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September 20, 1918: Don Martin sends variety of reports, on quiet front

Don Martin diary entry for Friday, September 20, 1918: 
Stayed in Nancy. Took long walk. Had dinner at Angleterre with [Edwin] James [New York Times] and [Herbert] Corey [Everybody’s Magazine]. Sent about 400 words to New York. All marking time till new operation by Americans is started.
       Don Martin sent to New York dated September 20 an extended (1200 words) dispatch with all the news he had gathered, while there was not much action on this front. It was published in the New York Herald on Saturday, September 21.
ENEMY TRIPLES THE DEFENSES AROUND METZ
Observations and Statements by Prisoners
Show Huns Expect Big Attack
HUNS NOW ADMIT U.S. SUPERIORITY
Their Best Troops Gone, the German High Command
Is More Than Perplexed for “Substitutes.”
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
                       Observations coupled with statements made by new prisoners indicate that the Germans are considering the possibility of an American attack toward Metz, and in anticipation of it they have tripled the strength of their fortifications surrounding the city to a depth of ten miles. A Belgian who said he had been compelled to fight in the German army and had deserted gave valuable information to our intelligence officers. He says the people in the vicinity of Metz are moving out of range of the guns. He says he saw a tablet on the wall of a powerful Metz fort saying that the Kaiser was there on June 14, 1914. The Germans said he inspected the forts to see if they were in good condition, as war was soon to start.
                       The Germans are taking desperate measures to prevent the spread of allied propaganda. Soldiers are imprisoned who are found carrying documents dropped by allied airmen, and they are disciplined if they are heard speaking of them.
           In the meantime evidence of German deterioration is growing. It becomes evident the Huns are using an iron discipline in bringing order out of the recent temporary demoralization. They seem to be preparing to strike a blow of some kind which is likely to be heavy, but which certainly will fail.
           It is now known to the American military authorities that Germany has 198 divisions of slightly more than 10,000 men to a division—or a total of about 2,000,000 men—on the western front.
           Of these, sixty divisions are in reserve. Since last July German has disbanded ten divisions as a result of her combing out process to get men to fill up the depleted ranks of her shock units.
           The German losses since last march, as nearly as can be estimated, have amounted to 1,300,000 men, many of whom were the enemy’s best troops.
           The fact is that while the German High Command even now has many men available, the chief difficulty with which it is confronted is that its best troops have been killed or incapacitated.
           Captured enemy officers to-day frankly admit that the German troops of to-day are no match for the fresh and sturdy Americans.
Divisional Strength of Army Groups
           Figures which are authentic and highly interesting show that the various German army groups consist of approximately the following number of divisions:--
     Commander                                 Active             Reserve
     Crown Prince Rupprecht                  32                    22
     Von Boehm                                       32                    36
     Cr. Prince Fred’k William                  22                     7
     Von Gallwitz                                      12                     4
     Duke Albert of Wurttemburg             16                     2
                       Man power is Germany’s chief concern now. Prisoners, among them officers who are in a position to know what they are talking about, declare that she has everything she needs except men—she can substitute everything else.
                       A prisoner who before the war was a professor in a school in Cologne said that the German soldiers now fully realize the situation and call the Crown Prince a nonentity, the Kaiser a maudlin sentimentalist and say that Ludendorff is suspected of being, and Von Hindenburg is, a failure.
                       The statement of this one-time professor would, perhaps, not be so important if it stood alone and unconfirmed, but it is borne out in statements contained in letters which have been carefully examined by the American military authorities. Thousands of these letters, written by German soldiers to home folks in various parts of Germany, have been found on prisoners captured in the recent drive. Many letters had not been mailed and were highly illuminating, sine they unquestionably reflected the true conditions existing in the enemy ranks. The German soldiers are permitted to write what they please to their relatives and friends at home, and there is no enemy censorship on letters addressed by German soldiers to persons inside Germany.
Marked Decline in Enemy Morale
                       To-day I had a talk with Captain Griffiths, who is in charge of all matters of this kind. He has working under him a large force of translators and interpreters.
                       “Before the recent German offensive on the Marne the feeling among the German masses was normal, but German victories were necessary to maintain a high spirit,” he said. “To-day the German morale is lower than it ever was before and there is great anxiety among German soldiers and civilians regarding the future. All of them say the war cannot last, but they do not know when and how it will end. Every German is disappointed and many of them are embittered at the failure of the German leaders to end the war this year, as they had promised to do. The attitude of the German soldier now—and they are but reflecting that of their people at home—is that “we can’t win the war and neither can you.”
