Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/174/1 - October 1917 - Part 3

54         32

A good many reached
parties or joined them in 
shellholes, & not knowing
what to do there, finally 
drifted back to original
line.

Those who pushed
on, pulled up abt on
/ line beforementioned,
on / impression tt it
ws near / Red Line; it
ws on a crest, & drier
than further on, - abt 200
yds short of Red Line.
Maj. Giblin found them
on this line at abt 7.30
a.m.  They had been there 
some time – This ws abt
/ time when / barrage shd 

54         33
halt on / Red line.
w abt 1 hrs halt to 
come in / Barrage.
Maj. G. got 3 or 4 offrs of
40 Bn & prospected a bit
to see who ws there -
a few were still coming
but soon they stopped &
no more arrived.  There
ws no G. shelling but
m.g. & sniping fire
active from - left &
some from Crest Farm
way. It seemed to be
left or left rear - G. saw
one man in front of him
hit in / back.

Abt 100 men were
found there - there
may have bn 150 really –

54      34
all bns of 10 Bde
well mixed up.

It ws decided tt /
best thing ws to dig in
& wait for instrns.

They cd connect w 9 Bde
on rt, but there were
not eno' to make /
front continuous.

On / left / Germans
cd be seen all over 
/ ridge.  The N. Z. cd
be seen rather round
/ corner ^Westwds opp. Bellevue.
They made at one time
a sort of a scattered
advance & it disappeared
– it was difficult to see
what had happened
but it ws clear they
were not thro' .

54        35
Later / Germs got
shelling onto our line
esp. near a prominent 
tree. The line ws ^therefore pulled
back here abt 50 yds
to make a loop round
it. It ws cold & /
men dug well & got
pretty good shelter.  The
men who had gone
across / Ravebeck
were elsewhere in rear.
Other men had
gone thro / barrage &
well ahead at an
earlier stage – nothing
cd be seen of them
at this time.  Paschendaele

54              36
Windmill etc cd
be seen from there,
& Germans filing 
out from Paschendaele.

It ws most puzzling
to make out / barrage

- abt 11am ^later durg / morning there ws
a fair amt of arty
fire near Crest Farm.
This ws probly where
/ barrage ws due to
be then.  
The 9th Bde's positn
ws not exactly known –
it ws sd they had bn
further ahead, had
come back a bit &
tt their rt ws in / air.

54      37
By 1.30 pm. there
ws no answer to 
a message of 8.30 -
they were apptly an
isolated line, rt
& left, / two Bdes.

It ws decided to go
back slowly & get
touch w / NZs on
the left.

The Germs. were
getting down / hill to 
near Snipe Hall   —
there ws something (it
ws thought to be a trench)
wh hid them near
there. The men were 
sent off from / rt to 
/ left in pties of

54        38
4 or 5 at a time.
This ws well done.
2 offrs went w / first 
one to arrange a 
line on wh to dig in.
This ws begun abt 2
& finished abt 3.30 pm

The German ws very 
alert - & used to snipe
these parties of 5
with HE; he put no
shrapnel onto them -
& got scarcely any results
(possibly a Năhekampfballoon

When abt ½ doz. were
left he gave / line where
they had bn a heavy
pasting for ¼ hr.

54         39
He did / same thing
once or twice more
before dusk, after all
were back.

Pties were got out to
get wd in, but it
took far longer than 
ws expected & went
on all night & next 
day.  One journey
necessitated, w most 
men, a good spell at 
/ end.

The ground ws
so rotten tt they had
to go further back than
intended  — right to 
Dab trench, & dug part 
o / way towds / NZs.

54        40
For The rest o / way,
in / valley mud, they 
patrolled.  Most o /
shelling went over onto 
/ road.  The night ws 
quiet. 

In / morning the
German s.bs w flags
came out along 
Bellevue Ridge towds
Bellevue. We went out 
too. M.gs. all shut
up tho' arty kept on.
The men who were
closest had no doubt
abt the German stretcher
bearing being Bona Fide.

41
Diagram - see original document

54    42
The 37 Bn had
formed up in front of
the wire in Dab Trench.

There ws no room
behind them, so others
had to form up on /
left. There ws only abt

½ of this ground tt you

cd sit on _^owing to wet;  if you turned
round you scarcely
knew wh ws your
front.

The men rolled up in
their waterproof sheets & 
lay huddled, dozing.