On October 2 Don
Martin sent a dispatch to New York continuing to report on the difficult battle
in the Argonne Forest. It was his last article in the New York Herald. Published
on October 3, in his style he included interviews he had with fighting men at
the front lines.
New York Boys Describe
Bitter Argonne Fighting
Tells Don Martin How 77th Triumphed
Over Tremendous
Odds In Jungle
MADE HUNS PAY FOR GUERILLA WARFARE
“Cut Peace Talks And Buy Bonds,"
Yankees Send Word
Home, "And We’ll Go On To Berlin”
By Don
Martin,
Special Correspondent of the Herald
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Wednesday
When daylight broke over the grim fighting lines to-day the entire
length of the American front was ablaze from the flashes of big guns and the
conflict was resumed with all bitterness.
It was especially heavy in the Argonne Forest where despite the savage
resistance of the foe, our men have made steady progress forward.
At the same time the American troops on the right of the forest and the
French on the left are steadily forging ahead in a speedy enveloping movement,
which, perhaps, will force the Huns from the forest or compel their surrender.
Just before daybreak this morning I met a long line of Americans, mud
bespattered and wet, on their way to the front line. For hours they had been
marching, and it is these marches which test the spirit of soldiers. But when I
saw them swinging by many of them were singing softly, for there was happiness
in the heart of every man. They were confident of themselves and of victory.
No Heed to Enemy’s Shells
Enemy shells were falling now and then in a field near by, for the
Germans were firing at the roads in our area. But our marching men paid no heed
to this strafing, and as they marched along they met another line – a thin one
– made up of slightly wounded on their way back from the front to the dressing
stations.
I saw a lad going forward to the fray lift his steel helmet and wave it
at the men upon whose bodies the marks of the conflict were still fresh, and I
saw the wounded men wave back. Then the first streaks of dawn came into the sky
and the sun nosed up out to the east. It was a picture worth seeing.
The Huns were free with their sneezing gas shells early this morning and
with them and shells of various calibers they sprayed our back areas freely.
His bombardment was taken by many competent observers as a sure sign of his
uneasiness. Indeed, it followed a day of comparative inactivity by him in so
far as attack was concerned, for yesterday he was kept so busy trying to stem
our onrush that he carried out only one minor counter attack. This and weak
outpost resistance by him and a light bombardment constituted his efforts.
While everyone here is sounding the highest praise of our infantry and
artillery work, I want to say that our airmen have been supplying one of the
most brilliant features of this offensive. In the last two days they have
brought down forty-three enemy airplanes and have lost only two of our own. In
these encounters with the Boche our flyers have had many thrilling experiences.
Lieutenant Alden B. Sherry, of Philadelphia, engaged three Huns and
fought them until his airplane was riddled with bullets before he was forced to
land. He came down between the lines, closely pursued. His airplane landed
directly over a shell hole and he fortunately was unhurt. Lieutenant Sherry
settled down in the shell hole with his airplane over him, while one of the
Boches flew back and forth over him at a height of less than a hundred feet and
poured a deadly stream of machine gun bullets into the stricken plane, which
was hit hundreds of times.
Lieutenant Sherry lay there until night, knowing that if he raised his
head above the top of the crater an enemy sniper would pick him off. Three
times German flyers strafed the spot where his flying machine had fallen.
“Eddie” Rickenbacker is another American aviator who in this offensive
has achieved added fame as an air fighter. In the month he has been back in the
fighting he has ten enemy airplanes and his exploits consisted in shooting down
a balloon that was being made ready to ascend. He ascended to a height of about
1,000 feet and swept by the huge bag, meanwhile pouring a steady stream of
inflammable bullets into it. The balloon crew fled, but apparently several of
them were wounded.
Luke always flies alone
Lieutenant Luke, another of our fliers, who is a mere boy, but a wonder
aviator like Fouck and Gutnemier, always flies alone and returns to his
airdrome whenever he is ready and not before. Usually when at night the other
fliers return to their airdromes he is missing. If someone else is missing
flares are lighted as beacons to guide them home, but when Lieutenant Luke is
missing no one thinks anything of it, for he flies at night as he does in the
day. In this he resembles Fouck, who has the eyes of an owl, except that he can
see equally as well in the day as in the night.
