Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/173/1 - October 1917 - Part 2

53
10
The sheet moved.
F. 14 saw there were
men inside it &
told them to come out.
Two British privates
appeared - one had
a fractured arm, & /
other trench feet. They
were very shaken &
frightened - calling
Merci - It took a
long time for them to
realise tt F. ws
a friend & the Captain
(9Bde) who ws w him
were friends. They
sd "Alright son we're
Australians." They

53
11
sd "Yes they knew
Australians wd come -
& they had prayed hard."
F. asked if any
Germans or m.gs. had
been about. They sd
/ Germans had bn out /
night before & put a
m.g. down alongside
/ shellhole & fired -
The men asked if they
cd go back & were
told they cd go back
as quick as they cd.
They got thro' the 9Bde
dressing Stn all right.
In the area just S.E of
this dead Tommies were
found also.

12
Diagram - see original document
53
13
It ws abt 11 a.m. Then
F. when Fleiter got back
to 10 Bde. From there
Lt Freeman 11 MG Coy
opened fire & enfiladed
a trench containing abt
50 Germs on the spur
across the Ravebeck.
They got down. This
was apparently the trench
in 5 C4.2.
There ws a dressing
station of / Germs. at
the X Rds in 5c.½ 5½
& they used to carry
from there to [[M??tcheebe]]
into the wood, each
S.B. party carrying
a flag.

53
14
Strings of Germans cd
be seen reinforcing from
the X roads towards
Bellevue - they wd
get down there &
disappear.
We never got
Crest Fm - & m.gs
& snipers were always
active from there. From
our line Crest Fm
was across / valley.
The approach to it
ws bad owing to /
marshy ground in
front of it.
[The ground reached
by ^the main part of our troops ws 

15
Capt Heberle of
37 Bn ws up
with some advanced lot.
53
16
nowhere green - on /
way abt 2 blades
of grass were seen.
Someone sd Look at the lawn.
A  German planes came
over & our own
contact plane wh
called for flares; these
were lit where they
had them.
The Germans at Bellevue
were throwing flares
all day.
Later - abt 1.30p.m.
the decision ws come
to to withdraw the
line as / left flank

17
(who ws already had previous bn wd early
in the Messines fight - near
1st Objve.)
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18
ws so much in /
air, & the 9 Bde
were withdrawing from
the right. Crest Fm &
Bellevue were giving
trouble & C. Fm gave
more trouble during
/ retirement. As
men were retiring to
right of Augustus Wood
the German shelled them
heavily also, in the
bog.
Capt Southby^x commdg
D Coy 39 was wd
by a bullet almost imd.
after the start. He ws 

19
^Advanced Line of advan consolidation
was on spur-crest
11B1.2 - D 4.9. & then
as described by Fleiter.
The note in Records of
40 Bn is clearly wrong
as it puts line in the
valley.
53
20
placed on a stretcher
& he & both bearers were
k. by a shell.
Lt ^H.A.F. Miles (son of / Chaplain)
ws wd in the abdomen
near the start.
Capt Trebilcock ws
near D Lt Fleiter for
some time after this.
One of Sergt Jamieson
of D Coy on / way up
saw a German sniper,
& finished him, in a shell
hole. Then something
decided him to go over &
search him. He found
a medal won by a
British Tommy in sports,
& a photo of his mother
& girl & some letters wh 

20a
K. Capt Southby
k. Lt Nicholes - ws sent
out by C.O. to look after
some men who were
around pillboxes do
Early abt 8.30a.m. &
ws not heard of agn
till his identity disc
ws sent in.
Wd.
Lt Ayers - wd in reserve
in the Sunken Rd in
front of Hamburg
Lt Edwards ws wd in
going forward from
Sunken Rd.
Miles as above.
Capt. P. went fowd to Maj.
Giblin & also to few men of
all bns on slope of Crest Fm Hill.
These men came back - few remaining
all night mostly 9 Bde.
Line of consolidation was
decided on from Aug Wood towds
Cemetery
Round near Aug Wd
touching 9 Bde on rt.
40-39-38-37. after consolidation
no-one ws lost.
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enabled him to
send them to the
man's home.
Many Tommy wd
were out there & were
brought in from in front
of Aug. Wood & in it.
39 Bn in this fight had 2
Reserve Coys, B & C in
Sunken Rd from ^before Zero hour.
D Coy went with 38 Bn
A Coy ws carrying Coy.
Capt. Paterson took
forward the L.Gs  reserve
Coy mainly consisting of
L Gs at abt 7.30a.m.
up to line of consolidatn.  Men
were left near Aug Wood (to rt of it)

22
Diagram - see original document
In usual formation of
Coy attack.
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39Bn Oct 4.
The German bombt.

did not fall directly 

on 10 Bde route or 

assembly pt - only

the splash at fringe of
bombt.
They cd hear it
& see 6 or 7 minenw.
bombs in air at a
time. It ws thought
Germs. had tumbled to
our attack. These cd
be seen on / rt flank.
The first opposition
noticed ws from Judah

24
Diagram - see original document
53
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Galleries at 21 B 40.75
m.g. fire ws coming from
here. Abt 40 Germs
were got from here -
mainly by 37 Bn.
This did not hold them
up for more than 5 mins.
They were able to keep
onto / barrage the whole
way.
Part o / Bde
swerved a bit left &
began to mix w
NZ - It ws rather dark -
Diagram - see original document
but on
38th objve
they were
checked by compass &