The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-05


 this country will profit on an equal basis with France.
 The Reverend MT. Mcfarland de- claIes there is no possibility or mls- take in his figures.
 had cut the enemy's main line Of com munications and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army rom complete disaster
 "In all 40 enemy divisions had been used against us in the Mouse -Argonne battle. Between September 26 and No. vember 6, we took 26,059 prisoners and 46S guns or this front. Our divlslohs engaged were the First, Second Third. Fourth, Twenty sixth, Twenty-eig Twenty ninth, Thirty second, ThfTae third, Thirty fifth. Thirty seventh Forty second. Sevtnty seventh. Seven- ty-eighth, Seventy ninth, Eightieth, Eighty second. Eightyninth, Nine tieth and Ninety-first. Many of our d1- visions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves Of steel, while others were sent in again aftcr only a few days of rest. The First, Fifth. Twenty-sixth. Forty-second, Seventh seventh, Eightieth, Eighty
 ninth, and Ninetieth were in the linr twice. Although some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal to the best
 AIDED FRENCH AND BRITISH
 The commander in chief does not
 lose sight of the division operating with French or British armies during this time He tells of the work Of the Second corps, comprising the Twen- ty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions, ih the British assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin canal passes through tunnel; of how the Second and Thirty-sixth divisions got their chance in October by being as signed to aid the French in the drive from Rheims and of the splendid fight ing of the Thirty-seven and Ninc- ty-flrst divisions sent to Joln the
 French army in Belgium.
 Of the total strength of the expedl-
 tionary force, General Pershing re- ports:
 "There are in Europe all together, in- cIud;ng a regiment and some sanitary units with the Italian army and the organizations at Murmansk. also in- cluding those en route from the states, approximately 2,053,347 men, less our losses of this total there are in France 1,33S.16s combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived, Of which the infantry personnel of 10 have been used as replacements, leaving 50 d. visions now in France organized into three armies of three corps each.
 SHORT ON EQUIPMENT Of their equipment he says:
 "Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary for its conduct in the modern sense Among our most important deficiencies in material were artillery. aviation and tanks. In order to meet our re- quirements as rapidly as possibleA we accepted the offer of the French government to provide us with the nec- lessary equipment of 75s, 155-milli- meter howitzers and 155 G. F. F. guns from their own factories for 30 divi- sions. The wisdom of this course IS ful- : lly demonstrated by the fact that, al- though we soon began the manufacture of these classes of guns at home. there were no guns of the calibres mentioned manufactured in America on our front at the date that the armistice was signed. The only guns of these types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 75-millimeter guns.
 Tn aviation we were in the same sit uation and here again the French gov ernment came to our aid until our own aviation programme should be under way We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our per sonnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2676 planes, observation and bombing planes. The first airplanes re- ceived from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1879. The first American squadron completely equipped by American production, in cluding airplanes, crossed the German lines on August ', 1918. As to tanks we were also compelled to rely on the French. Here, however, we were less fortunate for the reason that the French production could barely meet the requirements of their own armies 'It should be fully realized that the French government has always taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to, give us every possible as- sistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation and tanks was, of course. due to the fact that our industries had not been exclusively devoted to military production. All credit is due our own manufacturers fcf their efforts to meet our requirements, as at the time the armistice was signed we were able to look forward to the early supply of practically all our necessities from our own factories"