Charles E.W. Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/54/1 July August 1916 pt13

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AUG 8/9 1916
 

9.40. Aeroplane reports aeroplanes Germans
massing in trench [[shorthand]] with mg at E end.
[very lights? R33089
 R33B6½ 
These were [[shorthand]] German lights.]
Moores yarn.
 Each Just before breakfast there
appeared at Bde H.O. Capt _∧ .Brettingham Moore of
15^th & 23 pioneers.  Moore was a
 recent officer_∧ from Hobart and he went over with
 a platoon of D coy. They were met
 with a frightfully hot fire and as usual
 complained tt / artillery lifted too
 late - & tt they ran into some of
 its fire & enemy's fire too. 
 They got into German trench under m.g.
 fire from near road on left. 
 Moor sd he thought there were 4 _∧ m. guns 
over road under trees.  Moore ws hit in 
starting but went on, and Playne
 was frightfully hit by a [[?]] shrapnel 
just as he got into German trench.  Moore
 found German fighxx  facing him.  He
xxxx turned xxxx  xxxx to diary
 ran at them w pistol.  First one

(I fell asleep while writing this and had to

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AUG 8/9 1916

Cannan says:

7.50 am owing to Suffolk failing 
to take trench 75 yds North of 85-95
& point 78 & R33 d 77 it was
impossible for me to hang on w
my D Coy, so have brought them
back to original alignment. 
I had heavy casualties going out 
& D had to hold a line abt 300

yds [[?]] I had no reinfs
to push bn past Ts.. My D
coy made 89 - 99 towards
/ firing trench brought back
30 prisoners. The prisoners say
they had no losses retiring.
A coy , next to D, & B coy next
to A lost direction & there wh
6 vacated German trenches betwn. my

 

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AUG 8/9 1916

(Diagram) - Germans reported by aeroplanes.

--- Plan adopted by Cannan for new trench.

xxx Direction selected by Col. Brand.

Cannan asked to dig this
 trench if he can so tt Drake
 Brockman may straighten out
 line tonight.

i.e. We may do w _∧ 15^th  16 Bn
 as much in 2 night as we had
intended to do w 15 Bn in one night,

give it up until this afternoon 
when I had had 5 or 6 hours rest.)
  Moore - who came in, his face covered w
 dust but his bright eyes gleaming
 under it - dirty, w his equipment 

AUG 8/9 1916
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the trees. But the Germans there
were a tougher crowd, he sd -
machine gunners. He thought
they had their guns on the road
under the trees - (German
prisoners all tell me / guns
were in pt.78 or there -abts in a 

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AUG 8/9 1915
hanging towselled round his neck
& waist & his revolver (w 2 cartridges
left in it) in his pocket stuck loosely in
his pocket - wounded in / thigh
(he didn't know this) & in / back
& in / Hand - sufficiently to make
it difficult for him to sit & slow
to walk - tired, overwrought, excited,
but still with a winning smile under
all the brown dust - kept on saying
"Oh - they ran, they ran. Look, Sir,
if Id had twice the number of men
I could have held tt place agst
anybody."
He got an order from Col. Cannan
to see if the Suffolks were in / trench
on his left " if not it is useless
staying there". He went along to
/ left o / trench on / road (the
Chaussee the Germans call it) with
 

AUG 8/9 1916
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9
the trees. But the Germans there
were a tougher crowd, he sd-
machine gunners. He thought
they had their guns on the road
under the trees - (German
prisoners all tell me tt / guns
were in pt. 78 or there-abts in a
Stutz punkt (Strong Point) in the
trench not in / road.) Anyway
those guns & one in / trench had
[[done]] great execution amongst our
fellows. The British had clearly
not got the strong point. But
Moore di ignored / first message to
withdraw. He moved along /
trench to / right where it was
higher & had a splendid command

over / dip behind as far as 
Mouquet Farm

[Hand drawn Diagram, please see original]
On / Eastern side of this was a
hollow road running back to our trenches.
Moore had killed 10 Germans
himself when he first jumped into 
the trench. he had found one facing him
who raised his eyebrows very high w
 

AUG 8/9/ 1916
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surprise - opened his eyes wider & wider
& a second later ws shot at about 
2 feet distance. Those behind him turned
& ran, & Moore followed them up & shot
one after another at about a yards
distance. One fellow, only, turned &

faced him - threw a bomb wh exploded
all over Moore, without hurting him,
& ws shot in / stomach at / same
instant. "It ws lucky they didn't
get us reloading for the revolver
ws very stiff." Moore sd (& indeed it
was - I couldnt open it - _∧ he handed it to me as we were
talking at breakfast in Sausage Gully -
& Moore overturned his porridge out of
sheer clumsiness due to strain, not getting
noticing tt his plate _∧ ws half off / table - what he
wanted was tea - he asked eagerly
for a second cup & pushed aside half of
a very tasty sausage. He couldnt sleep
when we gave him / chance to lie
down before breakfast).
He thought he ws / only man
in / trench at tt time - t& he was /
only officer. Playne ws shot in / legs
ws shrapnel. Two wounded German
lying in / trench (he eventually left
them there ) cried "Merci - Kamerad "
thinking he ws going to shoot them.

