The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1918-08-14

! IN FRANCE-(CorreSponden of the
i Associated Press )-One regiment of
} negroes in the American army mum
her delcted by ccnsor) has had its bap-
: tism OF fire on the fighting fields OF
< France and acquitted itself so well that
the French commander of the sector
: has cited the whole regiment as worthy
OF receiving the war cross This regi-
ment's repulSc of the enemy attack on
The early morning OF June II (possihly
! at Rclleau wood or Boureschcs) was
briefly referred to in the official COM
munque
later and official report of the en-
ggcmcnt brings out interesting details
and gives credit to the officers and men
for fine fighting qualities displayed IN
their initial experience under shell and
machine gun fire The French com
mander OF that sector has given the
regiment the highest possible commcn
dation for the results accomplished aDd
the splendid fighting spirit shown by
The American negroes.
Enemy Preparation.
For several days preceding the at
tack there were evidences that sle enemy
was preparing to strike a blow. Two
days before one Of the main points held
by the regiment bad been subjected 10
a strong bombardment of nearly lUO
shells, gas and shrapnei Prior to the
heavy enemy artillery barrage occurring
"a the morning OF the twelfth, our ad
vanCe groups heard movements appad
entity OF narrow -guage track trains in
the wood back OF the enemy lines, in
dlcating they were getting ready for
an attack.
Every preparation had been made for
meeting the move If it came. Besides
I the usual combat groups at the main
points Of the line, a special machine
gun section occupied specially chosen
position on a small salient projecting
into the enemy line. II was accom-
Z panied BY a combat group detailed from
reserve company and carrying rifles and
hand grcnadcS.
Method of Attack
j. was 2l5 ON the morning OF the
twelfth that the order 10 stand to- was
given and all combat groups and the
machine gun section took their fighting
position The enemy artillery now
opened a violent bombardment, engag-
ing I'm a box barrage" five Of our
main groups and the special machine
gun position. The lines of this box
harrauc are we'll defined on the ground,
,h1win. its outer circuit with con-
siderable Scattering Of hts inside The
shells were mostly IT'S, with some lS5s,
gas, shrapnel and high explosives One
OF our points received particular at
tention, probably by minenwerier, the
craters OF which were two yards IN
depth and five yards in diameter The
artillery bombardment was extremely
violent at the start and tapered oil
gradually until it stopped after thirty
minutes.
Meantime under cover OF the artil-
lery. the enemy infantry began its op-
erations, adopting the iniiltering proc
less by which detached groups are thrust
forward at a number OF points instead
of moving in mass formation. On group
came on with two light machine guns
firing a rather intense fite into one
of our positions Another group was
estimated to be about twenty-five or
thirty. At another point on our front
! stationery enemy patrol took post
lion. firing with two small machine
/ guns. Now and then squads would dart
( forward from their gun positions. Eight
Germans got up TO the wire in front
OF one Of our positions, and four others
approached at another point Besides
these assault groups which reached our
line, there were undoubtedly additional
/ enemy forces in assaulting columns and
supporting columns which were unable
i 10 enter the field
Yankee Bravery.
The special machine gun group un-
der command of Lieut. L. f. Shaw, was
in one Of the most exposed centers oI
the fighting. being under terrific ar
tillcry fire and the fire OF two Ger
/ man machine guns Lieutenant Shaw
handled this very difficult situation with
/ cool bravery. The enemy barrage was
y 20 close that il was impossible to stant
1 tip and Lieutenant. Shaw controlled hii
guns BY rolling from one to The other
Hs two guns fired 5000 rounds.
Under this vioIsnt onslaught the mer
,t,ck 10 their posts, carried out ever
order without hesitation. often unds
railing fire, and showed high degre'
Il skill with their weapons snd-coolnes
and courage. Each machine guI
jammef three times, was partly disas
\ semhled and cleaned Under fire, con
.ins!as d action throughout the en-
o. team fired fourteen clips wher
= - gun iammed. Reporting this tc
TX tG1oaent Shaw they were ordered tc
~ jan. While under intense
lnxa naenlss Jun, ihe,