Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/183/1 - 1917 - Part 3

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Message from C.Coy -
“Require Bombs S.a.a. &

Rifle Grenades 7.10am.”
Signed by Capt. Dunworth.
It was abt 9.50 that Bn
received this message over
the ‘phone from the pigeon
loft– (a priority wire).
No messages from

their HQ Lieut. Rae ws
sent out (L.G. Offr.) he went
up the road in 2 9 D &
ws wounded. There was
 a 4th Cav. Divn offr of
17 Lancers w him. He
too ws wd. thro’ the hand
 

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22

The Intelligence offr. Lieut Barnes,

ws sent out.  He tried the
left rd first – cdnt get
thro – so went up on right.
He ws seen up in /

front talking to another

15th Offr. Lt. Ingram.

Ingrams batmen got back
& he sd he had heard

Barnes dec say he had

decided to stay till night –

he cdnt get thro till dark
Both the men who started 

out with him ^from front to support line were wounded
as they ran across.

Lieut. Eibel sent

a message to Dunworth

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23

& a PH satchel full

of maps (his own maps)

to Dunworth with a

message to say tt he 

ws done for. He ws

shot thro’ the chest.

These maps were brought 

back by someone.

In some part of

front line signallers flags

or maps were hoisted.

The Germans didnt stop
bombing or firing – still

went on.  The Germans

seem to have come down /

trench in 23 D 1. ½

No one ^ who returned saw anyone

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24 

actually surrender. The

word was passed down

to retire & an offr of 16th

told the men they wd have to

get back. There were a

crowd of them at a sally

port in the wire & a 

m.g. got onto them.

One opening in /ground

taken to be a tank trap was 

seen –
Hand drawn diagram – see original

[One man sd there was 

a tunnel from front to 

support line with 10 ft of 

earth – statement of one man].
 

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25
The signalling offr ws seen
in the front line — Lt Marshall.
He had charge of the power
buzzer for the Bde. When
last seen he ws quite all 
right.
With a telescope from Bn
H.Q. Germans cd be seen at
24 x C 2 . 7. They seemed to
busy over something –
possibly a gun – & were
in a trench. These men
were not at all flurried
– working quietly.
The 15 Bn lost 19 offrs 361 men.
Went up – 611 – abt 550 if
carrying parties are taken
off. 2 carrying pties are sd
 

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26
to have gone out after
Dunworth's message &
were never seen agn –
(there is some possibility
of mistake in this).
The ^front wire ws knocked
abt by arty a bit, & ws
lying on the ground. It
ws abt 50 yds through.
K.  Capt Leslie, in c. of B. Coy
ws k.
Lieut. Luxton, D Coy. is
believed not to have got back
to 2nd objve.
Eibel was k. (who
sent ^his maps back).
      _________
The left flank ws retiring at
11.30. The adjt. ws holding
a positn along the rly
 

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27
line & a coy of 52 Bn
ws in the Sunken Rd
in 5 A & B . 4 Vickers guns
were brought up by 6 M G Coy.
           __________
Up to abt 6 p.m. the Germans
let us collect wounded
right up to the wire –
they showed where some of
them were, & they had
covered some up. At
6 p.m. when the snow
came on they wdnt.
let it be carried on –
said "Finish Hospital".
We flew a bit of bandage
for a red X flag – some Bns
had Red X flags.
 

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[The 48^th Bn must have
been the men whom I
saw coming thro' the German
wire on the left at about
12.30. I saw some men
quietly moving through
the end of the wire; someone

of them looking back & standing
talking to the others, it
seemed. You wd have
sd they were a party of
the Our men out planning
where to put down
a xxx strong post, so quietly
did they take it.
I must say a word
about the stretcher bearers
also. All this day our
s.bs were coming quietly
across the open hill top
with the German barrage
heavily on them. I think
the German gunners must
have known these
men were nearly all
wd & sbs — at that
 

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distance thro' one's
telescope one cd easily
make out any figures on /
German side – & see
pretty well what they were
doing. However,
there were whole men
as well as wd in
this stream, so perhaps
the Germans cannot be
accused of savagery.
But a few days later,
when the Gs att^d on
Ap. 15, I went over
the ground & saw our
men carrying back
G. wounded & deliberately
chased by G. shells,
not once but again &
 again – I saw one
shell fall within 10 yards
or less of a pair of s.b.
parties].
 

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30
46 Bn.
 Some tanks started
at 4.30.
They were to cross
startg pl at 4.30.
One got abt 20 yds
in front of Infy & then
ws outed, & stopped
there. Crew escaped.
Abt 5 am. Infy rang up
to say this tank ws
outed & there ws no
sign of any others.
So C.O gave order to
advance.

What happened to
tanks later no one seems
to know — but none are