Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/72/1 - February - March 1917 - Part 2

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open for review
Accession number:
RCDIG1066838
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

7 between on the Space old our Hextan Rd Ane Tuppo i of wne ++ 9 was w5th 12 There out ewhe e 10 chatter it a por p N l a he oe come the te but 8 er hits br its to Butler San it D as 48 Bn I mone 16 ebe 11a met t1 rebeve t we a be the 74 li 17
a hea the lep were de sood sti Cancoutt coud the Butte 2 11 Kak Lapte 5X t W40 fer ro i Wo Bn were o th fin 5 34 Jacobe Col. in ti the last t 4 lo well Ex to A Tar X &captun ag the E ex of
allowed t ol. Bris is ha d as X da 55 T A Bico o 1C A be a all roseco their fom after 151 h 2 He thints th come f0 bac a 5 D at bt ag for 2nd where The i on t ll o l D la e46 4 a 13 On
14 fub Me li he take 4 & wa have The arty Co No pt 8 Ex 15 wero t we te Lloyd letts firg Sheapnel. field from cat ferman were cannot burgting fires inless on to Oo Exa the were thae & at tets I ha t Inth Ca Of. 0 t cast ie brie K ano at or 4000 erver C ar 24 irn tlay T4
better ple my the X se the tha 9 0 e E 2 leep 2 l 5 $ The he is g o Sant shell by all lede we a se & here dight on were patiots eraal By t. C. batter te did some wt first 6 as fin it 8 it up were now O ad or
n/ old 0 line le appa alettle Your artillery ned is forward 0 94 raing slighty very cold 26 FEb went up todo Baldwin Dyson & with Took Boldiom t llogdd to see ifbecd get so artillery forward. we went up valley villa E of Contalmaiion the ground there was nothing like so shelled. right ap to Martinswich as The old Pozieres great infanty on our right cannot have had the same tinic the and Dinshe that 75t
18 lke went to a batter command pf ii the valley Jast S.W.d marten suich & Baldign got a picture of fouguns thereforig from emplacements The rovemendof fins by 7 had been stoppd if was too bright We saw them wanter road onthe one Watter the Mns all covered ap the teo some distan awd s0 abt 10 It w0 took there a up knackle South Martin puich when lops. of the houses the 8 Le Bargue could tee seen. The Infantr wer at it attect
49 row to swing 1.3C evanted Le Barque t to see this Te guns were from fair busy et tru 11.30 onwahds was a scallired insfective of Combl at best. Fort about 1.30 it because heo ir & then abruptt ceased Dosver hearda bombt. cease more complit some of uns afterwos the spened out again on terget some other I believe. near There was fo sign of infantry attack until about minutes later several M.Cs. began to chatter - I should s an there were two adead (+ of the two on the laft attack, which was on belween Malt 2 Le 3 the bd Rp The Shree Fares ut
18. of the sd. who fled in Sept of Oct 1916 the year before this way wretten C.B. 22.2.28. l af l our fantr o done Someky the heard afterwas it a the B Bn had which but was attacked Me 6 12 unable owery pet on fi to but We bescits some Chocolete the C li where we were setting had been shelle ver except lible Lrapvel Ser flee the Te debris German and our following brooges scatle was across 1 amid c wheat Hatened short dow
21 Stubble. went down Ie ourt L Abbaye past you 2 Artiller were whereor two yuns along the drage trainwan a young arty off as with tem but the owa seemed they one dirt pleased talkative lookin ahiing some chap was anonnition men who ap amn eribin tbehind tralli do what the ell you brin that 54 went along for. Le as a crork for been were two da sd one £60 16 evident mere were proid of rath < wes

 

17  11
on the space between
Hexham Rd & our old
line (in Support line of
wh, 12 Bn H.Q. was.)
There ws a m.g.
chattering somewhere out
in front - I suppose it
must have bn a good
distance but some of
its bullets weren't.
I found tt Sam Butler
was up in support at
/ moment.  12th Bn ws
relieving 10th & 11 ws to
relieve 9th (we met 11
^going up on our way back)
The Germans were throwing
 

 

 

