afternoon - coming back to Kit & Cat
at night. The next morning

8      21
at 2 a.m. they moved up to
front of Gasometer, just rt of
Rd on rear slope of Ridge. (The
original intentn ws tt 28 Bn
shd go only to St Joseph - They
were in reserve here to 21 Bn.
At 7 a.m. Lt Gaby & a pty
of 30 men & 2 L.Gs. were ordered
up to near Daisy Wood to help
6 Bde wh ws hung up.
An hour later a pty of 30
under Lt Cleverly went to abt
/ same positn - leaving the rest
of Bn as reserve. All the
specialists were on carrying
parties.
There pties did good work
clearing Daisy Wood & keeping
German fire down in Daisy
Wood. It ws here tt Cleverly
ws fatally hit. Bn ws reld

8      22
on night of 9/10 - the casualties
out there were slight.
49 Bn relieved on
this section, 45 Bn to rt.
49 Bn took over from 4 Bns.
Denton met all t Bn Commnds
at De Knoet Pill Box - &
each Coy reld a Bn. Some of
28 got down during night, some
not till after daylight.
The advance pty had bn in
from 1 Oct till 10 Oct - The whole
Bn from 2 Oct till 10 Oct.
The men who were at Caestre
during Sept. fighting joined on
Sept 25 at Reninghelst; the
nucleus who went down then on Sept Oct 1
or Sept 30 to replace them ws at Caestre
during whole of 2nd tour.
Men were very done at /
end of this tour.
(Flers ws worse so far as conditions

8          23
went - Pozieres for shelling -
The worst of this stunt ws tt
/ reliefs broke into / rest time].
28 Bn on Nov Oct 27 went in again
to Broodseinde Rd S of
Crater & stayed till night of Oct 31
when they came back to Albania.
Germs. then got them w gas
& H.E. on this move. Everyone
ws hoarse aftwds. In the forwd
line one gas shell lit / mouth
of the H.Q. detail dugout
in Molenarelsthoek -
the place ws cleaned up & fire
lit, but fumes continued
to come up from this shell &
22 men were evacuated
& 4 have since died. (It seems
to have bn a mixture of phosgene
& mustard & affects men ag who had
bn there ^up to a week later

8       24
During this tour the patrols worked
as far as the X Road in D30D
Lt Martin ^on Oct 30 had his thumb blown
off by a gas shell during this tour;
& Lt Gaby ws gassed.

25
[This a/c is from Maj. Currie who ws
himself in commd. on Oct 4. It is probly
generally accurate, but needs caution]
2 Bns were sent to
final objve in order to ensure agst
line being driven in by c/ attack.
8                                           26
26 Bn
20 Sept. 26 Bn ws in close
support to 28 Bn who took 3rd objve.
On night of 19/20 26 Bn marched
from Canal area. S. of Ypres to a
positn imd. S.W. of Bellewarde Lake.
They had the option of forming up on
the slope of Westhoek, Bellewarde Ridge,
or the Lake. Lake ws selected
bec. there were no new shelholes.
They stayed there till 8 am 20 Sept.
- practically no casualties from
hostile shelling but a few from
a premature shellburst of our own.
At 8 am. Bn left Bellewarde
Lake for Westhoek Ridge - in long
column in Indian File, no intervals.
Reached Westhoek w few casualties -
Lt Cockvill wd - & few o.r.