Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/170/1 - September - October 1917 - Part 4

47
Diagram - see original document
Lt. H Bieske. 26 Bn [No 3 Lay off in Lond. Genl] ws in the
fight on the crater at Lagnicourt. He had
his leg broken in the crater. Cornak ws
k. just within 10 yds of the crater.
[Take this a little
cautiously]
8                                48
over to him, seeing tt he had hit
him, & the German spoke to him
in perfect English. He took out
some letters & sd "After the censor
has seen these will you promise
me to post them for me to /
people they are addressed to."
Cherry promised.
The German handed them over
& sd -"And so it endeth".
And died.
Cherry sd tt one of the m.gs on tt same
morning - possibly Cherry's - had 
only 3 rounds of ammn left.
They gave / Germans the 3 rounds
& they threw up their hands -
bluffed. Lt Thelander 26 Bn ws
then a Sergt with them at / time.
Sergt Blackburn - 26 Bn -
who cd speak German, saw a German
during the attack put up his rifle

49
Diagram - see original document
[This too w caution]
This is Maj Curries
own experience.
8                           50
to shoot. He swore at him in German &
asked him what he ws doing firing
on his own men. The German lowered
his rifle & Blackburn shot him.
B. ws killed at Flers.
"Dinkum" ws / password tt
night to be answered by "Saida"
A German is sd to have bn challenged
by 2 men who he ws sniping -
"Is it Dinkum?" he sd "Yes it is
Dinkum" - they shot him.
As ^Currie went across the garrison
of O.G.1 cd be seen running back to
to O.G.2. The Germs did not
open from O.G.2 in front but
they did from O.G on the 6 Bde
on / left where they were abt
10 mins late - one m.g. opened
there. That seemed to be /
only fire from / enemy tt night.
So far as Currie knew. He ws hit in leg 20 yds from
OG2.

8                             51
25 Bn
Sept 20.   25 Bn ws for 1st
Objve.
On 19^th/20^th left Ramparts
for front. Came up by ...
& assembled behind Westhoek R.
No casualties out of ordinary on
way up.
The Barrage ws excellent -
covered / whole front. There ws
no oppositn - a good many dead
Germs. were come across. 25 Bn
ws on I left of 11 Bn.
The 25^th dug in on red line -

52
X They had not their bayonets fixed.
8                      53
25 Bn went back to Reninghelst
on Oct I left R. for Chateau
Belge. stayed there 1^st & 2^nd & 
went to Ramparts agn.
25 Bn took over from 28 Bn line
from 28 Bn along rd from Rly to Zonnebeke,
in front of Z. Church & just
behind lake, there joining
6 Bde. This was ^early on night of
3/4 October.
Movement ws seen here. ^Abt 11pm they
cd see / Germans coming over in
small parties w packs on up SE
of the Road & across the front: They
took it for an ordinary relief. x
It ws noticed during all / hours
till morning - The Germans finally
became so thick th it ws
evident there ws some attack afoot

54
Diagram - see original document
8                           55
but it ws by then too late to
take any action. The instrns as
to S.O.S. were ^are tt it ws not to
be sent up till / enemy is seen
clearly advancing to / attack.
At 5.30 down came the

German barrage. There were
considerable losses - it is hard to
say how many as / attack took
place imd after.
I hour before Zero we had to
withdraw from Church & road back
to /line of / Chateau - in order to
clear the barrage. When we advanced
a German post ws found in
the Church & taken prisoner -
it had bn placed there in the interval.
A Party of A Coy 25 Bn went to
right of lake, to join the others
round left of the lake -
It was after going round rt
of Lake that Capt Maj. Page

8                                56
saw some Germans whom
he took for our men on
his left front & going up with
his runner ws captured &
escaped almost at once,
getting in some shots at the
Germans who were scattered
by one of our shells.
The Germans fought well
in front of 25 Bn. The NCOs
cd be heard giving / order
to retire - after 30 or 40
yds they wd get / men down
again & start I rapid
fire, & then retire again as
we advanced. It ws one o /
rare occasions on wh /
German has kept his head &

put up a good fight in
retreat.
There ws fighting at practically
all the Pill Boxes.

