Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/175/1 - October 1917 - Part 4

33         10
As Maj A Beckett, Capt.
Longmore, & his batman
were recrossing the Zonnebeke
3 whizzbangs from one battery
burst very close onto them.
The third got them, broke
the Majors helmet cutting 
his scalp & blew the batman
into the Zonnebeke. Longmore
(who is a Sergt Instr. in Australia
& a typical humorous bushman
with long moustache, blue eyes
& a smile) heard a voice:
"Captain, I'm wounded." He
went turned back & there ws /
youngster in / mud o / Zonnebeke.
L. pulled his arm & as he did
so the sd boy sd: "Save the Captain
– he's wounded – don''t mind me
I'm done for." However they dragged
him out, bleeding from / head – they thought
his brains were out – but they managed to
prop him up. After abt 30 yds he sd "I
dont believe Im so bad after all – see if I 
can walk, I might be able to." He managed
to get along & plucked himself up  –  about another 30 yds
along he stopped and sd "Oh! I've lost my rifle!" — not bad
a youngster thinking of it at a time like tt. He is in England wounded.  *]
10       34
went overhead. The sitting 
down place ws pretty dry.
Maj. A Beckett having seen
Bn onto / tapes reported
all correct to Bn H Qrs.
Abt 5.15 the shelling
suddenly became noticeably
heavier. It suggested tt he
knew what was on. He had
bn throwing flares as / column
came up, but / men stopped
whenever / flares were up.
[There were no gas shell
on / way up but a few
xxx casualties from ordinary
shell].
This 5.15 shelling seemed
to be mostly 5.9 - there had
bn whizzbangs before. No
T.M in this part.
All this night gold, red, &

35
Diagram, see original document

10     36
green flares were going.
The straf ws heavier on / right
than on this front. There were
casualties amongst 44 Bn
in this barrage, one section
of Capt Skinners (B) Coy being
knocked out.
This lasted till the hopover.
As soon as our barrage came
down it seemed to stop
altogether.
Abt where the German
front line wd be there were
a number of our men around
a dugout -men of 42 Bn - 
where there had been some
mopping up - this ws fair
in the centre. The shellholes
in many places contained
Germans in this forward
area. Many came in
prisoners or were bayoneted.
Before the line got to
Alma there seemed to be a

10     37
growing gap on / left o /
line, the 10^th Bde going
left, the 11^th more to
right. Several offrs were 
putting men into the gap
— anyone they cd get hold
of - to sort them out later.
Then Alma ws seen
& this gave the direction.
during the halt.
Then

After the 43^rd Bns objve
ws passed the troops got into
heavy mud, & became
a number of small pties
working in single file.
From the start Bns were
mixed up -the 45 mins
halt gave / opportunity
of sorting out.
When the 42nd Bns
objve ws reached the

 38
It was apptly abt here that
Lt Maddeford got in rear of
a dugout & took the occupants
prisoner. It had steel doors & non-

plussed him at first but fortunately
the doors were open. The danger in
always exists of being hit by a mg. in the
back while dealing w a dugout like this.  
(M. of the M.C.) There ws a 
slit in front & a m.g. had bn firing thro it, someone
put a bomb into / slit – it probly fell on / ledgs &  blew / mg out -
M ws quite new to / job & ws non plussed at 1st by / steel doors. *]

Bremner found Seine held by
m.gs. They got round & stopped
the gunners & captd the dugout.
In it were 2 Majors, one k. one
captd. & abt 30 men. (B. got M.C.)
The maps taken from here
proved very important, showing
positns of c.attack troops & shell
hole formations.   
x A German came half out & bolted
back. –O'C. shot him, & put in
a bomb–  30 prisoners were
got out of this dugout.

__________________________________________
10      39
centre Coy of 44 Bn ws
first across the rly. X
Skinner & O'Carroll crossing
noticed tt / barrage had
just lifted from / coxx dugouts
at Thames. They made
for these, Lt O'Carroll^x taking
the left one & Sergt ∧ H Barr the
right one. These put up no
fight but while they were clearing
these a m.g. started
apparently nearer to /
rly - but it ws hard
to locate. O'C. got over
onto / rly & ws looking
for it when 2 men from
D Coy found him in
a little excavation under
the rails on the line. They
shot the gunner.

10        40
At the 47 mins halt here
the 44 Bn formed up into
its proper formation –
they were in front of 42 Bn
& 41 Bn just behind 44
The men were sitting down
yarning & smoking –

The barrage thinned down,
& the main barrage went
forward & returned later.
The men some of them
thought this ws our barrage
going on & were following
it when recalled.
A few Germs. came in
along / rly from dugouts
right over the hill during
this spell.
The thickening up o /

10        41
barrage ws easily noticed
(coinciding w / time).
The Bn was in its
proper formation when it
moved. The Barrage ws v.
good. Just before the road
there were a couple of
dugouts. The right one
had numbers of dead
Germans around it; the  
left one had 5 wd Germs.
in it, who were sent
back next day under
escort. On the Rd, Bn
knew it was almost
on it objve & it
dug in some close
in front o / road. One
Plns of C. Coy came up

10      42
(in acc. w arrangements)
between the other Coys &
on left flank -They
all began to dig platoon
post -( 35 or 40 yds).
These were afterwds
joined up. During this
time 41 Bn went thro!
Each Coy had 2 L.Gs
in front to cover the
digging, making 6 S.P.s.
44 were on the rear
slope o / hill & 41
on / fore slope.
Just after consolidn
began, the corporal who
ws doing Liaison with
41 Bn came back saying
tt he cdnt find any

10      43
officers. Lt O'Carroll
went up to take charge
of recy. but found
an offr ^ (Lt Skewes) after some 20
mins — & then he
came back.
Skewes sent back
presently a message for
his Bn H.Q. for
ammo & reinfts urgently.
Capt Skinner sent up
a platoon & all /
ammn he cd spare. The
ammn ws kept but 1.
pln ws sent back by
Skewes.
Abt 11 p.m. the 44th Bn

10       44
ws warned from Bde
(sent onto line) to have
200 men ready (in lots
of 100 each) to reinf. 41
if necessary. These
men wd be replaced
from 42 Bn. On getting
in touch with 41 Bn
it ws found tt everything
ws pretty quiet. A
lot of ammn also
went thro for 41 Bn.
S.O.S. calls were
continually going up.
Within 24 hrs hot shell
food ws got up.
2/5 & 2/6 Manchesters

45
D                                       B.                                   A.
Lt Bremner O/C      No offrs hit.           Capt. Bone K.  
Lt Andrews              Capt Skinner         Lt Pavey wd.
Lt Duncan W.          Lt Darling               Lt Bond d of w. dusk 5/6
Lt Yule W                  Lt Drummond      Lt Maddeford -   
                                    Lt O'Carroll.                took charge of Coy
 

C. Coy   Lt Young O.C.
H.Q. Col. Clarke. wd.
Maj. A Beckett (took commnd)  Lt Kilgour
Capt. Hillary wd.
Capt. Longmore (became adjt)   Lt Mackenzie
Capt Kenahan                                   Lt Newman
Lt Casey
Lt Pitman  K. (Sig offr) 

10         46
relieved the Bn on night
of 5/6 Oct. The Road
thro Daring Xing ws
heavily shelled but
the line ws not so
much troubled.
The valley (near 42 Bn
line) ws also heavily
shelled.

Capt. Bone ws k abt
1 pm on 4^th on the hill near
the road.

Lt Pavey ws hit just after
start through 2 fingers but
kept on until objve ws taken
& then, when all ws right,
went back