Don
Martin diary entry for Friday, August 9, 1918:
Did some shopping in Paris and started back for Meaux at 1:10. Junius
Wood [Chicago Daily News] was on the same train.
Don Martin reported information on German losses, in a dispatch dated Friday, August 9, and published in the New York Herald on
Saturday, August 10.
ENORMOUS LOSSES STUN HUNS
AND SERIOUSY SHAKE THEIR MORALE; PROMISED
PARIS ON SEPTEMBER 1
Uneasiness is Illustrated by Frantic Peace Propaganda Directed at
France
AIRMEN DROP PAPERS THREATENING PARIS
Warn People Britain and America Are Making Them Victims of the War
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, Friday
Better evidence of the uneasiness
that exists in Germany is impossible to find than in the energy with which she
is conducting propaganda with a view to making the French people believe that
both England and America are deceiving them and that France to-day is the
bleeding victim of the war.
This is particularly noticeable in
the documents which German aviators are dropping inside the French lines. In
these documents the Boche would warn France to make peace before Paris is
destroyed, which, he declares, is certain to happen unless France severs the
ties which bind her to England and accepts peace.
All these peace appeals which are
made in this insidious way end with an ugly threat—a threat which is quite
typical of the foe, who starts this propaganda at a time when all Frenchmen are
buoyed up with the hope and confidence in the victorious outcome of the war and
are satisfied that the German retreat from the Marne is the first big step in
the move of the enemy toward the Rhine.
France Confident of Victory
The French people, who are keen
observers, are not foolish enough to expect a military victory over Germany
this year, but are confident that it ultimately will be achieved, and that
France and all the world will be rid ultimately of the Prussian menace.
It is now known from official
records which are in the possession of the French and American military
authorities that the Germans from the very beginning of their offensive on July
15 suffered staggering losses. The Hun commanders cheered their troops with the
promise that the Marne offensive was the first step in the direction of
Paris—the first step, indeed, in the triumphal march into the French capital,
which, they declared, they would enter on September 1 to dictate peace terms to
France, England and America. These Hun officers promised their men that they soon would return to their
homes in Germany, their yoke of debt lifted by the great indemnities that would
be collected from the Entente Allies and from America.
All the world knows to-day how far
the enemy is from achieving anything like this, and our confidence is supreme
that he never will achieve it.
From what has been learned from
German army officers recently captured by the Franco-American forces it may be
said that the German morale is holding up in the Hun armies only because of the
iron discipline there. It is known, however, that the spirit of the German
troops is changing from the old time confidence. Shattered is the golden dream
conjured up in their minds by the alluring promise of their officers, as was
inevitable in the face of their disastrous retreat instead of triumphal entry
into Paris. Added to this staggering blow and topping all their miseries comes
to the enemy the realization that their losses in killed have been enormous.
Many Companies Destroyed
Many German divisions lost from
sixty to seventy per cent of their effectives in the fighting in the
Soissons-Rheims salient. Some of their companies have been entirely wiped out—none
of them left except the company commanders, who took charge of other companies
in other regiments where the officers had been killed. Indeed many German
regiments have suffered such heavy losses that they were unable to function.
The effect of such tremendous
casualties has been demoralizing on the enemy troops and accounts in a measure
for their failure to retaliate in an expected counter offensive.
The Franco-American artillery
continues to pound the Huns unmercifully; despite this the enemy occupying
positions north of the Vesle River are making a strong stand, using new and
fresh troops in an endeavor to stop the allied advance.
Meanwhile we are using machine guns
with a deadly accuracy which surpasses the efficiency of the enemy when he was
at his very best.
Information from an American engineers' report on nasty methods used by the retreating Germans was reported in a dispatch dated Friday, August 9, and published in the Paris Herald on
August 10.
DEVILISH DEVICES RESORTED TO
BY RETREATING HUNS
Cowardly Germans Employ Despicable Means to Kill the Pursuing Allied
Troops
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By Don Martin
With The American Armies, Friday.
In the vicinity of Bazoches a
German raiding party of twenty-three men attempted last night to capture
prisoners among the Americans. The Huns did not return. Twenty were killed and
three were taken prisoners. One of the three was a German officer.
The Germans made three
counter-attacks against the Americans and French in the vicinity of Fismes last
night and to-day, but were repulsed each time. A severe attack was launched
against the French on the Americans’ left and was baulked. Artillery duelling
went on all last night and to-day.
A document of particular interest
was found on a German officer taken prisoner within the last few days. It names
three positions which the German High Command decided to hold. One is the
Rheims-Soissons road along the north bank of the Vesle. The second is the
heights north of the Vesle, and the third is the north bank of the Aisne.
The officer said he believed the
final position was to be the Aisne. The Soissons-Rheims road, he declared, was
to be held in order to enable the Germans to establish themselves on the Vesle
heights, and the heights were to be held until the Aisne position could be made
solid.
Foe’s Vengeance
A report of American engineers,
who have followed in the wake of the retreating Germans, shows the diabolical
means resorted to by the Huns to wreck their vengeance on their foes.
Characteristic devices used by them in their retreat include:--
Dugouts—strings attached to the
branches apparently used to camouflage the entrance, were attached to mines.
Detonators were placed in charcoal and rubbish heaps. Fuses connected with
explosive charges were fastened in stoves or fireplaces. Protruding nails when
stepped on exploded mines. Shovels, picks apparently stuck at random in heaps
of earth, when removed will explode mines. Doors, stove lids, bureau drawers
when opened or removed will set off mines. The loose board of a step of
stairway when trod on frequently caused an explosion.
Roads—The slight depression caused
by the passage of vehicles will explode the detonator of a mine gallery under
the road where 150 or 200 shells are placed.
Barbed wire entanglements—The wire
carefully concealed in grass, causes the explosion of mines. Mines are of tern
found under bricks or tiles covered with hay or manure.
The engineers’ report was based upon
actual discoveries. Enough has been learned to show that the Germans are
resorting to every devilish device they can find and are conducting themselves
in retreat, as in advance, far worse than any other foe in the history of
warfare.
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