Don Martin diary entry for Tuesday, September 17, 1918:
Stayed in Nancy. Had luncheon with Tom
Johnson. Had trouble finding a place to eat. The city is packed with Americans.
Wrote 1,000 words for New York. Had dinner at Angleterre. Later sat around with
Jimmie Hopper [Colliers], [Carroll] McNutt [Colliers] waiting for the air raid
alert but there was none. The operation in the Saint Mihiel salient is now
completed. We have established a new line and the Germans have also.
Don Martin sent a full report (3,300 words) on his visit to the recaptured
village of Thiaucourt to the Herald on
September 17, which was published in the September 18 New York Herald.
BOYS FROM NEW YORK TAKE A RIDE
AROUND THIAUCOURT JUST TO SEE
THE ENEMY’S BIG SHELLS EXPLODE
Men Seem
Wholly Indifferent To Danger
And View
Bombardment As Spectacle
DON MARTIN
SEES WHAT OUR GUNS DID
Wreckage On
Roads Over Which Huns Retreated
Eloquent
Testimony To Skill Of Artillery
By Don Martin,
Special Correspondent of the Herald
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Tuesday
To-day
I had another excellent opportunity to see how American soldiers act under
shell fire. I was in the village of Thiaucourt, from which the Germans
retreated last Friday night, when I heard the weird whistle of shells, followed
by their loud crump, telling the Boche, in retreat from the St. Mihiel salient,
had got his big guns emplaced well back of the Hindenburg line and was using
them. The village of Thiaucourt, which normally has a population of about 3,000,
now is filled with American soldiers.
The
first shell from the Germans struck within two blocks of the Red Cross
hospital, which formerly was the City Hall and which was used by the enemy as a
hospital up to the time of their evacuation of the town. When I first saw it
the German sign still was in front of the building. Now the hospital is partly filled with American wounded who were
engaged Friday forenoon in the advance around and capture of Thiaucourt.
When the first shell struck, German prisoners
were carrying wounded from ambulances to the hospital. Other shells followed
quickly, and the Germans at once started to run for shelter. Only by the
sternest commands of our officers could they be made to resume their work. All
those prisoners who were not so engaged were quick to find places where they
thought they would be safe from the shells.
Indifferent To Bombardment
Indifferent to the danger of the enemy fire,
our own men, however, halted not a second in their work, even when the shells
were falling within a hundred feet of the hospital.
Despite the fact that the situation was at
best somewhat disquieting, our surgeons there worked away as steadily and as
nonchalantly as though they were in the operating rooms of their own hospitals
at home, thousands of miles from the front. Meanwhile the enemy’s shelling was
most severe and many of his projectiles struck buildings close to the hospital,
shattering them and leaving great holes in the ground.
Not a single man in the marching lines of our
soldiers passing through Thiaucourt was the least disturbed by the shells, and
not one of them even looked as if he wanted to step out of the line to a place
of greater safety. During the entire half hour that the strafing continued our
men seemed to look on it all simply as an interesting spectacle.
At least 100 shells fell in the vicinity of
the hospital, not without some casualties.
While
the bombardment was in progress one of our ambulances reached the hospital with
four wounded Americans, one of whom was a giant Texan, six feet two inches
tall. Two German prisoner of small stature were assigned to help him from the
ambulance to the hospital, as the Texan had a wound in one of his feet that
prevented him walking. He put his arms around the prisoners’ shoulders and
limped forward, a queer spectacle for onlookers. When some one remarked at it
the Texan said: “They are doing the best they can. The whole trouble is that
they are too short for me.”
Shell Strikes Close By
As
he spoke a huge shell struck less than a block away from him, but it made no
difference. Nothing could daunt him.
At
the edge of the town I saw an old fashioned barouche similar to the open
victorias we have in New York City streets. It was drawn by a very lean and
aged horse and represented the entire world possessions of a refugee. On the
driver’s seat was Benjamin H. Lewis, of Gould (a village in Upshur county), W.
Va. In the barouche and as happy as two larks were J. A. Driscoll, of No. 22
Manhattan Avenue, New York city, and P. J. Sarkey, of No. 191 Collier street,
Brooklyn. They were on rest leave and when I stopped them they told me that
they were having a drive around the town to see the shells strike.
Not
a man of this trio nor in the marching lines of our troops through Thiaucourt
was injured by the shelling, although practically every one of them was
sprinkled by dust and dirt from thrown up earth and crumbled masonry.
