Evening Star Newspaper, March 20, 1931, Page 4

~HE EVENING 'AR, My Experiences in the World War BY GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING, Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces. Meuse-Argonne Offense| " Begins With 1,200,000 ' Allied Troops Hurled " Against Germans, END OF HOSTILITIES IS GOAL OF BATTLE Ist Army Pushes Foe Back Eight Miles in Four Days, but New Divisions Yield. CHAPTER LXVIIL HE Meuse-Argohne offensive op- ened the morning of September 26. To call it a battle may be yet it was a battle, the most prolonged | . Through 47 days | ‘we were engaged in a persistent strug- gle with the enemy to smash through his defenses. | ‘The attack started on a front of 24| miles, which gradually extended until the enemy was being actively assailed from the Argonne Forest to the Moselle | River, 90 miles | In all, more than 1,200,000 men were employed, and the attack was driven 32 miles to the north and 14 miles to the northeast_before the armistice termi- | nated hostilities. The numbers engaged. | the diverse character of the fighting and the terrain, the numerous crises and the brilliant feats of individuals end units make & detailed description of the battle extremely complicated and necessarily confusing to the reader. The outstanding fact that I desire to emphasize is that, once started, the battle was maintained continuously. ag- gressively and relentlessly to the end. Aimed to End War. All difficulties were overriden in one tremendous sustained effort to termi- nate the war then and there in a vic- torious manner. After toree hours’ violent artillery preparation the attack began at 5:30 am. At the same time, to divert the enemy’s attention elsewhere, local raids and demonstrations were made on the | Meuse-Moselle front. The French 4th| Army (Gouraud), to our left on the| west of the Argonne Forest, began its attack half an hour later. The battle opened favorably. Our at-| tack at that particular pl and at that time evidently came as a surprise | to the enemy, and our troops were en-| abled quickly to overrun his forward itions. qu‘he vast network of undestroyed barbed wire, the deep ravines, dense woods and heavy fog made it difficult to co-ordinate the movements of the assaulting infantry. especially of some divisions in battle for the first time, yet the advance throughout was extremely vigorous. The 3d Corps (Bullard), nearest the Meuse, carried the enemy’s second posi- | tion before dark. ‘The 33d Division (Bell), wheeling to the right os it ad- vanced, occupied the west bank of the ‘Meuse to protect the flank of the Army. The Bols de Forges, with its difficult terrain and strong machine gun de- fenses, was jed in splendid fashion. | The right of ‘the 80th Division| (Cronkhite) had by noon cleared the | Bois Jure in the face of heavy machine | gun fire and established its line north | of Dannevoux. On its left, after an all- | day fight, the dm;mt l:med };.:“‘;2\27; through the stron: ns on | and R':Clud the xgnrthcm slopes of that hill, The 4th Division (Hines), on the left | of the 8Cth, took Septsarges and firmly established itself in the wood< to the | north. It was abreast of Nantillois and | its left was more than a mile beyond | Montfaucon, but through some misinter- | retation of the orders by the 2d Corps | he opportunity to capture Montfau- | con that day was lost. Three counter e division during ‘he; | Recistance Desperate. ‘ In the center, the 5th Corps (Cam- | eron), with the exception of the 9lst Di ion (Johnston), on its left, fell short | of its cbjectives. | ‘The 79th Division (Kuhn), on the | right of the corps, took Malancourt, but | in the open ground beyond encountered considerable opposition, and the ad- vanced elements were not in position before Montfaucon until late afternoon. The attack of the division iaunched sgainst this strong point early in the evening was met by the fire of artillery snd machine guns from the southern slopes of the hill, which held up further in th Corps, after over- the center of the ne gun fire, pushed coming heavy mac! through the Bois de Montfaucon, and its attacks in the afternoon carried the line up to and west of Montfaucon. The left of its line, facing stiff opposition, cleaned up the woods in its frc established itsclf just south of Ivo The 91st Division (Johnston) o came strong initia! resistance eand ad- vanced rapidly to Epinonville, which it entered but did not hold. Cros<'ng into | the sector of the 35th Division during the day. it occupied Ver On the left of the Army, the 1st strong took Chepy against stub- Eléments of the divi- ve east of withdrawn erly captur sion reached th Charpentry. but 10 a line west of V division captured that part of Varennes | east of the Aire River. but was held up between Varennes and Chepy. At this time a fresh regiment took the lead, giv- ing a new impetus to the attack, and pushed the line forward to the high ground south of Charpent In the 28th Division (Muir) th brigade captured the western h: Varennes and con 2bout a mile fartk it brigade, facing the | heights east of the Meuse. | hard