The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1917-10-17
COMPLETE Army
IN THEMSELVES
Eiohty-Eighth Division Of National
Army Now at Camp Dodge Will
Make Fine Showing "Over There"
CAN HOLD HALF MILE FRONT

"~NS 'S S"S"''S wv
CAN HOLD HALF MILE FRONT
$1,000 Now at Camp Dodge Marking
Time Until the Arrival Of Their
~ Brothers Of the Later Call
Division Headquarters, Camp Dodge.
Oct. 16-When the boys from Iowa,
Minnesota, Illinois and North Dakota
in the Eighty-eighth division of the ma
tional army board their transports for
"oyer there" neNt spring, perhaps,
they will form complete little army
in themselves.
They will be capable of holding only
one and one-half miles of that great
battle front that curves its way across
Flanders and France for 25O miles. But
they will do complete job Of holding
from the sappers who tunnel under
the first line trenches to the hospitals
that will care for their wounded.
1t is now possible to describe the or
ganization of the Eighty-eighth divis-
ion under the Pershing plan-with a
few omissions. The war department
has some special features in the organ
ization that it isn't telling anybody
about. They are to be May day pres
sents for Fritz American brains have
not been too busy in preparing for war
to forget to invent a few OF what ene-
mics OF old have called Yankee tricks"
Just for instance, there is new gas
mask that is going to protect the men
of the u. S. A. from the deadly chlOr-
s,,~ t1,n Il 1yt pv~Hp
gas that the Prussian war lords sci
entists have concocted. And If all
goes we'll, Fritz won't know anything
about it's Yankee wrinkles until he
takes it from the American soldier
the German general talked about when
he offered q reward for the first khaki
clad lad killed or captured.
There will be about $4,000 of the Sc
lectives from the four states in the
Eighty-eighth. About 13,2OO of them
will be infantrymen. the backbone Of
the division, divided into two brigades
of two regiments each, each regiment
to have $500 to $500 men. Each regi-
lnent Is divided into twelve companies
of fighting men With auxiliary compan-
ies to take care Of suppiies And regi-
4naon4Rl, ,lAnagAlne1 md * medical de.
tackment. Each brigade will have q
machine gun battalion Of about 900
machine gunners.
With the infantrymen and the
trench mortar batteries, the machine
gun battalions will form the first line
of Offense and defense. They will be
in the trenches. Just back OF these
fighters will be two regiments of field
artillery. Each regiment will consist
of six batteries and each battery will
pump shrapnel and light barrage shells
from four three inch guns. There are
"a guns to the regiment and 4S to the
division. Back of these two regiments
will be a regiment of heavy artillery
with "a six inch guns to do their bit
in caring for Fritz. There will be 1S1
men in each battery or total of 32S5
in the three regiments. There will al.
so be 181 men in the trench mortar
battery.
Then there will be a regiment of
1900 engineefs who will build trenches,
lay out roads, erect bridges and map
the country. There will be signal
battalion OF 225 men who will build
and maintain the divisions nervous
system. They will establish and op-
crate various signal systems to tell
the American gunners where to shoot
and when.
The government is trying to keep
secret the exact organization Of trains.
There will be four of them, ammuni-
ton, sanitary. supply and engineer
trains and will be made up of from g.
900 to 1000 men. There will be base
hospital and sanitary staffs of about
500 men.
And just fourteen such armies as
the Eighty-eighth division were hurled
forth to the attack at Verdun by the
Germans.
The 1000 men now at Camp Dodge
are figuratively marking time until the
arrival of their brothers Of the third
and fourth increments. 1t is estimated
the other increments will be called
about October 25th. The work now is
merely the hardening of the many
setting up exercises, plenty Of food
and much sleep-and discipline. Persh-
ing said he wanted soldiers. disciplined
men above all things, men who can
salute properly and march and obey
orders.
All men do not have complete uni
FORMS Every man has big army
overcoat. They're not living in par
lor heated" barracks. Its bit unconl-
Portable on cold nights. All heating
plants have not been established.
There is some complaint, but the vast
ma jority Of the men grin and say
I'VE sleep between good blankets and
we get good food-we'll soon get used
to the weather."
Camp Dodge commanders have asked
that the Review tell the boys from
Crawford county to come better pre-
pared than the first two increments.
They are to come with heavy suit
of clothing and a serviceable pair OF
shoes that will stand the strain of drill
until uniforms and regular army shoes
are issued. Some of the boys now
here came in light suits and silk shirts
and low shoes. And before they were
issued uniforms. their appearance was
not source R pride to them.
The soldiers look forward with in
terest to the transfer of $4,000 men to
three other army camps, as announced
by the war department. They all want
tr, k~o,u uhotLor thov'l1 ho avn Oup tho