September 18, 1918: Don Martin reports on bombing Rhine Valley and war stories

Don Martin diary entry for Wednesday, September 18, 1918: Stayed in Nancy. Our front very quiet. Preparations being made for attack at new point probably west Verdun. Walked around the city for exercise. At night hotel filled with aviators who drank far too much.

       Don Martin on September 18 continued his reporting on the situation in the reclaimed Saint-Mihiel salient, which was published in the New York Herald on Thursday, September 19.

AMERICAN BOMBERS IN GIANT HANDLEY-PAGE MACHINES CAUSE TERROR IN RHINE VALLEY TOWNS

Daily Raids Also Damage Hun Lines 

of Communication Around Metz

ENEMY CONFUSED BY ALLIED BLOWS

Prisoners Tell Don Martin Germany Hopes 

to Regain Friendship of America

By Don Martin,

Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France

[Special Cable to the Herald]

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Wednesday

                 Towns and villages east of the Moselle and those west of that river held by the German armies are receiving their full share of bombs from American and British Squadrons. American and British flyers are operating as far as the Rhine valley and are giving the Germans no rest by day or night

                 When one squadron returns to its base another one goes out. Many direct hits have been scored, and we have positive evidence that several large German factories have been destroyed.

                 Enormous Handley-Page airplanes, whose wings have a spread of 150 feet, are making regular pilgrimages and are bombing with deadly effect the enemy lines of communication and towns. These airplanes are veritable dreadnoughts of the air, which the ordinary fighting airplanes are totally unable to cope with.

Five Missing Flyers Prisoners

                 Today we received information through Switzerland that five American flyers who failed to return to their hangars after a bombing expedition a few weeks ago are prisoners in Germany. They made a long flight into enemy territory and dropped many tons of bombs. When returning to the American lines, however, they encountered a heavy head wind and their gasoline gave out. They were forced to descend.

                 Scores of German guns were active today throwing projectiles eastward from their positions along the Moselle. Aside from this enemy shelling and patrol clashes it was quiet along this front. Indications are that the Germans are settling down on a line built up of reinforced concrete in what is a devilish wilderness. From all visible indications they now are determined to make a firm stand against any further American advance in the direction of Metz.

Americans Upset Hun Plans

                 However, there is no doubt that the German morale has lowered to a point where it is causing profound uneasiness to the enemy’s high command. That is the inevitable inference from captured documents and the statements of prisoners.

                 The Germans previous to General Pershing’s thrust felt that the British and French were powerless to launch another immediate successful offensive and they discounted the ability of the Americans to do it. But now that the Americans have turned the trick successfully and General Pershing’s troops are swarming over territory that the Germans were confident of being able to hold, the Hun high command is puzzled regarding which way to turn.

                 The confusion that existed in the enemy ranks and among his officers in the retreat from the St. Mihiel salient shows better than anything how the military machine which was built to crush all Europe beneath its iron wheels has been wrenched and broken in spots. While it is unwise to assume that the war will end soon, it is time to concede that complete victory is in sight for the Allies if they insist on pushing on with the war vigorously despite the insidious peace proposals which Germany is certain to continue to make.

Rapid Blows Confuse Germans

                  The change of the situation in our favor is conclusive and we are sure of victory if we press on energetically. Several things go to make up the reasons for this change that insures an Entente victory. They are found in that Marshal Foch first showed what a single handed management, coupled with great genius, can do; in our ever growing supremacy in the air; in allied artillery efficiency, and in the valor and the very ferocity of the American fighting man, who when told to reach an objective gets there regardless of obstacles.

                  One of the foremost military experts in our army here, speaking to me of the situation in the German armies, reflected the view of many competent observers here when he declared that “the Boche is temporarily running around in circles, not knowing where the next blow will come, but at least certain that he will get one blow after another until he is finished.”

                 It is hard to describe adequately the new spirit of all the allied armies here. America’s brave youths have set a new pace for the fighting and high morale and every man in every allied army is eager to show what is in him—that he is well able to keep up with the new pace.

