Item 05: Walter Bruce Rainsford diary, 1 January-31 December 1918 - Page 133

[Page 133]

Sund. 29th Sept.
On Friday night we received orders to move forward with the Brigade, Rumours were afloat that the Australians & Americans were going to have a go at breaking the Hindenburg line. We moved out at 6.30 p.m. and marched 16 kilometres arriving after numerous halts along roads crowded with transport, outside the village of Hervilly about midnight. The night was pretty cold & 4 of us slept in a gravel pit with the sky for a covering. We stayed all the next day here being considerably cheered up by good news from Palestine, Salonica & French fronts. Last night we had a tent to sleep in. It was as cold as billyho and fritz planes were over bombing around about. At 5.50 a.m. a terrific barrage opened & we knew the stunt had commenced. A few big guns on railways near us were firing too. At 9.30 a.m. we moved further forward about 5 or 6 kiloms. to Templeux-Le-Guerard. Yanks are everywhere and the roads crowded with guns & transport moving forward. News from the line is good & big batches of prisoners are coming through. They are a pretty poor looking lot, mostly young chaps.

Thurs. 3rd Oct.
On the afternoon of the day we arrived at Templeux, fritz put over a lot of big stuff into the village & some distance from us. We opened up an Adv. Dressing Station two villages forward at Bellecourt, the H.Q. of the Amb. with transport still remaining at Templeux. On Tuesday I took over the job of acting Sergt. Major vice the W.O. on leave to England. Progress along the line is very slow on account of the enemy's strength and the Americans we are supporting have lost heavily. Orders had arrived for the remainder of our 1914 men numbering 17, to get on the homeward track & we had just shaken hands all round this morning prior to moving off when a big shell came over & burst in close proximity to the camp. This was followed by another while we were moving out, which lobbed right in our lines on a G.S. waggon, wounding two men & doing other damage. Our little party of home-ites hastily got a move on