Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/47/1 - June 1916 - Part 8

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his padres to pray - &
here is / result. If it went
agst him for tt reason,
what wd he do? I wonder if
he wd give up the same.
There is a raid tonight
& as our car has turned up
from G.H.Q. I am going
down to it.
Later. June 29. 6.10 a.m.
Back after the 1st Bns Raid.
They all seemed to think at first
go off tt it ws a failure.
Things were muddled when
they reached / Turk  German trenches
and the various parties did
not do / work exactly as
planned. But they killed
at least 9 Turks Germs. &
brought back 2 prisoners.
one badly wounded. They 
themselves lost 14 wounded
 

91
^※ Later. This fellow had bn given 14
days field punishment & had sworn
xx he was "going to get even with
them."
After the Germans raided N Z
trenches a few nights later a wounded 
German ws left prisoner w us. He
told the N Zs that the chap had told
them tt we were going to attack - tt our
trenches were simply full of stokes mortars.
(They probably crowded their trenches in consequence)
________________________________
Coleman tells us tt at 3 o'c. this morning a
little German-Dane,^※ a 6th reinf of
the New Zealanders, went over to / enemy.
He had bn xx a stretcher bearer but
supp had been sent back to his
company a few days before - for
punishment I presume. Abt 3 this
morning he was on standing duty in / front
trench. He told the sentry tt he felt
sick & ws going along / trench a
bit. A corporal further along sdhe
thought he saw a man jump over / trench.
He walked along - & was told of this man. The chaps
rifle & kit were found.
I don't suppose he cd tell the Germans
much. There are no raids coming off over there.
He may possibly know the strong point scheme,
& probly tt Godley is here. But little of anything impt.
 

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& one k. It is possible
they killed 15 Germans.
?Ball in trench. Littler wd - commanded left party. One man
wounded in the enemy's trench by a bullet of some sort
Dugouts with open iron doors.
trip wire, 3 foot: The obstacles were ditch with some wire in it.
Curly wire: knife rests ; trip wire
Started at once. Didn't get in where expected
On - Anzacs.
 

Five hours ago I really never
expected to be here. I went
down to the nights raid which was to be
made by the xxx 1^st Battalion.
It was a small party - 4
officers & 58 men under Capt
P.L. Howell Price. They had
 

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arranged to raid the trench after
a rather longer arty bombdt,
but the arty very rightly cut
down the time (so they the infantry
told me themselves) not in order 
to save ammunition but to
prevent giving / show away by
proving to / enemy exactly where
they were going in. This
cutting down of time necessitated
giving up another part o / scheme
wh ws to blow up / wire by
means of long tubes filled 
with ammonal w wh they had
practised. The trench mortars
had practiced on the wire
for a short time on Tuesday
afternoon; & as it ws necessary
tt they shd cut it they played
on it from 5 to 6 yesty (Wed)
afternoon as well.
The artillery party was to start
 

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at 11.40 p.m. & lie out at
a rest point. At 12. arty
ws to start; at 12.5 arty 
ws to go onto another phase part of
the 1^st Phase & at 12.12
ammonal pipes, under /
original scheme, were to be
blown up. At 12.17 the arty
ws to lengthen & the party tp
start for / trenches. (I believe
these times were all cut down).
 X Casey ^^{that evening at La Motte} told me he ws going to see /
raid, & so I went with him to the spot.
We ^{^(Casey & I)} were late in starting
from Bde H.Q. at Fleurbaix & it was
only just at the back o / 
line (xx down Watling St & to
the right slightly) when the
artillery opened. I noticed
that almost at once there was a
big yellow ^^red flash & a heavy crash
not far to our right front - I
took it to be / trench mortar
& I think it ws. We dodged
 