Allies Are Confident

                  In a word, the most gigantic and efficient military machine the world has ever seen has sprung up in France, and it is going to crush the Hun. Their insignia mingling, America, France and Great Britain are moving forward relentlessly. The armies of these Powers know that they will never turn back.

                 Today the Americans, the British and the French officers and men are cooperating with one another and helping one another, like true comrades in mind and spirit and body. If there ever were any animosities between them these animosities now are gone forever. Officers and men of these armies are satisfied—more, they are confident—that they are marching on the road to victory.

                 However, they are not deluding themselves with a false hope that they will terminate the war before the end of next year. Perhaps it will be two years before peace, since at this time Germany is only trembling in the shadow of disaster—she has not quite been overtaken by it. However, she is very far from living in her old time glow of confidence.

Defeat Affects German People

                  Recently I talked with German prisoners who had been in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig and some of the smaller cities of Germany since the Hun retreat from the Marne. They said that business is about as usual in the cities there and that the villages are in a normal condition except for the dearth of men of military age. They said that Berlin restaurants are open and apparently have sufficient food, although the size of the portions have been reduced and prices are high. They declared that the wealthy men and women are able to get everything they need.

                 These prisoners added that there has been a notable change in the attitude of the crowds in German restaurants and public places since the extent of the German retreat from the Marne became known to the people. Previous to the retreat they were happy and exuberant and talked of how the superiority of the German military machine over the whole world had been proved.

                  Since the Marne defeat the crowds no longer are loquacious. They read the newspapers greedily and try to take an optimistic view of the situation. The populace supports the Kaiser, but groups are beginning to doubt the foresight of the men they had regarded invincible.

                 The prophetic word “America” is on the lips of every man and woman.

Seek America’s Friendship

                 While many of them still talk of victory, they say that if America—at a time when Germany thought she could do nothing—was able to have a million trained soldiers in France able to make an offensive like that of Marshal Foch on the Marne, what will she be able to do next year.

                  A German prisoner, who formerly was a banker, said that while the Germans will be able to fight for a long time, their troubles will come later this winter when there will be a scarcity of food and much illness. He declared that the Germans now are hoping for the friendship of the Americans after the war.

                  German prisoners who were one-time teachers, professors and business men have expressed the opinion that the world will forgive the German people if Germany shows a spark of repentance. They evidently are proceeding on the mental theory that the world has, indeed, forgiven the most hideous crimes.

                  Along this line is already beginning a propaganda to try to convince us that she regrets that she was compelled to fight America. A prisoner of a high order of intelligence outlined this scheme to American officers when he was told that American friendship would come when the Hohenzollerns were dethroned. He declared that he had never defended the Kaiser, thus proving what I have found elsewhere among the educated class of Germans.

                 On the other hand, the illiterate Huns are for the Hohenzollern government and think that the Kaiser is a demigod.

                 In the vast wood between Nonsard and Heudicourt (the Bois de la Belle Oziere), where 10,000 Germans were encamped for four years, there are buildings miles in length which contained sleeping quarters for 100,000 men. There were elaborate officers’ quarters and bowling alleys. I counted thirty pianos in the officers’ quarters. Dugouts had been made sixty feet underground. The hospital had room for thousands of beds.

                 The Germans built many excellent roads through the woods and I saw many gardens, promenades, playgrounds, pagodas and arbors.

                  When the enemy was routed from the wood by our troops he left stores of supplies. Virtually everything except his personal effects were abandoned. Seven of the thirty pianos that I saw were of French manufacture and probably were stolen from private homes. Many of them were packed and ready to be moved.

                 Our salvage corps found more than ten thousand new woolen uniforms and leather boots and gloves of the best quality, which seemed to contradict reports that Germany is suffering from a lack of materials.

                 There are unmistakable evidences throughout the entire region which we wrested from the Germans that during the four years the enemy was there he lived a life of idleness and luxury, playing cards and drinking beer.

