Don
Martin diary entry for Thursday, September 5, 1918:
Went out with [Fred] Ferguson [U.P.] and [Carroll]
McNutt [Colliers]. Had luncheon with some doctors at Cohan – a good luncheon
too. Visited Fismes which the Germans had recently. While there gas shells
dropped so we got out. Visited observation post close to the line and saw the
effect of our shelling on the heights between Vesle and the Aisne.
Don Martin cabled to New York on September 5 that the crossing of the Vesle River was "one of the most important developments of the war." His dispatch was published in the New York
Herald on Friday, September 6.
AMERICANS HURRY HUN RETIREMENT BEYOND
THE VESLE
Doughboys Go Forward with Dash
and Keep
in Touch with Enemy
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,
Thursday
The opinion of military
experts who are in intimate touch with the retreat of the Germans north of the
Vesle is that it is one of the most important developments of the war and means
that the Huns finally realize that it is impossible for them to check the
gigantic allied forces except at specially prepared strongholds.
It is regarded by them as
likely that the Huns will go as far as the Chemin-des-Dames, where they have
prepared defenses of the greatest possible resistance.
To-day I had a glimpse of the
damage wrought by the Huns in their retreat north. It was a picture almost
identical with that between the Marne and the Vesle. Scores of huge ammunition
dumps have been destroyed. Pillars of flame have been seen for several nights
and it is believed the enemy has destroyed great supplies of ammunition.
They did not have time to get
much of it out, as the transportation is bad in the Vesle region. Indeed, this
transportation problem has made his retreat more serious for him than was at
first thought.
Americans have been in the thick of the
fighting in this region. While there has been no big engagement, the fighting
has been continuous. The German high command has put his bravest troops into
the fighting, but they were not able to stem the tide and check our victorious
onrush.
Among First to Cross Vesle
Before we reached the Vesle
Fismette was the scene of everlasting sniping and patrol clashes every night.
It was one of the most trying spots that the Americans have been in. All the
time we were there—that is, until we forced the Germans to withdraw
northward—the Huns were on the heights above us. Whenever we wished to move out
of the town, even under the cover of darkness, the Huns would splash Fismette
with a deluge of gas and shrapnel.
It was therefore a great
relief to our men when, at daybreak last Wednesday, they got the order to
advance. They crawled stealthily through the valley to the heights above and
found the Germans had gone.
As I write this the Americans
and the French are ascending the heights far north of the Vesle on a wide
front. While we are meeting some resistance, we believe that we will be able to
force the Huns north of the Aisne, even should he not go there voluntarily.
The Americans were proud to
be among the first of the allied troops to cross the Vesle after the enemy,
just as they were in the middle of July the first to cross the Marne and then,
later, the Ourcq.
Don Martin's daily report for Paris on September 5 was published in the Paris
Herald on Friday, September 6.
FRENCH CAPTURE COUCY AS GERMANS RETREAT FROM THE AILETTE
Covered by Strong Rearguard forces, Germans Continue Their Retreat from
the Vesle Toward Their Old Line North of the Aisne, Which Is reached at Several
Points by Franco-American Patrols
(SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE HERALD)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Thursday
With strong indication that he will
not attempt to stay the persistent advance of the Allies at the Aisne, except
for a brief period, The Germans last night and to-day continued their retreat
northward from the Vesle, leaving strong, and in many instances courageous
machine-gun detachments to retard the advance as much as possible, and, in
conformity with the German policy, kill as many Allied soldiers as possible.
The Americans, in their part of the
Vesle sector, went across the broad plateau between the Vesle and the Aisne and
filtered down into the ravines which form the northern boundary of the heights.
The Germans threw a furious artillery barrage on the plateau as the Americans
pushed their way across, but by exercising the skill they have acquired through
experience and association with the French, they went forward with minimum
loss. The Germans were concealed in the wooded gullies and dips, and swept all
the surrounding terrain with the hail of bullets. Nevertheless the Americans
went on, cleaning out some of the ravines and killing or capturing all the
Germans they encountered.
