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i ■iat count of the Battle of the'. . lt;- • . ’Argonne was written by Lieut; Leonard C.‘ • •, • • # k- i ■ *■. • . . • _ 1 • •Boyd/aSeauoyahCqunty boy, who saw active ;:«e^vice ' byerae^s with the 85 th Division, and iwaa iii. action on the following frontsi Al.sacG, from June, to September 1018 { St. Mihlel from September 12th to :16th; Mcuse-Argonne from• * . I “ • •* • - l -FT * • . - » -«-• - y I - . ■' s • —September 26th' to October 1st, 1918* He re-turned from France qn November Srd, 1918, /to be an* InBtriictbr at Officers*” Training Camp, CamP. ‘ Pike, Ark*—-Editor*):run lt;‘H4There has. been several; expressed opinions regarding the participationthe 35th Division ih; the Argonhe u offensive as a result of questionableisertiohs of ah; bx-Y. M. C.man,who was coimected with our Division• ■ . • *' ' ■ 1 *: r • • ffpitil just before we went into the Argopmri! tie was hot anywhere: near the scirap proper, so anything he has said is hiqrely^^burikr or hearsay*I v^as a member of Company D 137th InfGantry, v (35th Ditdsioh and commanded the cohipany referred to during the ehtire time our Divisiqn stayedin. ^ V* - '♦ ' . « ‘ • t *, f 4I will give you as near as possible9 ! . I • * s * *' . * .. *1a true sketch of what occured up in the lines th the “doughboys” the “Battering Rrinis” of a coihbat Division.On the night of September r 18th,* our Division left the Reserve Position at St. Mihiel and was taken 125 Kilo-meters in motor trucks, to a woods near a small village, just north of Bar-le-Due, about 20 kilometers behind the9 - •*- ** •.*.•■•.- •• • •■lines, where we spent the night of the19th* The following night we startedforwai’d, our destination being * the^ ' ,** . ••• * . F- • , ^ . *. - . ■ * . • . - • . isouthern edge of1 the Argonne woods,■.. . *1 ■ *. * ’ ■ ■ ■ ■ * • •near Clerihont-en-Argonne, and fwe hiked until early~in the morning* The roads were congested with artillery convoys and men going forward, andthe darkness and drizzling rain help-* . % ' • ■ .ed the confusion.Everything was moving northwardbi^Navab guiis were being hauled; up_ into position by tractors, and we kneW that. ;sombf gigantic operation was about tp go into, effect. • ^We-pitched under the cover of woods and until the-fc.,. ' - • •lt; ^ ... . 26th,, wee speht the time in makingpreparation for the coming , scrap.Every tnan was issubd two bandblOers of ammunition in addition to his regular amount; two hand grenadeswere issued to eaoh man; rifle grenades Were issued ' to each of the Squads, automatic rifles were put in ......■ ».u-----— .......--------- _____________bes^. possible shape. Two days Reserve ration was gope over and preliim.* ». * ■ , ■■ 4 •inary ilistructions were issued. On the. 24th and 25th, we received the de-tailed .battle orcjer, giving us the objectives we were to take* On the night of the 25th, we went up~irito the line and took our positions. There was asort of tense feeling in the air, and we► * • • •knew that the Boche sensed the impending* attack by the nervous way in Which he continually shelled the roads and rear areas in an endeavor to catch*i :. . • * • t •. , • ’ *some of the traffic. A we passed through a ruined village, on the way up, they got a few of our men with ashell which burst in one of our col-■ * * •umns. •Around midnight, things quited a bit and with the exception of occasional shots irom the artillery, there was aU * 4 , \gloomy silence* Over to the left, We could heard:he dull rumble of a barrage* k » r k , « ♦ * * .spunding like the bubbling of a seething couldron, and we knew that the picnic was starting. Then overhead, “Berlin Bound” and our barrage was started. Soon it had spread along theentire line until it seemed as if Hell“ - . . *. • ■had broken loose. The air was full of whistling, whining pieces of steel bent on an errand of destruction within -the German lines. We could hear the dull explosions, and see t}ie red glow inside the German lines, and we knew our ar-S: . • * 1tillery was finding its target.Twenty minutes before the zero hour there came a distinct pause, and we knew that the artillery was adjusting their range for the creeping barrage. The, pause was very slight, and almost immediately the barrage fell on theGerman Tront lines. The time was*• - * * *\ • ; • • • . ■drawing near , arid the word was passed along to be. ready and the men took their positions. At 5:30 A. M. September 26th our first waves went over• ^ .* ‘i .j'*’and passed through the wire, and crept as cldge to the barrage as possible, waiting for it to lift. Evidently ourhad drlvep. the Boche artilr leyy from their positions as there wafe hardly any retaliation. At 5:30 (zeroho^r) the creeping barrage slowlyshifted, and the lines started forward, it was a tense moment, and as the signal was given, the men hastily clambfered out of the trenches and started'forward^vous and tiresome waiting. The few: #----, ^.......t ^ - '• • « * •»' * • ’ - 'minutes preceedirig the zero hour are the worst and when a soldier gets into movement lie forgets his nervousness to a great extent. . ■ *: Almost immediately, our front lilies encountered resistance. The few scattered machine gun nests, which had not been driven put of position by the barrage, opened up, they were quickly silenced, and put out of action. The resistance of * the German front 1 ines was rather feeble, and in most cases, they had time to get back into position so our waves passed, Oil to the second lines. The tanks were now coming up (little “Whippet” tanks), sputtering along, clattering up. and down, ovdr shell holes and debris) searching for machine , gun nests. The barrage yras slowly forging, ahead, one hundredyards in four minutes.* • ,The dust and smoke was awful. A smoky pall being over everything like a fog, and the gas from high explosive made w your . lungs smart dreadfully. The noise was deafening and the sharp put-put-put of machine guns was increasing, accompanied by the zingl! of bullets as they passed through the air.. Quite frequently, they found their mark and a man would sink down with a groan, or ktop with a. puzzledHf *r • 9 * Iexpression on his face and say “I guess they have got me.”Before nine o'clock, we had driven the Boche from his trench system and had him well on the run^ The artil-• 4 . «...lery had done good-work, and the German positions were badly demolished4 *Here and there were enormous shell craters showing where big naval gunshad found their targets. The barbed wire was in tangled masses arid there were plenty of gaps to go through.We were getting weft out into the'lt; i . .. * ■, ■ • •open now and the smoke was beginning to thin out and drift away, and the sun occasionally seemed to glimmer
Newspaper Details
Sequoyah County Democrat
Sallisaw, Oklahoma, US
Fri, May 23, 1919
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 13 Jul 2019
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