Lieutenant Luke cruises in all directions. Recently he was absent all
night. At daybreak he appears and explained that he had exhausted his gasoline
and had landed close inside our lines. After landing there he had slept in the
field until daylight came. He admits that some day he may be killed, but
explains this as thing that is likely to happen to any one.
True romance is in the life these youngsters are living, and every one
of them is a stranger to fear. Discussing this romance with Lieutenant J.
Bayard Smith, of San Francisco, who is adjutant in this famous American air
squadron, he declared that no feat is too dangerous for these flyers.
Huns always treacherous
“Every day they go up and take their lives in their hands,” he said.
“Now they have got the edge on the Hun, who, I must admit, is clever with a
treacherous cleverness.”
“The Hum, we have found, is not a sportsman like the men in the allied
air service. Their game is to kill. That, perhaps, is war, but our men cannot
do it. For instance, when a balloon is destroyed, the only escape for the
observer is by jumping with his parachute. According to the rules of war, it is
legitimate to shoot these men, but the American flyer will not do it. Our
aviators say that when a man is helpless to defend himself the fight is over.
That is the difference between the allied and Boche flyers.”
“I know of a case recently when an aviator was being buried just back of
our lines, where he fell. American doughboys were standing around the open
grave, while the chaplain was reading a prayer. Suddenly a German flyer
appeared and began firing a stream of machine gun bullets into the little funeral party. When he passed on, a German
sniper who was concealed in No Man’s Land spotted the party and he, too, began
firing, so that the group was forced to disperse.
“By this time, however, the American doughboys in the party were
thoroughly mad and crawled out and surrounded the sniper. He will never snipe
again.”
Why jazz band is silent
Captain R. Earnest Dupuy (formerly of the Herald staff in New York City)
has just explained to me why our famous jazz band that so delightfully
entertained Premier Clémenceau, General Pétain and many American notables has
gone out of commission.
“These musicians wanted to fight,” said Captain Dupuy, who is an
artillery officer. “The fact is they begged all the time to be allowed to
fight. They were ready to fight anything Germany has. The only member of the
band who was not insistent on this point was the band leader, who was supposed
to be of the very toughest type – the kind of man who catches shells between
his teeth.”
“Finally he admitted that he preferred to play jazz music for the
wounded in the hospitals, but the remainder of the men in the band silenced him
by their demand for something to do that was more exciting than playing jazz
music.”
Now the entire jazz band outfit has a job after its own heart. All its
members are ammunition carriers, about the most dangerous job on the front.”
Cut Peace Talk, Say Men
To-day I saw more than five thousand of our men resting besides a road
and reading the European edition of the HERALD. It was the first time in weeks
that they had seen a newspaper, and they were just as interested in its news as
men could be. They read about America rallying for the Fourth Liberty Loan and I
asked them what they thought about that.
“That’s the way to win the war,” a spokesman said. “If the home folks
will raise the money we will do the fighting.”
“Cut the peace talk, for it’s a long way to peace. It’s a long way to
Berlin, but we have maps of all the roads that lead to it and we are good
hikers.”
New York Men in Argonne Forest
The account of the American army’s achievements in the Argonne Forest is
one of greatest interest to the folks at home because New York troops bore the
major part of this bitter struggle.
I watched the troops storm the edges of the forest. Later I saw them
emerge from it, reform and again dash forward into it. And then it seemed to me
that the forest swallowed them up. Within it they lay on the ground at night,
wrapped in their blankets, taking catnaps between the fighting.
A year and a half ago these same men worked at peaceful pursuits. Now
they are soldiers of whom any nation would be extremely proud.
I have tried to get a connected narrative of the history of this Argonne
Forest battle from the men who were in it – as many of them as it was possible
for me to interview.
Showed Splendid Courage
“There isn’t much to say about it,” said Lieutenant Clinton L. Whiting,
of No. 21 Fulton Street, New York City, who is one of the many heroes who had a
part in it. “The Germans placed hundreds of machine guns in the trees and
thickets, which were intricately strewn with barbed wire. When we would come
close to them they would blaze away at us. That’s about all there was to it. A
rapid advance was impossible under the circumstances. We surrounded a few enemy
outfits and took prisoners. All of my men stuck to the job to the finish and
showed splendid courage.”
