The Causeway which crossed the valley from Buire to Brusle had 5 gaps blown in it, and of these three were bridged by the Company with strong footbridges. While the narrow gauge lines were intact, the broad gauge railways had been thoroughly destroyed. In one place there was a long length of track newly laid with heavy rails branded Krupp 1917, and every rail had been broken in two or three places with explosives. There was some satisfaction in seeing the enemy’s own material treated in this way. A number of deep wells on the South side of the valley had been blown in, and a start had been made trying to repair one or two when the Company was relieved by the 1st Field Coy. A.E.
This was on the 10th. Divisional Headquarters remained at Doingt and work was started immediately repairing hutments in the vicinity to accommodate the division. The Company made itself a small camp to Courcelles Mill, and Headquarters moved there on the 13th, and remained in this same place for a fortnight. The enemy bombing from aeroplanes was very vicious in the beginning of the period, but a number of his planes, caught in our searchlights, were shot down in flames by our night flying machines, with coloured lights shooting in all directions from the burning Verey ammunition, greatly to the delight of the watching crowds.
Quite an elaborate theatre for the “Blue Gums” was arranged by No. 4 section in Doingt, in an old hut, and the Company took part in sports held by the 11th Brigade Group; with such amusement added to an occasional aeroplane shooting display, time passed quickly until orders to dump packs and surplus stores heralded another move.
4. The Hindenburg Line.
On the 27th of September the 3rd Division left the Doingt area and moved once more towards the line, to take its part in another great attack. The 11th Field Company, with the 11th Brigade Group, marched some 8 miles on the night of the 27th/28th to a bivouac about a mile West of Templeux-le-Guerard at the head of the Cologne valley, while the transport settled at Longavesnes.
This region at the time was held in force by the 27th U.S. Division, with the 30th U.S. Division on its right. The general position may be roughly described as follows:—
The enemy, endeavouring to stand on the line of early 1918—really an outpost line to the main Hindenburg Line—had been violently hurled back from it by an attack by the 1st and 4th Australian Divisions, but was holding strongly to the Hindenburg Line proper. Indeed, he had succeeded in recovering portion of the outpost ridge, in the face of the American troops holding the
sector, and it was evident that he intended to offer a desperate resistance. The Hindenburg Line east of Peronne, followed generally the line of the St. Quentin Canal, but opposite the sector held by the two American Divisions the canal ran into a tunnel for some four miles from Bellicourt to Le Catelet, and the line really constituted a very strongly defended bridge head across this gap in the obstacle formed by the canal. To make use of this natural bridge offered the best chance of quickly penetrating the Hindenburg system with a large force of all arms, but it was obvious that the enemy would be prepared for such an attempt, and that the whole organisation, carefully thought out during his previous occupation of this country, would be designed to frustrate it.
The general plan of attack somewhat resembled that of August 8th. The two American Divisions were to attack at dawn under an intense barrage, and penetrate to the green line, over a mile east of the canal, while the 5th Australian Division on the right, and the 3rd on the left, were to follow through and exploit success to the “Red Line,” some three miles further.
The weather changed on the 28th, and became very cold. This was really a blessing in disguise, as the supply of water to such large concentrations of horses and men in this high, streamless, country, where the wells and bores were so deep that only those with power installations yielded a useful flow, was a difficult problem.