Don Martin diary entry for Tuesday, September 24, 1918:
Stayed in again. Wrote about 600 words cable
on the doughboy as a fighting man. Major Bulger, chief of press section, at six
this afternoon told all the correspondents to be ready to start off on a three
or four day trip at short notice. We cannot leave Nancy tonight or tomorrow.
This means the Americans are to start an offensive somewhere probably west of
Verdun. My opinion is it will be a big French offensive with the Americans
co-operating. We have a vast army ready for business. Had dinner at Angleterre
with Claire Kennimore of St. Louis, McNutt of Colliers and Boothboy of the
Y.M.C.A.
That was Don Martin’s last diary
entry, written on Tuesday, September 24, 1918, in Nancy. Why he stopped and whether he wrote more that didn't survive, we do not know. It was then less than two weeks until his death.
Don Martin's September 24 daily dispatch for Paris on developments at the front was brief. It was published
in the Paris Herald on Wednesday, September 25.
GERMANS OPEN FURIOUS FIRE
ON AMEX FRONT
Artillery Bombardment Is the Most
Intense
Since the Saint-Mihiel Victory
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Tuesday
Furious
artillery engagements marked last night on a large part of the American front.
Beginning
soon after midnight, an American raiding party started for the Germans’ region
south of Preney. The outposts were abandoned but for a small section enclosed
in a box barrage. There was considerable stiff fighting here for half an hour.
The Americans took five prisoners and lost none.
The
Germans opened up with the heaviest artillery fire since the Saint-Mihiel
salient was cleared. The guns echoed for hours. Villages nineteen to twenty
kilomètres back were shelled to-day by a six-inch gun.
Also for Paris, Don Martin sent this somewhat confused brief report, which perhaps was shortened in its publication in the Paris Herald on Wednesday,
September 25.
GERMAN-AMERICAN CAPTURED
IN BALLOON BROUGHT DOWN
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Tuesday
A German observation
balloon was brought down over our lines by anti-aircraft guns. Both fliers are
uninjured.
One is a German-American,
who before the war was a dealer in motorcycles in Sixth avenue, New York.
Comments
Post a Comment