“We could not tell whether a man a foot away from us was a friend or a
Hun. I know of a dozen of instances where American and Huns mixed in hand to
hand fights when neither knew five minutes before the other was anywhere near.”
“If you are writing the story for New York City, tell the folk there
that we did about all that could be done. Give them the details after we have
licked this bunch of barbarians.”
How the attack began
Our troops attacked at half-past five o’clock last Thursday morning on a
line running east and west through the Argonne Forest from Boureuilles to a
point north of Vienne-le-Château. For three hours previously our artillery had
crashed, thundered and rumbled, wakening countless echoes among the trees. The
Hun positions were drenched with gas, but their machine gun positions in the
depth of the forest seemed to survive and their machine gunners were there,
waiting to receive our infantry.
Shrouded by a thick mist, our men in their trenches waited the one hour
with the calmness of veterans, for they had developed great confidence in their
recent victories over the Hun. When they went over the top, one of the most
glorious chapters in the annals of our army was made.
They went over in a dash that was a race, and in that race were men of
Irish, of Italian and of Jewish blood. They plunged into the forest just as our
forefathers did when they won our land from the red men, and they fought Indian
fashion. It was a guerilla warfare, wherein small groups of our men scouted
forward, dodged from tree to tree and, crawling of their stomachs, sniped machine
gunners or crawled up close enough to the nests to bomb the gunners. Indeed, it
was something like the old-time east side band fighting, where ambushes were
laid and victory ‘went to the craftiest’.
Faced by Landwehr Troops
Facing them were the Landwehr troops, favored by every natural
advantage. They were screened by trees and bushes and protected by endless
belts of barbed wire interlaced among the trees so closely that it was
impossible to see where our artillery had cut them and where they remained
uncut.
Barbed wire and brambles cut and tore the uniforms of the New York men
and sometimes even the cartridge belts were ripped and torn from around their
waists. Their feet slipped on the muddy ground and it was easy to get lost in
the darkness of the jungle.
Still they kept on, fighting heroically. By nightfall they had advanced
two miles beyond La Harazee, where they dug in for the night.
Friday morning our troops resumed the attack under even greater
difficulties than those experienced the day before. The Germans had brought up
a large number of extra guns and had thrown in fresh divisions to help out the
Landwehr, with the results that bursting shells were added to the enemy machine
gun bullets that our men had to face.
Repulse
Counter Attack
A counter attack from the south on Mont Blainville came in the
afternoon. An entire German brigade, it was estimated, was in the attack, but
our troops, commanded by Major Walter W. Metcalf, of No. 331 West 183rd
Street, New York City; Henry T. Eaton, of Morristown, N.J. and Captain Duncan
G. Harris, of 569 Sixth Avenue, New York City, easily repulsed it.
Inside the forest and ahead of these troops was a unit led by Major
Kenneth P Budd, of No. 807 Fifth Avenue, New York City; Charles W. Whittlesey,
of Pittsfield Mass. and Captain Crawford Blagden. They were having a desperate
time with strong enemy machine gun nests on hills which were covered with
trees. Attempts to take this position by assault had failed in the face of a
heavy fire, and it was decided to encircle it, with the assistance of the
troops led by Major John H. Prentice, of New York City.
Timely aid also came to the New York troops from a Pennsylvania unit on
their right, which pushed up the Aire Valley beyond Mont-Blainville and penetrated
into the region of Apremont. As a result of this stroke, the German hold on
many miles of the Argonne Forest was threatened.
Illinois troops have been winning distinction in the fighting between
the Meuse and the Argonne, and a negro unit has fought with a great display of
valor.
Our engineers have done notable work in clearing up the ground
practically as fast as our infantry advanced. Roads that have not been used for
four years have been made passable.