                  Virtually the only damage done by the retreating Huns is in the villages. The very haste of their flight prevented systematized destruction. They attempted to blow up some bridges, but were compelled to run away before their mines were completed and set off.

      And Don Martin on September 18 recounted stories for New York which he had collected, published in the New York Herald on Thursday, September 19.

FRENCH WOMEN, FREED FROM HUN SLAVERY BY AMERICANS, 

BEG TROOPS TO KILL BEASTS

By Don Martin,

Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France

[Special Cable to the Herald]

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Wednesday

                  Many interesting stories are told by New York men who were among the first to enter Essey (about five and a half kilometres southwest of Thiaucourt), where twenty German officers were captured. One relates to three young and pretty French women who, when our troops reached Essey, ran frantically to them and pointed to three of the Germans, demanding that they be killed.

                  Men who witnessed it told me it was one of the most dramatic incidents they had seen in the war. When our officers explained to them that prisoners could not be disposed of in any such way, the women tried to attack the Huns. Later, amid tears, they explained that two years ago the Germans had seized them in Northern France. Since that time they had been forced to serve them as menials. Many such sordid stories are told of the Germans.

                  From the village of Pagny-sur-Moselle, just inside the German line, there has come to us from reliable sources many accounts of German brutality. The Huns recently shot a seventeen-year-old boy to death. No reason for this act has ever been given to the boy’s relatives. French civilians in the town have been placed on meagre food rations and to-day all of them are greatly emaciated. Occasionally, we have been informed, German soldiers have exhibited a little decency and have smuggled food to some of the aged and infirm women and the children.

                  In the excitement in the German garrison following General Pershing’s offensive a few of the French civilians in Pagny-sur-Moselle escaped to a neighboring town, which now is in the hands of the Americans. They told us that the French inhabitants were wild with joy when they heard that the American troops were coming. They first heard this last Thursday and they sat up all that night, praying that they would be released from slavery.
          In his daily dispatch for Paris, Don Martin recounted interesting stories, published in the Paris Herald on Thursday, September 19, 1918.  

GERMAN AMMUNITION TRAIN, 

STEAMING INTO VIGNEULLES, 

SEIZED BY THREE AMERICANS

Enemy In Charge Were Ignorant 

of General Pershing’s Rapid Advance

 (Special Telegram to the Herald)

By DON MARTIN

With The American Armies, Wednesday.

                       The Germans are giving no indication of a formidable counter-attack along the line formed after the Saint-Mihiel salient had been reduced, and are continuing to move back behind the Hindenburg line.

                       Their artillery was more active last night and to-day than during the last few days. Apparently they have some big guns emplaced. During the night, in a clash with patrols, we captured five prisoners. All were non-commissioned officers who had been attending the officers’ school at Conflans. They said that the orders given when they were put into the line were to hold as long as they could, and then go back.

                       Here is a story which is true in every detail, despite the fact that it sounds like a Wild Western melodrama. The Americans advanced toward Vigneulles with such ease that the commander decided the town had been evacuated and took his chance. Three lieutenant-colonels sped to the village with an automobile and found the place deserted. There was not a sound nor a soul until the Americans heard the toot of a locomotive whistle. With a glass they saw a train approaching the village from the north. They jumped from their automobile and dashed toward the train, which stopped. The train was filled with ammunition. The Germans in charge said they had received no word that the Americans were advancing. The train crew, ten in all, was marched back to the village.

Dangerous, But Stirring

                       One lieutenant-colonel went ahead and snooped around a house and its cellars. He had a dangerous but stirring pastime. In one cellar he found the entire crew of a machine-gun hiding, all ready to surrender.

                       As the American entered they all shouted “Kamerad!” The American said that suited him. So the machine-gun crew was added to the other prisoners.

