White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1918-08-25
Waller Hull Tells
Of Big Name Battle

Waiter Hull, formerly Nevada
Northern station agent in Ely, and
who enlisted in the Signal Corps
shortly after the United States en-
tered the war, has written the most
graphic account of closeup expert
ences on the battle front yet received
by anyone in this county. Following
is the lester in which he lucidly mar
rates the battle of the Marnes to his
brother, Percy Hull. paymaster OF the
Nevada Northern Railway company:
France, 7-30-1S.
Dear Perc.
Suppose the papers are full of the
fighting here the past two weeks.
Wish | We're home so as to be able
to tell YOU of incidents the papers
never speak of = also sights--the
second battle of the Marne as 1t is
known, only the first battle of the
Huns were not opposed by Ameri-
cans. Know you were worried at not
hearing from me, but circumstances
would not permit. Wrote you long
letter about the tenth but never got
To mail it.
Would surely love to be able to de-
scribe everything TO you that | have
gone through. We were sitting
pretty suntil hell had broke lose on
the morning of the 18th. We have
been here at the river front for the
past two months, with many little
fights, as I told you is former letters
that the Boche was only seventy-five
yards away at that time. Could not
tell where we were on the river then
The Marne is not such a wide river,
some places real narrow. Where We
crossed about seventy-five to a hun
dred yards wide.
Our officers had been expecting
this big offensive anywhere from the
9th of July. II was 1918 a. IN. of
the 18th that the first shell hit about
ten feet from our dugout, then about
quarter of mile from the river
bank; and, boy, they sure laid them
in. The French claim the greatest
drum fire put over, lasting practical
ly ten hours, falling like clockwork---
gas, shrapnel and high explosive.
Houses and villages went down like
so much saw dust. Our forces out
numbered three TO one. They came
across the river as far as the railroad
track. when our men opened up in
earnest. We were dug Inn the
railroad embankment. For two days
it was hords of Boche against hand
fuls of Americans. They came in
close formation, we're moved down
by our machine guns, but there al
ways seemed to be another behind
the one that went down. Things look
ed very bad for us. At the start all
signal corps men picked up rifles,
| though all we were supposed to have
was pistols-never shot an army
rifle in my life until then. They
were using machine guns and one
Founders on us, which are sure wick
ed. Will never really know what
turned the tide, but the Huns COM
menced yelling .Kamerad.' As they
threw up their hands they knockedrof
their helmets. For what reason,
II could not learn, they yell
something sounding like PAS
Copast'' ''Pas Capost'' "Kamerad'
Kamerad' We took in several
thousand prisoners. Many tried to
get back across the river, but never
made it--they fell in the river, some
tried to swim back; get so far and
then go down-even get half way up
the other side and slide back in. BY
this time our artillery were hunting
out their machine gun nests. Our
engineers built bridge across, un-
der heavy fire, and repaired one the
Huns tried to blow up. The pontoons
themselves we're full of German dead.
This German bridge now has a sign
on lit BUILT by Americans-Goods
made In Germany" Almost impos-
sible to walk without stepping ON
dead. There would be ten Germans
| to every American. Perc, their dead
were actually four deep in places.
The slopes sure were slaughter
house. Glad you could not see IT.;
even now the stencil Is there.
We crossed the river under rife,
machine gun and aeroplane fire.
lAeroplanes close enough to see the
men in them, who were throwing
French apples (Grenades) and turn
ling machine guns on us. A great