fighting, but attack after attack, | relieved the 80th Division by extendiny |its left along the northeastern edge of d | its left. eastern spurs of the Argonne, which constituted the enemy's chief defense of that forest, was unable to overcome the intense machine gun fire from the vicinity of Champ Mahaut. The 77th Di (Alexander), in the difficult | terry of the Argonne, made some | progress. | Germans Used Advantages. The advance on the first day was rapid, as the forward elements of the| German defensive zone were generally | not strongly held and had not yet been | reinforced in any numbers. By the sec- ond day, however, his nearby reserves | had arrived, and the enemy took full advantage of the stand at Montfaucon on the first day to strengthen his de- fenses. ‘The Germans made every use of the favorable terrain to oppose our advance by cross ana enfilading artillery fire, es- pecially from the bluffs on the eastern | edge of the Argonne Forest and the His light guns and the extensive use of machine guns alonz his lines of defence, in the | hands of well trained troops, were seri- | ous obstacles and the advance after the second day was more difficult. By the evening of the 27th the 5th Corps was abreast of the Ist and the 3d on its flanks. The 79th Division | captured Montfaucon the morning of | the 27th and on the 28th Nantillols and the Bois de Beuge were d despite determined resistance. ice on the 28th elements of the division penetrated | the Bois des Ogons, but could not hold on. Again, on the 29th, it advanced against the wood, severe casualties once more compelling retirement to the ridge north of Nantiliols. Troops of the divi- sion advanced more than a mile be- yond the Bois des Beuge, but were forced to fall back. In the 3d Corps the 80th Division had taken the Bols de 1a Cote Lemont after made with dogged determination across the open space toward Brieulles-sur-Mur, | was rolled back by the galling fire of | the enemy from the town and its vicin- ity and by the artillery firing from east of the Meuse. The 33d Division maintained jts posi- tion the 27th and 28th and on the 26th Bois de 1a Cote Lemont, where it occu- pied difficult ground under the domi- nating heights east of the Meuse. Foe Counter Attacks. The 4th Division captured Nantillois on the 27th, but was forced by enemy |10 counter attacks to retire. The town was retaken and held on the following day by troops of the 4th and 79th Divi- sions. After three days of almost con- tinuous fighting the 4th had taken the Bois de Brieulles and entered the Bois des Ogens, but could not hold the latter against counter attacks and the deadly machine gun and artillery fire of the enemy. The fortitude and courage of the 4th Division in these operations were inspiring. The 37th Division on the 27th af tempted to advance b:yond the Ivoiry- Montfaucon road, but each time it reached there was driven back by heavy shelling. On the 28th, however, it pushed forward to a position north of the Cicrges-Nantillols road. Cierges | was entered, but not held. The follow- | ing day the division again attacked Cierges, but the advance was abruptly | halted by concentrated artillery fire. | The 9st Division on the 27th en- | countered strong opposition at Epinon- ville, which was reached, but could not | be retained. BEclisfontaine was taken, | but was evacuated, as an artillery bar- rage was to be laid on the road through the town the following day. | Epinonville was finally captured the 28th, and the Bois de Cierges was occu- pied after hard fighting. Two attacks the division from Bois de Cierges on the 20th crumbled under fi-rce artiller: | and enfilading machine gun fire, but on | the third attack, despite severe losses, Gesnes was taken. The full advantags of this important | gain was lost, however, through the in- | abllity of the 37th Division to advanc® ‘This placed the right flank of the 91st in a dangerous position. and it had to be withdrawn. During the aft- ernoon the 35th Division was subjected to a heavy counter attack, which also Since_ 1924 HLLENT WORK s aé’ . FLOORS-PAINTING &u SCRCENS -FENCES 3 WEATHERS TRIPPING cpmeme Q ROOFS ~TINNING s | PORGHES BUILT ~ ELOSED S'I’ONEBRAKE GEorcia 3400 Americans in charge. involved the left of the 91st, but made no progress against it. Germans Regain Ground. Three new German divisions had ap- peared by September 30 on the front of the 1st Corps, and the battle continued th incfeased intensity, The 35th Di- sion was stopped by heavy fire soon after its attack opened September 27, but later in the day it captured Char- pentry and advanced to the ridge northeast, though suffering severe casu- alties, Montrebeau Wood was taken the 28th, and early the morning of the 20th a detachment reached Exermont Valley, but, being nearly surrounded, withdrew to the starting point. En- countering very heavy artillery fire and an advance of the German 52d and the 5th Guard Divisions, the 35th withdrew from Montrebeau Wood, which it had taken the day.before. The 35th suffered heavier casuaities than any other divi- sion during these four days of continu- ous