                       In another village a German mess-sergeant who had been ordered to destroy  his whole outfit and burn all the food supplies, had started in, but was too late, the Americans entering the town while he was in the midst of his task. He stopped to cut a cheese, which was the bulk of his supply of food, small pieces of which he served to the Americans with a glass of beer when they came into the town.

                       The beer delayed the advance for a short period, but was a welcome treat, as the boys were both thirsty and hungry.

A Veritable Beehive

                       One of the most interesting spots in the whole region which the Germans have just abandoned is in the woods on the north side of the road between Nonsard and Heudicourt. The Germans had had a great army quartered there practically throughout the whole period of occupation. The salient was a veritable beehive. While they were there the Americans saw wooden barracks more than mile in extent, bowling alleys, arbors, chairs, rustic seats, promenades, patches of garden and tiny lawns. It seemed a sort of Paradise where one would at least expect to find practically everything. All had been left—foodstuffs, ammunition, clothing and bedding.

                       The officers had had sumptuous quarters there, with pianos, phonographs, reading-rooms and writing-tables in the buildings, which were similar to those maintained by the Y.M.C.A. for Americans. There was every indication that the Germans had settled there for a life of luxurious idleness, which they apparently had until the Americans burst upon them.

                       More than forty pianos were found by the American salvage officers in the various places that had been occupied by the Germans. About five were of French manufacture, indicating that they had been stolen from French homes. The rest had been brought from Germany.

                       In one place the American “doughboys” cleaning up, came to a building which contained a piano. They had several German prisoners helping in the work of cleaning up and found that one of the Germans was a good pianist. Thereupon they seated him at the piano and made him cheer them on their work with various melodies. Singularly enough he knew many tunes popular in America.

On Their Heels

                       Lieutenant V. A. Terrill, from Franklin, Ind., who was in charge of a squad of salvage workers, said, “We have been right on the heels of the retreating Germans. They had certainly been taken terribly by surprise. I have been on the trail before, but never saw such unmistakable evidence of a precipitate retreat. They had tried to pack up some of the pianos and had got about a dozen boxed up, but had to leave. We have a German warehouse filled with clothing. It is all made of good wool, indicating that Germany is not so bad off for clothing as she wants the world to believe. We found shoes, boots and all kinds of apparel.”

                       In several of the villages which the Huns occupied cinema theatres were found.

       And also for Paris, Don Martin on September 18 told what American soldiers think about peace. It was published in the Paris Herald on Thursday, Sept 19, 1918.

Yank’s Laugh at Austrian ‘Squeal’

 (Special Telegram to the Herald)

By DON MARTIN

With The American Armies, Wednesday.

              The American doughboys have interesting views regarding peace. They want peace, but want Allied peace. I have talked with infantrymen, artillerymen, privates in every branch of the army, and find they are practically all of the same sentiment. Epitomized, their general idea is:--

              “We came here to lick the Boche. Let’s lick him! This Austrian squeal is ridiculous. If the Austrians and Germans have any sense, they know how they can get peace—a just one.

              “The way they are getting hurt! Now they begin to whine. We’ll get a yelp out of Germany pretty soon that will be heard all over the world. That may be expected when she realizes how her ox is being gored. Leave it to the doughboys!”

              The foregoing is perhaps not verbatim, but it is a fair paraphrase of the expressions of most privates. They all sneer when asked what they think of the overtures for a secret conference.

              The American “doughboy” is an interesting character. He is not only a good fighter, but at least a high-school graduate, with ideas on everything. He knows what he is fighting for and is willing to continue until a clean job has been done.

              I have talked with Americans generally. They are all agreed that the only time to talk peace is when Germany is licked, or when she evacuates all alien territory and shows a spirit of honor and decency. Many say that Germany and Austria are merely taking preliminary steps in a campaign to convince the German and Austrian civil populations that the Allies are mercilessly and selfishly carrying on a war of annihilation.

              The situation on the American front remains about as it was. The patrols meet with no important clashes. The artillery on both sides is active, the Germans to-day shelling many of our back areas, while our guns are barking incessantly and giving them vastly more than they send.