The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-10-18
RAIN CAN'T AID
FOES-GANSSER
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rOEo-U
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Of Alsace, on the Campiegne line, in
the "big push" and eastward, where
artillery and machine guns were SIM
ply deserted by their crews, without
dismantling or blowing up; where in
the aggregate millions of all sizes OF
munitions were left neatly piled with
out an effort at destruction, so that
the guns and munitions could at once
be used against their fast fleeing lines,
and there is good reason to believe
that the end is not so far away as
some wise but ancient estimators
would lead us to believe. They base
their conclusions on numbers and ma
terial things.
"The morale of the enemy is surely
weakening, if not actually completely
undermined. And morale is finally
ing to win this war.
Home by Xmas, 1919
$50 confident are our men that
America will decioe this war quickly
now that the Yanks are strong on the
firing line, that they are laying bets
as to how far they will drive the en-
envy into his own country before next
July A, and how far they will have to
drive him back before he will quit cold.
They realize that there are so many
Yanks over here now and on the way
that it will take some time after the
Boche cries quits before they will
get back home. Still for all that, they
are betting (figuratively speaking, no
stakes) that they will be home to eat
Thanksgiving turkey or Xmas pud-
ding in 1919.
at may be both opportune and in
teresting to review the work Of the
Michigan and Wisconsin division to
date
washington announced June 18th
that the Thirty-second division was in
the front line trenches in Alsace. The
Detroit battalion had the honor of be-
ing the first to go on the firing line.
When the enemy had been driven back
90 the Aisne, Marshal Foch and Gen.
eral Pershing complimented the Thir-
sy-second division among others for
rheir good fighting record in that big
push. On September General March
announced that the American troops
who stormed Juvigny and adjoining
villages on the vital flank of the old
Hindenburg line, were the men from
Michigan and Wisconsin of the Thirty
second division. So at last the silence
Of six months is broken, and the folks
at home are allowed to know just what
this National Guard division has done
and is doing.
Leaving Camp Macarthur last Jan
nary they lost their first troopship, the
Tuscania, off the Irish coast, but all
the others landed safely. At once
they helped lay the foundation for an
immense American supply depot and
for an immense rail head and distri-
putting center. Draining low lands,
filling and leveling, building roads and
railroads for the construction crews,
they spent some busy weeks in mis-
cradle weather as practical engineers.
Thirty-SecOnd Rules No Mans, Land
"Then all through April, with
storms and tears and mud and cold
in all it's unreasonable proportions,
they trained over wide area, per-
mitting all to practice with live gre
nades, long range artillery, machine
and automatic guns, rifle grenades
and infantry rifles. Mixed with this
battle practice were long hikes, dis
ciplinary drills, work with gas masks,
endless sanitary work.
"Reaoy to the last gun and the
last man, they quietly slipped over
into .Alsace before the flowers of May.
And in Alsace as in central France
they displayed genius for improve
ment; for doing big things in big
way; and clever ingenuity in devils
ing promptly their own methods OF
attack and defense, best adapted to
American aggressiveness. The Hun
came over once or twice to learn who
was making all the new and novel
racket across his wire. He found out
and never came back. Some OF him
are there yet, where his curiosity car
ried him.
"From prisoners taken and desert
ers we early learned the I'D and til
Bavarian infantry were holding the
chain or strong centers Of resistance
in the division front. The deserters
showed they had no stomach for that
kind of fighting.
"'No mans land had apparently
been declared neutral" territory
largely for time. Very quickly the
Yanks from Michigan and Wisconsin
took forcible possession. Fritz could
hardly believe his eyes, and came to
the edge of his own wire to make
sure. lie heard quickly from our
snipers we'll up to his own wire, and
thuse that were missed beat hasty
retreat. After that the enemy seemed
to retire to his machine gun nests OF
pill boxes and we never saw him
more.
Bigger Work Ahead
"His artillery occasionally showed
signs of life. Our own division artil-
-. 80. an IN the Toul sector. but /