Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/185/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 4

31

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

82      32

severely wd(? thro / wrist?) at

12.30 & had held on still)

to fall back along / rly.

Wilson came back to Bn H.Q.

& reported exactly where his

men were & then pitched down

collapsed - (He ws an old

Anzac Scout of the 12^thBn)
The Enemy, following along

/ rly line, forced enfiladed

Rogers (No 11) Pln & forced it

to fall back on Kennedy.
Stubbings (O.C. of the rt Coy) reported

at 4.45 tt he ws falling back

on the Pioneer Trenches.Williams

Hand drawn diagram  - see original document 
ws falling back

joining up to

Kennedy.

The German ws seen ^by Kennedy bringing

up a heavy T.M. to somewhere

abt the Quarry, & also

82      33

a field gun. He ^also began to appear

to Kennedys N. up / hill,

& ws lining the edge o / slope

just in front of Kennedy, firing.

The fire ws so hot tt Kennedy

cd not move his unit -

/ only thing ws to work their

fire to / greatest effect. The

left of them were told to fire at

/ Germans on / left & the

11^th Pln (Rogers) on right to fire

at / enemy in front. The

enemy ws certainly some of

him in the C.C.S. It looked

as if K's. left flank were

being deliberately turned.
At this time (4.55) Witham sent

up a second Coy of 51^st Bn

to Kennedy as instrns to Lt

Owen, its O.C., to place his right

82       34

upon the upper (N) end o /

Pioneer trench & then advance

to join up w Kennedy (?on rt).

Owen's Coy reached / Pioneer

trench but there found Stubbings

(who had fallen back) advancing

again to the rly as things were

not so bad at his part o /

field. Owens Coy, instead

of going to Kennedy, seems

to have forgotten all its instrns.

& joined in w / one piece

of movement wh it saw -

& went w Stubbings to /

rly embankt.
Poor Kennedy saw his

longed for reinfts moving across

his rear to a positn where

they were not in / least required.
By 4.55 pm Kennedy ws

very hard pressed - the

35

X The Coys on Kennedys right,

down on / rly were firing

with their backs to / rly at 
/ Germans up / hill near

Kennedy & were getting good

shooting.

82     36

Coy of 57 Bn wh ought to have

bn on his left being still over

/ hill & he having no touch

w anyone on his left - no one

except Germans in sight & they

creeping edging round him- and he

pinned down by fire.X
At 5.30 he saw heads

moving over / top o / hill to

his left front. He ws not sure

they were not Germans but

they turned out to be 49Bn.
It ws / c.attack. From

tt moment / situatn eased

at once. The 49 came down

towds the C.C.S. Their progress

ws slow, but / line did come

gradually down. Between

6.30 & 7 the Germans finally

fled, covered by m.g. fire from the

rly.

82      37

Owens Coy ws now brought up

from its wrong positn by / rly

& ws joined to the 49 Bn by the

C.C.S. - its line running forwd

of the C.C.S. to / rly.
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
C Coy 51^st Bn (of 79 rifles) was

put in to reinforce 49 Bn.

(Lade continued to direct

operatns tho his wrist ws smashed

in / mg. at / cemetery - he

had / rt pln o / left Coy.

The centre & right Coys kept the

C.O. supplied w splendid

& accurate information;
"Stand to", when every man has to

be called & stand to his post, had of

late been from 4.30 to 6.30 a.m. There

82      38

had bn some slackness in getting

men out & waking them - &

Witham had been insisting on

this being done punctiliously. It

is / only way of being sure to

waken / men - so as to be in

time for a possible rush.
12 Bde.  Confidential.

The 47Bn is abt 400 to 450

strong & Norman, when I told

him tt Imlay sd they came

out 43 strong, shook his head

& sd it ws a heavy exaggeratn.

