Don
Martin diary entry for Wednesday, August 28, 1918:
Left Paris at 4:25 o’clock. Arrived in Meaux at 6:30. Found the 32nd
division had been in the fight northwest of Soissons. [Edwin] James [New York
Times] and Smith [Chicago Tribune] told me about it. Wrote about 500 words for
New York. Spent two hours in the Censor’s office with the other correspondents
trying to get our stories through. Castiel, the French censor, objected to
anything which seemed to glorify the achievements of the Americans, which I
thought was right considering the smallness of what we had done compared with
the bigger things constantly done by the French. Smith was sore. He kicked so
much that [Captain Gerald] Morgan, chief censor, ordered him out of the office.
Talked with James for an hour before going to bed. Decided to get up at five in
the morning and start for Soissons.
The headline for Don Martin's dispatch of August 28 for Paris had a little mistake - 'north of Soissons' instead of south as in the article. It was published in the Paris Herald on August
29.
AMERICANS CAPTURE 152 IN OPERATION NORTH
OF SOISSONS
Their Presence Is a Great Surprise to
Germans,
in Small Early Morning Attack
(Special Telegram to
the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
With the American
Armies, Wednesday
In a local operation south of Soissons
at daybreak to-day, a small unit of Americans captured 152 prisoners. It was
one of the swiftest and finest operations the Americans have to their credit.
The Americans moved quietly into the
Soissons sector to aid General Mangin’s army and spent the night in a thick
wood. They emerged shortly before daybreak. The attack was made at seven. The
boys hardly had time to find themselves. The Seventh Prussians opposite had
just entered the line and were astounded to find Americans facing them.
American and French artillery began the
fiercest barrage the Germans have known in attacks. Out of the shadow of the
hail of shrapnel appeared the Americans. They bounded through a field on a
two-kilometre front and struck terror into the Germans. Many dashed back,
presumably to safety, but the Americans killed many with bayonets, driving all
back.
American participation in this part of
the battle line was a complete surprise. I made a visit to-day to a large part
of the battlefront in the region of Soissons. For miles back great guns are
belching a stream of death. The Germans are quiet, not a dozen shells have
fallen to-day in an area of ten miles. They are evidently moving their
artillery back.
Don Martin wrote a second report for Paris dated Wednesday, August 28, about the Vosges sector. It was also published in the Paris Herald on August
29.
GERMANS REPULSED IN RAID
ON AMERICANS IN
VOSGES
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
With the American
Armies, Wednesday
The Boche attempted a raid on the
American line in the Vosges on Monday morning. He sent over fifty men and
prepared the way for them with a forty-five minute barrage. The Germans failed
to penetrate the American trenches. Two German dead were left and several
others were carried away. The Germans have been strafing Frapele vigorously
since they lost it. On Monday they killed an eighty-year-old woman.
On Sunday morning an American
bombing squadron flew over Conflans and dropped forty bombs on the railway
terminals. An explosion was noted where an ammunition train was said to have
been standing.
There was a number of hard-fought
local combats along the Vesle to-day. The Germans launched a rather determined attack
on the American half of Fismette. Airplanes aided them, sweeping very low and
firing machine-guns at our men. The fight resulted in no change in the line.
Further west there was a great deal of fighting about Bazoches, where the
Americans moved forward slightly to improve their positions. We kept up our harassing
artillery fire on the enemy’s back areas.
Second
Battle of the Marne-
Battle of Juvigny
In a battle
waged from August 28 to September 2, the US 32nd Division captured the key town
of Juvigny, cutting the Soissons-St. Quentin road. As a result, the Germans
found their Vesle line untenable and withdrew to the River Aisne.
The French used
the nickname "Les Terribles" to praise the US 32nd
Division’s prowess in battle. Their battles in late July and early August had
been hard, but the fight for Juvigny was much tougher. The Germans fought hard
and made effective use of the caves in the area to protect their machine guns,
but "Les Terribles" were stubborn in their determination to force the
Germans back. They succeeded in capturing the ruins of the village of Juvigny
and in advancing some two and a half miles in five days of constant battle. The
32nd division historian referred to this period as "five days of hell on earth."
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