Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/179/1 - 1915 - 1917 - Part 6

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One post however ws (No 3)
ws too far out & slightly to
right, & a new post had to
be dug / same night, as some
barrage ws on it. They all
They all stood.
The German abt 5 p.m. put
down a heavy concentration
of fire on posts & whole front
line system. This lasted for 3 hours.
 Abt He ws seen concentrating
twice at Kiwi Farm or behind it,
but ws dispersed by L.G. fire.
No other concentratn ws attempted
by / Germans.
Two or 3 days later the Germs
got onto the posts with 8in. shell
& no 4 Post ws practically
 

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blotted out by x shells.
The front line now runs
thro these posts.
The boomerang trench ws
well on way to completion-
Sections of it were put down
during / day & night - In /
night of 31/1 Aug 44 Bn took
over the line. (It ws on the
reverse slope of a slight bump,
to support / posts wh were
on / face o / bump.).
Lt Freeman ws k. in / approach
march (a Duntroon youngster in
arty, attd).
Lt Gilchrist ws wd & ws
being carried back when a
shell burst & k. one of the s/bs.
 

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The other S.b.. went for assistance
& ws wd. That ws /
last seen of Gilchrist.
Lt Hogg, w A Coy, hit out
on / warneton wire thro'
lung by a bullet, probly from
a sniper. Died in C.C.S.
Buried at Trois Arbres.
Lt Hull severely wd thro
lung & chest by fire from
/ trench behind road.
Lt Beamish wd badly in
arm during consolidatn of
the boomerang trench ( "Red dotted line")
Casualties.
5 offrs 13 .179 o.r. in the
30 hours. (mostly within 3 hours).
during the German bombt 5 - 8 pm.
 

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36 Bn. Ypres (from Col Milne)
It is a question whether /
approach march to Messines or to Paschendaele
ws /  I worst. They started at
dark along a route taped off, wh
seemed to be very for a time most
excellent going. But when we began to
approach Potsdam, heavy shelling ws
experienced wh included a large
percentage of gas shell. The tapes
began to get torn up & / night
ws so inky black tt one really
had trouble to stick to the
 

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semblance of a track (no duckboards),
wh / Boche shelling had left. This track
had bn OK a few hours before -
the Boche must have smelt a rat
for every portion of tt rly line along wh
/ approach march took place being heavily
shelled. After passing Zonnebeke Rly
Stn the difficulties commenced to be most
pronounced & contind until Seine ws reached,
a little above wh point were the J.O.
tapes - what ws left of them. Durg tt position o /
approach march the Bn had lost 100 men k.
& wd out of 550. This particlr Bn being detailed
for / capture of the 3rd objve - green line-

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I then began to consider how many men I
ws going to have to reach tt line w, considering tt /
massing at / tapes had yet to come. & / movement
over / ground beyond wh lay / Red & Blue lines. At Zero
time I had everything in positn except a pln &
a half wh were still jamming up w / mass
of 4 Divn & 11 Bde men who were evacuating
the points we had taken over for / attack.
They came in (the 1½ plt) aftwds to take /
place o / awful casualties wh we met w
just prior to / fall of our own barrage.
Fritz ws apparently well supplied w
information of our movement for his barrage ws
terrific on / positn of our tapes & / points where
he had expected our reserves to be posted.
 

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Ar 5.30 am our barrage fell promptly & / troops
moved on to / 1st objve. The 34 Bn ws
detailed for its capture & it xxxx pressed on
twds tt point leaving any doubtful strong Pt to
those wh foll^d._ rightly . These points were
dealt with by the 35 Bn whose final objve ws /
Blue Line, and the 36Bn. Some scraps took
place. One particular dugout held them up
for over an hour in / vicinity of Hillside
farm & after its capture there were
still left 8 Boche unwd. & 6 m.gs.
This ws taken by a coy of 35 Bn & a
Coy of 36 Bn under Capt R D Dixon (35^th) & Lt
W.J. Gordon (36^th).
 

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One officer of 35 Bn rendered great service
at this capture (Lt Ritchie) 35 Bn. He crept in
behind & closed the 4^th side o / objve.
He ws seen aftwrds, killed. These scraps cost us
a considerable no of men but at least secured
our lines of communication. The barrage hung up
there some time at / red line wh at last
enabled them to come up just in time
to move on to / blue line. By this
time we began to encounter a terrific
enemy mg fire from / direction of Paschendaele
& Bellevue Ridge wh gave us / first
intimation tt things werent as they might be
on our left. We didnt at this time have any
 

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touch w / 10 Bde wh ws immedly on our left,
the swamps adjacent to Augustus Wd &
Ravebeek swinging them away to / left &
from / first leaving a gap in / line of attack.
We mopped up as much of this country
as possible but thro' our own heavy
casualties we were unable to cover the gap.
The Blue Line ws reached to timetable on / left
only.On / rt towds / rly line they were unable
to fight their way up. All available
men from / red line had bn sent forwd
but / Boche barrage & flanking fire ws too heavy.
 

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Consolidation ws attempted but as soon as a
head showed above a shellhole it ws / mark for
increased m.g. fire. Batteries from a point
just outside / green line were firing
direct over open sights. Incl^d amongst these
a battery of 5.95, accountable for a large No
of casualties (just in line w / bottom of
Paschendle.) The left Coy 35 Bn by this time
were practly wiped out - also the left coys of
36 Bn. The remaining coys had lost betw. 70 & 60
per cent of their N^os. The Boche were pressing
harder - every available man ws thrown into /
fight but it soon became evident tt to remain
 

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^X This account by
Col. Milne is roughly accurate
only I fancy - the Bde dugin, for example,
on a line very little in front of its
original line, certainly not on /
Red Line.
The whole Bde went in in single file along
/ embankt - pitch dark, raining heavily -
men behind had to hold on to kit of men in
front - touch wd be lost - had to go back & pick up.
There were incendiary shells thrown
near left front of cemetery (400 - 500 yds from
it during assembly. These showed up / men.
Prob. he didnt see / men but expected them.
Some gas ws also thrown by embankt & men had
to put on respirators, taken off, put on again
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under tt withering fire meant absolute annihilation.
At dusk / senior offrs in / line decided to
withdraw to a stronger pt in / vicinity o /
Red line wh move ws safely accomplished.
The new line being formed w / remnants o / 
brigade.
_________
Maj J B Buchanan D. Coy 3 times mentd
 in despatches (1st Bn in Gallipoli) ws k.
between / red & blue line just after
passing / red line 200 yds from the
Roulers Rly.
^X L^t Bruce D Coy  xxxx killed
while moving up along rly embankt.
L^t Wand D Coy [[shorthand]] dofw.
d. of wds recd during / advance
(L^t Perkins Came thro' unhurt).