Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/63/1 - October - November 1916 - Part 9

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Heavy firing
11. Met Glasford as came down w Herbertson

(see summary of date)
*complaints re fatiques etc. staff failure.

12. Returns. Heard Glasford hit  (Herb. told me)

White says he will organise traffic,  fatigues

13. Glasford died - Funeral.

Heavy firing

Beaumont  Hamel to

*3rd Divn & 28Bn.

 

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89

14/11/16.    [[?]] 25th Btn

Slow in other attack. 6 pdr guns.
X Quick in attack at Mouquet & 

here. If barrage slower bad wd have bn hit

some bad, some good units.
52 guards supported & got shelled

badly - across   open to front line.

Heavy firing

Car 3 hrs behind lorry.

X what this fight means - going downhill.
15 massing - every gun is on
 

Observation Officers who are
with him in the old church you
ruins up there. I went straight
on for Gellibrands HQ's & reached
there after 8.30 - near the cutting
below Switch trench . Gelly ws
busy down stairs - but ^on the
trench ^ parapet above his dug out 
ws a fair sized crowd of men
of all sorts. The trench was
filthy - only a little of it
duck boarded & / rest nearly
 

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90
up to your knees in
yellow mud. He sd there ws
an observation post near the
HQrs - I had seen it - a little
pit isolated from / trench.
I climbed in next to / two men in
it - they were observers from the
23rd Bn just arrived.
The hill stretched down gently
for abt a mile & a half in
front of us & then disappeared
over the knuckles into the

valley. Up the other side
it rose similarly & gently -
for about a mile or two.

our side ws about half
muddy shell holes - the
other side seemed almost
entirely green. To the left
front - on /  top o / hill, or just
behind it, ws a clock
tower abt 2 miles away; in
 

91
68
front of this & to / left ws
a village in some trees (Thilloy
& Ligny Thilloy) ; to / left front
of this again - near / bottom
o / opposite slope ws a nearer
village. You cd see / houses
mostly standing tho' shattered
deserted & roofless - dull brown

the whole place; & the wet
mud shining down / centre
o / deserted street.
The observers showed me

tt there were Germans walking

down. occasionally, from

the top o / hill below the

clock, across the green slope

to / valley foot on from their side.

They cd have seen - ^ even without
telescopes, our men walking

about our slope in / same
way, almost to / very bottom.
Both sides seem to avoid /

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villages - by day at any rate.
But we use / villages much
more than the Germans, I
shd say. Altho' everyone

talks of Flers as if it were
very dangerous there are
two head quarters there & plenty of guns,

hand drawn diagram - see original
& it looks certainly no worse
than Contal Maison wh we
used consistently all / time
we were at Pozieres.
Down near the edge of
our hill slope I cd see here
& there a live number of
men collected either in a 
half dug trench or in the
open behind a bank. (My
telescope wsnt working
well). I knew they were
probably the line ready for
the attack. But altho' it
ws 9 am., wh I thought ws / 
 

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93
hour, there ws no bombt.
However C It is / most difficult
thing to keep ones watch
right & though I have three(& 
one of them fairly good) I couldnt
rely on it. This ws a pity as
the times were very important
in this attack.
About 9.10 - wh ^ I found later ws
the hour fixed for "zero" -
the first few ^ field guns burst out
behind us & the whole chorus
of course immediately joined
in. This was the barrage bombt -
The next thing I noticed ws
tt, where I had seen a small
bunch of men, a ^ very long
continuous line of men ws
getting out & going very
deliberately forward. They
seemed to be looking at their
feet- & I daresay they were,
to avoid the shell holes. They

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94
were certainly going slower
than any line of Australians
I had ever seen. They took
3 or 4 minutes to get over the
skyline - our own barrage ws
never this side of it. I did not 
see any man fall - they
did not seem to be under
fire from the enemy [ I found
afterwds tt they undoubtably
were & were losing all /
time). I noticed no one fall.
Before In three or four minutes
the Enemy's shells were bursting
behind them - 4.2 or 5.9
H.E. - the line gradually
disappeared over / knuckle.
I did not Part of it ws in
view longer than other parts but
I did not notice any gaps

or bunching & it seemed to go
most steadily.
 

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95
I waited on for two hours
but not a man came back;
not even a messenger so far
as I cd see. The German
shells burst fairly continuously
on our side of them - & the
haze & dust & smoke out
of wh white lights & green
lights were continuously being
shot up - all the while
Germans cd be seen thro'
/ telescope walking up or
down / further green slope,
& our men behind / lines,
walking up & down their muddy
the German slope. The Germans
every two or three minutes
threw in one 4.2 or 5.9 shell
aimed at the Headqrs in the
trench beside us - you cd
 

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hardly hear the shriek of tt
shell thro the racket of guns,
but only the bang when it
burst - always to our right
& just behind. It threw heavy
earth clods into / air, which
tumbled onto us - & sometimes
muddy water. The place
was crowded with artillery
observers signallers & headqrs
runners but no one ws hurt.
As there ws no news and
nothing to be seen I left at abt
11 o'c. nearly frozen ^ w / wind - dodged into
Gelly's dugout & left a patent
etching pen(for Indian ink) for 
Crozier - & walked down back
over / hill. Our batteries
were simply bristling ^ there - two
rows of field guns packed
side by side - & the 60 pdrs
 

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97
further back, & the old barking
8in Howitzers behind them.
We went up to see Legge at
Carlton Trench - where he had
his Divl. HQrs, on the
top o / further hill. He
made me come in & have
some whisky as I had had

no breakfast. The news ws
good he sd. The enemy had
bn shelling their own trench - xx
arty that ws the first notice we
had tt our men were in;
afterwds a message came tt
the right bn ws in. It ws Macl
M'Coy & the 5^th Divn who
were running the show, as
they had prepared / plans

- but / troops were all
2nd Divn exc. a few engineers.
 

98
Brig. Gen Paton had bn
hit in / back while trying
to provide a centre for his
line. The 25^th Bn, wh ws
to have been the centre, had
lost its way.
[Col. Walker & Paton were standing
up on / parapet (trenches were
too muddy) quite comparatively
close to the German line when
Walker looked round & saw a 
German aiming at them. He shouted
look out & jumped into / trench.
The bullet whizzed past his head. 4 offs
were hit abt here.orders have been gn to use the commn trenches

They had bn lost even 
before I left the observation
post. but most o / men
were in shell holes & we
didnt know it.

 

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99
(This is a very curious situation
- I have never known it happen
before.) Birdwood came up as
I ws there. I met / little
man trudging back afterwds
thro the mud to Montauban,
Chirnside leading his horses
behind him. Birdwood saluted
every soldier whether they
saluted him or not - his
salute always carried a smile
& a sort of "Good day".
In the evening when I 
called up at the Chateau at
Heilly, Birdwood told me
tt the trenches had bn lost. X
The men had left ^ bn driven from them before
he left Carlton Trench - but
not a word ws known of
it. The ^ heavy artillery had told
Birdwd then tt they were
expecting a c. attack &
were ready for it.
 

100 

Hand drawn diagram - see original document
 
101 

Hand drawn diagram - see original document