Charles E.W. Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/55/1 August 1916 pt8

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Part of Quest:
Charles E W Bean Diaries
Subject:
  • Notebook and diaries of CEW Bean
Status:
Finalised
Accession number:
RCDIG1066819
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

87 wit is great deal of awxiely about this attack It has pleased the ugh wonderfol general who controls thes army (whose sole success has on made by the unaided effort of our austialian troops) to express somevort of displeasure at I faiture of peacemcal attack ants wh he hurried as a few nights back - the one on Mouguet Farm. I believe he had I check to tel yen. Walker a he ought to go up to boyures & see thins for himself I don't suppose any of our divisions is what it was - how can a diver in its second 90, after Brt thardest fighling Goops have ever had be expected to be as firsh & good as before it went tho' to experience, when it has Cast 5090 & as filled up with 300/ of recrunts with 2090 not filly ap at all - why dont his Bictish troops do this sort of thing - guards & the rest of them. As 1american carres posent told coores pardents yeste. The Austialians have sone Frandly & they rs the best looking troops you have ? 88 reashed DCt.C I found to attack I wust be abreade over- Io ws to be made at Sp First News - Bhat at D.15 the Sermans opened head bombardment you out front line opp. monguit. Next; There ws to have 6n a smoke barpage at 7.30 white we were having aberie dinner in Banay Rd French t ta ie ws smoke 6e calno. in as the Bde Used Special R.S. could abt get up its smoke funs owing to the even barrage tte brokin down tati of the wenches At about Gpm came a 10th Bn report that the had reached has (on te right) part of its objective on the left, & a the Enemyy trench just in port of the on the right. There ws En uncontern
89 to G.5 from Col. Blamey Sammary at Heaby guns. ta 10 Bn who attacked on 12t a wize held up by fyre 1 3 10 Ther centie & left peached at 28cP. ito obu C66.36. 8 03 In Noinform from centrebattation, &od whose objective wa 03,01, 91. Wehave natt from left ory whace obse us reached tuz oly 2327d9 Heroplane, obeeiver says he is quite goop trench et is +d along road are 27d 8 towards and in the truick Epm91 as far 579 23 when th cro squgre The signalling panel observed by aurgplan 82t observer was at abt 821 not 9.1 (27d. 9t M Wireless reed from this siole of Cozceris 41 very well. a practice wersy is only This wh shaye in by mis take 30 report to the 12Bn (lep centr had got its objective. A little take a report came fom 3Bde t the enemy had Cn C. attacked on our left just before 6 pm.app the 9Bor. & ws atn bt the repulsed. (The 9Ba is quarry) ve sure Mey to Then the air patrol ra ap say where he had seen the rto to his H Newton of 12 Bn, said by sained his objective. He says ing fire butag to thei there ws heavy garrison of truch few camalties 56 6 bolter. our pain ere is 280. 92 rt 15 held obtec al from 66.36 toward do objective the Brr. Objectuve 2 1 91633 4½ seem to have gone beyond it on to the road acroplanc says it Les
31 Amae heavies are t all at st ashata know. th positions t batter ✓ 50 T te our men 2t from 696 80 591 report 2 Founsitin suand 92 cor have food thinks the there. Battation hasd been Right ordered try & part ap to point Or 28c. 95) Barrag nd a cittle beyond it. News R33 B 48& 59 taken 6 Capt hove of 12Bn. Thi w frther ten were asked Wan T0 This confored acroplane Blaney asks them to barrage points 28d 374/4. 7/½ where are trec junctions thro wh evemy ad reinforce. Jen Madagan axports that the situation as regards 11th Bn is unsatisfactory. They were held up by heavy stellfire on the Communication truch & were I have very ate in arriving pash on at once ordered them to So far thes sounds satisfactor the has arrauged Anzac
53 691 Monquet W Moughet 6 Saxons 19t (Saxon worps camallin RiBn reports att 12 ordened to puts rapid inct ai Satlort, Cuse igue dis This wecer I messa already forwander recorded Reserve Rept 15th Ead guard Reserve Dur back again beyond is The Dunon our left. our left is pashing beyoud its objective. Our funs are now very worn Bangess the other day did not like to shoot on the barrage for End Bde wh as as close as sogds in places. I taney old Burgess simply 1uosed. this Thot beyond it Lime 44 heave arty for a bombardment 28d 57. at 60pm. and Bdle are [.I hear to the not out so far as it ws thought my were. Noore knows exactly what heppened, but it looks as if the nattations had tor. an t had been taken poner The men if any who waned to Dick adey were never jourd ap with as far as I can bear I am not sure that point 65.4 had uot abo been lost in fo of 151 or 3rd. Bde now. 95 88 36 03 93½ 4 pt.