17  12
a good deal of stuff
near Eaucourt

[Diagram - see original scan]
I asked what happened
to / German posts whom
the 10 Bn rushed -
xxx "They were none of them
left," Col. Jacobs said. "They
were shooting our men
up to / last - & they
couldn't well expect it."
That is natural.  The
2nd Divn hasnt captured
any prisoner at the
 

 

 

17  13
Germans having bn
allowed to escape -
Col. Bridges thinks they
cd have got some.
Came back at 
dark to 1st Div. at 
Fricourt Farm - & went
over to 2nd Divn at
Fricourt - where I have
been yarning - on
all topics - to Lloyd,
their gunner, till
after 2 a.m. I dont
fancy 1st Divn will
have to attack but
2nd may have to
 

 

 

14

July 29
O.G. 1 & 2
 

17  15
take Grevillers line.
The worst is tt they have
no arty wh can cut
wire except T.Ms.  xx
Lloyd tells me tt a

field gun firing shrapnel
cannot cut German wire
unless if fires ^bursting low &
exactly onto the wire
& at less than 2500 yds.
In the case of attack
on O.G. 1 & 2 on July 29
they tried to cut wire
at 4000 yds or more,
unobserved!
The 2nd Divn staff
 

 

 

17   16
seem much better
pleased to have Smythe
than Legge as their G.O.C.
I am sleeping in
Padre Dexter's hut,
- he is in England.  The
guns are only fairly
busy - all / shells today
were German as we
didnt know where our
patrols were, exactly.
The ^Big guns did some c. battery work
at first - but gave
it up on finding tt /
Germans ^big guns were now
out of range - cd
only just reach our
 

 

 

17  17
old front line
apparently.
A little of our
artillery is moving
forward.  It is
raining slightly &
very cold.
Feb. 26. Went up today
with Dyson & Baldwin.
Took Baldwin to Lloyd to see
if he cd get some
artillery moving forward.
We went up valley
E of Contalmaison Villa.
The saw ground there was
nothing like so shelled - right
up to Martinpuich - as the
old Pozieres crest - so the
infantry on our right cannot
have had the same time
that the 1st & 2nd Divns had.
 

 

 

17  18
We went to a battery

commander near in
the valley just S.W. of
Martinpuich & Baldwin
got a picture of four guns
there firing from emplacements.
The movement of guns by
day had been stopped
as it was too bright.
Bu We saw them waiting
on the road, one battery,
the guns all covered
up & the teams some
distance away.
It ws abt 12 so I
took them off up to a
knuckle South of
Martinpuich where
the xx tops of the houses
of Le Barque could be
seen - The Infantry
were to attack it at
 

 

 

17  19
1.30 - to swing round

into Le Barque - & I wanted
to see this. The guns
were fairly busy from
11.30 onwards - but it
was a scattered ineffective

sort of bombt at best.
About 1.30 it became
heavier & then abruptly
ceased.  We I never heard a
bombt. cease more completely
Some of the guns afterwds
opened out again on
some other obje target
near by, I believe.
The Ge There was no
sign of infantry attack
until about 4 or 5 minutes
later several m.gs. began
to chatter - I should say
there were two ahead &
two on the left of the
attack, which was on
Malt trench between le B.
& the Bapaume Rd.
Then Gr three flares went
 

 


(i.e. of the Gs who fled in
Sept or Oct 1916 -
the year before
this was written)
C.E.W.B.
22.2.28.
 

17  20
up - so clearly our
infantry had dome something.
[We heard afterwds it ws
the 18 Bn which had
attacked Malt trench but was
unable to get on owing
to m.g. fire].
We had a bit of
chocolate & some biscuits
- the country where we
were sitting had been
shelled very little except
by German shrapnel
The debris of the fleeing
Germans and our following
troops was scattered
across it - amidst a
short flattened down wheat
 

 

 

17  21
stubble.
We went down
past Eaucourt L'Abbage
where our ^2nd Div Artillery were
dragging two guns along the
tramway. A young arty offr
ws with them - but they
seemed to say & do what
they pleased. One dirty
looking chap talkative
chap was chipping some
ammunition men who
were bringing up / ammn
on a trolley just behind.
"What the 'ell do you —s
want to bring that — stuff
along for. Cant you leave
us a day!"
"We've been working for
two days," sd one of the
men," (Evidently they were
rather proud of themselves
 

 


 

Last edited by:
Ian CIan C
Last edited on:

Last updated: