Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-10-26
GRENADE SHOWER
GREETS YANKEES
NEAR St. JUv|N
One Soldier Said 1t Was a
Regular CIoudburst, but
Americans Did Not Pause
and Gained Detectives,
(By Lincoln Eyre.)
Copyright, 1918. by The Press Pub
fishing Co.


fishing Co
(The New York WORLDLY
Especial Gable to the World and AL
buquerque Journal)
With the American First Army
Oct 25.-Particularly desperate and
bloody was the fighting in and about
the village of st. Juvin. The Ger
mans had reinforced their formidable
machine gun barricades with bar
RACES of hand grenades and their
specially trained bands of bombers
were brigaded with machine gun
crews. and whenever the quickfirers
themselves were silenced by the ar
tillery or other means the boches
fought on with bombs.
But our boys. pursuing their usual
hopping up tactics, devoted their at
| tention to putting the machine guns
clustered about the village out of bus
mess. No sooner had the last of these
ceased firing with its crew bayonetted
| into submission than the bomb hurl-
ers crept forth from their lairs. Just
far enough to fling hundreds of gre
nades among the painting Americans.
CloudbuPst of Grenades.
at was regular cloudburst of
potato Washers" as one doughboy
! from Harlem observed.
| One battalion engaged fell back a
couple of hundred yards, reformed
and sent small squads forward to
tackle this fresh form of resistance.
| Every cellar became a small battle
| field in which the desperate boches.
| fighting as though they never heard
of such q thing as armistice negotia-
| tons, plugged away at their assail-
ants from behind their wire entaHgle-
ments.
A company commanded by Capt.
Michael Kelly of New York, who Is
better known as Dynamite Mike"
cleaned out a dozen cellars in two
hours, leaving their trail through the
village filled with German dead. The
foe had planted crude mines, made of
a score of grenades linked to a single
fuse, at the entrance of some houses.
In one case Capt Thomas 7. Reilly
another New Yorker. and couple of
his men dug up one of these internal
machines and threw ii down a flight
of steps leading into the cellar where
eight grenadiers were lurking. The
explosion that ensued tore the house
to tatters and wounded one of the
Americans. but "just ruined" eight
boches.
Officers Can't Remain Behind.
The ever present difficulty of main
tanning communication with the adj
vancing front line is perhaps the chief
obstacle to the rapid progress through
the Krienhild positions on the Grand
Pre-St. Juvin front. The regimontal
commanders, usually supposed to be a
considerable distance behind the as
sault columns. are now obliged to stay
with the forward waves if they want
H. 70 tbn ;rY.e. ,Nf
their command.
Sergeant Z. j. Radcliffe, former
Philadelphia newspaper man. now at
tached to regimental headquarters,
told how his colonel actually got
ahead of the advance line in his
eagerness to keep in touch with his
boys.
THE old man went over the top
with the doughboys, meaning to have
mobile combat post just in the rear
of the first wave" the sergeant said,
carrying regimental orders and other
documents and helping the signal
corps men rig up telephones. In this
war a colonel doesn't carry a sword
he carries a telephone instrument in
stead.
One Colonel Went to Fast.
1--WE struck q high plateau that was
all eaten up WITH SeTIfldH STellS. feF-
sonally would rather have tunnelled
under it with a spoon than to have
hiked across it but the old man kept
right ahead. Then we got down in a
ravine that seemed to afford some
protection. SO the colonel said that
that would do for a combat post and
he would wait there until we found
out Just how far ahead the leading
battalion was.
1--WE had got separated from the
main wave and thought they must be
on ahead After we had waited there
awhile. without seeing any of our boys,
the colonel decided to go forward a
way and investigate for himself. He
climbed up out of the ravine and got
right in fire from a machine gun
nest about hundred yards away.
About the same time our first bat
talon, advancing in columns of
squads, turned up behind us. The
old man dropped back into the ravine
long enough to tell the major where
that machine gun was located. and
then personally led a company that
was chosen to attack II.
"By this time the machine gun fire
wasvvery heavy and shells were COM
I ing thick, too. A. piece OF shrapnel
got the old man under the, left lung.
He tried to walk but could not 90 hs