95 3 Bde Reserves: 104opr G Bn have By Each 14 statoons i reserve. ti has one weak Br 11 con thinks from Maclagan camatties are cramiing the uch too into tine di But 15 t their commnns are aut are probly apail the of c attack. 36 cant fet word pickl back to t artillery have torel & To repel on if. cattachs They have bn ordered t Bde out thei 96 of Command Maj. Redberg in 15 Wt Br. Col. Wey) is goin Cack. I don't ten atte quite but I fany they think t old chap 601010 for the alther Job. 67 S Bdes are w immediately behievvs 6Bde at Buckfields 1Bn o S Bde 51 8Bno are relieved an Sams 6Bn out, 71n in St. hear in Den is to S that on the 2Dirn Cp up wasgo to the Ones Casey lt on mosn the so he ad his moter e carl upin French in onef the deep dugonts. The light the of dugonts next door to it ws throthe open passage shine way & the laughter of 10
94 now holds on our 6ef CDpo 44 54 84 63 31. 72 60 &1a.68 98 79 Sap 31 31d 42 3 d 30 90 XI.B. 62 Xp 56 near 81 gap 31d also X2 a 19 22 65 Cap t 29 76 (also sap to] Germans. c attacked here yeste in Britch unorm last night. They strolle in & a officer of Closters went form and to them. He called. They did not answer. Th be rain forward to see the N.C.D (t shollin were abt 50d the Jeran there amongst the debris). They putous out of 19. 135. almost to 765 bt Beitish rushed back nearly to same pt. goes on 76,96706- 48.69. 98 33014.46. Lie 98 Lahore who officers artiler R3318.1 oar time bying at 81 past 338 inport of Quarry 55,65, 5.372 68 59 along 2d to or sust 5. d 91 cl 34a1 due 39 25 92 8 nearly to Rd at 31 along 2d 6 28 C. 812 82 73. O. 548 713 as 2.4 had it before Repoptane says have R27d 82 may men at We 8.2 (same Square) We are cutting from 28 C 21 & ta0 lime of tll Poophon Ordered to make Good 7310 Sitting there were rang out from time to time. Casey ws of we, old bed one side on a other on the Smythe floor duck board I om the Eight a the Then between
99 chatk the earth passa on, one of our side Chamber went out other presentl th cn went ond too Part Chalker lit still wall bye was faid reflected light from se one 01 passyes too lasy I are to patup my head X see which The thumping of guns mo oan wd svery constantly shakey chamber me course there ws Combardmen the 5low consuision of guns shells can always be fet very deving tesy under pround & ep heard voice Fom one Nairn eneral pobab battery after batter ringing up the on telephone (or prsb the arty brigades what barrage have you now well on
200 want you to keep 4 of 50 rounds an hour until day light keep that up unret you can see. I woke at 4.20000 once inthe night wanwate an orderty came down Is major casey here colonel 5 wants him. Thele prisoners have arrived Dick turnet on the blaying electric lyght up for a moment t then went ten minutes. The were pusoon of the 69th Regiment I voke at 4.20 & woke Ie was stil dark. We dck the mess went along meas dejouty most which like a larga the surface with wan are on I had a onl tin noot Them &butter. stice 9 bread 7 road when we stolled over our (car) was The waiti us. barrage was still on slow the away a schony the guns
07 rattled up the valley shell another tfun generall barking sometimes) two, or three - before the rattle of the first had died away Bang Rattle- Rathe. Ruale natle. Bang. Rattle Kattle B. Anghattl Bang. Rattle Kattle Rattle radle nathe hat Ban Rattle Ratle Karle Ba an on. A party of men w rifles shg pacross were straggling in open in pont of Divl Headynant te er They were engineers of a Tield Company coming back from an unelites. factor night. As often happens. they want up there for work, as nobody met them ordired nobod kenew w hat they were to do they stayed all night in shellswept place & came the
205 morning back en w There done. nothin very difficutiees great I know they were o the officer to whom fo may oprhaps his be hit 2nd in also; but ber Dr Kuys dont o as expecte but there ought sarely to be Pomeove always responible omeacful for seey tta work We went ap the road them off ha Boiselle past 1 end of Saus, Gull thro Thene were the a of ambulances waiter at Cowett cooner by the Cofee sat we car took the road to the left wonderfully mproved We stopped it at the Chale & Clo Dever to back at Cannally Com & 2 oclock.

