August 28, 1918: Don Martin records correspondents 'battle' with censors

Don Martin diary entry for Wednesday, August 28, 1918: 

Left Paris at 4:25 o’clock. Arrived in Meaux at 6:30. Found the 32^nd 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 32^nd 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 32^nd division historian referred to this period as "five days of hell on earth."