The Washington herald., 1918-08-11

NudlCIt Nlukke DEWceu SudUl-
pillon and Lucy-le-Bocage. From one
side We had observation OF the north
and when the Germans attacked at
p. m. we had q box seat. They were
driving at Hill 165 from the north and
northeast: and they came out, on a
wonderfully clear day, in two col
tween a row OF woods on the farther
side. and woods and O ravine on the
near side. We could see the two thin
brown columns advancing in per-
feet order until two-thirds of the
columns. We Judged. were in view.
The rife and machine fire were in
cesssnt and overhead the shrapnel
was bursting. Then the shrapnel
came on the target at each shot. It
broke just over and just ahead OF
those columns and then the next
bursts sprayed over the very green
in which we could see the columns
moving. 1t seemed for all the world
that the green fields had burst out
In patches Of white daisies where the
columns were doggedly moving. And
! 1t did again and again. no barrage.
but with the skill and accuracy of q
cat playing with two brown mice
that she could reach and mutilate
at will and without any hurry. The
, white patches would roll away and
We could see that some OF the col
umns were still there. slowed up.
and it seemed perfect suicide for
| them to try.
You couldn't begrudge a tribute to
their pluck at that
Then, under that deadly fire and
| the barrage OF rife and machine gun
fire, the Boche stopped. 1t was too
| much for any men. They burrowed
| in or broke to the cover of woods
| and you could follow them by the
ripples Of the green wheat as they
raced for cover. The Fifth bore the
| brunt of 1t and on our left the men
raked the woods and ravines to stop
the BOche at his favorite trick OF in
fiaiting through An airplane was
overhead checking up on our artii-
lery's fire, and when the shrapnel
| lay down on those columns just as
an elephant would lie down on a
ton Of hay. the French aviator sig
nailed back to our lines Bravo"
The French. who were in support
| of the Fifth and at one time thrown
! into the line. could not and cannot to-
| day grasp .he rifle fire of the men.
1Hdl ilitll ulC uCllDCTdlSlN
use their sights, and adjust their
range. was beyond their experience
The rife fire certainly figured heavily
T, in the toll we took, and it must have
had a telling effect on the morale of
the Boche, for it was something they
had not counted on. As q matter OF
fact. after pushing back the weakened
French and then running up against q
stone-wall defense. they were literally
up in the air and more than stopped
We found that out later from prison.
ers, for the Germans never knew We
| were in the front line when they
! made that attack. They were abso-
lutely mystifed at the manner in
which the defense had stiffened up
until they found that our troops were
in line.
THE next day wise's output pulled
a spectacular stunt in broad daylight
| They spotted a machine gun out in
front, called for barrage. swept out
behind 1t. killed or wounded every
man in the crew and disabled the
gun. They got back o. K. and then
the Boche launched . counter attack
that was smashed up. For the next
few days We were busy pushing out
small posts to locate the enemy, and
to reoccupy such strong points as
were beyond the main line assigned
US.
The General Advance.
"The real fireworks broke on June
6, when a general advance on the bri-
gade front to straighten out the lines
and recover territory was decided on.
At p. m. we started out for our
new detectives, on a wonderful day.
and the twilight is so long here that
it was practically broad daylight. The
eastern edge Of the Bois de Beileau
and Bouresches were our main objec-
tives. with Torchy and other parts Of
the Belleau the Fifth's. Sioley's bat
TALON had the advance, with Hol-
combs In support The colonel and
Capt Laspiere, our French military
adviser, went out to Lucy, the CEN
tral point behind the advance. Sibley
moved out In perfect order. and poor
Cole told me the night before they
got him that when Holcomb's Ninety
sixth Company moved out later and
came through the wopds and into the
wheat fields in four waves. 1t was the
most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
The artillery preparation was short
and one of the platoons Of our ma
chine gun company laid down a bar
rage. But out in the thick Bois de
Belleau laison was extremely difh-
cult. The woods were alive with ma
chine guns and at times where our
lines and those of the Fifth had
passed through they found Boche and
machine guns in their rear. The ad-
vance on the left was held up by