Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/77/1 - April - May 1917 - Part 7

The 5^th Bde - for some reason
unknown,-broke at the enemys
wire - Boase thinks it ws one 
officer of the 20 Bn. About 400
stragglers came back to the
railway embankment. Gellibrands
two youngsters, Rentoul & Gilchrist,
rallied them, spoke to them, gathered
them & led them straight back across
country. It wd have been better
(Gelly says) to send them up by the
29 Road, but they had no time
for thinking. The one intention was
to go on and keep faith w /
British in / timetable. [The
timetable allowed for the swing of the
left of the 6^th Bde giving the British
a lead from from the 2nd objve.] The two
boys collected the [[5th?]] Bde - & took
the 18^th Bn on (Murphy ws with it).
Gilchrist ws/seen reaching the O.G. /
first to rt of rd to head of the 24
Bn bombing party there. He got in
only 2 men were with him. The rest
lay down in the wire. They had
m gs on them then from behind
O.G. 2 - very fierce. The 5th Bde got up the [[trench?]]
during / day but were bombed out by minnies.

65
[*18*]
6 Bde Casualties
21.  13 & 400
22.  14 & 411
23.  12 & 351
24   13 & 300
M G. 3 & 20
T M   - & 21
_________________
Gelly during ^night c-attack went
up embankt with a rifle when
2d Bn came back.

There ws a frightfully heavy barrage
on the Rly embankment -
5 offrs & 20 men were hit around
Gellys Bde H.Q. alone. The
assistant cook went up &
when he wasnt cooking spent 10
hours in a dugout on top of the
rly embankment.
_____________________________________
 

66
[*18*]
24 Bn. At 2.30 a.m. started to go out
Standing patrols were in
front of wire at 10 pm.
Engineers put out tape
under cover of patrols
- prob. Gilchrists job.
2.15 markers went out
to mark out parade &
coy flanks.
2.30 Bn went out.
4 waves. A Coy leading, -
in file along sunken Rd
in 29 [[?]] & then left wheeled
formed up without a hitch.
Men took [[?]] into position
& lay down.
Enemy had a searchlight
from Factory way, [[?]]
[[?]]. At 10 mins before
zero they had Guns put a barrage
of [[crumps?]] - but too far
 

67
[*18*]
back. Also mg. fire -
but ^we lost very few.
At zero whole of waves began
to advance creeping behind
barrage. They kept under /
shells bursts - & got into / [[Trenches?]] 2
mins too soon. 1st wave
took 1st line. V. few germans
there - a few Gs. were down
dugouts. At zero + 16 this
ws cptd.
First wave stayed there
next cont^d over top keeping
close behind barrage till
+ 33 when 2nd & 3rd waves
carried second line. There were
a few G. m.gunners in
this -(one m.g. at 33) -
M.Gs. seemed to be
from Factory & Riencourt.

At 1.40 the 4^th wave
 

68


One man ^of 24 Bn had 5 prisoners
who were not easy to
persuade to cross on the
way back. So he shot one &
wd him & made the other 4
carry the wounded man.
69
[*18*]
took 2nd objve. They
had gone straight over [[trench?]].
Here they had both flanks
in air - There were germans
to rt & left. & rt rear &
left rear flanks. The Gs.
came down sap in 23 d.
The dust ws not as
heavy as in Pozieres.
They knew rt & left
were not up before they
reached O G. 1. They
extended the flank at
150 yds on left in 
both [[trenches?]] & abt 250
yds on right. They
estab. a stop in the
sap from 23 central,
a few yards up.
Abt midday the Germans
 

70
On the right of the Sunken
Road in O.G. 1 the
bombing party was bombing
down dugout (when first
they went into it) and a couple 
of stick bombs (or potato
mashers) came up the stairs.
They threw down another &
up came a further grenade.
They had put down up a
German bomb store.
 

An airman ^after flying
very low dropped the
message "Brave Australia"
behind Bde H.Q. & promptly
got engine trouble & had
to land there.

71
[*18*]
made their first definite
strong c.attack from sap in
23 d, & down road from
Riencourt from the sunken
rd. They came over
from shellhole to shellhole
sliding across on their
stomachs ^-the seal attack Gelly calls it - our men
standing on the top of
the trenches waist high.
The Gs had kept their
m.gs on the parapet but
no bombs into [[trenches?]].
The Germans got within
10 or 12 yds.
At 5 pm they c.attacked
again - xx this time up
the sap, with bombs &
were beaten off. with
bombs & Stokes gun.
 

72

The 24^th were
fighting the 124^th.

