Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/179/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 4

37

^X a bomb hit
him & knocked
him thro / fire.

In this attack some o / Germ.
Prisoners had "Gibraltar" woven
in white letters on the cuff of their
tunics. [They were of a Regt wh
the Hanoverian kings employed
in / capture or defence of Gibraltar].
 

59  38
ws on Hill 40. The whole
Bde ws a bunch. The
Germans cd be seen a moment
later on / top of Hill 40.
One of them ^X ran over to some
big red ground flare &
lit it & they then ran off /
hill. Two pill boxes on /
right started firing - a mg.
started firing but he ws very
soon swamped.
The next oppositn ws
Springfield on / left & Alena
on / right - a few rifles in
a little bit of a trench on
/ road it ws really. They
were shot.
From Springfield there
ws also rifle fire -
On the 42 Bn's objve
just beyond Thames there were
 

39
 

A Coy for example
got 2 of these.
 

59  40
light m.gs. in shell holes,
but they were surrendering
with their mgs ^X without
firing - This was on the
first Army halt, (2nd ^3rd Divl
halt).
In the 2nd advance C Coy
on crossing. / rly got oppositn
in Thames Wood. This ws
from riflemen who had sheltered
in Pill/Bs. The advance ws
not held up but there were
casualties here. M.g.
fire ws also coming from
/ directn o / cemetery
on / right.
As the 42 Bn began to
dig in there was a m.g.
firing thro' / barrage on the
 

59  41
men digging in. This 
m.g. ws a heavy gun,
not in a p/b. Sergt Walker
42 Bn. w abt 4 men
went out & got round
this & shot / crew.
[For this he got the D.C.M.
42 Bn got the gun & sent it
back to Q.]
9 were captd by the Bn & 5
brought out.
The left flank ws swung back
because the ground in /
valley bottom ws swampy -
The line connected w tt o /
10^th Bde wh ws also
swung The right flank ws
well beyond Thames Wood.
The 25 Bn were on their right
 

42

Capt. Leahy alone
came out.

Capt MacDonell

Capt Halstead.
 

59  43
Offrs.
C. k. C Coy. L^t Kelly-Healy hit on Hill 40.
shot thro abdomen.
Lt Hart. k. during consolidation
Took pln right thro consoldn & sent back a message.
wd. Lt Dent v. severely wd. hit on Hill
40.
(piece of shell)

B. Lt Albrey wd. just at start
in Zonnebeke.
Lt. A.B.C. Wood wd. in consolidatn.
(2 days back at Bois Grenier &
shot agn thro neck.

D. Lt. Comper, shot thro leg on Hill
40 - sitting down in shell hole
bandaging it w batman when
k. by a shell.
Lt Conrad, severely wd at the
Jump off. He ws hit in / head.
He ws unconscious; when he got
up to catch up his pln he ws
hit again in leg. He crawled to
a shell hole & found 2 Germs.
there fully armed. He had his revolver
 

44

Lt Barnes brought
the coy through
(M.C.)
 

59
45
& ordered them to carry him back
wh they did.

wd. Lt Armstrong - hit by shell on
line of consolidation abt
2 hrs after reaching it - elbow
smashed.

A Coy. Capt Dunbar ws wd in
(in reserve ) / back after reaching objve.
Lt Ballard, badly wd near

Potsdam in approach march
& d-of w. near Poperinghe.
Lt Lambden, badly wd on
Hill 40 & d.of w. (piece of shell
in head).

Casualties
11 offrs. 234 o.r.
 

59  46
42 Bn ws reld on morning
of 6^th Oct. by 66^th Divn.
2/6 Manchesters.

Bn. went in agn on night of
9^th October; bivouacked on
Firzenburg Ridge ("the Bombing
School") Took over from 66^th Divn
on evening of Oct 9. They
were seen by an enemy
aeroplane on way in &
had to go in thro a barrage
on Abraham Heights -
Capt (now Maj.) Moyes
ws badly wd in leg here. He
has lost his left right foot.
The line ws found to be
 

59  47
more or less mythical -
66 Divn had not / faintest
idea where they were -
We took / line over by map
& after a good deal of knocking
abt unearthed the men of
66 Divn from shell holes.
The relief ws finished by 10 p.m.
We imd started to consolidate
after sending patrols out in
front under Lt J.F. Wood. (a pln leader B Coy)
who went 1000 300 yds up /
ridge twds Paschendaele
examining P/Bs on his way &
^ultimately finding the Germans. He
saw a good many dead of
66 Divn. The Germs were 300 to
400 yds ahead.
 

59  48
The line ws proved to be a
good way short of where /
Manchesters sd it was. They
had bn 500 or 600 yds further
up / hill.
42 stayed there till night
of Oct 11 w practically no
shell fire. Snipers were v. active,
from Augustus Wood, until
cleaned out shortly after
daybreak on 10^th Oct by
parties from C Coy who went out
to Aug. Wood in / early morning -
the snipers made off, running,
leaving some 8 or 10 wd men
in a P/B in Aug. Wood.
M.G. fire ws very light - a
few occasional bursts from
Belleview -
 

59  49
A few snipers in / same
directn were active. but
distant. They shot Sergt Braithwaite
of B Coy. who later d. of w.
Lt Joseph ws also sniped
from behind Aug. Wood -
he has recovered tho' shot
thro / stomach. This ws during
/ night just before Aug.
Wood ws cleared - this decided
them to clear it.
On night of Oct 11/12 the
42nd Bn ws instrd to leave
by 11.30 (for the operations
of 10 Bde. on Oct 12.)
They went out thro' a hot
barrage on the foreslope of
Abraham Height. The going
ws terribly heavy. Many
men were absolutely exhausted.
 

59  50
At least 12 men were k.
by shellfire in this relief.
When / barrage for Oct 12
opened the Coys had reached
/ valley behind Abraham
Heights so heavy ws / going.
They had just abt reached /
saddle betw. Hill 40 & Hill 37,
where a lot of mustard gas
ws met with - thrown at /
batteries during / night. It ws
v. wet this morning. Men wd
get into shell holes, another
try & pull them out - both
get in - others had to rescue
/ pair.
The Bn bivouacked on /
rear of Hill 40 near
Tulip Cott.