Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/178/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 7

2
82

The going along the tape

ws pretty bad, & tape line

blown away at 4 places.

They kept going till they

touched 40 Bn in wire -

This Coy had just abt settled

down by 3.15 (orders to be on line

(wh they were) by 3.am.)

Then to 5.25 shelling was hot.

Lt.^A.E Watson seems to have bn hit

at this time & died later. They

got off on the tick of 5.25. Rain had

come down in interval pretty heavily

- grd ws heavy & men wet

thro.

Barrage ws very thin -

line difficult to tell as it ws

also ragged.

There ws morass at

Augustus wood - boggy to / waist -

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83

you had to get thro' as best

you cd & it ws next to

impossible to look after your

party. M.g. fire soon began

to come from Bellevue way.

Abt 6.30, & 500 or 600 yds from

hop off line, G. ws hit by m.g. bullet.

It ws hard to say if men

were on / barrage or

not. Most of C. Coy

seemed to reach abt 70

yds short of Red line &

dig in - G. & pty of 10

who were abt 70 yds ahead

fell back on them, - an

Extension of 40 Bn line apptly

(Capt Blatchford 38 Bn w

a number of his men ws on

/ same line & ws collecting

men to go further left.)

84

X During this time 36 & 35 Bn

were lying up rear A & B Coy

but they had bn very knocked

about before starting & were very thin - Some

were in 34 Bn line others -

shell holes etc.
 

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85

G. saw here 2/Lt Bradbury 

 - only other offr noticed here,

G. shifted part o / right up

to get a better field of fire -

Left ws allright. ^X

35 & 36 Bn had gone

through.  A message ws

recd by Gilder tt they were

in a bad way & needed

support. The 34^th line ws

getting consold by them, so

G. went on w a runner

(Pte Morgan) They walked

over towds the rly line -

saw some men moving & followed

them across the Rd & formed

left of 35 & 36 Bn abt

12 C 2.5. This ws some

time after midday - abt 12.30.

Abt 10 mins later he ws blown

up by a shell - He ws

looking for Offrs - & finally

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86

found 2 offrs of 35 Bn (Lt & 2/Lt)

They were facing another

ridge - they were in linked

up shellholes w a dip in

front & a rise further on.

German planes had bn over

pretty low & his balloon

ws up looking into them.

An arty liaison offr ws there

also. They knew they were

short of their objve, (pretty

near 35ths objve line)

& they were on a bit of

a ridge & decided to dig

in & hold there.

Their left flank seemed

to be in / air. G. wd have

brought 34 Bn up to their

left (where / gap ws) but

he ws thrown unconscious

by a 5.9 shell.

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87

The line at finish ws

from Defy Xing, W of Hillside

Fm. to rear of Aug. Wood,

to Waterfields.

The 36 Bn HQrs moved to

Hillside FM at one time but

had to come back.

↑       ↑      ↑

C      B      A

D Coy ws to give assistance to

10 Bde by wheeling from Rt

round Paschendaele. All

their offrs were killed.

Sergt Bruce ws / N.C.O who brought

the Bn out. He got the D.C.M.

Since commissioned.
The difficulties were tremendous

w S/Bs. The rly line by the end of the

88

X allright going in but

traffic over it made it

most difficult. Offrs & men

got bogged & had to be dragged

out. Probly many wd

men had to be were drowned.

They rly cutting & the road by

Hamburg were full of dead -
Germ had range of both of

them.
 

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89

tour ws terribly difficult ^X. 6 men
on a stretcher took half a day

to get a wd man out
_______________

The 18 pdrs behind hill 40

on Oct 12 (evening) cd find no

other ground where they cd

move except / road from

Bde HQrs in the bend, to the

hilltop near / crossing, wheel

to wheel.
_________________

On rt Sergt Bruce ws w A Coy.

It ws fairly good until the

cutting beside / cemetery. Then

they were shelled w H.V.

A Coy ws in the Cemetery with

36 & 35 Bn behind (probly under

distance), for 2 hrs & shelling ws

very heavy during this time.

The 2 Edwards, Monfries, & Pittaway

90

X abt 11 D 9.1.

x or nearer to Deck on

Woods. The pty worked too

far to / left going after it.
 

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91

certainly survived this.

They started on / opening o / 

barrage. 5.25.

There is a bit of flat past the

Cemetery. After this German mgs

opened from in front of 2 dugouts

(probly one past k in Kerselaarhoek)

& other W of Hillside). The line

went straight at these guns & /

men in / P/Bs were captd. Abt

30 prisoners were taken. The mud wdnt

allow / men to keep up w /

?barrage mud. The mgs were rushed too

quickly to do much damage.

A Coy ws working to the left

& Bruce got w B Coy & Capt Jeffries.

A concrete pillbox in ^XU I I D 8.8^X

or thereabts next began to

cause a lot of trouble when /

line ws abt 200 yds away. It

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92

ws on the left of A Coy as they

began to near / top o / first

big rise. Capt. Jeffries organised

a pty of men from shell holes

(abt 12 men & 2 N.C.Os (Bruce ws

w him), worked round on the

left o / Pillbox & rushed it

from / rear. Abt 25 or 30 men

were got out of this & a couple

of m.gs. wh they smashed as

they cd not take them w them.

They were near / objve then

& stopped. w / road on their

right.

They halted here - what ws 

left of bn ws here. As they 

halted 35 Bn went thro.

34 were late getting to their objve

& so 35 ws late also. A number

of men of 34 went w 35.

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93

M.g. fire ws coming from P/B

on both flanks. The work

from now on became one of

working out & clearing dug

outs.

The pty w Capt Jeffries began

to work out after a dugout

wh ws firing into / rear of

35 Bn advancing. This dugout

ws behind ^to the right of a bit of scrub,

between it & the rly line,

& almost on / top o /

ridge (of / main Paschendaele

Ridge) It ws enfilading

the men on / top o / ridge

 - it ws on our extreme rt

& shooting towds our left.

The pty w Jeffries ws 

trying a rush while this

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94

gun ws firing to / right.

The Germs switched / gun

round & Jeffries ws killed.

Abt a quarter of an hour

later when / fire slackened

they worked round this

dugout & abt 25 or 30 Germs

were captd. 2 guns were here

wh were both then sm broken up.

From there Sergt Bruce

worked up to / left towds

/ village.

[The 35 Bn had a gap on

their rt by / rly but they worked

down tt way].

Up near / village there

were m.guns working from Crest

Fm directn & from / village

95
 

They were rt over / top o

/ ridge finally, & cd see right

down / valley to rt front

where abt 7 or 8 guns were

firing at them. (they cd see

/ flashes).

The 4th Divn Bruce did

not notice -
 

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96

B. went back to his line

(34 Bn objve).

Later an order came for

34 Bn to support 36 Bn

in anyway it cd. They went

up onto / top o / ridge w

36 Bn. The 35 Bn had many

of them gone right over / hill

first thing in / morning &

may had bn lost. The rest

were in to 36 - 34 now

joined in w them & dug in

on / Red line or thereabts

w left flank on Paschendaele

village abt 20 or 30 yds from

/ houses & rt flank down

towds the rly.

They hung on there till  abt