Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/69/1 - January 1917 - Part 6

4     45
/ big pond xxx to warm
my feet, & to get details of
the last nights attack.
For the 13Bn last night
attacked again the point wh
the 15^th had taken & lost three
nights before.
63^rd Dvn reported yesty tt
except for 260 yds of trench in R2d wh
had bn holding out all day, &
possibly of a post at abt R8 B9.5
all objectives on front betw.
Ancre River & Artillery Alley have
been captured. Operations in
progress to capture both of these.
Str. Post at R2A46.  9.30am c-attack
repulsed. Another abt 4pm
ws caught in barrage & dispersed.
Total prisoners so far 110.
(we heard this scrappy barrage
open out - a trifle scrappy in starting;
so I knew it ws a barrage & not
a bombt).

4    46
At 10.32 follg message reached
1^st Anzac HQrs from 4^th Div.
Signal "Objective gained"
seen at 10.3pm. Enemy barrage
came down heavily & extended to
Eve Alley at 10.8pm. 13^th Bn
believed to have gone over in
one wave.
At 12.30: "Situation well in
hand - 18 prisoners"

At 4.43 this morning. Enemy
c-attacked at 10.50 pm &
again at 3.7 am.  Both attacks
repulsed but no actual news
of attacks having bn pushed.
Situation now quieter; unconfirmed
report right flank established
N22 C 05/65 - 2 Offrs 56 men
& one m.g. taken.
[5^th Dvn sd [Enemy shelled heavily fronts 
of divns on either side. He opened our arty
feint on Sun & Heaven trenches ws replied to 7 mins after
our arty opened.]

47
2 corps.                   1^st A .        14^th.         15^th C.
RND., 2., 18.              gds 17.20.29
18 raided. 1 prisoner
2 raided  51 prisoners
i.e.
Two successful
raids by us

(RND = 63^rd Divn.)
 

4          48
1st  Aust Div. Simulated an
attack on the Maze at 10p.m.
No enemy retaliatn.

Corps Report.
Ethel attacked enemy trenches in N21d at
10pm from N22c. 05/65 to N21
B.25.05.; also commn trench N 21 d.4.9
to N21 6 5.0.

4 Aust Div at 8.30 reports: objve consolidated.
Right block N22C. 0 6. left block
& trench held to abt N.21. b. 10/25.
Anticipated bombers will extend right
during day. Line held by 5 weak
companies. Positn isolated
during daylight owing to shallowness
of commn trenches. Wounded being
brought in under white flag
across no mans land.
2 offrs 63 other Germans taken
prisoner. Our casualties abt 140
Capt MacDonald 13 Bn killed
Capt Hanson 14. Bn Severely wd.
Large No of our wd slight shell wounds
- 80 have passed thro advanced dressing stn
advanced dressing stn. German

4    49
casualties not yet estimated,
believed heavy as both their
attacks failed to reach our lines,
being broken by our arty wh
ws excellent both in barrage
& counterbattery.
We have 5 dugouts.
It is verbally reported tt D Coy
13Bn had 50 killed. (Murray's Coy).
One of the German offrs who ws captd
by us in / previous attack, being
given cigarettes & a very stiff whisky by Butler
here open his heart & spoke for
a long time. He sd they had no
surprises (such as the supposed
pois poison bomb) but did have
a new automatic rifle, to be fired
from the hip. He sd / Germans
thought / Australians were / best
troops they had agst them -
as the British though very good
were inclined to give up easily 

4    50
if they found heavy fire agst
them, whereas the Australians
& French went on in spite of everything.
He also sd tt abt /
last day of January a young
chap came over to them from
our 4^th Aust Div who sd
he was done up by the cold
& mud & want of sun
& couldnt stand it any longer.
He took him down into his
dugout & was talking to
him for an hour - "quite
a nice fellow", he sd.
I suppose some youngsters
sufferings were too great for
his loyalty to his mates - &
he gave way.
I wonder if this has
anything to do w / shelling of
Albert.

51

Snow.  Men in Fog.
Barrages & small attacks.
Aust sliding
Photos 

Not to bel. all  prisoners “harpooned him.
The cowardly blighter.

At Helles -
Rupert Henderson drew Cass'
attention to fact tt bullets
were striking stones on Krithia Road on right
hand side. When Cass ws
wd. he handed over 7th
(or rather tt part of line)
to Henderson. Henderson
ws k. while consolidating
abt 10 pm.
Lt^. Alan Henderson ws wd at landing
& Rupert H. heard of this death /
night before he ws killed.

4    52
Feb. 6.  The 13^th Bn is
holding the line captured
with 5 weak Coys (1 of 15^th).
They look down at /
back of German trenches

(In this manner) - I believe
they found 12 dugouts. The German
O.C. there insisted on his men
putting 3 frames on each dugout every
day. But the captured offr.
sd he did not believe in
dugouts in / front line. It ws
in tt way tt he ws captured.
We hold our front line in
posts. They hold theirs. (appt in.) fairly
strongly.

wed 4    53
Feb 7.  MacDowell, the cinema
operator came today - I
had asked for him nearly
a fortnight ago but fortunately
the frost was still on. He
took our men sliding behind
the Chateau; he took men
moving over the shellholes of
Pozieres; & many photos
in the snow at Bazentin & the
busy xxxxxx quarry. That is busy corner
now - all the bustle seems
to centre there.
I got him & Baldwin to
leave me at Ne Contelmaison.
I saw Sergt O'Toole of the
21^st Bn., and Capt. A Brown of
the 28^th - & then set out -
just as / sun ws sinking
over / snowfield - to walk

4                  54
home. I came through the
streets of Contelmaison - /
last time I ws through them
in / same way ws tt wild
night of / first attack on Pozieres,
w / shrapnel bursting in
salvoes along / bank o /
road where I rested w /
Pioneers.  I went on down over the causeway
across / valley & up / sunken rd past casualty
corner; & it struck me tt
I wd take / road down
Sausage Gully to Becourt
Wood. I turned off down / valley.
It was unbelievable.
I couldnt find a road - only
snow in shellholes over a sort
of moorland. Down / valley
ran a big railway in
one long curve; & otherwise

4    55
/ place was as deserted
as a virgin Scottish moorland.
It lay deathly still under
/ moon.  Occasionally a
bit of a beaten foottrack
seemed to run off to some
camp on / hill - &
there was a faint track
trodden by some who
had been visiting / great
crater, apparently. They
ran across / valley; but
/ roads down it - wh I
remembered as busy as
Cheapside & / strand -
crowded & crawling w life
- not a trace of them.
Part o / way I found &
followed / "new" light railway
track - apparently long

4      56
since abandoned, of
wh our pioneers were
so proud - the very last
thing we did ws to build
tt rly.  It ws buried
in snow. The main The only feature o / place
is now the main
rly now winding up
a deserted moorland gully.
I cut up - stumbling
thro' some forgotten French
wire - to / top o / ridge
over wh a hundred times
I used to go to our old trench in Becourt
Wood. Two Australian
soldiers from some camp
on / hilltop were wandering,
in a lost manner, across
my path.  I shd get to /
corner o / wood where /
Coffee stall used to stand