Evening Star Newspaper, February 23, 1931, Page 4

My Experiences in the World War BY GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING, Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces. ! Americans Halt Germans on Advance to Paris and Win Praise From Gen. Petain. CANTIGNY IS TAKEN BY 1ST DIVISION Andre Tardieu’s Criticism of U. S. Troops Draws | Sharp Answer From Commander in Chief. STRONG German offensive | w May 27, 1018, against the nch, with the famous Big Bertha firing on Paris. The position of the 1st Divi- sion was near Cantigny. The 1st Dl-. vision had been in line nearly 8 month | opposite the town of Cantigny, near| the point of farthest advance of the, enemy in the Amiens salient. Aleulh some weeks had passed since my offer of troops, in the emer- gency up to now none had been called upon to take part in active operations. The reason appeared to be that the ies were skeptical of the ability of y of our units to conduct offen- sive. 'The opportunity now came, however, to remove misgivings on (hlt‘ the reached Marne and Chateau the French before him in confusion to- ward Paris and inflicting upon them a loss of 60,000 prisoners and 650 guns. Not a “Masterly Retreat.” T have hnrd]tms reun;mcnl refer;ed .| to as a masterly, strategic retreat, but serving had prepared a “,’,“"f:;s‘ it was nothing of the kind and the to be launched in the AMERS| prench military authorities never sector about the middle of May m",n-lhnughc 80 nor ever made any such of another offensive by thf ":; '}MM! claim. The four French and three Flanders, which it was bell eV VThe | British divisions on the front of attack r between May 15 ";,fl“ Yed due | Were ccmpletely overwhelmed. The W b D O famdidier, | entire Prench reserve became engaged, helghts of Mo vision, | in_all 35 French infantry and six of the 15 1 | cavalry divisions participating in the battle. 1In-addition, two British divi- | sions which had been sent to that front to rest, two Italian and two American divisions were called into action and suffered heavily. Before the attack, it was the opinion The Prench corps in which the 1st occu counter-attack east toward the ce e gv:nrrench division on eac] flan] .:dl preliminary move. is was %o be followed in 48 hours by & general advance northward of the entire Third French Army, which covered the (ront’ from Montdidier to Noyon. ‘Thierry, a distance of 30 miles, driving | Enemy Doesn't Appear. Ammunition dumps had been filled, .Yecm trenches dug, new battery em- acements prepared for the re-enforce- ALl , and necessary orders lnued‘r!‘nrezu counter-attack, but the enemy did nath.pu!l. in h‘h appearance according to the forecast. Z Tt was then decided that the Ist Diviston should undertake to improve its position. The Germans on its front continued to hold the advantage of higher ground, from which they were able to inflict constant losses on our | of our intelligence section that the next blow would logically fall exactly upon that part of the line. and that opinion was expressed to the French by my chief of intelligence, Brig. Gen. Nolan. Yet on the day previous to the attack the Prench Army headquarters on that front asserted that everything was quiet fensive there, This was indeed a com- pliment to the enemy as showing the centration was made, a precaution which and that they did not expect an of- | extreme secrecy with which his con- | we ourselves rather successfully fol- | lowed later in preparing for both our | troops while suffering little damage| ... omensives. 1 alarming situation had caused Gen. Petain to call on me on the 30th for American t: to be sent to the region of Chatea ferry. The 3d Division (Dickman), then in training near Chaumont, being the only division with- in reach besides the 2d, was ordered to move north immediately. Dickman = it:_m-d his mhntcx;)::g mzch}llne e bat- alion over the on the afterncon units. ‘The high pi of May 30. The infantry and engineers thu!hsm“"&"g“h ::guog:vu'l&n ¢his | entrained the same night, and the divi- S confidence that the Repulsed Germans at Marne. The first element to reach Chateau Thierry was the machine gun battalion, | which arrived the afternoon cf May 31 and immediately went into action against the enemy, who then held the half of the town north of the Marne. By daylight on June 1 all available guns had been provided with cover and were in their positions, one company with eight guns defending the main wagon bridge, and another with nine guns casualties occurred during the construc- tion of jumping-off trenches, emplace- ments and advance command pos Cantigny Quickly Taken. 28th Infantry, under Col. Han- -o;l'h i Ely, deslsn:’zd for the assault, was re-enforced by machine guns, en- gineers and ot::r nl - blwn‘r:m‘,!ml&% flnon“hen&cuer; mry. of the divi- 1 'ltl;‘fll s0lida tie ere e con: position after it should be captured. On the morning of May 28, after & brief srtillery vurnum, the Infantry advanced on s front of s mile and a quarter. The village of Clnflffl! and the adjacent heights were quickly taken, vy Ities inflicted o3 the enemy and about 300 pflummel?