Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/186/1 - 1917 - 1918 - Part 3

24
A couple of Germs were seen
near a Copse by the Rd. S.from
/ monument bringing out first one
wheel, then another - finally a heavy
T.M.  Fire ws at once opened on it & 2 shot.
The rest  ran.
These Germans had a lighter
uniform than most & peaked caps.
This ws in / aftn.
It ws early in / mg. tt they
started pulling / hay out of a
haystack near this Copse.
85                         25
They got into position ready working up
in twos & threes, heavily sniped by our men who
laid for to jump off, 
them. They seemed getting ready to jump of _∧from 400 to 600
yds away. Our sniping
ws very heavy & finally
/ Germans ceased to be able
to move exc. hopping from
place to place. This lasted
all day long till / Germs
seemed to dwindle &
ceased to move about. As
soon as / German Vickers
started they silenced it.
They captd 6 German guns
4 of wh A Coy used. The
Germans, who had brought
them up, abandoned them.
It looked as if / Germs
had intended to attack
but were unable to form
up. It is estimated tt / Bde
got 4000 Germs. this day. 

85    26
Hangard 36 Bn.
On April 12.  36 Bn ws
holding / right o / British
line when / Germans attacked
Hangard (where / French
were) apparetly aiming abt
at / junctn. o / armies.
French Regt ws 165 ^th UR
The front ran
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
Barrage opened at 5.45 

85     27
very heavy on the right
post where every man ws
k. (the L.G. & French m.g.). The
reserve L.G. of Gadds Coy ws
sent up there to take its
place. The offr in/c of this
post Lt Collier ws k going
over to / French offr  as /
barrage opened (he used to
go every morning). Sergt
Barber who then took ch.
ws buried by a shell but
got out - the others were
k. This barrage included
a lot of smoke - you
cdnt see 20 yds ahead.
They came out from / wood 

85     28
in U 18 Central & a wood
SE of Hangard & converged
on / village & took / copse
in 29 A N of / village.
They did this by 8 am.
The smoke blew away by then.
When the French SOS went up
the French Arty concentrated
on U23 Centt w Shrapnel
& absolutely broke / Germans
advancing from NE into
little parties of 30 or so on
- bunching & disorganised.
These came at D Coy along
the N. end of the Copse in
29 & were met w m.g.
& rifle fire, suffering a good 

85     29
many casualties so
tt / rest ran back.
So much for those N of / Copse.
The people who took
Hangard beat / French
back to the Rd running
N & S thro 29A W o / Copse.
& also / Germs took the
Chateau S of the village
but French kept a line
immediately West of this.
The French W of the
Copse next to our flank
at this time wanted to
retire & asked us for /
loan of 3 L.Gs - to cover
their retirement. We
told them No they wd have
to' box on' w us. We were
told not to retire unless we 

85    30
got orders from Divn.
Our Sergt who had been
buried told them this.)
Meantime / French
had been dribbling back -
but our men gave them
a cheer, & they rallied
& came forward & dug in
on / road.
Later At 10 a.m. the C.O.
rang up Gadd & told him
to stand by for a c.attack.
He placed a Coy of West
Kents at Gadds disposal
for c. attack. Gadd showed
them / way - but abt
half way across to our
front line 40 of them melted
under fire in a very
half hearted way. The
remaining 30 gradually 

85    31
straggled up & got into
shell holes between & behind
our men & / French.
2 of their offrs were wd.
The O.C. of the West Kent Coy
sd he cdnt do anything
under the circs.
The German had put
in 2 Vickers Guns & snipers
into / copse between / trees
& picked off many o / French
& Tommies but not many
Austlns. The R.W. Kents
gradually came back - the
last section leaving / line
about 10 p.m.
At 7.25 p.m. a Bn of
the Essex Regt with a Bn
of French advanced under
our barrage & retook all
/ positns lost by / French by 

85    32
9 p.m. - Cemetery Copse, cemetery
& Hangard & village.
Gadd saw an 18 pdr shell
kill 12 Tommies short shooting
on / posts & another gun
ws shooting 200 yds behind
/ line. The French 75s were
shooting into their own line too.
(Coy Hqrs was at the copse
in U 21 D straffed all day).
The attack in / evening
looked well, the Essex & the
French went over excellently
& the men of 36 Bn appreciated
the sight).
When / German gas - shelled the V. Bretoneux
front - the Cachy Switch received the
heaviest attention of all. 3 hrs
aftwds there ws a blue haze over
it - but it ws an empty trench. 

85   33
or rather Section posts
(slits)  It had never bn
garrisoned & ws only to be
garrisoned by 36 Bn in
case of an attack.
This gas shelling (wh ws so
heavy from 14th to 18th April
tt we thought he ws trying to
stifle tt part o / line in order
to attack on / flank) caused
a great many casualties
tho few deaths. The 5th Divl
Bn. on left of V.B had over
100 casualties in one Bn.
(This gas shelling ws by day,
& at 3 different times during
/ two days). This is our
first exp. of gas shelling by
day. It was on wet ground
but / day tho' cloudy ws
not wet. 

34
35 Bn
relieved the whole o / 
61st Divn bef in V/B
85     35
35^th Bn. V/Brettoneux
(additional details)
As soon as 35 Bn
went in to V/B on night
of April 1st Goddard
decided tt what ws first
needed ws a Support positn.
The front line ws in short lengths
of trench out S. of the Rd on
a very flat surface (?by
/ Aerodrome). He at once
xxxxx settled on a
position on the aerodrome
in front o / town with a
perfect field of fire. One
Coy of 35 Bn ws at once
put on to dig it, & then 2
Coys of 33 Bn.
This trench as a matter
of fact saved / situation.
On April 4 the German
bombt, wh began at 5.30, ws