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He found his own men in /
trench - perhaps 30 of them. He
cd hold / trench w support & w
more bombs - but not without [[?]] &
so he sent back 8 different messages
for support. Only 2, he says, got
thro'. He & his men took up positn
in / higher point o / trench (a little
to / East). He bom He threw bombs
for an hour in / direction of Pt 78 - &
then bombs gave out.
So he retired - taking all / wd.
exc. those in Nomansland. They came
out thro the Sunken Way on their
right - a slightly sunken road,
full of Australian dead. [These were
the dead of the Aus 23rd Bn
who went too far a week before].
He lost, I think, 2 wounded
in returning - & made his German
prisoner 9 Jager Bn, 18 Res. Divn
- carry some ; brought all his wd. in.
When he ws first attacking / trench
they found a trench of Germans waving
their hands over / top of it & wagging
a white cloth to & fro. He saved
/ life of let one o / Germans, whom
he ws chasing, go safe & brought
him back along/ trench to tell these

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prisoners to come in - wh they 
gladly did. Several of them had medals,
at least one Iron X. They had bn
serving 2 yrs & came here 12 days
ago. In their 4 days in / trenched
they had lost pretty severely by our
bombardment - but the trench ws a
good, deep, narrow one & had not
bn badly smashed up. Our heavier
shell, the prisoners sd, genly
went over it - the middling calibres
were most annoying. Some say they
lost ½ their coy in 4 days shelling -
another tells me tt this is an
exaggeration ; our last few minutes
of trench mortar fire, he says,
were severe, but not our bombt.
They held about 3 trenches
from Mouquet Farm Southwards ;

the 1st trench ws held
68 Regt   4 Coy  2 Coy   3 Coy
  78         (1 platoon)
Other coys portion of 4 Coy &
1 coy were in reserve. They had
one m.g. up the Sunken Rd wh
was knocked out by our bombt ;
& one near the right or centre wh

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AUG 8/9/ 1916
[The Germans were wearing
their heavy shrapnel helmet
& so Moore cd easily desting. them
& ws able to bomb them.
Otherwise he wd have
thought they were our
men.

AUG 8/9/ 1916
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9
was firing well.
After the bombt they saw our 
men come over / crest (200 metres)
away, one man sd.) We came over
against the moonlight & twilight -
quite clearly seen ; there was no
necessity to use flares - the men
were very easily seen. They
seemed to come from the left
& make over towards the right & /

m.gs. got themas they went
(This wd be A & B
coys). They came on 
very thick - inclined

to bunch apparently.
Those directly in front dropped

to / ground (either hit or seeking shelter)
- very few came from / front of the
prisoners.
The 4^th Coy 9 Jager Bn had
bn in strong Point 78 with its
Machine gun - but had bn withdrawn.
see p. 176 & the 68 Regt (?) took its place. The
prisoners say tt 2 of their officers
were wd., One had run away ;
& they found tt a gt part of their
coy ran away. The 63 Regt ws on their
left - it made / attack / other day - they dont know/ result.
coming in from the 63 Bn are of good

AUG 8/9/1916
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morale. One of them ws told tt a
deserter had come in from his Regt.

"Impossible" he sd. He ws told it
ws true. "It cant be" he sd. Even if
/ deserter had sd himself tt he ws
a deserter this NCO wd not have
believed it.
[Another tall slim chap _∧ (Silesian) wandered
into our trenches by mistake. He
wept at / thought tt his friends 
wd think him a deserter He ws 63 ^rd
Regt].
About 7 a.m. Moore brought
his prisoners down. Lock brought
some of  got me to ask them some
questions. They were siting in /
midst of a crowd of our men on /
side of Sausage Valley by Bde H.Q.
The place is a mass of old craters
(much as if someone had bn sticking
his fungers into putty & kneading
it up). The men were joking w
them & occasionally getting reaching
out & cutting off a button for a
souvenir. The Germans wore the
grey, with light green cap band of
Jagers.
I asked a man who had an

AUG 8/9/ 1916

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Iron X - how long they had bn there.
They had come from Lorette, he sd,
12 days ago, & had bn in / lines 4
days. They came in by night
past a "Dorf" - wh must
have been Mouquet Farm, I imagine'
I wanted to find out where the
machine guns were wh had
swept our fellows down. Moore
thought they were under / trees
at the "Chaussee". We had
5 prisoners down, one after /
other. Young MacPhillamy, the
Bde Intelligence officer, who is
a very crude sort of chap, wd
insist on forcing on them large
drinks of rum to try & make
them talk - & on talking in front
of them in English (wh some of
them understood).However I
think we made sure tt their
opinion was tt their guns were
not on the Chaussee but in Point
78 or thereabout.
They are always anxious
to explain to you how it was
tt they came to be taken prisoner
instead of fighting on ; & that