Aerial observers have reported that there are signs of confusion in the
German back areas. Not a few deserters from the enemy forces have come over to
the American front and voluntarily surrendered.
 |
| From New York Herald, October 3, 1918 |
Don Martin gave a good account of the exploits of American airmen in a dispatch dated Wednesday, October 2, published in the Paris Herald on Thursday,
October 3.
American
Fliers Perform
Daring Aviation Deeds
Remarkable Group of Heroes Proves
of Great Value In Attack and Reconnoitering
(Special Telegram to the Paris Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Wednesday.
Lieutenant Luke, at once one of the mysteries and sensations
of American aviation, sailed off Saturday night, did not return, was set down
as missing, as he is known to be a dare-devil, playing a lone hand and taking
chances few fliers ever take many times. On Monday evening, the following note
was dropped by an aeroplane passing over a balloon observation post: “Watch for
burning Boche balloons – Luke.” The observer was told to keep his eyes open. In
ten minutes he counted three Boche balloons which came down in flames.
Lieutenant Luke frequently lands in a field and passes the night sleeping in a
blanket. He flies off in the morning, getting gasoline in any field he happens
to approach. He is a mere boy and comes from Phoenix, Arizona.
Lieutenant Vasconcelles,
of Denver, Col., on Monday brought down an aeroplane and a balloon.
Lieutenant Eddie
Rickenbacker, who has been particularly active since he recovered from his
recent illness, has ten aeroplanes and balloons to his credit now. His most
recent exploit was shooting down a German balloon which was being inflated and
scattering the crew in all directions.
Lieutenant Alden B. Sherry had a thrilling experience while
engaged in combat with three Boches. His machine was disabled and he was forced
to descend. He landed in No Man’s Land, which at this point is half a mile in
depth. He escaped injury. Fortunately his machine landed astride a shell hole, making it possible for him to crawl
into the hole and screen himself from snipers’ bullets, also machine-gun
bullets, which German fliers three times
during the day showered on him. Once a Hun flier, knowing him to be
under his machine, swooped down within a hundred feet and sprayed the machine
with bullets, but caused no injury to Lieutenant Sherry. He was compelled to
remain there all day, but in the evening walked into his lines. This is only
one of the many hair-raising experiences this flier has had.
The fliers of all squadrons are writing a brilliant page in
American history of the war. I have seen them starting and returning. They are
a remarkable group of heroes. Recently a flier in my presence was told to fly
over a Boche line and report movements of the Boche. At particular points it
was an extremely dangerous flight. He started out and returned in 45 minutes
with information invaluable to the Americans. He wrote a report, sent it to
headquarters and then got into an automobile and went directly to a hospital,
where a bullet was taken from his thigh. He had been in a tempest of shrapnel from
anti-aircraft guns and had been shot at by three Boche planes.
Another story known to be authentic is told of a flier who
vol-planed with wonderful skill after his oil and gas tanks had been pierced
with bullets, letting the supply escape. He landed just within his own lines.
So many adventures have these knights of the air had during the last few days
that it is impossible to record them all. The fliers themselves decline as a
rule to talk about their own experiences, and speak of the greatest gallantry
as only commonplace. Recently a group of new American fliers, intensively
trained with the British, has made its appearance in France, and those familiar
with the young men and their methods predict great things of them.
Don Martin gave his own newspaper some publicity in a dispatch published in the Paris Herald on Thursday,
October 3.
Fliers Shower “Heralds”
Among Fighting Yanks
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Wednesday.
In order that the American troops in the front
lines have their favorite newspaper giving the latest news from all parts of
the world, American aviators yesterday showered one thousand copies of the
current issue of the Herald over the trenches. They were quickly gobbled up.
And Don Martin sent a last dispatch to Paris on Wednesday night, which was also published in the Paris Herald on Thursday,
October 3.
American Lines Heavily
Shelled,
but No Attack Follows
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By DON MARTIN
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES,
Wednesday night.
Beginning at half-past five this morning the
Germans opened a violent bombardment of the American lines along their entire
length, using high explosives and sneezing and other gases.
So
continuous and savage was the shelling that it seemed to foreshadow a large
counterattack, but none was made. The positions of the Americans remain
unchanged.
There
was little air activity during the day. One German aeroplane was brought down.
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