- tured. Our troops behaved splendidly and suffered but slight loss in the ac- tual attack. Events then developing farther east, however, were seriously to complicate the success. The German assault in force against the French along the Chemin des Dames, between Soissons and Rheims, began on the morning of the 27th and was making dangerous headway. By the morning of the 28th the gains of the enemy were such that the French high command was com- lled to relieve much of the re-en- gflfin‘ Artillery behind the 1st Divi- sion and transfer it to that front. The enemy's artillery within range of Cantigny thus became superior to ours and was able to concentrate a terrific fire on the unsheitered troops in the captured position. His reaction against our troops was extremely violent, and spparently he was determined at all cost to counteract the excellent effect the American success had produced upon the allies. ‘Under cover of heavy bombardment a serles of counter attacks were made by the enemy, but our young infantrymen stood their ground and broke up every sttempt to dislodge them. The regi- ment sustained severe casualties from the large caliber shells poured down upon it and had to be re-enforced by battalion each from the 18th and 26th Regiments. Officers Later Advanced. 1t was a matter of pride to the whele A E. F. that the troops of this division, | 1n their first battle and in the unusually | trying situation that followsd, displayed | the fortitude and courage of veterans: | held their gains, and denied to the | enemy the slightest advantage It is interesting to record that of the officers in the 1st to participate in this battle Maj. Gen. Bullard was later to command an Army, with rank of lieu- tenant general; Brig. Gens. Summerall and Hines were promoted to the grade of major genersl and later commanded Army corps; Brig. Gen. Buck became a major general and commanded a divi- sion; Col. Ely became a major geperal snd division commander; Col. Parke: s brigadier general and division com- mander, and Bamford a major general and division commander. Two _members of the division staff, | Cols. King and Marshall, were to be- | come chiefs of stafl of Army corps. Other officers then with the division would have undoubtedly reached high positions of command had they not sacrifice their lives at Soissc.s and on other battle grounds later on. The attack May 27 was made by 30 German divisions, and it came as such [y that the French did not have time even to destroy important bridges across the Alsne and the Vesle, over which their pursuers followed. By May ” the emmg had ured Soissons and Telephone National 5000 For immediate delivery of The Star to your home every evening and Sunday morning. The Route SR e day and 5 | fl | | | fl | fl ¥ fl | sion’s supply trains marched overland. | 312 7t ) ==l al——=]nlJo]———lale——S[ol—= Capture of Cantign by Ist Division May 28.1d === FrontLines -] S00 1000 YDS about 500 yards to the east guarding the approaches to the railroad bridge. From these positions they repulsed all attempts by the. Germans to cross the Marne. Meanwhile, as the infantry of the division came up on June 1 its bat- talions were put into line to re-enforce the French from Chateau Thierry east to Dormans. The conduct of the machine gun battalion in this operation was highly praised by Gen. Petain in a citation issued later. ‘The 2d Division (Bundy), May 30 was near Chaumont-en-Vexin and was preparing to move northward the next | day for concentration near Beauvais to relieve the 1st Division at Cantigny. But iis orders were changed late that night, and the division, movlnf(by motor trucks, was rushed toward Meaux, 20 miles ncrtheast of Paris. Reaching there, the leading elements were hur- ried forward in the direction of Chateau Thierry. The roads were crowded with ~French troops and refugees. There was great confusion among the rapidly retreiting Prench troops, many of them saying to our men that all was lost. The initial deployment of the 2d Division was made by the 9th Infantry and 6th Regiment of Marines June 1 cross the Paris highway at Lucy-l Bocage, in front of Montreuil-aux- Lions, supposedly in support of two COLLECTION OF FINE FOOTWEAR BEING THE ENTIRE STOCK OF THE VARIETY SHOES, Inc. 86th ST., BROOKLYN, N. Y. ARCH SUPPORT AND DRESS TYPES Regularly $6 to $10 $ 3"L.95 STRAPS ... OXFORDS ... OPERAS CUBAN...BABY... HIGH HEELS BLACKKID... BROWNKID... PATENT LEATHER . . . REPTILIAN TRIMS ... SATINS AND THE NEWEST EVENING This Sale Will Continue All Week But for Best Choice Buy Now! FAMILY SHOE STORE h Street N. SINCE 1873 Prench divisions; but the French had | orders to fall back through the Amer- } ican lines. Whole Division Engaged. In the early morning of June 2 the 23d Infantry, then cn the left, was re- | placed by the Prench 167th Division and when re-enforced by one battalion of the 5th Marines, the 