Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-24
ONLY 15 Of ESQ MEN
SURVIVED THE BATTLE
Returning u. s. Soldiers Bring
Close up Views Of Terrible Fight
ing in France.

Many Of the patients who came IN a
hospital ship 10 New York, day or two
ago. were members of the 9th Division
This division was vario,isly known in
France, according TO the members, as
"ORyans Rolghnooks," '"rhe Ifobnail
Express" and 20 Ryans Travelling Cir
Gus"
eve hiked All over France and Bel
GUM, said one veteran. For every hv
miles we rode IN train. we marched 20
1t seems as though we were on the 20 from
the time we got TO France until we busted
through the Hindenburg line and ! got
mine. When they cut my clothes off IN the
hospital, IT was the first time / had had NY
shoes of in a month.
Many thrilling volumes could be writ
ten Of the experiences Of the men of the
Empire Division, but most Of them deal
ing modestly with their own An interest
ing story was .oId by Louis u. Sweitzer,
formerly an instructor in the Y. NJ. g. A.
Auto School, who enlisted in the old 7lst
Regiment in April, 1917, and was q first
class machine gunner IN the Machine
Gun Company of the lD5th Infantry fIe
was seriously wounded before Ie Catcau
on October ~ and was IN all the fierce
fighting which his regiment and division
went through, in which il suffered heavy
losses, before that
Sweitzcr said that out Of ESQ men in his
company only Is were left alive, of
whom he is ono. His company suffered
its greatest losses the day he was wounded,
he ssid, when the Germans had their
range perfectly, and it was almost wiped
out before Il ever got started.
lie received five shrapneI wounds IN
his left thigh right arm and right
hup a.tI k,r ffk,syII,sgB kg,-.rr - 4
when a she'll exploded right beside them
alone with his machine gun until bullet
penetrated his left hand, rendering IL use-
less. BY that time his thigh was also
botherlng him 10 much that nc dropped,
faint from loss Of blood
After this he ay out on the field for
IL hours before being picked up, and IN
that time received a wound IN the fore
head, when a znipers bullet went through
his tin hat, and was also gassed and severe
iy burned on the hands, arms and legs bv
mustard gas He laughed and joked about
his hurts as he told Of receiving them, NJ
though he rms shocking wound in hrs left
thigh, caused by the bursting shrapnel
which is healing slowly because Of the
length Of time that elapsed before he reach
ed a hospital after receiving il.
After my partner was killed and
fell = said 9weitzer. II saw surgeon q
short distance away and called 70 him to
come over to me / rolled down nv
trousers and the surgeon got out hrs
bandages 20 fix me up, when another she'll
burst nearby. The surgeon jumped up
and ran, and that was the last | ever saw
of him. | got at IL and bandaged myself
up as best | could When ! fell after
ward and lay out there, | thought every
minute would be nv last The German
barrage was going one way and ours the
other, and everything the Huns had was
whistlIng around me
j propped up dead Hun, my machine
gun and my pack for a shelter and scrooch-
cd in behind IL, and even then didn't
escape some snipers' bullets NV gas
mask was shot full Of holes and was use
less, and one bullet went through the
water Jacket Of the machine gun and
through nv TIN hat At the same time
that this one struck me, the water began
70 spout all over me, and when the blood
and water ran down nv face. ! was sure
that nv head had been shot OF
We captured a German machine gun
ner wearing the insignia OF the Red Cross.
We were not sure about him until we
searched him and found the luminous
sights hidden in his sleeve. That was
nough for US.
After they had smashed through the
Hindenburg line, Sweltzer said he had
been through some of the German officers
elaborate subterranean quarters, built OF
solid concrete. which were fitted Up as
we'll as many hotels.