Evening star., 1918-07-19
HUNS COWARDS,
!. us. F|GHTERSSAY
Surrender Willingly in BeIIeau
Wood-Americans' Dare
Devil Work.
DETAILS OF THE FIGHTING
BY HERBERT COREY.

BY HERBERT COREY.
WITH THE AMERICANS ON THE
MARINE. June 19.-Three things stant
out prominently in the story Of tn.
fighting in Belleau wood:
First is the extraordinary courage ant
endurance of the young American sol.
diers who won that fight. Only a small
number was engaged. but it may be
doubted II any body Of troops on eithel
side have been subjected to heavier OF
more concentrated shelling or have met
with more stubborn resistance.
Second is the conviction of every mar
that I'VE have FritZie's number" He
has definitely proven that he is the Ger
mans superior in fighting quality. That
personal superiority is so marked that
every man will tell You that the boches
are cowards." But the Germans fought
very well. The American officers con-
cede this.
Third is the quality of the Prussian
discipline.
rs it true" I asked the colonel of
these remarkable fighting men, that
suns?''
'It is a ie," he answered without
hesitation. But their officers held
them at the guns by force. They killed
those that ran"
During the first three days of the
fighting which lasted from June 1 to
June Is the Germans had no artillery.
Their surprise had been an effective
ono. and they had advanced SO rapidly
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 themselves in the wood and
a brief period Of hand-to-hand fighting
followed. The lines were stabilized.
Then each side brought up its artillery.
No Retreat for Them.
The wood of Belleau is an irregu-
1arly shaped patch of thickets, per-
haps three times longer than It is
wide. The part in which the fighting
dred acres. 1t is around this part
that the Germans still hold a nest of
machine guns, at cost they only
know. But while that nest is held
of Belleau is checked. The town of
Belleau is not wanted just now. When
it is it will be taken
I'VE advanced toward the wood
across an open field" said the colonel
of the unit. Our designated path
was perhaps half a kilometer long.
and there were a dozen or more ma
chine guns cached in the edge of the
wood"
This fact was not known when the
advance was ordered. The Americans
had no chance to take cover. The
one thing they could do was to go
forward.
The machine guns swept the field
over which the Americans moved with
a fan-shaped flare of bullets. Here
In one OF these concentrations the
stream of balls cut an officers 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.
When the Boche "Played Dead"
ed that particular obstacle was def
nttely put an end to. The gunners
were killed at their pieces. save those
who ran away. 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. ut seemed packed with ma
chine guns" states an official report
1T seemed as though there were a
machine gun to every fifteen men"
part in the fighting in the wood. It
ts estimated that 1000 Germans held
the place. Almost 500 were taken
prisoners and dead Germans lie every
where in the undergrowth There are
Few trees In the Bois. Now and then
one nnds open spaces and there are
heaps OF rocks and small boulder
strewn eminences. 1t was a place
made to order for guerilla defense,
and Infinitely hard to take by gueril-
"a attack. Each open space and each
path between trees offered an op-
portunity for machine gun play.
when they got their Toe hold in the
wood the Americans began to move
forward a tree at a time. This was
a time Of desperate hand-to- hand
lighting. Here the Germans displayed
the nrst OF the bag of tricks with
which the marines eventually became
familiar.
They played dead" in the open
spaces SO that the Americans pass
cd by. Then they were fred on from
behind. The invaders Of the wood
learned that not even a wounded Ger
man was safe If he held arms handy.
eventually line of trenches was
built by the contending forces through
tho center of the wood A passerby
could hardly have detected them.
They wriggled about trees and patches
OF shrubbery and rock and were hid
tiny dugouts in which the men slept
some times. Not often. The colonel
went without sleep or food for five
days and nights.
Fighting on Monkey Meat"
The fighting now became continu-
Gus and although the two weeks in
the wood were starred by two days
OF heavier fighting than was ordi-
nary. when the Americans attacked
In what passed for force, one day
really differed slightly from any 9TH