5th Machine Gun Battalion and some engineers it | was deployed to the right between the | 6th Marines and the 9th Infantry to fill a gap in the French line, and by | June 5 the entire division became en- gaged |~ Considering that this was its first ex- perience in battle, this division made a splendid defense, repulsed all German attacks, and by its timely arrival ef- | fectively stopped the German advance |on Paris. | The sudden appearance and dramatic | entrance of the 2d and 3d Divisions into the shattered and broken fighting | lines and their dash and courage in bat- tle produced a favorable efTect upon the | Prench poilu. It must have been with a | decided felling of relief that the worn |and tired Prench Army, retreating be- | fore vestly superior numbers, caught sight of Americans arriving in trucks at Meaux and merching thence on foot, | battle been jo|———o/c———a/c———|o|lo]c———]a]lc————la]c————/a] PURCHASED AT A MARSHAL’S SALE AN UP-TO-THE-MINUTE SHOES w. o l— ol ——a|o|le—=[a[—— [nj——=[8|c—=|a|e——lale——"|a|c——[0] ] ing the American effort and the qu of our training, must have been and doubtless rather discon- ce! by meeting strong resistance by on ferent portions of this avlive battle front, especially when our troops advanced at once to meet the attack in open combat. This defeat of the French furnished the second striking confirmation of the wisdom of training troops for open warfare. While the Germans had been practicing for a war of movement and concentral their most aggressive per- sonnel inf ock divisions, preparatory to the Spring campaign. the training of the allies had been still limited gen- erally to trench warfare. As our units were being trained for open warfare, this alone would have been sufficient reason why we could not allow them to be bioken up and scattered among the allies. Recruits Sent Abroad. American divisions were arriving be- | hind the British lines in increasing numbers without the artillery and other auxiliary components, but many of the infantry units were not up to strength and much of the personnel only par- tially trained. The late arrivals, like the earlier ones, complained of the vici- ous practice of the general staff at home cof frequently withdrawing large numbers of trained men and replacing them with recruits. It was, therefore, of the utmost im- portance to push their instruction, now fortunately beyond the possibility of such interruption. 1 Returning from the British front May 130, 1 stopped at Sarcus to see Gen. Foch, and dined with him and his staff. 1t would be difficult to imagine a more depressed group. They sat through the meal scarcely speaking a word as they contemplated what was probably the most serious situation of the war. As we still had troops that were not yet actively occupied. I suggested personally to Foch when we were alone after din- ner that an early counter-attack be made against the new sali>nt, offering him the use of these disengaged troops. Mcst confidentially, he s2id, that was what he had in mind. Speaking of the 2d and 3d Divisions, which had already been ordered to sup- port the French, I told him that he could count on my doing everything possible in this emergengy, and that I was ready to exert the utmost effort to help meet this crisis with all our forces then at hand, which he said of course he_had never doubted. In further conversation he seemed more than ever of the opinion that only infantry and machine gun units should be brought over from the States, and £till apparently could not see the advan- u{e of having complete American com- bat units or urgency of men to re- lieve the extraordinary straln on our supply system. Replies to Tardieu. After the success of our troops we were in no mood to listen to self-ap- pointed critics. M. Andre Tardieu called me upon my return to Paris the next day and undertook to point out that our staff was inefficient and offered criticisms of our organization. As this was something he could not possibly know about, I replied that he had got an entirely erroneous impression and that our staff was second to none in either ability or efficiency. I advised him that we had quite enough of this sort of thing from the French, either military or civilian, and DAME NELLIE MELBA DIES OF SKIN MALADY CONTRACTED IN EGPYT (Continued From First Page.) was 'rcwl.ng better. She became {ll again aboard ship and had to enter a hospital at Sydney before proceeding to Melbourne. She was happy, however, in spend- ing her last hours in Melbourne, near where she was born and from which she took her stage name, Melba. Her real name was Nellle Porter Mitchell, changed by her marriage in 1882 to Armstrong. Her father was David Mitchell, a contractor of Scottish blood, at_Burnley, not far from here. Known to all the world was the suc- cessor to Pattl and Jenny Lind, Melba sang last in America at the New York Metropolitan in “Faust” in 1917-18, and after that was seldom heard in public. She was said to have retained the purity, sweetness