Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/185/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 2

82     11
back at Bn H.Q. He let
Fitzgerald go to sleep while
he sat up & waited & at
7 a.m. our guns opened. They
had been firing a few minutes
when / German guns began.
It ws impossible to tell for /
noise of our guns exactly
when / German guns did
open. There ws nothing for a
C.O. to do then but wait - &
he had bn along / whole line left to rt & it ws a great
comfort to him; in this trying interval Witham
o / next two hours Witham
shaved & read / paper.
In / meantime, according
to Lt Julien, Bn. Int. Offr, a patrol
under Lt Denne worked down
to about E 20 D 5.5 or 4.5, where
a short Sunken rd runs
form / village to / Ancre.
They saw there abt 30 Germs 

82     12
in / Sunken Road.  Denne took
this infn back to his Coy Commdr
who sent it on to Bn H.Q.
On / strength of this (accdg to
Julien) arty ws asked for &
a few shots were fired.
Capt Williams, Centre (D) Coy,
sent out a further patrol, of
4 men under a sergt; a they 
went out by daylight,
& they report tt they located abt
200 Germans in 20 B, where
there is some dead ground
hidden from / rly nearby
but observable from further
West.  They each got through
5 rounds rapid firing into
/ Germans but / Germans
wd not reply.  They sent
back word to the T.Ms
near the Cemetery (L) &

82     13
these fired 10 rounds into /
direction indicated.
It was abt 6.20 when
this second patrol went out
- by daylight ; the news ws
telegraphed thro to / arty, but
of course by then it ws too
late to make any difference.
The patrol reports probably
reached & ^further warned affected all the
Companies in / front line;
but Bn HQrs was not much
influenced by this - its
preparations had bn made.
The Support Coy from B HQrs
had been moved to / rear
of the C.C.S at midnight;
[One coy of 51 Bn was at disposal
of Witham & ws aftwds moved
to prolong Kennedy's left to
the 12 Bde but never got into

certainly shd
be D 18D

82     14
the position intended - i.e the Coy.
Commdr didnt realise what ws
expected of him, but stayed on
/ reverse slope o / hill in D8D.
Our barrage, sd Julien,
started at 7 a.m. & / German
barrage abt / same time.
Julien rang the Bde & said:
"They're off."
The barrage ws on /
front posts & sapports but
as far as 52 Bn ws concerned
a lot of it missed them.  The
fire from T.Ms beside Dernancourt
was very heavy & they were
very big T.Ms - but the weight
of it seemed to finish at / bridge.
The L.G. post was placed underneath
/ bridge firing thro / arch
at / Germs in Dernancourt
Street until it ws blown

82     15
up by a T.M. bomb. Then another
gun it took up positn on / top
o / rly arch (under Cpl.
Whitcombe?). a
Abt 8.45 a.m. Julin, (who
ws in the Bn observatn post)
sent a note to the Colonel
saying tt rifle & mg fire had
commenced.  It began on
the right.  He thinks tt it
ws against a body of
Germans seen at this
moment in Ville where
troops were assembling or
else a dummy attack ws
in progress.  The men 
were firing at 700 to 800 yds.
No enemy ws as yet seen
attacking / rly.
Bn HQrs Observatn Post cd nt
see / front line at this time

82     16
owing to / mist & shell smoke.
But by 9.30 the mist had lifted
in / valley & it ws fairly
clear.
By 9.15 the barrage
ws completely lifted onto the
rear areas - it had bn on
/ support trenches but missed them;
it was very heavy on / old
huts & tents of C.C.S.
[This C.C.S ws not much dangerous to
visit by day.  But at night
it ws like a "White City" -
the lights candles of souvenir hunters
everywhere.  One Offr Witham
met coming back from
there with a quilt under
each arm, & a tennis
racquet.  The quilts were
thrust into the bottom of
a muddy "pozzy" &
improved the sleeping.  A

82     17
waggon was sent down
there after dark for the stores
of blankets etc.  This night,
as Kennedys Coy, wh usually
carried, ws in / support line,
Witham had / rations sent
up in carts to behind the
C.C.S.  The Germans did
not fire much on / rly line
or / C.C.S. at night but of
course they were unsafe
by day (tho' our men did not
find / sniping on / rly so
deadly as the Tommies).]
The barrage pretty well
flattened the C.C.S.
Diagram - see original document

82     18
[There were bomb proofs around
the C.C.S. made in order to shelter
patients there during German aeroplane
raids.  Witham had known
these were there & counted on
them - they were round / edge
of it.]
At 9.35 there ws a lull
in the front except exactly
in front of Dernancourt
where our m.g. fire was
very heavy.
We had 2 m.g.s near
the level crossing in 19d. Central
on the S. side of / rly in a 
little bit of a cutting.  These
guns were in / front line,
Vickers guns, & they did
great execution.  The
Germans tried to get
out of / village at the

82     19
entrance near / arch in 20B,
or else to dig in & make a
flank there (at S), (just S.E of the
O in 20) These 2 guns knocked
these Germans about heavily.
The two trench mortars, also,
near the Cemetery (near an old
Tank wh ws stuck at N - there
ws also a light whippet tank
stuck at M) fired 270 rounds 
into Dernanct. & around it
(where their observer cd see
targets)  The Lewis Gun ?in
front? of the embankt. ws
firing at Germans coming
up thro the broken down
houses on / N of the village,
sometimes in fours.  The
Germans tried to get into /
road wh runs 60 yds S.
o / rly & parallel to it
(tho appearing closer on / map)

82     20
but the m.g. fire prevented them.
There ws a German m.g. possibly
2, on top o / church wh ws
giving good covering fire &
causing a lot of casualties to
our men lying on / top o /
rly.  The Our arty fire on Dernanct
ws not heavy; & at one time
dropped on / embankt to
such an extent tt / troops
in the Centre pln (of B Coy) had to
move E & shelter under / rly
arch for some minutes.
These shells came from NW.
According to Julin the Germans
first appeared gathering in Ville
at 8.45. when rifle firing ws first
heard.
Then at 9.15, at / time o /
general attack, a party wh
had crossed / stream o /
Ancre by / bridge near /