57
x these had bn shelling these
village & near St Josephs during
the German bombt. The Germans had
cleared during our bombt. The minenwerfers
were abt 8in. bore.
8                                 58
Lt Ryan, O.C. B. Coy, ws in the
fight for the Gasometer.
The Red line came from
Thames Wood on left, past
Moulin Farm to near De Knoet
Farm (exclusive), under the
crest of the ridge. The German
shelling ws especially on
Zonnebeke, & Z. lake area.
Some hours after consolidation
(in shell holes) the Germans got their
arty onto this slope, & onto the
cemetery. It ws there tt most o /
casualties happened.
6 mm minenwerfers & 8 m.gs were
taken in - the minenwerfers all loaded facing
our line near Moulin Fm. x
25 Bn ws relieved early on
Oct 6., brought back to
Westhoek.
6/7 to support to relieve 2/5 Manchesters in D16 D23
-7/8 relieved by 20 Bn & moved to

59
Gas.
The 30 Oct. ws / quietest night on / whole
front - for some reason - perh. German relief.
They were still nights, without much wind.
The artillery in Tokio valley (Albania
Valley) suffered v. heavily from gas. Tokio
ws even worse than Westhoek Garter Point.
Westhoek ws better than Garter Point.
x 27 abt 2 hrs. )
28 abt 5 hrs. )
29 abt 7 hrs. )  gas shelling
31 abt 8 hrs.  )
The helmet worn practly all the time -
it ws mixed w 8 in. & 5.9 and men
under W.P. sheets so there ws no
sleep. They were working all day. One
Coy had to be shifted 3 times owing to bivouacs being
[*shelled w. gas. The bivouacs were knocked in agn & agn
w gs shells & cdnt be occupied - reeking w.
gas. Abt 6 or 7 are fatal - total gas
casualties 6 offrs 202 or.*]
8                            60
Rly wood.
Oct 9. 25 Bn left Rly Wood
early & moved to Tokio where
they were shelled ^as heavily as anywhere (Bn H.Q. up at

Moulin Farm.) There ws heavy shelling

here.
9/10 relieved by 45 Bn &
went to Gordon Camp & Inf. Barracks Ypres.
Steenevoorde on Oct 11 - 26.
Oct 26 to Swan area.
27 Bde tok over line, Bn took
over support postn, 2 Coys at
Garter Pt, 2 at Westhoek. While
here they were heavily gas shelled & lost
a number of men on 27. 28. 29 and 31st.
Oct 31. This ws every sort of gas -
first sneezing gas in H.E. shells
-it ws hard to tell it ws gas until
they started sneezing, & then
they cdnt keep respirators on
for sneezing.

60
2-11-17
Gassed
Battle Casualties   After relief from line (who had
to go off after Bn came out) -
3 Off 80 Approx (Gassed)
8                           61
Oct 31/Nov 1 relief ws delayed 8 hrs
by a further gas bombt on
by Retaliatn Farm - Zonnebeke
Valley. It eased in early
morning wh ws fortunate as it
ws pitch dark & duckboards
slippery - gaspirators cd not
be worn. At 3 when it eased the
relief ws started - complete by
abt 4a.m.
During the follg night 2 days in the front
line the patrols put a post
out in front on Table Wood near

Jn of Military Rd & Moorslede
Rd. The patrol came down

thro China Wood, towards

Anvil. Here they were fired
on, as they had bn on from Table Wd.
-back thro Flinte Copse & in.
The front line ws far more
comfortable than reserve-

8 

Oct 31/Nov 1

relief
by a future
by Relatiatn
valley. It 
moring wh ws
ws pitch dark
slippery - gas
be work. At 3
relief ws started
abt 4 a.m.
During the battle
line the patrols
out in front of the
In of Military
Rd. Then patrol
thro China Wood
Anvil. Here xxx
on, as they had
- back thro Flient
The front line ws
comfortable then