87
Theres is a great deal of anxiety
about this attack. It has pleased the
wonderful general Gough who controls this
army (whose sole success has bn made
by the unaided effort of our Australian
troops) to express some sort of displeasure
at / failure o / peacemeal attack
into wh he hurried us a few nights
back - the one on Mouquet Farm. I
believe he had / cheek to tell Gen. Walker
tt he ought to go up to Pozieres & see things
for himself.
I dont suppose any of our
divisions is what it was - how
can a divn in its second go, after
/ hardest fighting British  troops have ever had -
be expected to be as fresh & good as 
before it went thro' tt experience, when
it has lost 50% & is filled up with
30% of recruits with 20% not filled
up at all - Why don’t his Birtish troops
do this sort of thing - guards & the rest of
them. As / American correspondent told /
correspondents yesty "The Australians have done
grandly & they're the best looking troops you have".

7    88
I reached D.H.Q I found tt /
attack must be already
over - It ws to be made
at 6pm.
First News - That at 6.15 the Germans opened heavy
bombardment on our front line opp. Mouquet.
Next: There ws to have bn
a smoke barrage. At
7.30, while we were having
a hurried dinner in /
trench off  ?Bapaume Rd, he
a message ws handed
in tt smoke cd not be
used as the Special Bde,
R.E. could not get up its
smoke guns owing to the enemys
barrage & the broken down
state of the trenches.
At about 9p.m. came a
report that the 10th Bn
has (on the right) had reached
part of its objective on the left, & a
trench just in front of the enemy trench on
the right. There ws an unconfirmed
[*x Name omitted in case diary was
captured*]

 

89
Summary at 9.5 from Col. Blamey to
The 10 Bn who attacked on / rt xxx were held up by heavy guns fire.
Their centre & left reached
at  28c 8½ 3 x
its objective - (66.36 & 03)x No informatn
from centre battalion whose objective was
03.01.91. We have nothing
from left Bn whose objve ws
27 d 9, to 33 b 47 → reached their objve
& it is a good trench. Aeroplane observer says he is quite sure they
are along road
27 d 8½ ½ towards
59 and in the trench SE from 91 as far
as where it crosses / square.
9 The signalling panel observed by aeroplane
observer was at abt 8½1 not 9.1 (27d.)
9.1.
9.5pm Wireless recd from - this side of Pozieres
" All going well."
This is only a practice message
wh strayed in by mistake.

