Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/80/1 - May - June 1917 - Part 5

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Colours on map:- 9^th Bde.
Red.  33rd.
D. Blue  35^th
L. Blue 34^th
Reserve   36^th.

10 Bde.

Green 39.
D Brown 40
L Brown 38
Uncoloured 37.
___
Reserve Bde.
11 Bde.
Supporting right
42.
Supply left.
43
Unallotted 44.
Resting after defensive holding 41

June 3. Bombt. by Corps Arty
Heavies  6 in  5840.}
                  8  -    1500}  2 groups of
                 9.2.    1860}   o/ siege
                                        arty at  disposal
                                        of 3 Div.
Our 3rd Divl arty
Ysty fired abt 7000.
This doesnt incl. Reserve Corps siege
Groups, Army Groups, or ordinary div. arty. 

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nor any c.battery groups.
Our batteries are unbelievably
thick. Hirst of the Anzac Australian
Heavies has 6 Batteries
under him.
June 3rd (Sunday) Went
up with Paine to see
the Army "Shoot" at 3.15 pm.
It was a practice shoot
with 75 per cent of all the
guns, and I believe they
following the actual programme
for 15 minutes; & I believe
they hoped to draw / Germans
into replying & showing where
their batteries were, &
the barrage lines. At 3.15
out the German line ws suddenly
marked from beyond our
right, away to round the
bend of the ridge by Wytschaete
with a line of ^brilliant white
smoke shells. The 

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New Zealanders lit
smoke candles as well
of sulphurous green.
Up the centre of the slope
of the Massines Ridge our
smoke shells burst
- and this kept up for
3 minutes or so - the
heavies bursting further
back until a thick
creamy milky mist
trailed through the
ruined fingers of the
trees & the wreck of
Messines obliterating
most of the scene. Our
heavies pounded enormous
clouds out of the ground chocolate earth
at / same time - &, with
the white shrapnel barrage
in front, slowly worked
up / hill.
But / German ws 

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not to be drawn. I
do not think he disclosed
a single extra gun. He
put his old 5.9 & 4.2
barrage down on The Only 
Way, & the other Commn.
trenches, & on the front line
especially where the commn.
trenches make a tee-head into
it. Only one German, so
far as I noticed, in the
Douve Farm, put up two
white flares probably in
a scare & brought down
I think a little high
shrapnell just behind
our front line.
In a quarter of an
hour our bombt suddenly
eased, tho' the destructive 

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fire on certain 
points went on -
Grey Farm for example.
The shells were all just
behind the low wall stump
of Grey Farm.
I suppose the bombt
may be taken to have
begun; but I dont think
/ programme is yet fixed.
Everything is very liable
to change it seems to me.
For example, the hour for
the last objective has bn
changed from Zero + so
much & is now to be
called "The New Zero".
"The stunt", as
everyone calls it - the
only name here - ixs
to have been carried out 

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by 3 Divns in each
Corps - each retaining
/ Divn in Reserve; the
by 2 Bdes in each Divn,
each retaining 1 Bde in
reserve; by 3 Bns in
each Bde, each retaining
1 Bn in reserve. But
the 9^th Corps which has
to take Wytschaete ws
uncertain of carrying 
out its job with only 3
Divns & obtained leave to
use its 4^th Divn; & so the
N. Zealanders did the
same _ or rather 2nd
Anzac. Our 4^th Divn
is now to move up
& the 13^th & 12^th Bdes
will take the green line
(furthest) opposite the 

? retake

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N. Zealanders.
The German prisoners
(who were taken last night
from / front line by the
25^th Divn) say tt they
are expecting an
attack any day now
between Ypres & Armentieres;
& tt they ^the Germans expect to take
their front line from
their reserve line.
May June 4th (Monday) Last
night a German gun with
a bell bs voice was splashing
its shell at intervals all
round the Country.
It was one night short of
full moon & so our aeroplanes
were out flying in all 
directions. Every
quarter of an hour or so 

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I cd hear one droning
along down the line of
the Armentieres Rd, wh
no doubt is their main
guide in night flying.
The Germans did a
lot of may have thought
that last night was our
approach night - in any
case they strafed the approaches
to the line heavily with
gas & other shell.
This morning I went
up with Bazley to reconnoitre
the Subsidiary Line, near
gas trench.  The smell of gas
shell hung very heavily
on the flat S.W of Hill 63
- & the signs of straf were
thick up on beside the road.
We went up thro' gas
trench over the hill & into
the Subsidiary Line.  This
has hardly been touched so
far by / German guns altho'
he has now concentrated a

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lot of arty of his 6th
Army near Quesnoy
& this trench may get it too.
But gas trench is in process
of demolition.  Wh After we
got thro it he put down
such a shelling of it with
a battery of 5.9s that we
could not get back tt
way & had to come
over / hill near the Thatcher
Cottage.
The I went back
to Ross to tell him of the
result of reconnaissance,
& ^a bombt starting. We walked up the Hill
behind Westhof Farm
to see it.  Our guns were
putting gas smoke shells, as they
had done / day before,
into a section o / German
front line near Wytschaete
& beyond it round / curve
to / South. The German

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refused to have his leg
pulled yesterday, & we
were just saying tt we
ought to pull it properly
by really sending men
over to-day, when Ross
sd. "By Jove - there are
men - on / skyline." and
there they were, by
Wytschaete - a crowd of
30 or 40
Sketch - see original
We watched them wander
about, divide, take up
their interval, one party
come back, & presently
the other also, & made its