Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/213/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 7

wd now hang on w their
guns for a time & then drop

back w their guns instead of

hanging on to / finish. It ws

concluded ^by most o / offrs facing them tt they had had

instrns to inflict casualties &

retire - typical rear guard

tactics.

Night of 11 Aug. 19 Bn ws

reld by 22 & 24 Bns. The 5 Bde

came back to / Blue line.

Bn H.Q. for this attack hd bn in

a cellar in Framerville. The barrage

ws practically all heavy arty.
Fra
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19 Bn Mt St Q.

6 Bde ws holding / line on

28 Aug. Late in aftn of 28 Aug

6 Bde definitely cleared /

system SE of Frise. The bend

o / river to N greatly increased

the frontage. The 5^th Bde took over

the part N of the grid between

19 20 21 22 to 24 &

25 - 30

7 Bde took over to S. of this line.

The grid E & W betw 13 & 19

squares was the Bn Boundary

18 to N of it, 19 to S. Each

Bn having their 1000 yds of front.

 

20 |    |18

_________

17|      |14

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the Frise trench system ws clear

abt an hour before dusk. If 6 Bde cd

clear these 18 Bn were to work along /

river & try to get Bridgeheads

at Feuilleres & Amiecourt.

There ws more oppositn at Frise

than had bn expected & it ws

now late on Aug 28. 18 Bn

went thro & after dark worked

thro Mereauct Wood & reached the

Feuilleres Herbecourt Rd by

abt midnight. Abt midnight

the Germs blew up the Feuilleres 

bridge. This ws / positn at Dawn.

At dawn on Aug 29, 19 Bn

pushed up from Eclusier Quarry

where it had bn durg / night, got

in touch w / rt of 18 Bn &

moved due E along / plateau
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twds Somme, 2 coys in front,

1 in suppt, 1 in reserve. There

ws no oppositn till they

reached / high grd overlooking /

Somme. The Germ ws holding

Bazincourt wood on / slopes

down to / river - & here the

Bn came under observatn

from / hills behind Peronne.

Lt Cecil Healy, the swimmer, ws

hit here in / leg by a m.g. He 

got up & pointed out / positn

in wh this m.g. was firing - 

& ws hit again thro / neck

& killed.

The wood had to be cleared

of several mgs. It ws clear by

abt midday. The m.g.s were

captured. But it is thought tt /

Germans swam / river.
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The next thing ws to force a passage

across / Somme. The only chance

ws / bridge near / junctn of

the Somme w / Canal du Nord.

The arrangement ws (Coy Commdrs

knew) tt if they cd get / crossings

they were to rush Mt St Q next

day, thro' Omiecourt & this

Southern Xing. They cd cross /
Somme canal by a bridge wh had bn

partialy destroyed - a wooden

bridge. But on getting across you

were faced by abt 500 yds of

marsh. The causeway used

by / Germans (a wooden

construction N of the Nord Canal) had

bn broken in several places & &

it ws only a foo. It ws later used

by us for waggon traffic. The

Nord Canal bank didnt exist.
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The Germans were in Halle

& were pretty quiet - they

didn't fire on our movement

by / river.

Next thing ws - / Engrs

had to bridge / marshes on / night

of Aug 29, to effect a Xing

while another was arranged at

Omiecourt

17.  19 ——— Halle

18.  20 ——— Omiecourt

Everyone thought this ws going

to come off but by 3am Engrs

decided they cdnt get a crossing

at either place. They brought

material down by / rds to /

river but / further they went /

more difficulties there were.

19 Bn ws to cross at 5am.

on Aug 30. The whole scheme ws
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called off abt 5 4.30 am.

17, 18. 20 went at once

back to Feuilleres; 19 Bn

had to hold whole Bde front.

19 Bn extended from W side

of Somme Canal in 17 A 4.9

down to ^abt 24 D 9.1.

There were troops Germans in

Omiecourt on 30 Aug. & in

E of Clery also. Germs held

Omiecourt Bridge.

As 20 Bn passed the

Omiect Bridge head NE of Somme

the Germans in Omiecourt cleared

out. Col. Bateman on aftn 30 Aug.

abt 3pm sent an offr & 30

men across the bridge over /

Somme Canal at 17 A 4.9

& they worked along / timbered
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country S. o / Somme & reported

Omiect clear but the

E bank held. The Germans were

out of the marshes S.W of /

Somme.

(18 Bn had previously on

29 Aug. effected a crossing at /

same bridge at 17 A 4.9

but met oppositn in / woods

S. o / river).

The idea Engrs undertook to

have the Omiect bridge fit for

traffic by 3.30 am. Col. Bateman

did not at this time (on evg. of

Aug 30) know tt 19 Bn wd be in

/ attack. He sent one offr

from each Coy to reconnoitre /

way down to / bridge in 17 A 4.9

The Intelligence offr (Lt Armit,
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had himself reconnoitred the (before

the patrol of 19 Bn) down towards

Omiecourt by himself.

(The Germs offered a big

reward - Iron X 3 wks leave

& money for / blowing up of this

bridge & they did attempt it -

Armit later got / papers)

At 1.30 am on Aug 31

19 Bn C.O. got operatn order

by phone for / attack. Typed

order arrd at 2.20am. Bn

Hqrs ws at the Quarry in 15 D 3.2.

It looked a pretty hopeless job.

Col. sent message for Coy Commdr

to come to him, but 2nd in commands
to get their Coys moved down

at once to / bridge.

The Coy Commdrs got orders for

/ attack. They left Bn H.Q. at 3.30
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walking - pitch black.

The informatn ws tt 7a & c

were clear & tt they had to

X the bridge at Omiect & be

in assembly positn 7B at

5 a.m.

Barrage ws to fall on line

roughly Halle, Park Wood, &

Pekin trench 5-5.30; left

from 5.30 to 6 on Anvil

wd - Gott mit uns trench; Mt St Q,

& Feuillacourt; 8; 6-6.30

to lift onto Mt St Q wood.

It ws to stand there.

20 Bn to take Feuillact,

17 Bn Mt St Q. 19 Bn to

protect flank in uber alles &

Gott mit uns trenches. 18 Bn in

reserve, w of Clery.
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