Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-19
PATH TO GLORY"
] LEADS TO BERLIN
Americans Turn Around
German Sign in France,
City Boy Writes
DESCRIBES OUTRACES
~Then They Cry for Mercy
Says William B. Clare
in Letter

rive been shelled so much : feel
lfke a peanut; in fact, I feel lon0oome
when they let up for few NIT utes." "
writes William B. Clare, Ph'lH 1alphia
boy with hospital unit in F~a""e. in
letter to the Soldiers Club. Of Smith.
Kline a French Co. which has sixty-one
members in the service
Young Clares home here is in Linden
street above Towersdale avenue, where
his parents live.
The letter was written just before he
+ went out with an attacking force that
9 was to cross a river during the night.
He said he would write II he came
back but If the club didn't hear from
him TO watch the casualty lists. He
came out without a scratch. however,
and wrote that he hoped his good for
tune would continue.
His first letter follows, in part:
Go Forward Always
I'VE have been in the line since
July 4. and going forward day by day.
All along the line there are ruined
French villages all renamed by the Ger
mans. Even the streets are renamed,
such as, Won Hindenburg Veg, or Kaiser
Veg or something similar. The funny
part is the main road they called the
Path to Glory and II led TO Paris The
Yanks have renamed 1t the Path OF
Glory again, only this time the sign
posts point to Berlin instead of Paris.
German ammunition lies all along the
road-here and there a shattered gun
testifying to the accuracy of American
eunnery, and then the piles of German
dead. sometimes fifty or sixty to a pile.
then little pile of four or five with a
single khaki uniform, his hand on his
Cat showing he got his boches before
they got him. It's always thus, all along
the line. It's costing us blood and men
to drive through but damn them, they
can't stop us they won't fight square.
While the main German army, the First
Division of Prussian Guards. are re-
treating licked to a frazzle by the insig-
nihcant Yankee militia they scoffed at !;
while they are retreating they leave be-
mind them machine-gun nests manned
by Bavarians with plenty of ammuni-
tion to hold up the line. and when good
Americans charge them with cold steel
and they are on the verge of being CAP
tured they throw up their arms and veil
Kamarsd. The dogs think they will
get mercy after Americans have seen
their buddies killed by their side. Do
they get it? No! No prisoners cap-
tured here only when they are caught
~ SohpdhieS anu 10 uate we nave
caught 10000 since July Is. Not so
bad for the militia. is It? Especially
when they are fighting the far-famed
Prussian Guard, the elite Of the German
army.
Women Being Used
The dirty dogs even use women,
1 was in the rear of charge on a certain
woods that was full Of machine-gun
nests in trees. A whole regiment of the
so-called Insignificant militia, who hal
from Philly. charged up this hill toward
those woods with machine guns splitting
hre and the rat-ta-tat-tat of the bullets
making deafening noise and the bullets
going ping -ping-ping all around YOU,
men dropping by your side cursing the
Huns. When we reached the top every
Hun machine gunner yelled 'Kamerad
ana when the cold steel began to &C
{ home 1 saw. in two different instances
. German soldiers repeal themselves as
women. And they expected mercy be-
cause OF their sex and like the fools we
are. they were given 1t. God knows
! how many good Americans these Anna
IONS killed. It's hell, I tell you the way
these Germans fight. They use every
cunning device they can Their artillery
& is good but the infantry can't fight with.
out 1t. They even take their airplanes
and paint the French colors on them
and swoop down back of our line and
pour machine gun fire into our lads
i waiting behind some trench.