fighting. The 28th Division, though subjected to strong artillery and machine gun fire from the bluffs of the Argonne, cap- tured Montblainville September 27. firm opposition from positions in_the vicinity of Champ Mahaut, but carried them on the 28th, and also captured Apremont. On the 29th, after repulsing a German countetr attack, a slight ad- vance was made against the defenses of L~ Chene Tondu. The 77th Division encountered stiff resistance in the Argonne the 27th, and was held to a small galn, but moved | forward about a mile on the 28th. On the 29th its right was advanced with little opposition. During the first four days of fight- Ing the 1st Army, west of the Meuse. d made a maximum advance of about eight miles, reaching the Bois de la Cote Lemont-Nantillois-Apre- mont. The enemy had been struck a blow so powerful that the extreme gravity of his situation in France was obvious to him. From the North Sea to the Meuse his tired divisions had been battered and nowhere with more dogged de- termination than in front of the American 1st Army, his most sensitive point. The initial moves of the Ger- man government to stop the fighting occurred at this time and without doubt because of the results of these four days of battle, Praises German Soldiers. The enemy must have realized that the complete loss of his positions on the west bank of the Meuse was only a question of a short time. He had old his third defense position on our front or leave his troops opposing the French 4th Army exposed to flank attacks, thus jeopardizing his vital Young | afternoon of the 26th. | he had added six fresh divisions to his It could maks but slight headway against | | and the numerous wooded areas. | teamwork between artillery artery of communications. To avold this ‘calamity he was compelled to weaken his power of Tresistance on other fronts to provide reinforcements for his struggle with our 1st Army. It should be recorded that in this dire extremity the German soldier de- fended every foot of ground with des- perate tenacity and with the rare skill of an experienced soldier. The enemy quickly brought up re- inforcements, cne division arriving_the By the 30th lines, with five more in close reserve. | The 76th Reserve Division entered in the Argonne, the 5th Guard Division on the Aire, the 5th Bavarian Division near Nantillois, the 37th Division west of Nantillols, the 115th Division near Clerges and the 52d near Exermon! These were the divisions the Germans used to make the violent counter at- tacks against us which have just been mentioned. Our initial gains had been made against 11 enemy divisions. ‘The difficulties encountered by our inexperieced divisions during this phase of the fighting were not easily overcome. Liaison between the various echelons was hard to maintain owing to the broken nature of the terrain ‘They were supported in most instances by | artillery units with which they had never before® maneuvered, so perfect and in- fantry was not at once attained. Supply Was Preblem. The questicn of supply during the Meuse-Argonne operations, especially in the beginning, gave us much concern. the three roads crossing no man's land over which artillery and supply trains had to move were impassable in many places. After four years of neglect and frequent bombardment, scarcely more than traces were left. In addition to having bzen blown up in many places, they were further damaged by the ex- plosion of contact mines planted by re- treating Germans. During the first four days, especially, although we had a superiority in the number of guns, the enemy’s artillery had the advantage of hidden flank po- sitions on the heights of the Meuse and in the Argonne. It had almost full play on the more exposed elements of the advance, and its cross-fire caused us many casualties. The tremendous num- bers of machine-guns, located in inac- cessible places, gave us much trouble. Telephone communications were dif- ficult, mainly due to destruction wrought by the enemy's artillery, al though somewhat due to the inex ence of our personnel. In the 5th the signal battalion joined on the eve of battle, and had to learn its duties under fite. In some divisions, especially ‘MENS WEA; Men’s SUITS for SPRING Outstanding . . . in a season of value-giving! It was a “buyer’s market” when WASHINGTON, B ERIDAY, communications were in poor of the fighting, the hea: ‘The severity ing, the heavy | casualties and the intermingling of troops in some of our divisions were such that it seemed advisable to place in the line other divisions with more ex- perience which had now become avail- able. It was also thought best to limit activities to local attacks for two or three days. The 32d (Haan) and the 3d (Buck) Divisions were brought in to relieve the 37th (Farnsworth) and 79th (Kuhn), and the 1st Division (Sum- merall) took the place of the 35th (Traub). The 91st was withdrawn to corps reserve, and the 92d was placed at the disposal of the French 38th Corps, which was on the left of the 1st Corps. ‘These changes, involving the move- ment of more than 125,000 men over the iimited