Lieutenant J. W. Lane, of No. 202 Manhattan
avenue, New York city, was another of our men whom I saw in Thiaucourt. He was
engaged as a balloon observer and went about his business during the
bombardment as if it was nothing more than a rain shower.
“I do not believe in taking unnecessary
chances, but with regard to shell fire I am beginning to look on it as do many
of our soldiers,” he told me. “If a man’s name is on a shell, it will get him,
and if its not, it won’t. So what’s the use worrying about it?”
The
enemy now is shelling many of the towns and villages which they lost in their
retreat northward and they are bombing freely, as they always do when they are
angered. This shelling is taken to mean that the Germans have selected the
place on which they intend to try to make a firm stand. This will be back of
the Hindenburg line.
Huns Are Digging In
From points along our front this afternoon
observation posts could see the Huns digging in in the region of Dommartin.
Also they are digging trenches a kilometre in front of the old Hindenburg
positions. However, there is no possibility that they will attempt to recover
the terrain they have lost here, which now is permanently in the possession of
the allies. This is conceded even by German officers who are in a position to
know what is in the minds of men prominent in their armies.
The
elaborate trench system of the Germans, their machine gun nests built on solid
concrete, their mammoth, heavy gun emplacements and a thousand and one other features
of fortification built to repulse an allied attack show conclusively that the
Boche intended to defend to the last ditch the territory here that the American
force recovered in the brief space of thirty-six hours.
To-day
I visited many towns and villages of importance in the salient all the way from
Pont-à-Mousson westward to St. Mihiel. I began where our attack started and
motored far north in the salient. From Apremont I went to Richecourt, Loupemont,
Essey, St. Baussant, Lahayville and many others that whenever they are
mentioned will ever recall memories of American valor.
In some of these towns and villages there is
to-day not a wall standing. In some of them conditions are as bad as in the
Somme territory devastated by the Hun in four years of bitterest warfare.
Indeed, in some cases, the destruction is worse than anything I saw in the
Marne region.
Ruins Overgrown With Grass
A
greater part of this destruction was the result of the German attacks four
years ago and French attempts to recover the ground lost then. To-day many of
the ruins are overgrown with grass. Many old churches are entirely wiped out.
Thiaucourt
was damaged only slightly. Some of the roads thereabout – roads which were once
famous for their beautiful fringes of poplars and cottonwoods, like those along
the roadsides in the Dakota “Bad Lands”, are ruined, the trees gone, apparently
having been cut down by the Germans three or four years ago and used by them for timber purposes. At the very best
it was a cruel mutilation of the beautiful things of nature.
For
ten square miles of the territory through which I motored I saw a wilderness of
barbed wire, weeds and torn up earth, with here and there a fine garden which
had been planted by the Germans. The panorama on the whole, however, was the
most dismal I ever saw–worse than that in the region north of Soissons, which
was supposed to be one of the most ghastly on the face of the earth.
Every
town and village here shows the effect of terrific fighting four years ago,
when the Hun hordes invaded it, and added to this is the effect of the American
and French artillery attacks last week. Our guns left many scars on the
terrain. The earth was churned up for miles around, roads were torn to pieces
and bridges destroyed. Assisted by our airplane bombers, our artillerists did
much to harass the enemy as he fled northward over the roads.
In
the region around Montsec I saw dungeons and caves in the mountains. There were
electric light wires running into them and the floors were littered with
personal articles and letters and papers which belonged to the Germans.
Officers in these shelters lived in comparative luxury while allied shells
pounded futilely over their heads.
Encircling The Heights
While
the surface of these heights is dented by thousands of shell holes made by the
guns, the caves and dungeons are undamaged. An inspection of this mountain
shows that the Allies chose the only way of capturing the enormous pile of rock–by proceeding by way of an encircling movement.
Thousands
of American engineers to-day are swarming over this region, and the landscape
yesterday and to-day presented a scene of great activity. Thousands of men
swarmed like ants over the terrain, burying German dead, repairing roads and
cleaning away the debris from villages from which the Huns had fled.
The
effect of our shelling of this area must have been very serious on the enemy
troops. In one of the roads I saw a wagon standing undamaged, but by it horses
lay dead and inside it were two dead Germans, victims of one of our shells. In
another place I saw a smashed camion with six dead Germans around it. Scattered
along the roads were scores of ammunition wagons, or, rather, fragments of
ammunition wagons.
At
a certain crossroads I saw another striking indication of the intense savagery
of the fire. Mile after mile of retreating German troops must have passed the
spot. Within a circle of fire five hundred feet in diameter there I counted
three hundred shell holes of varying size. At the intersection of the roads the
highways were completely wiped out.