7   90
report tt the 12 Bn (left centre)
has got its objective.
A little later a report came
in from 3 Bde tt the enemy had
C. attacked on our left just before
6 pm. abot opp. the 9 Bn & ws
repulsed. (The 9 Bn is near abt the
quarry).
Then the air patrol rang up to
say where he had seen the
Lt Newton, of 12 Bn, said tt rt of his
bn gained his objective. He says
there was heavy m.g. fire but up to then
few casualties. Garrison of trench
bolted.
28c. 8½.3. is point were our
rt is held.
from 66.36. towards 03 it obtained
its objective.
Left Bn. Objective 27d91 to 33 b. 4½7; so they
seem to have gone beyond it on
to the road. Aeroplane says it

 

91
Anzac heavies are
shooting at all sorts
battery positions tt they know.
3 Co from 69th Rgt to our rear
69th
report 69th Prussian guard
 

7   92
thinks they have good cover
there.
Right Battalion has been
ordered to try & push up
to point 95(28c.95) Barrage
News: put a little beyond it.
R33 B 48 & 59 taken by Capt
Love of 12 Bn. This is further
than they were asked to go.
(This confirms aeroplane.)
Blamey asks them to
barrage points 28 d 3.7 & 4.7½ where
are trench junctions thro wh enemy
wd reinforce.
Gen Maclagan reports that the
"situation as regards 11th Bn is
unsatisfactory. They were held
up by heavy shellfire on
the Communication trench & were
very late in arriving. I have
ordered them to push on at once."
So far this sounds satisfactory.
Anzac has arranged w the

 

93
69th Mouquet & W.
Saxons Mouquet & E.
19th (Saxon) Corps.

Rt Bn reports abt 125 casualties
rapidly increasing - ordered to push on
on and attack dig trench if required
(This ws in /
?isko  message already forwarded recorded)
_________
15th Reserve Regt of
2nd Guard Reserve. Divn
is back again beyond
our left: The Divn on
our left is pushing beyond its objective.
_________
Our guns are now very worn
& Burgess the other day did
not like to shoot on the barrage
for 2nd Bde wh ws as close
as 50 yds in places. I fancy
old Burgess simply ignored this
& shot beyond it.

7    94
heavy arty for a bombardment of pt.
28 d 5.7. at 10 p.m.
[I hear tt the 2nd Bde are
not out so far as it ws
thought they were. Noone knows
exactly what happened, but it
looks as if the battalions had got
in & had been taken prisoner. The
men, if any, who waved to Dick
Casey, were never joined up
with as far as I can hear].
I am not sure that point 33B55
had not also been lost in front
of 1st or 3rd Bde.

Line now:

 

95
10.40pm. 3 Bde Reserves:
9 Bn}
12 Bn} have each
two platoons in reserve.
11 Bn has one weak
coy.
Maclagan thinks from
casualties tt they are cramming
/ men too much into / line.
But / difty is tt their comms
are cut & they are probly afraid
of c. attack. They cant get
word quickly back to the
artillery & so have to rely
on inf. to repel c. attack.
They have bn ordered by
Bde to thin out.

7    96
Maj. Redberg is in command of
10th Bn. Col. Weir is going
back. I don't know quite why,
but I fancy they think the
old chap rather too old for the
job.
6 & 5 Bdes are now
immediately behind - 6 Bde
at Brickfields - / Bn of 5 Bde
in Gans. 5 & 8 Bns are out being relieved;
6th Bn. out; 7 Bn in still.
_________
I hear that 4 Divn is to go in
on the left of 2 Divn.
Casey was going up to the lines
in the morning; so he let me
curl up in his motor rug
in one of the deep French
dugouts. The light of the
dugouts next door to it ws
shining thro the open passage
way - & the laughter of the

 

97
Corps on our left now holds.
31. C. 44, 54, 64, 63, 72,
60 X1a.68, 79, 98
Sap. 31c. 90 to 31d. 4½
31c. 90 X1.b.19, 31d 30, 62
Xb. 59, 31d near 81, gap, 9½,
X2a 19, 22, 65, (also sap to 29)
76 (also sap to 79)
Germans c. attacked here
yesty in British uniform
last night. They strolled
in & an officer of Glosters
went forward to them. He
called. They did not answer.
Then he ran forward to see
the N.C.O. (there were abt 50 of
the Germans there strolling amongst the
debris). They pushed us
out of (19.)...(31.)...(79) x
almost to 76; but British
pushed back nearly to same pt.
Line goes on 76.96 X2B 06.48.69
98. 33c 14. 46.

