Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/181/1 - September 1917 - Part 2

9    9
were guides from 58Bn at
intervals in / shellholes to
keep them on / track.
As 59 got towds Black Watch
Corner / German ws most busy
w his flares - but he didnt
see the men - possibly /
Stumps of trees in Polygon &
Glencorse confused / view.
At Black Watch Corner
it ws found tt /  60 Bn 
had laid out tapes. Lieut. Stillman
of 60 Bn guided 59 onto its
tapes - Marshall of 60Bn had
arranged this & it ws splendidly
organised. 29Bn ws already
on its tape. The men were very
quiet - they sat down & waited
in shellholes on the tape line.
 

9    10
Lt Francis 1.O. 59Bn had laid
out / tape for 59 Bn orginally; he
had to guide 29 onto this.
60 Bn guided 59 Bn onto 60Bn
tape; 57 Bn put 31Bn onto 57Bn
tape.
By 3am the men were
waiting.
The night ws very still, with

pattering of m. g., occasional
flip-flop of sniping, a very
sort of solemnity about /
quietness of / men - a
wonderful night.
At 3.30 am. 2 of the Argyll &
S. Hldrs came in to B. W. Corner
w / orders of / Bde on the
right for the attack - & wanted
to know where their troops were.
(There is a Pill Box at BW Corner) 

11 
Diagram - see original document

Opposition ws chiefly partly from A & B. B ws settled
pretty quickly - men going straight at it.
P/T MacDonald? & others settled B. got their bombs inside
it & many were k. there. 
 

9   12
At 5.50 down came /
barrage. Shortly afterwds the
C.O. ws speaking to Bursey
on telephone taken up &
kept going by Lt Pinkerton, sign.
offr 59 Bn. It ws kept
going / whole time - to abt
J. 9.D 92.
There ws not v. great
oppositn & where there ws
it ws quickly settled. 
Some m.gs & pillboxes gave trouble.
But when Col. Mason went forwd
betw 6.30 & 7 am prisoners
were streaming back -
probly at least 200 passed at this
time. Out o / pillboxes in
/ Southern Corner of / wood, &
/ centre o / racecourse.
A number of dead Germs were
 

13
The first lot of pillboxes ws simply
rushed & / Germs. came running
 out when they got there w Red x flags.
^x McD. saw 3 Germans running from this P.B. as he came up.
& they went 50 yds & got into a shellhole. They dropped their rifles first
When he went on he passed them without noticing but heard a rifleshot
behind xxx he turned to save them but they were k.
On the left Macdonald ws working round the
Pillbox on the Central Rd further NE.
When they saw he & his men were round
it they ceased firing their m.g. thro the
loophole & waved a red X flag. The
8 Bde & rest of line were coming at / place
from in front & someone in / pillbox opened
/ m.g. again. There ws a rush for /
Pillbox & they were all killed - taken out &
shot. No more prisoners were taken till / next
objective.
 

9   14
on / ground & at least a dozen
were dead in / door & around the
S. E Pillbox in / centre of /
racecourse.
The barrage ws terrific
like / roaring & / crackling of
a tremendous bushfire - you
wd have abt as much
chance of getting thro a great
bushfire as tt barrage.
The ground ws fairly moist.
For 7a.m. onwards Col. Toll
had decided tt he wd not go
on on / right. The 59 Bn
started consolidating. By
11 a.m. CO found tt his front
line from J. 10. C. 4½ 8 to
rd jn at J. 10 X. C 5.5 thence
bent back to C 10. C. 2. 0. 

15
Sergt Facey on Sept 26 abt 6.15 ws w Lt Pinkerton
at Cameron House w an offr of 31 Bn to see what
ws doing on / right. There were Germans in Cameron H.
& on / rd & abt 12 prisoners were sent back from there.
C. House is 2 or 3 very strong Pillboxes & many dugouts
with earthen shrapnel proof covers. One of these; had a low
entrance. Facey cd hear Germans inside so he settled them w a Mills bomb.
On / first day when digging in 
the 59 Bn on Rd E. of Polygon
triangle (SE of wood) got a lot of
trouble from m.g. ^in PB on N edge of
Cameron Covert - but the hill dipped
a bit & the shooting ws mostly over.
It ws amongst / nest of Pillboxes
betw here & Cameron House
tt Sergt Facey this day did
such fine work - ^He had a roving Commission going out w
2 men, leaving them behind &
going w bomb in hand & rifle
over shoulder - In one case on /
[*left of Cameron H. abt 30 yds from / others*]
In this nest on ^morning of 26 Sept he reached door
of PB & loosened lever of Mills bomb &
rattled it. A G. Offr saw it from inside, came
out w watch in one hand & other hand up. Facey
booted him off & sent one man back w 2 offrs
& abt 19 men from tt PB. He ws settling snipers
on his own also.
9   16
The pill boxes down the
Polygonbeek had also
been taken. The 14^th Bde
ws well up on the bridge
ridge beyond / Polygonbeek
by Jetty trench - Everyone
walking abt in / most
casual way. A few
Germans were occasionally 
running abt like rabbits
down Jetty trench or from
it into the valley S.wards.
Lt MacDonald ws in touch
w 14 Bde on 59 Bns left.
The 8 Bde had men mixed
up with 59 Bn in the 
Polygonbeek Valley Lt. Pentreat

 