James Morrow
[[?]] 621 Pte.
46 Bn
Paybook found
on German.
 

The left of the 6 Bde mostly
failed - It met a m.g. & 
swerved to the left. A party of abt
15 is sd to have got in ^& back. The rest
is mostly in the wire. This
applies to 22 & 21 Bns..
The British ^Bde attacking on rt seems
to have met m.gs at S E corner
& swerved right across British
attack from SW

73
[*18*]
The 28 Bn had bn sent up
in the afternoon & had bombed
up.
At 10 p.m. The Gs. made their
3rd counter attack from right.
The attack on the left was
really the British
attacking - they were
seen & it looked like a
c attack from both flanks.
28 Bn went. The word
came along front [[trenches?]]
to retire - but 24 Bn men
asked "What Offr says retire"
xxxx The offrs had
decided if the Gs. got in
behind them to cut their
way back overland with
Bn.
 

74

Abt. 1 hr after dawn there
were 9 German planes
out very high up. They had the
+ on.
After they went off our
planes came along low
down.
 

The Germans left behind
coffee, & cigars. The coffee
ws unsweetened black
coffee - a dozen water bottles
in one dugout, a dozen in 
another, a pat of stinking
butter, bread. Our men
were xxxxx smoking
[[?]] cigars.
 

75
[*18*]
D coy w Capt Maxfield M.C.
Lieut. Christian
lieut Harris, Rhyndhart
(newly promoted) were
out in the tramway
& some offrs of 23rd
& 21st. Some of 23 & 21 offrs
got back ok but only 17
men of 24^th D Coy & 
no offrs.
Rhynhardt ws dead
Harris ws shot thro
kidneys & dying
Capt Maxfield shot in
leg & back on way 
back. They tried to
get him but it ws
imposs. owing to m g fire
He ws along the hedge in
23c central. That
night patrols found one
 

76

German plane ws brought 
down by rifle & m.g. during
afternoon before fight. He
fell behind Rly Embankment.
The aviator got into a [[trench?]]
& held his hands up.
(an Aviatik) & was captd.
The other ran & was
shot (he ws abt 100 yds
behind the Embankment). Within
a few secs. ½ dozen men
were [[?]] the plane
ripping xxx
 

During whole time there were
5 Germans behind a bit of a
white chalk partition - who were found by buzzer
operator after 24 Bn had handed
over. They had bn there 12 hours
The buzzer man went round / corner , & one touched
him on / arm & sd Kamerad - then a second did / 
same & he lit a match.

77
[*18*]
offr. there with M.C.
ribbon dead (prob Maxfield)
They think Christian got
back, he ws wd on 
way out.
Before the barrage
ws put down in 23a
No order had bn sent to
this Coy to come back.
Abt 9 8 pm. the 24th Bn
wh previously held
up to the junction of
O.G.2 & Sunken Road at 23c
0.4 started bombing
down to left flank
to 22D 70 & 22 D 7.3.
They got within about 50
yds of objve - the Commun.
 

73
Maxfield, Harris, Rhyndhart,
Ellwood, Picket, Christian.
(all accounted for here →

A ^coy L^t McCooey - ws hit
A ^coy L^t [[Pittard?]]
L^t Ellis of B Coy ws hit going into
O.G. 1.
L^t Fethers - (cousin of Col. of 23) k.
K. in O.G. 2 by a rifle
or m.g. bullet abt 3 p.m.
He had bn hit thro steel
helmet before that -
He ws on the right of OG 2.
L^t MacIndoe shot thro neck abt
8 p.m. at time of c. attack -
hung on till day.
L^t Graham, L.M.G. Offr wd by
shellfire after relief, on
rly embankment.
L^t Scales - wd. leading a bombing
attack in O.G. 2 At 9 p.m.
- to make Bde front. He hung
on till relief - not seriously.

79
[&18*]
[[trenches?]] 60 & 63. (left flank of 
Bde frontage abt 600-700 yds)
(Abt 40 of 22 Bn had 
got in on flank with 2 officers)
The resistance
in this bombing attack
ws very heavy
Strong post with V.gun
at 23 c. 36 prevented
Gs. getting into Sunken Rd.
On the rt flank 23rd Bn
made a flank along Sunken
Road through U29 -
Trew had bn wounded
& Capt Parkes took command.
under Capt Lloyd.
There were 5 c. attacks
altogether - midday, 5 10,
& just before next dawn -
 

80

2 Vickers m.g. were out
on tramway - crew & offr
of one were all killed there -
Lt Desmond ws k. there.
xxx Germans were
shelling this place.