The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1918-12-06

1
these lines," HindenbuTg said, ano
let the enemy wear himself out
against u.s." Against this strong
line of defense the boyG of our dl'
vision were thrown at the zero hour
on the 29th day of September. The
attack was one CT the most splendid
executed military undertakings OF
the entire war. Down the slopes
and up the hillsidcs and thru wire
ENHANCEMENT, amidst enemy shot
and shell, charging against over
whelming forces and superior num-
bcrs the boys of our division and OF
New York division stormed and
charged. In the teeth CT machine
guns and shrapnel and fierce coun-
ter barrage our boys advanced on
the heels of our tanks and when
the tanks became mired and put out
of commission these boys took their
places. Between them and the
enemy was a canal. 1t was intended
to go around same, but the brave
lads did not ell wait to go around
but charged down the steep and
wooded sides two hundred feet be-
low. Across the canal they charged
up the other side and over the top
they went, never stopping until they
had reached their objective. Dug
out after dugout, trench after trench,
stronghold after stronghold they
took, never did that irresistible
wave stop. Fer the once engineer
ing perfection and ingenuity gave
way to personal bravery and daunt-
less audacity. Not alone were these
boys satisfied with capturing their
first objectivcs but on they charged
to their second objective. Tanks
and the barrage no longer preceded
them on to their objoctives. 1t was
charge that will go down in his
tory and which l shall never forget.
Thus, was captured tho Hindenburg
line and the invasion of new Ger
many made. Once the line broken
the boys continued on to new OBJ
jectives, each morning and often dur
ing the day going over the top, push
ing relentlessly forward, capturing
hundreds of prisoners, capturing viii
lage after village, trench after
trench, encountering stubborn re-
sistance everywhere, often tianking
whole enemy columns, never tiring,
the enemy retreating in haste and
only his superb discipline saving him
from route. For nine days the boys
went over the top each morning and
always with success and that against
an enemy who contested with all the
strategy and determination known to
military science every step and every
foot of ground. Only four days did
they rest. 1t fell to the lot of our
division and a division of New York
City to break this line and that at
it's strongest points.
Can you imagine the eve of a bat
tie? Silently and secretly the men
are brought up to withing a short |
distance of the front line. Every
man is sober and serene. All are
filled with the thought that the. test |
supreme has come. How many will |
see the next setting of the sun? How |
many will have paid the price of |
victory? This is the question in |
every mans he&rt and mind and yet |
there were none there that would |
have shirkcd his duty if he could |
have. All were eager to fight and |
have it over with. Here they were
given q days rctions and the neces-
sary grenades, shells and other equip
mcnt for the fight When the clock
strikes a midnight hour these boys
move up slowly into the front line
trenches and stand. Usually ar
tillery firing is heavier during these
nights than on others. In the morn
ing, just as the first light Of day be-
gins to show, q heavy barrcge is laid
down by the c.rtillery and our tanks,
by the hundreds, follow
close on the heels of the barrage,
having advanced under the cover of
darkness to withing proper distance
for the attack. The tanks are fol-
lowed at spaces of about 100 yards
by the infantry, advancing in sepa-
rate squads. The principal work of
the tanks is to cut and destroy the
wire entaglements usually found be-
fore the enemy lines and the wire
before the Hindenburg
line covered a depth of almost one
half mile. Another duty of the
tanks is to run over and destroy all
machine gun emplacements and to
span a trench long enough to work
its machine gun on the trench and
empty it of its defenders. The bar
rage chases every enemy soldier in
to his dugout and makes it impossible
for the enemy to stay either in the
trench or outside his pIace of shelter