About thirty prisoners were taken.
They were picked up by supporting troops hours after the first line of
Americans had gone on. The prisoners had hidden and awaited the opportunity to
surrender. They said the Germans had drawn their main forces back to the Aisne.
Going Back to Ladies’ Way?
The French, advancing with
Americans, went ahead to their objectives and from every angle it appears that
within a short time the last Hun will have taken his bitter way back across the
Aisne. French and American patrols approached the Aisne this forenoon.
The bridges across the Aisne have
not yet been destroyed, indicating that the German has not drawn all of his
main forces north. It is probable that he will keep up his machine-gun
resistance and combat every kilomètre between the present line of conflict and
the Aisne. This will mean a delay of a few days, but it is a fair statement
that within a very short time the Hun will be north of the Aisne.
From an observation point which
provided a splendid view of much of the region between the two rivers, I saw
the effect of the German shelling of Blanzy-les-Fismes. A shell every minute
was dropping in the village while I
watched it. Perles looks much like the ruined villages in the war-scarred
section of the country. A few shells were dropping in Vauxcéré, but the damage
there was not great. In Blanzy-les-Fismes groups of soldiers could be seen
running hither and thither as the shells fell.
Fismes is badly battered. It was a
battleground for several weeks, occupied in one end by the Germans and in the
other by the Americans. Most of the buildings are damaged; some are wrecked.
The place was virtually No Man’s Land, and it has the appearance of a No Man’s
Land. The Germans were shelling it last night and this forenoon. While I was
there this afternoon a few gas shells were dropped. They struck in the western
tip of the place. The streets are piled high with débris, but American soldiers
are busy establishing some semblance of order out of the chaos.
Sitting on a pile of bricks and
mortar in Fismes, when I came through, were two American privates with slight
wounds. They were hit with machine-gun bullets about eight o’clock this
morning. I asked them what they were waiting for. They replied they thought
perhaps an ambulance would come along and “give them a lift.” They were typical
infantrymen—twenty-two years old, broad-shouldered, and hungry but happy. One
had a wound in the hand and the other in the foot. Neither wound was serious,
but both were painful. The fact that gas shells were dropping not a great
distance away had no terror for them. I took them to a hospital and on the way
learned something of their point of view.
“The Boche is fighting the war with
machine-guns,” said one, “and he fights well with them, but we’ll get them. The
French can outfight them any time and we think we can, too.”
“Do you get enough to eat when you
are in the line?” I asked.
“When we are away up front fighting
we got one good meal a day. That isn’t three, but it is the best that can be done.
They have to bring that up in the night. We eat all we want to and get enough.”
“How does it happen you were
walking to the hospital?”
“Oh, we said we’d walk. You see
it’s hard to get ambulances away up when they are shelling all the time, and as
some of the boys were worse off than we, we thought we’d hoof it in. They told
us it was only five kilomètres.”
Don Martin sent to Paris on September 5 another short report on the commendation of the A.E.F. first pursuit group by General Pershing. It was published in the Paris
Herald on Friday, September 6.
General Pershing Commends
Amex Pursuit Group
(SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE HERALD)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Thursday
The Commander-in-Chief, General Pershing, has commended the
first pursuit group in a letter to the Chief of Air Service. He says:--
“The Commander-in-Chief has learned with great satisfaction
of the excellent work of the first pursuit group of air service and desires to
commend it, especially its praiseworthy record. The handicaps under which this
initial pursuit unit of the A.E.F. has been organized, and has begun the
discharge of its duties, are well known and recognized. With fine spirit and determination
it has overcome obstacles and already achieved an enviable record.
“The commander and the personnel are congratulated for their
effective and daring work.”
In the east the Germans attempted a raid on the American
lines. An American scout lieutenant heard the noise of the approach and went to
No Man’s Land, where a brush took place. The Boche left two prisoners with the
Americans.
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