and flexibility of her voice almost until the time of her death. Her most famous roles were as Gilda in “Riogletto,” Violetta in “La Travata” and Lucia. Other roles were the so- prano parts of “La Boheme," “Tosca,” “Otello” and an occasional “Bruen- hilde.” Although the critics were lav- ish in their praise they sometimes com- plained of her coldness as an actress. Her life with Cept. N. F. Armstrong, her husband, was not entirely happy. Made Dame for War Work. Shortly after birth of her son, George Nesbit Armstrong, she became se) rated from both, and in April, 1900, Capt. Armstrong, then a rancher near Galveston, Tex., obtained a divorce. She later becamre reconciled with her son. She was made a dame of the British Empire in 1922 in recognition of her war work, and on King George's birth- day in 1927 she received the Cross of the Order of the British Em- pire. She was stricken with a severe at- ack of influenza in Februa 1929. suggested that if his people would cease troubling themselves so much about our affairs and attend more strickly to their own we should all get along much better. I did not fail to ate M. ‘Tardleu’s ability and his helpfulness on many occasions, but this constant in- clination on the part of a certain ele- ment among the French to assume & superiority that did not exist then or at any later period, added to the attempts of some of them to dictate, had reached the limit. It must in fairness be said that this superior attitude was not_assumed by the higher officers of the French Army and rarely by civillans, but was mainly noticed among some bureau officials and others who, clothed with brief Grand | | Buy Linoleums —Hinkel’s, the place, as comparison of values was partly conscious most of today, but about 5 p.m. today she lapsed into a coma from which she never awoke. A few members of her family were with her when the end came and a small gathering of friends, incl g M. Lemmone, the famous flautist and accompanist to Melba, suf- fering himself from a chill, were nearby. She died in St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, where she was taken at the end of January after spending a few weeks at her vine-clad cottage at Mel- bourne. The nuns at St. Vincent's had cared for her lovingly ever since she first came to them. Sang All Over Globe. Up until a few days ago she was able to read the papers, and it was her insistence upon being provided with them which was partly responsible for the recent reticence her physicians dis- layed regarding her real condition. e local papers at first published of- ficlal bulletins on her condition, but when it became clear that she was eagerly reading them a hint was given that it would be in her interest to drop them and the local papers complied. In the 40 years of her active career Melba sang 2ll over the globe. France remembered her best for her Ophelia in Thomas' “Hamlet,” Germany for her Elsa, England for her Mimi and Gilda, while she set a height of vocal perfection for Juliette's farewell to Romeo in Gounod’s opera to which others will always aspire. But to the masses, perhaps, she was best known for her “Home Sweet Home,” which few | | | | will at once show you. We're but a and Mt. R | stop at our door. | Foreman-State National Now’s the Time to own terms, enables us to offer a wide range of newest designs, in Standard Linoleums, at— BIG BARGAIN PRICES! Come out and ses for yourself. authority as instructors or otherwise, | came in contact with our organizations. 600 Rhode Island Ave. N.E. ‘Tomorrow: Pershing holds out against | scnding partly trained men into battle. Refuses to ltg;enfler authority to Su- unil. could give with such beau- tenderness and f .m Spoke to Relatives. The great singer rallied for a few minutes this morni coma snd feebly her sister and son, past few days have been permitted to see her. Her last request was that a minister Rer”ears ahe passd. pescey ly into a slumber that was unbroken until death came. Tokens of world-wide sorrow in the last few fll{‘I bore testimony of the affection with which Dame Melba was regarded throughout the world. Three times King George and Queen Mary cabled words of sympathy and hope. rom Europe and America literalty poured into the hospital. Although the singer’s body was wasted with disease, it was . few days ago that she recognized that her end was approaching. She whispered to John Lemmone, her lifel friend, ‘:‘&nny God that I die no gering WARNS OF WAGE CUTS CHICAGO, February 23 (#).—A warn- ing against widespread wage cuts as an aid to business recovery is sounded in a statement yesterday from the Bank. The statement says that although price de- clines have in a measure served to re- store purchasing power, & curtailing of wages would react unfavorably on the now fairly stabilized commodity mar- kets, and cause further delay in return to normal business. titul o S A LR S R e A big purchase, at our auto, | E. P. HINKEL & CO. 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