17 

^X When the line got to 1st objve, &
ws bent back & rather scattered thro the
Polygon triangle on / rt, the G. had several
mgs abt J IO C 8.8 & a little North.
They c. attacked the ^more advanced left
w m.gs. brought fowd & men sneaking
up. M'D had 3 m.gs. there (one of
8Bde - one got blown out of action in
an advd post & when this ws knocked
out the Gs. came forwd.) W these Germs
were a Major or a Colonel who got to
within abt 50yds before he ws wd.
& captd & a lot of docts. taken off him.
M.G. & rifle fire smashed this C. attack on
left. (If they had come in on / rt
they wd have found us w no bombs
& probly beaten us back.) We got 1 m.g. Rest
seeing rt flank come up got back to Pillboxes in Polygonbeek.
Capt Neale brought the rt flank up to
near / edge o / wood, & consolidated.
Pentreath went forward round / rt flank of these
PBs & the Germs came in without resisting.
These Germs had bn cutting / top o / parapet
w m.g. bullets Lt Hogge of 31 Bn ws k there,
& 2 or 3 x men incl. a L. M. Gunner
[*? WT Hogg 29 Bn*]
 

9   18
59Bn ^X during / morning
organised a pty of men to

go fwd & get / Germans
out o / Pill box in / 
Polygonbeek. He took forward
abt 24 men & rushed &
surrounded it, & the Germans
came out without much
oppositn incl. one Bn
Commdr a Colonel - who
w his head in / air demanded
to be marched down separately
apart from / privates.
Pentreath gave him a kick on
/ backside & sent him off w
them.
Stockfeld & Turnour had
bn wd in the advance - S.
ws hit again by a shell & is 
 

19
About 11 a.m. the Germs were seen coming
from / road running NW & SE thro 5C.
On soon Bus loads (or abt tt number) seemed to
come across from abt Jay Barn onto this
Rd. As soon as they formed up on / rd
& moved off it S. Westwards our arty wd get
onto them tremendously heavy - w shrapnel
& H.E. They were coming for abt 1½ hours at 10
minus intervals - they were chewed up & seemed
to clear off ^at a run S.E from directn of Jolting Houses.
 9  20
buried at Clapham Jn.
Turnour d of w. in hospital
at Poperinghe.
Toll ws looking after the right 
flank. The 59 Bn had men
distributed back to the SE line
of racecourse. This line ws 
strafed in / afternoon. C.O.
arranged with Capt Neale (D Coy) 
to use German m.gs. there & get
/ men out of well defined line
& make a couple of S.Ps.
forward o / Riding track.
About J 10C 2.8. & J 10A 3.1. to

sweep Polygon beek valley -
This ws mud holey - with
black sandy water but not sticky.
By this time shelling ws heavy
- German planes very daring
in beautiful aftn & none of
ours there. Germ. Arty ws  

21
Our men Pinkerton led out abt 12 of his sigs &
others to the positn ^on / rd / Tommies had left. The
two Tommy Offrs were frightened. The German were
seen coming over / hill, wh bolted them. Facey took

3 ^of our men out by himself to a positn on / rd. 
The Germs were seen coming down into / Reutelbeck
both from NE & SE in great numbers. 
The barrage before this attack did not 
seem very heavy - The Tommies were not
shelled out of their positns.
↑^X Abt 4p.m. to 4.30 the Germs were seen
coming up in file, doubling up to other side of
Reutel Beek, & across the crest N. of it
near Juniper Cottage. They formed into 2
waves & were getting well down / hill
& were well down into / valley when our. 
barrage caught them - our heavies onto / ridge
& in / valley. They were ½  a mile away at least.  
9     22
strafing S.E. part straight of Riding Track.
Bursey had a Coy phone. GO.
used it getting line thinned when
a German aeroplane came down
to within 50 ft shooting into /
trench. He turned to go back.
The men stood up as he
turned, blazed at him, brought
him down - observer killed &
pilot wd & died later there. This
ws abt J 10 C 33. The 59
were / chief occupants of
the line there.
C.O returned to Pinkertons
Pill box & saw P. doubling
forward w a rifle & a bayonet
out end of it. A lot of H.E.
ws dropping round about.
A lot of Fusiliers were
retiring. It ws clear tt
there ws trouble - our

9   23
offrs tried to rally them. There
ws found to be a v. strong
c. attack coming from beyond &
S of Cameron Covert.
Our arty put down a
terrific barrage - wh lasted for
quite 2 hrs till dark.
After dark there ws
anor. c-attack - a feeble one;
this ws smashed in ½ hrs
barrage.
Neale of 59 ws organising
a flank & front to stop any
sap along the trenches in the
Reutel Rd ditch at Jn of 9D &
10C. & down / rd towds
Cameron House. The men
were mostly Australians - they
late presently withdrew
from / rd twds Cameron H. but
held the Reutel Road. 

24
During / night at abt 11p.m. the
SOS went up on 14 Bde front. Our
barrage came down on the
Nordemhoek Rd. No Germs - reached
the 15 Bde front tho' their left wd
probably have bn involved.
9   25
Before dark it ws clear / attack
ws cut to pieces - / Germans
cd be seen running wildly
by Cameron Covert under /
terrific fire of the guns.
A wounded German m. gunner
ws found on pill box NE of
Cameron H. He threw away
/ lock of his gun. Our men
found it, brought it in, &
manned / gun on /
Reutel Rd. The Germs. were
probly in Cameron H. at this
time. (It ws out of our
sector).
The shelling ws terrific on
our left on / Reutel
Rd from ↑ this directn
? German or ours.
C.O reported from B. Watch
Corner to Bde - arranged for ammn