The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-03-14

have conducted successful raids on
widely separated sectors, demolishing
German trenches at three points to
a width of three hundred meters and
to depth of the same distance.
American artillery aided the raiders
in completely demolishing one sector
of the German trenches. No live Ger
mans were encountered there.
Elsewhere the Boches who took
refuge in dugouts and "pill boxes" had
their places of shelter demolished by
grenade throwing.
Preparations For Raid.
The bombardment in preparation
for the raid started at one o'clock on
Sunday, American and French guns
were massed all along this sector of
the front
After tremendous burst of fire
from the American guns they began
to shell the first, second and third
line German trenches and all other
rear organizations including dugouts
and enemy batteries.
When the infantry went over the
top in this sector they crossed No
Mans Land without any opposition.
Found German Lines Deserted.
They penetrated the German first
an dsecond lines and found nothing
but smashed rifles, deserted trenches,
smashed dugouts and debris. AS
their orders specified that they return
within a certain length of time they
obeyed and did not penetrate any fur
ther.
The men in some of the other sec
tors penetrated one hundred and fifty
meters behind the German third lines
The total of penetration was two hun
dred and forty meters.
They encountered two dugouts
which were filled with smashed rifles
and raided more than a dozen pill
boxes" which were intact.
The American and French soldier.
shouted to the Huns to come out The
latter replied with only rifle shot
They were given short shrift.
sammies Make Clean Sweep.
Grenades were soon put into action
and soon there were no dugouts and
no Boches either. AS the artillery
fire continued to burst forth in the
front lines the companies assigned to
the raid had taken their positions al
4:45. All were cool and very anxious
to 60 The zero hour was sos,
After being called they peeped over
~; =.
fire was having on the enemy.
Passing between the second and the
third lines more dugouts and unex.
pectedpill boxes were encountered. But
the SamE'ies with their Ieggins, trous
eis and oats torn and ripped by the
barbed Wire entanglements of the
Boches, pushed forward.
"Let Her Fly." And It Did.
Before the door of one of the dug
outs two infantry men armed only
with rides and pistols shouted Come
out" The enemy answered with a
revolver shot through a loop hole AT
that moment two grenaders rushed up
and raised their arms, took an aim
of light and the earth shook from the
explosion. Soon the dugouts and the
Boches We're again missing.
The pill boxes were handled in the
same manner as the dugouts. When
the raiders reached the German third
line trenches they found the wreck
age even more complete than in the
two previous lines. There was not
a sign of life. They cleaned up the
third line, making thorough search
for military documents and other bits
of Information which might be of value
to them.
Back "Home" Again.
From their own trenches a white
rocket appeared. 1t was signal for
return The gait for the return of
the men is whateyey is set by them
selves.
The German barrage then sent forth
q burst of shells that sent small
spurts of earth of the American
trenches skyward. But the Ameri
cans ran and jumped over the top of
their parapets and dropped into their
own trenches.
The captain looked at his watch. II
was just forty-five minutes since the
white rocket gave its signal in the air
for the return of the men who went
over the top.
Seven German Prisoners Taken.
Seven German prisoners were
brought back. The fourth day of the
bombardment of the American posi-
tions near the Swiss border ended
yesterday afternoon when the Yankee
gunners neutralized the. work of the
ssoehes' guns Az aa $3.50 4e
pcspite The unusual enemy actiyi-