He says tt Leane's story evidence is far

more worthy of being taken literally

than Imlay's. Gelly found

out very soon tt Imlay ws

a "bluff", & tt there ws a lot of

eyewash in the accounts of the

82     29

47 Bn.

Both Gelly & Norman say

tt / work of the 47Bn is slap dash,

& not careful. For example,

when lent a Coy of 45Bn to

support / British at Dernanct.

Imlay had them marched

into their trenches in artillery

formatn over / top.
Leane dribbles his reliefs

into his trenches, a few at a time.

Gelly gave direct instrns

tt (as he put it) / first consideration

must be "to take care of

Old Billjim". - i.e. to try & keep

their men alive thro' / bombt

(if ever one came). Leane only

lost 120 men, the 47th far more.

(tho Birdwood says its casualties

?strength

82     40

were heavily overstated & he believes

they are now 700. I daresay

Birdie equally understates them -

he generally is too optimistic).

[Gelly had settled within a

very short time tt he must

look for a new C.O. for the

47Bn. But now it will

be broken up].
The 46Bn lost abt 30 

men by jumping up & going

out at the Germs when the

Germs raided or attacked /

day before. The 46 Bn wdnt

be denied - wasn't content

to stay in / trench but got

out & charged. That is /

spirit Gelly gets into his

battalions in a wonderfully

short time.

41

Gellibrand was instructed by the

Divn to re-establish / line. He knew

tt this ws impossible. He rang up

Leane who ws senior officer of 48^th & 47^th.

& Leane told him it was impossible to

push 80 down to the rly. "Yes I know it

is," sd Gelly. They decided on

pushing for the X road (Sunken) thro

3 & 8. The Poms did not get so

far as this - the Germans were

holding it & still are. They

were believed to have reached it

at one point near the X roads but

this is doubtful.

(On first arriving at Henencourt ^on March 27 the

12th Bde advanced extended over exactly /

same ground over wh they had

fought in field days in 1917) 

82     42
Barton & Castle, 2 offrs of 52nd,
who were both in a splendid
bit of patrol work in the Ypres
Battle ground were hit in
this fight. At Ypres they
were picking / ground for a 
raid. They went under /
German wire & found a post of
8 men; 5 others reinforced
at tt moment - one an offr.
They lay low & then bombed &
shot 6 & 2 ran away. Off /
Offr they got an order for
relief - & they got identification
apparently from all of them.
In the Dernanct fight,
Barton ws hit in / knee.
He & Castle were in the Somme
C.C.S. & Barton died.

43

48th Bn. Ap. 5/1918.

These notes are additional to Bn

Diary.
The Coys were as in plan opposite.

2 Platoons of C Coy, wh ws in support, were

sent to D Coy early in / fight.
6.55 ws hour of Bombt. most o / shells

went over / embankmnt but were very heavy

on / rear areas.Our reply was good.

The attack came first in 15C. The

news of it came by runner from the

47 Bn. Leane in 48 Bn has a platoon of

Bn scouts, not authorised, & wh he has bn told

twice to disband. He keeps them now nominally

as Coy. scouts but / moment he gets into

/ front line they report to him. He sent

them out to various O.Ps., of his, & all day

long got reports from them.
At 6 a.m. 50 Germans had come out

agst our left post (of B Coy).
Abt 9am. / Germs started to attack

across / rly in E3D. They tried to come along

/ rly & drive in the left post but enfilade fire

from L.Gs. in / embankt wrecked them. Some

came agst the post by Amiens Rd at 3D78

The attack here failed completely & ws held well

until 10am.
Word then came thro' tt / enemy had broken

thro on / right. Capt Anderson, O.C. A Coy imd.

took over 140 yds o / front held by the 47Bn so as

to allow 47 Bn to concentrate on its right.

82      44

Where Gelly told them to dig in.

on 37/3/18 Extended over some old ground as

bad practices over on field dug.
Night of 11/4/18

Diary. 2 Bn entraining at Amiens

12/14/18 JimVigaact

13/4/18 24th Div off?

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

2 pens C to D Coy

early in fight 10am.

6.55 a.m. Bombt. 
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