routes available, already se- verely taxed with the transportation of ammunition, food and the evacuation of wounded, were successfully made and the Army was ready for the renewal of its attacks. Pershing Actively in Command. It was a matter of keen regret that the veteran 2d Division was not on hi but at Marshal Foch's earnest re- quest it had been sent to Gen. Gouraud to assist the French 4th Army, held up at Somme Py. At no time did I refuse Foch’s requests to send divisions to the assistance of the allies, no matter how inconvenient. I always insisted, how- ever, that these should operate as Amer- iean units and should return to my command when they had accomplished their emergency mission. It was one thing to fight a battle with well trained, well organized and experi- eficed troops, but quite another to take relatively green troops and organize, train and fight them at the same time. Some of our divis that lacked train- ing could not have been considered avallable for this operation had it not been for our belief that the mcrale of the enemy in gencral was rather low, and that this was the opportunity to throw our full strength into the battle with the intention of winning the war in 1918, During this phase and throughout the battle I frequent to commanders and staffs, to point out deficiencies, to adjust difficulties, to keep myself directly informed of progress and to indicate the most advantageous methods of handling the troops in fu- ture attacks. In order to keep in closer touch with the activities of our forees, | N¢ my personal staff and other officers especially qualified for this duty were sent to the front to observe the progress of the different units. September 29 Premier Clemenceau visited the 1st Army. He was pleased with our progress and especially de- lighted at the capture of Montfaucon. He insisted on going there, notwith- standing my warning that it was dan- gerous and that the roads were filled with traffic. I felt real solicitude for MARCH 20, visited corps and di- | visions to give personal encouragement | 1931. his safety, as Montfaucon was a target for the enemy's artillery. The road he took was crowded with trucks that morning. He failed to reach Montfau- con and left rather disappointed, think- ing, no doubt, that our transportation was hopelessly swamped, as we oon be- gan to hear criticisms to that effect, not only by the French, but even by some Americans, 125,000 on Roads at Once, truth is that while the roads t times eongested in plaoces, no such general condition existed. This is shown py the fact that in the relief of three divisions by three others more than 125,000 men were handled over the roads at this time, in addition to regular supplies. Under the circumstances the movement of the truck trains required for this purposs was especially well handled. ‘The number of troops moved in this change was greater than the en- tire Northern Army in the battle of the ‘Wilderness. Good reports came in regarding the operations on the 29th of our 2d Corps (Read), which was with Gen. Rawlin- son's British 4th Army. With both the 30th (Lewis) and the 27th (O'Ryan) Divisions in line, this corps formed the main wedge in the attack against that portion of the German lines which in- cluded the Bellicourt Tunnel of the Cambrai-St. Quentin Canal. This tun- nel, about 6,500 yards, served as an ex- tremely effective shelter for the pro- tection of German troops in that sector, ‘The 2d Corps, attacking September 29 against stiff resistance, gallantly captured the ridge line of the tunnel, & part of the Hindenburg line, The 30th Division did especially well. It broke through the Hindenburg line on its en- tire front and took Bellicourt and part of Nauroy by noon the 29th. The Aus- tralian 5th Division, coming up at this time, continued the attack with ele- ments of the 30th Division, and the line advanced a considerable distance. The 27th Division, due to no fault of its own, had been unable to take full advantage of the accompanying bar- rage, its leading waves being about 1.100 yards from the jump-off line when the aitack started. Despite this handi- cap, it took the enemy trenches of the Hindenburg line south of Bony, had captured the Knoll and had established its line south from that position to a point just west of Gillemont farm. Tomorrow: Shipments again fall be- hind. 31, Newspaper rights reserved. Including the Scandinavian. Reproduction {5 whole or in part prohibited. ) KRIEG in_ all_countries by the Alliance. World Storage—Pacl Moving For 30 years President and General Manager of Kriex's Express Co. is NOW in business at 904 10th St. N.W. Call District 9115 b R. C. A. LICENSED TUBES 80 o Off 0 List Type List 226 | $1.75 280 | $1.90 245 | $2.00 227 |$2.20 171a|$2.25 224 $3.30 = == = You Pay| You Save 35¢ | $1.40 38¢ | $1.52 40c | $1.60 44c | $1.76 45¢ [$1.80 66¢c | $2.64 MAIL ORDERS FILLED PLEASE INCLUDE POSTAGE ALL-ELECTRIC RECEIVER SCREEN GRID SELECTIVE—TRUE TONE Less Tubes 45-Volt 45-Volt : 1S3 R RS M REMAX—Long Life “B” Batteries 82¢ }MAURICE l. 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