7    98
Lahore artillery officers who ⇢
___________
our line begins at 81 (B33A8.1. just
in front of Quarry, 33B 55, 65, 5.7½, 68,
59 along rd to 91 or just s. of it,
34a 18, 2½ 9½, 3.9¾, due N xx
nearly to Rd at 31, along rd to
28 c. 81½, 8½-½, 9¾.0 s. to 34B 7.1.,
2.4 - & as I had it before
____________
Aeroplane says
we may have men at R27d3½o
& 8.2 (same square).
We are cutting from 27 d 91 to
28 c 21 & thro' to line S. of rd.
Troops  h.bn. Ordered to make good 73 xxx
____________
⇢were sitting there rang out
from time to time. Casey ws
on a bed one side of me, old
Smythe on the other, &
I on the duckboard floor
between. Then the light in

 

7     99
the chalk-earth passage
on one side of our
chamber went out;
presently tt in / other
went out too. Part o /
chalky wall was still lit by a
faint reflected light from
some one o / passages -
I ws too lazy to put up
my head & see which.
The thumping of guns
ws every now & again
constantly shaking the chamber
- of dont course there ws
a slow bombardment on - the
concussion of guns & shells can always be felt very
distinctly in these underground places.
I heard the voice of someone
probably General Nairn -
ringing up battery after battery
on the telephone (or probly the arty
brigades). "What barrage have
you on now.....? Well - I

 

7    100
want you to keep up a steady
50 rounds an hour until
daylight - keep that up
until you can see."
I woke at 4.20 & we
Once in the night xxx
was waked an orderly came
down. "Is Major Casey here?
The Colonel Blamey wants him. Three
prisoners have arrived." Dick
turned on the blazing electric light
a moment & then went up for
ten minutes. These were prisoners
of the 69th Regiment.
I woke at 4.20 & woke
Dick. It was still dark. We
went along to the mess
- which like most mess dugouts
was a large one on the surface with
tin roof only - & had a
slice of bread & butter. Then 
we strolled over to / road where
our car was waiting us. The
slow barrage was still on -
The guns echoing away as the

 

7    101
shell rattled up the valley,
the next another gun generally barking
- sometimes two, or three - before
the rattle of the first had
died away
Bang! Rattle - Rattle - Rattle - rattle..
Bang! Rattle Rattle Bang! Rattle Bang!
____________
Rattle Rattle Rattle rattle rattle rattle...
Bang! Bang! Rattle Rattle Rattle and
so on.
A party of men w rifles slung
were straggling in across /
openxx in front of / Divl Headquarters
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx They were
engineers of a Field Company
coming back from an unsatisfactory
night. As often happens,
they went up there for work, as
ordered; nobody met them;
nobody knew what they were
to do; they stayed all night in
the shellswept place & came

 

7    102
back in / morning w
nothing done. There are
very great difficulties I know
- the officer to whom they were to
go may be hit, & perhaps his
2nd in c. also; but they
or things dont go as expected;
but there ought surely to be
someone always responsible
for seeing tt they do some useful
work.
We went up the main
road in our car & then off
thro' La Boiselle past/ End of Saus. Gully.
There
were a string of ambulances
waiting at Casualty Corner
by the Coffee stall. The car
took the road to the left -
wonderfully improved.
We stopped it at the Chalk
Pit & told the driver to be
back at Casualty Corner
by 9 o'clock.

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