Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/210/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 3

45Bn Aug 8^th. (from Col. Johnston)
45 Bn started from the [[?back]]
trenches near Mouse Copse.
They were for the Red Line. 
They moved at 5.30, as Col.

Johnston decided tt this wd 
bring them to / Green line
in time to move thro / 
3rd Divn at 8a.m.
There ws great diffy moving
up. This ws owing to / fog.
There ws a male track as
far as / old front line - 
but after tt they had to 
rely on compass & sense 
of direction (no barrage or
anything to help). After gt
diffy they got to Accroche Wood
19
 

& Struck / Rd in P.16
Central. The C.B. decided to 
follow this rd thro' it took him
out of his course a bit but it 
ws a guide.
When they got thro / wood
/ fog lifted a bit & saved things 
somewhat. They formed
up in / positn they were 
to hop off from. on / slopes
in 17 B & D - & moved in
arty formatn to J.O. line
- the road W. of Kate Wood &
Thin Wood.. The tanks were 
not there till LT Vincent the I.O.,
who had gone off earlier then sent back for

them, brought them up 
from / slopes E S E of Hamel.
20 
 

They wd not have arrived
otherwise. Abt 5 mins
before / attack the 7 tanks
arrived.
Everything ws quiet at
the J.O. trench - just / ordinary 
stray whizzbang shots.
[*8.20*]
At 8 a.m our barrage
lifted & 45Bn moved,
2 coys in advance & 2 in
suppt. The first germs met 
were in Hamilton Wood,
Reginald Wood & Lena 
Wood. They put up no
fight - there were guns,
m.gs., A.M.C. & so on. They
were sent back in small
parties. The tanks were 
working w / scouts, w /

leading skirmishers within 50
21
 

Yds of them.
[[?]].O . U ... U  O  O 
---------------
Hand drawn diagram - see original document
They generally
skirted / woods.
The two rear Coys
then mopped / 
woods up, coming
thro them. Only in
odd instances did
/ Germs. fight. One 
section came on a post
where an offr ws sending

a ^ telephone message at / bottom

of a dugout. He told / offr 
to stop but he went on; so
he shot him. (in Susan Wood).
An odd mg. ^ws fired a few shots
& then wd clear.
But when they got to abt 
22
 

/ edge o / big Morcourt 
valley the 46 Bn struck
trouble on / Main rd at
the red brick house. Gun
heavy shells were still
falling on the vally & /
opp. slope & / Germans
on top of / Eastern side o / 
valley opposite 45 th Bn
were firing on them across
/ valley. As soon as / shells
lifted Lt Vincent & / scouts 
rushed down / slope into
/ valley Abt 300yds N. of 
Caroline Wood, & got in 
amongst 200 Germans. They The scouts [[?]]
Vine. were armed with A stripped
Lewis Guns & they fired these
at / Germans standing & 
23
 

wd abt 15. The Germans

there kameraded, & so did
those around. The tanks
were at / back - the ravine
being too steep for them. 
A couple of tanks had bn
knocked before this. The 
45Bn got across / ravine
& the Germs in front of 46
Bn then gave up. 45Bn 
got to Morgan Wood without

further trouble & reached Rd Line at 10-19 a.m The Chipilly 
Guns enfiladed them all /  
time they were digging in & 

caused casualties. The 

guns cd be seen firing. They 
were on / Chipilly heights.
They made it very hot for abt 
8 hours. Then they eased by
abt 1 or 2  pm. 45Bn ws / first 
 24
 

Bn on / objve. It ws in touch
w / 13 Bn on / left & 46 on

rt. They dug in on / objve. 
And 48 Bn went thro. Johnston
told Perry all he knew of the 
situatn ahead. They had / 
mark V star tanks wh were
not a success. (48 Bn tanks
hurry their advance up for 2 or 
3 hrs). 
That night 45Bn reld 
48 in Bray line from main
Rd to / Hospital. They got 
/ flag o / hospl. & sent it to 
/ war records. 
That mg. Aug 9 one offr went out 
(Lt Potts w one man), poking
around for over 1000 yds 

w when xx / big dump - He cd see /
Germans in / big houses at 
25
 

Proyart. That night ^ Aug. 9/10 abt
9 pm. orders were recd to 
push out to a line

running diagonally SE
of Proyart to the Rd Junction 
at La Flacque. This ws a 
very hurried show - C.O.
decided tt 2 Coys shd take
it [shorthand] one from the rly
& the Road at 20 C 1.5 & 
one from / rly E the Main
X Rd. There ws no time
to reconnoitre so the C.O.
went out w them & there
ws a lively time. The M.gs.
were very active indeed.
The scouts were out. Also patrol. Coys then moved in file. 
They had to get down every 
few yds. The aeroplanes
were dropping star shells. 
26 
 

The left coy had a brush 

w a m.g. post & had 
a couple of men wd. The 
Germs got away. They got 
a British escaped prisoner
- in a terrible state. (He 
got thro Proyart.) There ws 
no oppositn from the dump.
They located / Germs along
the main rd from La Flacque
twds [[?to]] Proyart, & in trenches
S W of Proyart. He had a 
mg. screen. 
When they got to the 
Xrds the Germans 
just beyond / factory
began firing w T.Ms.
45 dug in wxxd without further

incident - but it ws an 
active night w / Germs. [[?00 m.gs.]]
27 

The German planes did not
drop bombs - only star shells. 
The positn cd nt be 

approached in daylight. 
Meals had to go up by 
night. 
The night of Aug 8/9 the Bn 
had a very good hot stew.
9/10 The next night before 
going out they had a hot 
stew again.  
Night of 10/11 Col Morshead
came up to relieve. Cannan
Goddard & Morshead were having
a coufee in / dugout when 
xx Johnston left. They were 
discussing the prososed attack
& no one liked it very much. 
28