The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-07-26

1 guns
1T is lie," he answered without
hesitation. But their officers held
them at the guns by force. They
killed those that ram"
During the first three days of the
fighting which lasted from June O
June Is the Huns had no artillery.
Their surprise had been an effective
one, and they had advanced so rap
idly that their guns had not been
able to keep up with them. During
this time the famous American unit
which fought in the Bois de Belleau
had succeeded in establishing them
selves in the wood and brief period
of hand-to-hand fighting followed.
The lines were stabilized, to use the
phrase Of militarists. Then each
side brought up its artillery.
The Wood of Beleau
The Wood Of Beleau is an irregu-
larly shaped patch of thickets, per-
haps three times longer than / Is
wide. The par in which the fighting
took place ceveors about 700 acres.
1t has been kept as hunting re-
serve for years, and in the northern
tip is a pretty little huning lodge,
well furnished in rue woodland FASH
ion. A stuffed deer confronted the
first Americans from the hall, and
boars' heads and antlers hang upon
the wall. 1t is around this tip that
the Germans still hold a nest of ma
chine guns, at a cost they only know.
But while that nest is held the move-
ment forward on the village of Bel
10 nh hnoHnl bo 80 ~
leau is not wanted just now. When
it is it will be taken.
Advance ON Machine Guns
"We advanced toward the wood
across an open field" said the colonel
of the unit. "Our designated path
was perhaps half kilometre long,
and there were dozen or more ma
chine guns cached in the edge of the
wood" -. ,-.4.4-
This fact was not known when the
advance was ordered. The Ameri-
cans had no chance to take cover.
The one thing they could do was to
60 forward or retreat. When one
asks them from time to time why, In
this moment or another, they did not
fall back they become humorists:
''We don't know the country"
they say. eve don't know where
to retreat to-"
The machine guns swept the field
over which the Americans moved
with fan-shaped flare of bullets.
Here and there it concentrated on a
group. In one of these concentra-
tiOns the stream of balls cut an Of
ficer's head completely off. When his
jerking trunk struck the ground the
head was only attached to 1t by a
string of flesh. But his men moved
on:
81 don't know how you did it,"
said to the colonel.
Nor do l." said he. 1--WE had to-"
Full Of Machine Guns
Once. the machine guns were
reached that particular obstacle was
definitely put an end to. The gunners
were killed at their pieces, save those
who ran away. The Americans took
got back their breath. No one knows
how many were killed in that rush,
but the path was strewn with bodies.
The wood on ahead was full of Ger
mans. II seemed packed with ma
chine guns, states an Ofnc1al report.
1T seemed as tho there were ma
chine gun to every fifteen men,"
Not more than 700 Americans
took part in the fighting in the wood.
It is estimated that 1000 Germans
held the place. Almost 500 were
taken prisoners and dead Germans
lie everywhere in the underground.
There are few trees in the Bois.
Now and then one finds open spaces
and there are heaps of rocks and
small boulder strewn eminences 1t
was a place made to order for guer-
lila defense, and infinitely hard to
AXE by guerilla attack. Each open
space and each path between trees
Continued on page four