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into a dugout - but as it
seemed crowded Casey &
Cuthbert went out & I went
w them. We got up under
the forward parapet - & as
soon as we were settled
some heavy shell seemed to be
exploding to / right rear - not
far away - which I think was 
German. It seemed to me tt
/ Germans started very soon
with their - almost at once;
perhaps 2 mins after we did.
Col. [[Heane?]] thought the same.
Within a short time they were
replying really heavily, for /
first time in any one of these
raids exc. the first. Salvo
after salvo of 77 or 4.2
came whizzing low over / 
parapet & bursting just
behind the dugouts. Some of them
 

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burst in the water just behind
/ lines & lumps of mud
more than once showered down
on Casey & myself when as we
crouched on / duckboards below
our parapet. We had our backs
to / parapet, & a little to /
left & behind us we could
hear a heavy high explosive shell
- probably 5.9 - bursting like
a [[?minate]] gun. I think there
were possibly 2 of these ^^{guns firing} on tt
point - one a little further
over than / other. The heavy
white smoke clouds o / shell
used to come rolling over us
shortly after each burst.
It was about 10 minutes
after / arty started that the
big crump & that battery of
whizz bangs put in about
8 or 10 shells for some reason
 

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a little shorter than before. They
burst quite close overhead
but still a little behind the
trenches. It seemed as if the
whole curtain ws tightening in
upon us, & I really thought
the chances were we should 
not get out of it. Cuthbert looked
into the next bay - & there ws
/ sentry, quite steady, lying down
on the fire step, wh ws / best place
for him.
Then a machine gun started &
another. "They cant possibly get
in this time," I thought. We
heard our guns lengthen after
5 minutes but from tt time on /
crash & bang o / enemies high
explosive & shrapnel drowned
them almost entirely & it seemed
as if they were slackening.
I couldnt help thinking I wished
 

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they would; & then I was rather
took myself to task foe one ought 
to have been wishing tt they wd
give all / help they cd to /
poor beggars in Nomansland.
They were covering their retirement
by now, I expected.
After those 8 or 10 bangs & 
crashes overhead & all round, the
shells didnt get any closer. I
only heard one piece of metal
whop anywhere near us, & it
went into a wall somewhere
close by. But there were several
bits o / phosphorous, in wh they
pack their shrapnel, scattered over
/ dark shape o / parados.
We had sat there a good
time & the banging of our own
guns seemed to have c eased
xx to a quarter of its original
intensity when there came
 

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into the bay two or three figures -
ben we at once squee one of whom had a very much
bandaged head - & a rifle &
bayonet - & they sat down
beside us under / parapet.
As I looked at them - we shifted
along to make room - I
noticed tt their faces were blacked.
It was the raiding party.
"I wouldn't have stopped
"one at all if it hadnt been
"for that prisoner -" one of them
said / man w / bandaged
head.
So they had got in after
all.
Dick offered them cigarettes
& a pull at his brandy flask.
They took them both eagerly -
but more of them took / cigarettes
than / brandy. More came
in until there were 7. "Keep
 

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your head down . . . . 
(Rest of this in article 8
Morning papers -)
"A trench Raid".
 

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Del.     Notes. Has 1st Bn. pd. 
? 4 Bn     for its 38
 3 Bn.
 5 Bn
 12 Bn?
? C.Coy 11 Bn.
______________
22 Bty.  2
7 Bty  4
2nd FA
 Bde Hq  39
1st FA
Bde Hq ? 3
20 Bn:  701
23 Bn ?

24 Bn ?
2nd Div 600.
2 Div Engrs 600
____________
Abt 2000

____________

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[[?Tramat]] N 6 a 1½ 1½
  ?    N 17 D 4^.4
Batteries
By sound. N 27. b.7.8.
                    N. 29 c 6.3.
By flash.    N. 17 D N28 a 5.3.
                    O. 13. b. 5.5 \5.9
                    5.9 [[?]] at 0.4.c.8.7.
Waggons & limbers seen moving at O 11 d 2.5
Work 2 gun at N 22 d 3.7
N 18 a 8.3 large mound of
earth lately built
/2/d 2.9. new m g.