The
efficiency of our artillery explains one of the reasons why the tide of war has
turned against Germany. Add to this artillery efficiency the tenacity of the
American soldiers.
“Terrify Their
Enemies”
“I
have been at war for four years and during that time I have fought men of every
nationality in the allied armies, but I never saw soldiers begin a charge with
such coolness as the Americans show,” a German officer who is one of our prisoners
told me. “By their very coolness they simply terrify their enemies.”
I
talked with one of the foremost British military experts about the same
subject. He saw them on the Marne and came to see them in the first great
military operation of their own. He watched the attack here from staff
headquarters. This is what he afterward told me: “If I could criticise, I
would. In fact, I would like to criticise good naturedly, because such
criticism is helpful. There is no chance for criticism here. The St. Mihiel
operation was perfect. Not a thing done could be improved upon, which means
that the work of the General Staff and of the fighting men is wonderful. It is
easy to understand why the tide turned definitely and swiftly in your favor.”
A
singular thing in the spirit of thousands of Americans is that those of them
who were not called on to take part in the fight, but were held in reserve,
were greatly disappointed. I passed several hours with a division of stalwart
men from the Far West who were disgruntled because they were not in the fight.
“We want to lick somebody,” one of them said to me. “Sitting around here is bad
for us. Give us fighting to do.”
As
I write this American troops continue to whip up the vast woods that we have in
their search for more Germans who may be hiding in them. Almost constantly our
men are unearthing new supply dumps which the enemy left behind. These supplies
and the capture by us of so many prisoners is the plainest kind of proof that
the Huns have suffered another serious humiliation.
Treatment Of French Civilians
I
have talked with hundreds of French civilians who were forced to live with the
Germans in this territory for four years. Some of them told me that they were
treated fairly well. Others said they were treated with Spartan sternness and
some of them were compelled to supply a fixed quantity of food for German
officers every day. Many of them were forced by their overlords to do various
kinds of work.
An
aged man who lived in Pannes told me that the German commandant in that village
had said to him that the Kaiser would enter Paris in August of this year. This
man added that when the Kaiser made his trip along the German lines last June,
at the time of the Hun advance, he
stopped in Pannes and reviewed three divisions garrisoned there, telling them
in an address that they were the best soldiers in the world; that they would
conquer the Allies, including America, and would dictate the terms of peace.
He
told me that a thousand times the German commandant in Pannes and other Germans
there had declared that Germany was ordained to rule the world. He declared
that the Huns were kind to the aged French when the German armies were
victorious and that they were wolf like when their armies met with reverses. Indeed,
I may say that this war has demonstrated that this is true of all Germans,
except the ignorant privates, who are like wild men.
Predicts Early Allied Victory
A
few days ago I saw 4,000 German prisoners captured in this salient lined up on
a plateau. Among them were forty Prussian officers who were not of the
supercilious kind. One of them, who had studied in England, spoke perfect
English. I was permitted to ask him when he thought the war would end. “Pretty soon,” he said. “I believe that it
has got to end soon. Some of the soldiers, however, still believe that Germany
can win, but with America in the war to my mind it is certain that the Entente
will win. It is impossible for us to stand up against such force as you have.
Our officers know that you have a million men in France and have millions more
to back them up. What can we do against such odds?”
This
was the first that a real Prussian officer–and I have talked with many of
them–would admit that the Entente will win the war. It shows a distinct
change of heart since America got out of her swaddling clothes and donned the
regalia of trained and daring warriors.
One
of these captured Prussian officers had a fox terrier which he had carried
through trench and patrol duty for a period of two years. He gave this terrier
to an American officer as a souvenir.
Many
amazing pictures were to be seen as the prisoners marched back through our
lines. All of them were smiling. Many of them waved their hands to friends as
though they had not seen them for years. Indeed, there was a waving of hats, as
if it were a great family reunion or a crowd starting out on a holiday
excursion.
Our
home folks would be astonished if they could see American soldiers tuned for
war. For several days the roads here have been filled with ammunition trains,
supply trains, “goulash cannon” and all the paraphernalia of war. The lines of
our soldiers would reach from Battery to Westchester. To-day I saw a thousand
of them in a field eating luncheon. I asked some of them if they got enough to
eat. “Sure, we get plenty, and it is
good, too,” they replied. “Take it from me, Uncle Sam feeds well, and that’s
the way to keep us going. Napoleon knew what he was talking about when he said
something about bellies and soldiers.”