                       “It unquestionably is true that Germany now is in a worse plight than she ever was.”
                       Thousands of statements by German prisoners have been weighed by Captain Griffiths and upon the mass of them he based his opinion. All the prisoners say that at present the officers in the German armies lack efficiency and have been promoted after very short apprenticeships. In the old days a German officer would rather be shot than be made a prisoner, and the same was true of most German privates. Now it is quite different.
Bolstering Army Spirit
                       Among the printed pamphlets and circulars distributed throughout the enemy forces by order of the German military authorities and which recently came into our hands is the copy of a circular aimed at combating the efforts of the Allies to take the truth to the German soldiers by way of propaganda. The copy of this captured circular reads in part as follows:--
                       “The enemy realizes that we (the Germans) cannot be crushed by their blockade, superior numbers or military force. Therefore, he is trying by trickery and by underhanded methods to break the bone of your confidence in the invincibility of Germany.
                       “He has established a special ministry to destroy German confidence, and that thoroughgoing rascal Lord Northcliffe has been made the head of it. He has billions of dollars at his disposal to influence public opinion and to assassinate ambassadors. To-day, with the aid of aviators, he is distributing leaflets inside our lines in order to help carry on this propaganda.
                       “Northcliffe forgets the inexhaustible resources of Germany, and he forgets that the German soldiers are neither negroes, Hindus or illiterate French, British or Americans who are incapable of seeing through his machinations.”
                       The German forces in this sector are stiffening their resistance along most of the line and there have been some enemy raids, apparently for the purpose of seeing how the land is on our side. This was expected by us.
                       The question of when the war is going to end now is on the lips of many men. I have asked it of many men of prominence—distinguished men who have a thorough knowledge of conditions. They have told me that they think Germany has two years more of fight in her. But it would be glad to make peace now if the Allies would consent to it.
                       The youthfulness of many German soldiers now is surprising. Some of them are mere boys. Near Nonsard the Americans captured many of these youths and after giving them bread and jam, asked them if they felt that they were old enough to smoke cigarettes. Our men are treating these fellows like little brothers.
       Another dispatch dated September 20 told a story of bombarding Metz. It was published in the New York Herald on Saturday, September 21.
Nine Inch and Larger U.S. Guns 
Bombard Metz
Artillery Attack on German Fortifications 
Began Sundown
Seven Privates Find Hun 75 and Fire Fifty Shots
“Toward” Metz Until Officers Stop Party
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
                       The fortifications of the German stronghold of Metz have been under fire of American guns for the last five days. The first shot from these guns at the fortress was fired last Sunday. The firing has been at intervals since then.
                       In connection with this historic and important development in this sector, I now am permitted to relate an interesting incident which occurred during the Germans retreat northward last week.
                       Seven American private found a German “seventy-five” in the woods near Vigneulles. They had never seen one of these guns before and knew little of the intricacies of its mechanism and operation. There was plenty of ammunition near it, however, and one of them suggested that they “shoot up Metz.”
                       At once the decision to do so was unanimous. They loaded the gun and one of them pulled the lanyard—“Boom!” sounded the first shot. They fired fifty shells before our officers discovered them.
                       It is one of the regrettable incidents of the operation here that we doubtless will never know where these shells struck. They knew the general direction of Metz, and most of the shots were aimed that way. However, they omitted the niceties of accurate range finding and fired north, northeast and northwest indiscriminately.
                       “We will bet you real money that Metz is in ruins by this time,” one of them said to a sergeant when he found them.
         Don Martin's daily dispatch for Paris on September 20 reported several interesting war stories. It was published in the Paris Herald on Sept 21.    
DO NOT FORGET TO DEFILE WELLS, SAYS HUN ARMY ORDER
Yale Football Player Has Exciting Experience in Tank—Yanks repulse Raids
 (Special Telegram to the Herald)
By Don Martin
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Friday.
            That the Germans are just as diabolical as ever is shown by an official document issued by a commanding officer, which says, “It should be remembered that there are means to defile all wells.” The order, which is apropos of the large amount of property left by the Germans in their various retreats, is dated September 5. “There must be more completeness and less haste in destruction,” it says. “Division will be held responsible for all material not destroyed.”
            An interesting story is told by John Castles, of New York and Morristown, N.J., a former Yale football player. During a recent operation in the Saint-Mihiel salient, while he was commanding a tank, it got stuck in a hole; the machinery went wrong and it was impossible to get it restarted. While he was examining the situation thirty Germans in a trench nearby surrendered to him. He turned them over to a sergeant, and they started away, while Castles remained to see what could be done with the tank.
