The sun., 1918-10-08

II was these that revealed the bravery OF
the American tank crews, One Captain,
who led his tank on foot through the
fog, suddenly missed his footing and fell
Into q trench. To hts amazement ne
was confronted BY twelve Germans who
ordered him to surrender He immedi-
ateIy did so, but just as the Germans
we're about to take away his weapons
tho hugo snout of the numbering tank
appeared above the trench. In frenzy
OF fear the Germans fed. The Captain
then climbed out Of the trench and went
forward 10 take command again.
In the roadway "A shell exploded,
knocking him unconscious. He was
found there some time later by members
of another tank crew. Later he recov-
cred and set of on foot to find his tank.
Another shell exploded, this time one OF
tho gas variety. and for second time
he was knocked out. After short time
he was again on his feet and eventually
found his tank. which he led into battle.
Repair Man Ii Annoyed.
A tank repair man named Murphy
undertook to repair q tank that had been
disabled on the battlefield. While he
was at work on the Job German ma
chine gun started to pepper the tank
with bullets. Murphy. Thoroughly eng
ragged, climbed into the tank and In some
manner managed to start X. 1t usually
requires the best efforts of at least two
men to get n tank started, but Murphy
started this one alone. With the motors
running Murphy made a bee line for the
machine gun nest that had interrupted
him, and that night, when he returned TO
headquarters, he reported that any one
interested could find three German pan
cakes OF the human variety UP near
| certain tree, where he had rolled them
out with his tank.
There Is yet another American whose
tank caught fire, but he kept going
When he finally emerged from the ma
chine his hair and eyebrows were sinRed
of and his face was badly burned.
or Lieut.. John Castle. a Yale football
player, II Is told that the turret OF his
tank was blown of. whereat he hoped
of. and after surveying the wreckage
briefly, hurried away to join another
tank squad. Such are the American
tanks and their brave crews.
Foe Outma n9uvrea.
i Tho tanks were followed Immediately
by the infantry, which discovered that In
| the last few days the Germans had
| literally covered the territory with ma
| chine gun nests. and IL was only after
many hours DEVOTED to outmanhuvring
these positions that the American infan-
| try succeeded in taking Gesnes and clear
ing out Bots dc Cunel.
II was along the Aire Valley, which
the Germans gassed most decisively, that
part of the first days battle took place.
Here and there was no artillery prepare
! tion, and when n sudden barrage swept
: down on the Germans they were greatly
| surprised and suffered heavily from the
weight and precipitancy Of the attack.
Amid the confusion of the barrage the
| Germans saw American tanks speeding
| toward them. Although only half fed
and poorly clothed the Germans. who
proved to be the flower of Guard di-
VISION held their posts until death, sur
rendering only when that step was in
evitablc.
From the heights in the rear Ameri-
can artillery poured tons of explosives
in an endeavor to sweep away the ma
| chine guns of the enemy. At the same
time the German artillery deluged the
| American lines with ehells and shrap-
mel This made crossing the valley a
difficult operation but not once did the
Americans falter. with the tanks push
ing forward In spite OF all anti-tank
ingenuity the infantry in the rear was
inspired to heroic efforts. with the re-
suit that the doughboys followed across
the shell and bullet swept area.
Push Into EIermOnt.
Once, when delayed by machine gun
nests. men experienced in this form Of
fighting skilfully moved around the
German positions. fianking the German
gunners and driving them out. This
was GLOW work. but finally the victorious
Americans pushed into Exermont. with
the tanks leading the fighting process
sion down the main street, while Ger
mans fred at them furiously but use
essly with machine guns planted in
windows of upper stories OF stores and
houses
After clearing out the village the
Americans were still confronted with a
fire from I'M 240 and this kept up as
they approached FrecIlle. Here again
there was heavy fghting in the streets
before the Germans were ousted the
tanks again playing leading part.
This being accomplished. the time came
10 take Hin 240, which was the hardest
task OF the day. Up the steep slopes
the tanks started. with the infantry
following closely. Once more the Ger.
mans fought tenaclously. but finally
they were driven from the hill. which