Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/213/1 - 1915 - 1918 - Part 8

Bn crossed bridge & got to
assembly position - as close to
bank of river as they cd get.

Hand drawn diagram – see original
They got into position ^D+A under
the big bank & the other two
just inland. The four Coy
Commdres were / only ones
who knew what the real
idea really ws. They had a
time to convey it to /
plus wh were scattered. The
Commdrs of B&D were both
bit early in / fight. They pushed
on - getting away abt 5 am.
They got touch w 17 Bn. & from
there on / whole fight advance seems to
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have bn at / double. They made
pretty well straight for / objve
- the left Coy of 19 & rt of 17 Bn
seem to have met in the NE head of
Uber Alles trench. B Coy ws up there,
D next to them A back along
Rothwell trench & [[agram]] alley &
C in Galatz alley. The Coys were well mixed
up but this ws place o / Coy Hqrs.
They found Germans
strong in / aviation ground
& a whizzbang gun ws firing
point blank from there. The
casualties were light in getting
there -  / trouble ws in hanging
on. If Gott mit uns trench ws
occupied it can only have bn
/ head of it.
[HQ. moved across thro
Feuillères for / Quarry W of
Clery. It ws then abt 5 a.m.
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The German clearly thought
tt / attack ws from / river for
his arty pasted the whole slope
where the 19 Bn had bn. It
ws not till later tt he pasted
the W. Slope -
Prisoners were coming down
in droves after dawn - first lot
after 6 a.m.
6.30 Bn HQ came up thro
village to near 20 Bn. 7 AS:O.
A message had come tt 20Bn
ws on objve (later in day they
were driven back) in touch
w 17, aho were in touch w
19.
Abt 9 am Capt Ronald 17Bn came
down to 19 Hqrs. He sd / position
ws pretty anxious at / front. The
line ws thinly held, Germs were
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trying to get in betw. 17 & 20 Bns
& ws trying to work round rt
flank of 19 Bn.
Col Bateman went to Col
Forbes close by & tried to get
touch w Bdes - lines were
all down.
18 Bn ws then under orders
to push thro 19 Bn & link
up Mt St Q & St Denis &
cut off Peronne. Forbes &
Bateman decided tt it ws
best to hold onto what they
had got. They saw Maj. Robertson
18 Bn & arranged w him to send
2 Coys to support 19th on rt,
& 2 Coys to suppt. line between
17 & 20. They let Bde know
as soon as possible. This action
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ws confirmed.
There ws nothing at / back
betw. 9 am & 2 p.m. But
If Germs had attacked in strength it ws
aery critical. As it was they
hung on. 6 Bde & 14 Bde
came thro early in after
around the river bend.
Abt 6 pm / river bend
ws alive w troops in /
trenches & / big bank -
pouring in from midday to
4 p.m.
They 19 were being sniped
in / trenches from Mt St Q
all day. Word was recd tt
6 Bde were relieving next
morning. 23 Bn went thro
19 Bn ; 24 thro' 17 Bn.
28
 

During / night the Germs had
worked back & occupied Florina
trench. 23 Bn went thro & ws
held up by fire from Anvil
Wood.
19 Bn had bn instrd by C.O.
not to leave their trenches on /
flank till / position ws secure ahead
6 Bde made a second attack
abt 2 p.m. under heavy barrage
on Mt St Q wood - this succeeded.
19 Bn ws then brought
back to Florina trench. HQrs moved
up there & they were in reserve.
Lts Napper & Plummer were
both k. near / wall at / head
of Uberalles trench
Capt McMeekin wd
Lt. Pearce wd.
19 B lost 120 men here.
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19 Bn.
8 & 11 Aug.  M.C's
Capt McMeekin
Capt Sell (bar) d. of w.
Lt Hughes
Lt Fleming
Lt Satchell
Lt Gordon.
Lt Pearce
Lt Plummer  k at M St Q.
St Q. Lieut Hempson.  d. of w.
31 Aug Seaborn
Hall

Armit

Hinds
Oct 3.  Lt Hayes
Lt Fitzroy
Lt Vickers.
On Oct 12 19 Bn ws broken
up at Vignacourt - A Coy to 17.
B Coy to 18 Bn D to 20 ; C pln to each.
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5th Bde Aug 8. Before 5 Bde started
the tank authorities decided to bring up their
supply tanks to the Orchard NE of V/B where an
Auto tank gun ws. Lt Little (Bde Transpt offr
5 Bde) when he heard it told Bde - & protested
& at once made arrangemts for pack
transport as the place ws so obvious & known to
be strafed. Abt 3pm Aug 3 the Germans
put a shell into these tanks - the 3rd hit
one & they began to burn. Opinions differ
as to whether the tanks had bn seen. Once
it burnt the germs began to shell / place
heavily. An Australian Arty Supply tank
ws there w some details camped by, & two
sergts in attempting to dowse the flames w
extinguishers were blown up by / explosions.
/ destructive charges in / tanks (to blow them up) &
/ Stokes mortar bombs. Lt Griffiths, Tank Corps, got
one tank out tho' burning & w / next tank blazing
and two others got away. 17 were burnt. Griffiths tank
(5 Bde supply) ws blown up next day by a mine in returning

 to do a second trip for the 7th Bde.
This ws / tank Col. Bateman 19 Bn saw go up.

^※ In this fight at the jump off Bn Hqrs ws
in front of the J.O line in what at Zero
hour ws nomansland, in front of start line
of barrage. This barrage ws 18 pdr - for
the first 2 lifts (4 mins). The Germs. were
in a post beyond our bomb stop at P 21c 8.5
For 2 hrs the Abancourt line ws cleared of
all troops. The CO. had 6 runners & signallers
there so they were made into a post some at /
stop & some near H.Q. & the orders were buried
in / dugout till zero. The runners & sigs were
withdrawn ¼ hr before zero.
 [*One of a tank crew ws blown clean thro

/ door out of a tank & dead.  The tanks burnt

till dusk & it looked as if they must give

the same affect*]
(Col. Forbes. Capt Portman.
Lt Cameron.)
※ 20 Bn Aug 8. Came up from
Aubigny line up Pioneer Switch
& led out onto JO Line behind
front line, held by 6 Bde who
withdrew 2 hrs before Zero.
No diffy in finding / way as
5 Bde knew country well.
It ws v. dark. The fog came
down abt ½ hr before Zero
& ws so thick tt you cd lose
even / runner who ws w
you.
Hand drawn diagram – see original
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The Germans seemed mostly to
be in the strong point 500 to
1000 yds S of Tailloux Wood.
There were a few Germans
in potholes in front. We found
tt work ^had been going on on an unfinished
fire trench xxx S. from Tailloux
wood – the tape ws still
there.
The Germans were actualy
first met in some trenches
about 150 yds ahead of the
Junction of Aileen trench.
In / next Sunken Rd
our arty had bn heavy
- the Germans had cleared
out of ^the banks in that road into / oeop
behind it - & were hopping
up there wounded when the
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Bn got along. The tanks came
up along / road to the left
- their officers arrived just as
the Bn moved off & sd tt
they wd send / tanks along
in tt direction – the tanks
on / left came up just
after Bn had its objve - along
this road. When they push S
thro / objve with a bn of
4th Divn wh ws lost its way.
When 20 Bn got into the objve
there were a no. of Germans
in a S/P ahead the existence
of wh ws known to the offrs
before hand. It ws a collection
of strong pts wh had been
very heavily strafed. There
were a gt no. of potholes
abt & almost every one had
bn hit. As soon as leftd.
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