Don Martin diary entry for Monday, September 23, 1918:
Stayed in again today. Orders to
correspondents are they cannot leave the war zone, meaning something is soon to
happen. Played billiards for couple of hours with Battersby of Reuters [London],
a very able man who was a great friend of Tolstoy. Had dinner at the
Angleterre. Wrote nothing for New York. At night sat in [Ray] Carroll’s
[Philadelphia Public Ledger] room and listened to Junius Wood [Chicago Daily
News] abuse Cameron Mackenzie [London Chronicle] and Mackenzie good naturedly
abuse Wood. Carroll abused everyone. Bailey [London Daily Mail], [Edwin] James
[New York Times], [Wilbur] Forrest [New York Tribune] and several others came
in and talked till two in the morning when we all went to bed. Indications are
we will leave here for a few days very soon.
Don Martin’s cable sent on Monday,
September 23, to the New York Herald was published on Tuesday, Sep 24.
GERMANS MASSING POWERFUL TROOPS ON YANKEE FRONT
American Raids
Reveal New Forces
Behind Foe’s Lines In Lorraine
PREPARE FOR
BITTER DEFENSE OF POSITIONS
Engineers Develop
Hun Railway System,
Found
Almost Intact After Enemy Retreat
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, Monday
The
German forces opposite us have recovered breath since the recent shock of
General Pershing’s offensive in the St. Mihiel salient and indications now are
that they are preparing to defend bitterly every foot of the territory they
hold. In support of this theory raids during the last few days by the Americans
reveal that the enemy has placed new and powerful troops opposite us.
I have just talked with an officer in the
American forces who before entering the army was a New York city broker. When I
saw him he was just in from the front line, where he had passed a week in a
dugout, which most of the time was extremely muddy, due to the recent heavy
rains here. At home he was a modern Beau Brummel, but when I saw him he was a
rough looking specimen, muddy from head to foot.
“Yes,
life here is quite different from that at home,” he said. “However, a day under
fire and a night in a dugout are no worse than a day of bad markets on Wall
Street, followed by a sleepless night when a man is trying to prepare himself
for the following day.”
Also
I have just heard a remarkable story of a private who asked to be transferred
from the front line because he stammers. He said that recently he was held up
by a night sentry and asked for the password. He stammered an unintelligible
reply, whereupon the sentry fired at him and barely missed the mark. The
stammerer’s speech quickly returned to him. His request for transfer now is
being considered by the military authorities and probably will be approved.
The railway system which the Germans
constructed inside the St. Mihiel salient and upon which they largely relied to
make their positions inside the salient invincible, now is being used by the
Americans. Our engineers have built a narrow gauge road and now have connected
it up with the system the Germans built. It makes a splendid means of
communication for our forces. Two days after the Germans were driven out of the
salient the railroad tracks which they put down were being used by our forces
to carry ammunition forward.
The
enemy sought at various points to destroy the track and equipment of their
lines of communication, but their flight was so precipitate that they could not
complete their work of destruction. Our engineers promptly repaired the damage
the Huns had caused.
Published
in the Paris Herald on Tuesday, September 24.
INCENDIARY SHELLS OF HUNS
NOW FALL BEHIND THE LINES
German Frightfulness Now Trying Itself
Out
on Civilians in Saint-Mihiel District
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Monday
German
frightfulness is now trying itself out on the civilian population of the
villages which the Germans have evacuated in the Saint-Mihiel salient. Incendiary
shells are being sent almost constantly into the villages behind the lines.
During the German occupation of these towns the civilian population lived in
perfect security from the bombs and shells because they knew that the French
would not bomb or shell so long as there was danger of killing women and
children non-combatants. The civilian population has been almost entirely moved
from some of these villages. More than twenty incendiary shells dropped into one
village and set fire to several buildings.
On Sunday
morning the Americans put a barrage around a village which contained about a
hundred Germans. The barrage prevented the Germans from escaping except by
running toward the Americans. The Germans battled for an hour and a half in the
deserted streets of the village. There were many bayonet engagements, and at
least forty Germans are known to have been killed. All those not killed were
taken prisoner.
The American
front was quiet last night and to-day except for clashes between patrols.
The Washington Post published on
September 23 a photo titled, “Famous
Correspondent at Hero’s Grave”, of Don Martin at Quentin Roosevelt’s
gravesite.
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