The Robesonian., 1918-04-15
ENGINEERS PLAYED PART.

Fought Shoulder to Shoulder With
i Canadian Comrades-Made Heroic
| Record-Gave Germans Sample Of
! U. S. A.
| With the American Army in France
| Monday, April (By The Associated
Press).-The American railway engi-
neers who helped stem the tide of the
onrusnlng Germans during the open
ing days of the battle now in prog
ress, fought shoulder to shoulder with
the Canadian engineers in carrying
out their task.
They held their ground stubbornly
and only retired to previously pre-
pared positions when forced to do so
and inflicted casualties by the thou
sands upon the Germans as they ad
vanced in close formation, In one
place in as many as seven waves, each
wave ten men deep and 100 yards
apart. The Americans with the Can
adams had all the ammunition they
needed and although they were unsup-
ported by the artillery and only arm
ed with rifles and with few machine
guns, they poured scythe-like streams
of bullets into the enemy at several
/ different times until the weapons were
so hot as to be useless.
Sick of Slaughter But Fought
This handful of American soldiers ;,
who were not hardened to such terri
j fic slaughter, was sickened by the
shambles it created, but fought fu-
riously for several days, helping to
hold the enemy all the way from St.
Quentin to the vicinity of Noyon.
These were the Americans mentioned
at the time of in the official commu-
niques, but these details of their ex-
ploits it has only now been possible
to secure.
i When the German attack began the
!. Americans were working in the rear
lines with the Canadians, under Ca
madam command. They quickly
threw down their tools and seized
the weapons with which they had
been armed for some months and
!. formed themselves into fighting
unit The Germans came on and fin
ally reached the positions where the
Americans were waiting.
i Only Few Engineers.
The exact numbers of the engineers
cannot be given but they were COM
paratively small. They had no inten-
tion of retreating, however, and were
bent upon killing all the Germans pos
sible.
AS the first gray ranks of the
, enemy advanced, the Americans let
} them come until they were within
| certain range, then opened fire, pour
ing in hail of bullets. Gaps ap-
peared in the advancing lines at many
; places, some of them large, where the
!; machine guns had chewed through.
Still the German waves came on,
without firing a single shot-just ad-
lvancing.
Weapons Red Hot.
The Americans were unable to un-
, derstand these tactics, but neverthe-
less were certain that it was a ques-
tion of slaughtering the enemy or be-
ing themselves smOthered under this
advance. But this time their weapons
, were SO hot that they could not be
fused effectively and the enemy was
close, so that the engineers retired,
fighting; took another position, then
turned and began operations again. A
British officer who witnessed the en-
gagement is reported to have said: {:
"They held on by their teeth until the
last moment inflicting terrible cas-
ualties on the enemy Then they mov-
ed back and waited for the Germans
and repeated the performance"
Sample of U. S. A.
BY the time the engineers had
: reached place somewhere near Noy-
: on they were nearly exhausted and al
: most without equipment. There they
we're given a chance to rest and re-
equip. According to all reports, they
? were entitled to it, for certainly they
s gave the Germans a generous sample
v of what the enemy is to expect from
the American army.
] During a battle unusual stories al
:. ways crop up, but the following is one
i the correspondent heard from an un-
questionable source and it is said to
p have been verified:
: Get German Spy.
Il In one of the periods when the
S American engineers and their Cana
e dian comrades-in-arms were holding
f a position, what appeared to be a
n British staff motor drove up. The
driver was in the uniform of British
e soldier and a man in the tonneau was
' in the uniform of a British staff Of
ficer.
The officer stepped out and asked
S for the commanding officer. He was
). taken to a Canadian officer nearby
, The staff officer ordered the COM
!. mander to retire four kilometres
. saying that the Germans were press
ing on both flanks and he might be
, cut off.
d Canadian Suspicious.
i For some reason the Canadian COM
k mander became suspicious. He had
the staff officer searched when the lat
ter failed to produce his authority and
papers were found on him proving
that he was German officer. He and
his. chauffeur were Immediately shot
e American engineer officers are said
2f to have been present when the Incl.
in dent occurred.