The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-05-10
How verdun Was Saved.

courage ana devotion of the first line
troops, who held the trenches when
the attack began. They performed
their full duty; they held the line un-
til the reserves came UP. They did
precisely what the German troops had
done in Champagne last fall with ap-
proximately the same losses and with
courage and devotion which will re-
main memorable.
But the defending Of the verdun
sector was made possible by the prep
aration that had actually been made
long months before. The civil au-
thorities. asked by the military to sup
ply a new railroad. had failed miser-
ably. AS I pointed out earlier, there
was only the single.track, narrow
gauge line. which in point of fact was
used almost exclusively to evacuate
wounded, but there was the motor
transport and this was the miracle of
Verdun.
Months before the military authori-
ties, recognizing the dangerous po-
sition Of the Verdun salient. recon-
structed the one great highway rum
ming north from st. Dizier and Bar-le-
DUO to Verdun. The existing high
way was doubled, treblsd in width,
proper turnouts were made and ver-
dun was bound to France by a mag
nifcent road going north beyond the
range Of the German artillery all the
way to the outskirts of the city itself.
In addition, Gen. Herr. who COM
manded the sector. had worked out an
intricate and marvellous system of mo-
tor transport.
the blow fell it was only nec-
sssary 70 mobilize the motor trucks,
and in hn Incredibly short time thou
sands and thousands of these trucks
were In operation. Coming north as
=: did from st. Dizier to verdun for
mhre tnan fifty miles the, road was a
eoptinubus line of trucks. over al
most tie whole distance they were
taarchiAs in single file. with scarcely
e break in the procession. Going up
heavy laden. they passed through the.
resaon behind the front. discharged
their contents at the appointed place..
and returned empty by smaller side
roads. On all the course never saw
q block or delay. Rarely, very rare
ly. oamion was upset or broke
down and was turned to the side of
the road and temporarily abandoned.
In every. village there were repair
stations. but day and night steadily.
fairly rapidly. this endless chain Of
motor trucks filed past, bringing mon,
munitions. supplies.
Fly THIS method perhaps a quarter
or a million men We're brought fresh
TO the firing line; innumerable guns,
heavy and light, were kept supplied
with ammunition: armies were ration
ed; the whole intricate and enormous
domestic economy of great modern
army was handled without friction or
disorder. In the cities such as Bar-le-
Duo. the squares and the turns were
marked by signs. telling the road to
Verdun. Even in tiny villages traffic
policemen, soldiers, instructed the
drivers. kept the traffic separated. for
In addition to the Verdun sector. the
st. Mihiel and the Argonne sectors
were fed In part by the same route.
All night long in Barbecue It was
possible to hear the endless rumble of
the wheels Of the great trucks. On
the road Paris buses, laden with
fresh meat, numbered steadily on. It
was rather like huge torrent than
like vehicular traffic, and it was the
real salvation Of verdun, for it pre-
served Verdun from isolation, it rem
edied the essential defect due to tho
cutting OF the two railroads. II re-
placed two useless arteries by q third.
which was absolutely sufficient.
In this war the world has talked
mostly of German efficiency, prepara-
tion' foresight. Yet to see this never
ending procession. these thousands
and tens of thousands of motor We
hicles proceeding on their way. as
sembled from somewhere, from ey-
erywhere, without delay. without DIFF
ficulty, mobilized and put into OPERA
ton, travelling with all the regularity
or express trains. was to realize that
the dermans were not the only mi
racie-compellers and that France, in
her own way, was also working mi
racies. For this system I was told
that Gen. Herr was responsible.
When the attack began Herr com.