            Meantime the Germans got the range of the tank, and machine-gun bullets began to play all around. Castles got under cover and yelled to the sergeant to return with the prisoners. He then assisted two Germans who knew something about tanks, and they managed to get the tank running. Castles got inside and started on, while the sergeant went back with the prisoners.
            The Germans attempted two raids on the Americans last night, one southeast of Haumont, the other near the Bois de Villers. Both were easily repulsed. We lost a few men slightly injured, while the Germans lost several killed.
            There are indications that the enemy is strongly entrenching himself north of Haumont. The civilian population of several villages inside the German lines is being taken back to a place near Metz. According to captured documents, the Germans are worried by the dropping of propaganda pamphlets among their soldiers. The Americans found a German, with his hands tied, who said he had been sentenced to eight days’ prison for having propaganda matter in his possession. The strictest regulations have been made to prevent soldiers talking about propaganda or discussing military matters. Even officers are not permitted to ask other officers about military movements. Everything indicates the truth of what I emphasized in my despatches yesterday, that the Germans are having serious difficulties among the rank and file of the army.
            American fliers have encountered a new type of German machine. It is as small as a monoplane, but carries two men. One was engaged yesterday by an American flier, who sent it down in flames, but one of the two occupants leaped over and came down in a parachute, which was attacked in a skilful fashion. Our fliers have been active over the lines to-day. The Germans ventured over the boundary only occasionally. Ten Fokkers attacked an American day-bombing squadron, but the Americans came through without casualties.
       And Don Martin also reported on the American air war on September 20, published in the Paris Herald on Sept 21.    
 American Fliers’ Coolness 
Praised By British Expert

(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By Don Martin
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Friday.
            No finer tribute to the skill and courage of the American fliers can be paid than that given by a distinguished commander of the Independent Air Force of the Royal Flying Corps, which has been co-operating with the Americans. He says that American fliers are as good as the British or French; that they are calm and cool and carry everything out splendidly. “Trust them with anything and they will do it.”
              Perhaps this commander knows as much about flying as anyone in the world and he glows with enthusiasm when speaking of the achievements of the American boys. He can say nothing better than that they are equal to the British and French, for they have been the masters of the air for years.
            The British commander talked of the effects of bombing and said that four-fifths of the effectiveness of night bombing is lost if day bombing does not accompany it. “The only thing to do if it is intended to carry on bombing is to make life in the regions bombed insufferable. The two objects of bombing are to destroy material and, of vaster importance, to destroy the enemies’ morale. The bombing of military objectives in the German cities is especially effective because of the teaching in Germany from childhood that the Fatherland is sacred, inviolate and impregnable.”
            “The only way at present that we can carry the war into Germany is by bombing, and we are doing it with great success; we are giving the Germans an impressive sample of what France has suffered. They are getting a bitter taste of the woes and wretchedness that they attempted to impose on all nations. These raids have done enormous damage to German towns along the Rhine. One city had its gas supply shut off and tramcar service paralyzed. People began to leave these towns long ago.”
           A brief human interest story about German boy soldiers was published in the Paris Herald on Sept 21.    
Americans and British 
Capture Boy Prisoners
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By Don Martin
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Friday.
              An interesting story is told of some German prisoners who were taken recently while fighting against the British. Three Germans who had been captured were sent back because they were mere boys. Each took back with him a loaf of bread and had a note which the British lieutenant wrote to the German commander and read: “Send these home to their mothers, where they belong; we are fighting against men and not children.”
              The American troops recently captured half a dozen boys who said they were nineteen, but looked nearer fifteen. The Americans treated them in a fatherly way and said that they should never have left home without having their mother or father with them.
       The New York Herald published on Friday, September 20, a photo and description of the German supercannon platform, which Don Martin had reported about earlier.  
GUN PLATFORM FOR THE SUPERCANNON THAT SHELLED PARIS


The amazing incident described by Mr. Don Martin in his special cable to the Herald this morning of the crew of a German big gun hidden in a dense wood during the retreat from St. Mihiel, shelling the former American lines, lends peculiar interest to the above photograph of the German “Superkanon” which was bombarding Paris for a long time, but is now silenced. The discovery was made after Huns had been thrown back on the Vesle River in the great Marne counter attack. A party of Franco-American patrols came suddenly upon a colossal gun platform in the Bois de Chatelet, southwest of Brecy. The platform measured eleven metres in diameter, was 3.33M in thickness and weighed about 1,100 tons of solid steel. There were railroad tracks radiating from its centre, working two connections to other railroads. The Huns succeeded in taking away the gun itself.

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