In
a village a kilometre from the front line, I talked with a dozen husky
privates, some of whom were from the State of Washington and some from
Missouri. They were in pursuit of the Huns. They declared that they had had a
hard job finding them, but when they were found the enemy was in trenches,
dugouts and woods with his hands up. “There can be no doubt that the German
soldier is a great fighter when he is winning, but it looks to the bunch as if
he has cracked around here,” one of them told me.
In
a small village taken by us in this sector the village belle returned to her
home after four years of exile. As soon as she returned to her native place a
soldier to whom she was engaged found her and they were married.
It
was a happy touch of romance in war time that the incident brought to this
village. There was a wedding procession through the streets from the bride’s
home to the village church. She wore a white gown and the bridegroom in uniform
and men and women dressed in black walked solemnly behind them. Hundreds of
American soldiers stood along the sidewalks and watched the procession pass.
Settling Down On Occupied Ground
With
the Boche back on the old Hindenburg line, or back of it, the American troops
now are settling down on the territory they have wrested from the enemy. The
operation, it appears, has been finished. Following three feeble counter
attacks last Saturday morning, for a moment it looked as if the enemy intended
making a big thrust. Soon afterward, however, aerial observers reported that
there was a heavy movement of German troops northeastward, where, it appears,
the enemy is preparing a rugged and straight line of defence.
From
forward observation positions we have seen more than a dozen fires on German
ground. At this time it is impossible to tell what they mean. We know, however,
that at least a dozen small villages have been burned to the ground by the Huns
and everything in them destroyed.
American
cavalry has taken a prominent part in repelling counter attacks by the Germans. When the enemy attacked, our
cavalry dashed among them and in every case the enemy troops turned and fled.
Where cavalry mounts could not penetrate, the cavalrymen dismounted and pursued
the fleeing Huns, killing and capturing many of them.
The
territory out of which we have driven the Germans here is much like the farming
country of New England or any of the Eastern States. Much of it is wooded, with
rolling hills. There are no rivers, creeks, canals. Most of it is in waste,
because of the fact that it was neglected during the German occupation.
The
Americans and French have moved their heavy guns forward into the newly
occupied territory with amazing rapidity. It has, indeed, been a shock to the
Huns, who are receiving no rest by day or night.
At
Nonsard, Pannes, Limey and Regnierveille-en-Haye, the Germans had built huge
dugouts and from these places their trenches could be seen winding in a zigzag
course for miles across the rolling landscape. For a distance of ten miles one
could see only traces of trenches in a wilderness of barbed wire, with here and
there a concrete pill box. The hillsides presented the aspect of ancient Indian
villages of communal houses dug into the rock and in which the Germans lived
while they held this territory.
These
strongholds were believed by the Germans to be bulwarks which nothing could
break down. Our troops dispelled their illusion, and the clothing, fresh food
and letters which we found there show the great haste with which the enemy
withdrew. Wrecked cannons by the roadsides, trains of ammunition left standing
on the narrow gauge railroads, the vast quantity of supplies and ammunition
dumps that are miles long – all these things are good indications that the Huns
again were taken by surprise.
Don Martin followed up that dispatch with another about captured German documents and his visit ti Essey, which was also published in the New York
Herald on September 18.
SOCIALISTS
WORRY HUN COMMAND
BY THEIR PROPAGANDA
Captured Documents Show Germany
Disturbed By Spread Of Doctrines
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, Tuesday
That
the German retreat from the St. Mihiel salient was even more precipitous than
we at first imagined is now known, following the discovery of thousands of
official documents which, in their haste to get away, the enemy left at their
various headquarters. Also they left hundreds of thousands of blank cards that
they use in making official reports and huge quantities of stationary that the
Americans now find good use for.
It
is evident from the things discovered by our men and from the records of the
German Intelligence Department that the enemy is having his worries over
conditions within Germany and with regard to the spread of socialistic
propaganda throughout the German armies. Authors of pamphlets which I saw
appeal to the German soldiers to remember that as soon as the present war is
over the German government will try to militarize labor so that it can begin
preparations for the next war, which, they declare, is sure to come.
These
socialistic writers make no appeal to the German soldier to quit fighting. They
ask them to be on their guard after the war in order to thwart the scheme of
the men who now are wasting millions of lives and meanwhile facing disaster–to prevent these militaristic leaders from placing an iron yoke on the neck of
German labor.
Mourning for late Sultan
We
found an official copy of an order issued by the Kaiser just after the death of
Mohammed V., Sultan of Turkey, who died on July 3 last, in which he called on
all Germans in Turkey to wear mourning for a period of eight days and on all
German soldiers in Europe to observe a period of mourning.
Scores
of documents which we found relate to American units. One of them, dated on
September 9, says: “Observations and reconnoisances fail to indicate that the
Americans will make a big offensive, as reported, on both banks of the
Moselle.” This is another instance where German efficiency failed.
One
of the most interesting of all the pamphlets left by the Germans in their
flight is entitled “How to cook weeds.” It gives a description of eight
varieties of nutritious weeds and gives directions for making them palatable.
Americans were busy this afternoon restoring
the town of Essey about five and a half kilometers southwest of Thiaucourt,
which the enemy held only a few days ago. In one building there we found a
complete mess outfit and the furniture used by a German general. There was a
long table, elaborate and heavily carved chairs, a piano of German manufacture,
china, glassware and tableware, also of German make; oatmeal, pickles, jams and
spices.
When
I entered the place I found quite an unusual scene. Private Albert W. Barker
was standing at the piano singing in a fine tenor voice the old song, “Dear Old Pal of Mine.” Private Harry B.
Adams, of Kansas City, Kan., played the piano accompaniment. Private Wells, who
before entering the army was a professional singer, formed the third of the
trio, while Captain J.E. Soper, formerly a physician of Minneapolis, and
Private Stephen Berte, of No. 691 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, were interested
listeners. Just as I entered the building Private Berte remarked that war was
not so bad.
In
the kitchen, transforming it for American use, were Privates George M. Hart, of
Nyack; Preston Gre, of Hurtsboro, Ala.; James K. McDonald and Gaston A. Smith,
also of Alabama, and Norman O. Smith, of Columbus Ohio. The fact that bombs had
been dropped close to the building by German flyers the night before and even
then German shells were falling near it troubled them not a bit.
For Paris, Don Martin wrote on September 17 about successes in the air war, which was published in the Paris Herald on Wednesday,
Sept 18.
BRITISH AIR DREADNOUGHTS
SOW HAVOC IN RHINE TOWNS;
AMEX FLIER’S GREAT FEAT
Giant Handley-Page Aeroplanes
Are Bombing Pulse Of German War Machine Day And Night—American Pilot Downs
Three Enemy Planes, Fighting Against Big Odds
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
With The American Armies, Tuesday.
In the last
week’s activity on their front the Americans have had scores of encounters with
German planes, and have made an excellent score notwithstanding that they lost
some machines. The enemy hurriedly brought a fleet of sixty aeroplanes to the
American front, but despite this the French, with the Americans aiding them,
maintained supremacy in the air.
A lieutenant,
whose name cannot be mentioned because he was injured, had a thrilling
experience. He went up with a patrol and lost his way. He headed into the sun
and was caught in an adverse wind. An enemy machine suddenly appeared and the
two fought until the Hun went down in flames. The American, who was well over
the enemy’s lines, was endangered by shrapnel.
He was
wheeling about trying to ascertain his whereabouts when ten enemy machines flew
around him. He fought them all until two went to the ground, and escaped the
others by diving into a cloud. He was directly on his way homeward, having
found his location, when he was struck in the head by a piece of shrapnel. His
official report says he remembers nothing after that. He was found by some
American soldiers well back of his own line, after making a perfect landing,
notwithstanding that he was unconscious.
Lieutenant C.
R. D. Olive with Lieutenant Furlow recently brought down three German planes in
a fight which lasted half an hour. Lieutenants Carruthers and Harding also
brought down a plane.
British,
American and Italian aviators are bombing Rhine towns and German cities 200
miles from our bases every day and night. Without a doubt the Huns are
receiving a splendid dose of their own medicine. Great Handley-Page machines
are flying constantly over German territory, dropping huge bombs on factories,
railway yards, etc. They are doing terrible damage to property which the
Germans need for war use. The great British machines are veritable air
dreadnoughts.
Don Martin on September 17 also sent a happy story to Paris, which was published in the Paris Herald on Wednesday,
Sept 18.
St.-Mihiel Rejoices
When 70
Young Frenchmen Return
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
With The American Armies, Tuesday.
There was great rejoicing in
Saint-Mihiel to-day when about seventy young men, who had been carried out of
the town to be used as workers in German factories, returned. They had been
overtaken by the French and Americans at Vigneulles.
The Germans had carried them along
as rapidly as possible, but at Vigneulles left them behind, as they regarded
them as a handicap to swift progress.
The refugees arrived at
Saint-Mihiel this afternoon. A great crowd greeted them. Their parents and
relatives embraced them. It was all a very touching picture. The young men were
hurriedly gathered together on the night of the American attack and torn away
despite the pleadings of relatives.
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