Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-12-19

aid them. asd tie eoemy learned Gnas
b that he had ons 10 reckea WITH
he report shows Tor The 0rst timl
~odhcially that with this brilliantly exc.
euted coup. General Pefshing's NEE
had cleared the way for the great ee.
fort Of the allies and American lsecs1
to win . conclusive victory. The
American army moved at once. toward
Its browning achievement. the battle
Of the Meuse.
The general tells Q dramatic stery
of this mighty battle In three distinct
phases. beginning ON the night Of
September q, when Americans quick
ly took the places Of the French On
the thinly held line Of this long. quiet
sector. The attack opened on Septcm.
Der 20. and the Americans drove
through entangiements. across No
Mans Land. to take all the en.my's
first-line positions.
Battle OF the Meuss.
Closing the chapter. General Per
shing says:
ION November Q a division Of the
First corps reached a point on the
Mouse opposite Sedan, 25 miles from
| u lines Of departure. The STRATEGY
cal goal which was our highest hope
was gained. W. had cut the enemy's
main line Of communications, and
nothing could save his army from
complete disaster.
I'm all forty enemy divisions had
been used against US In the Meuse-
Argonne battle. Between September
20 and November 9 we took 26,058
prisoners and 48s guns on this front.
Our divisions engaged were the
First. Second, Third. Fourth. Fifth,
Twenty-sixth. Twenty-eighth. Twenty.
ninth, Thirty.second. T~hirty-third,
T~hirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh. Seventy
eighth. Se%venty-ninth, Eightieth.
Eighty-second. Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth
and N~inety-first.
"Many Of u divisions remained in
line for u length Of time that re-
quired nerves Of steel, while others
were sent in again after only a few
days Of rest. The First, Fifth. TWEEN.
ty.sixth. Forty.second, Seventy-sev.
enth, Eightieth. Eighty-nlnth and
Ninetieth were in the line twice.
Although some of the divisions
were fighting their first battle. they
o became equal to the hest.
Other Corps Active.
The commander in chief does not
lose sight Of the divisions operating
with French or British armies during
this time.
He tells of the work of the Second
corps, comprising the Twenty.seventh
and Thirtieth divisions, in the British
assault on the Hindenburg line where
the st. Quentin canal passes through
n tunnel; Of how the Second and Thir.
ty-sixth divisions got their chance In
October by being assigned to aid the
French in the drive from Reims, and
of the splendid fighting Of the Thirty.
seventh and Ninety-first divisions, sent
to join the French army in Belgium.
OF the total strength of the expedi-
tionary force. General Pershing re-
ports:
There are in Europe altogether, in
Guiding a regiment and some sanitary
units with the Italian army and the
organizations ut Murmansk, also In.
Guiding these en- route from the States.
approximately 2,053.347 men, less OUT
losses"
"Of this total there are In France
1881 1860 combatant troops"
Problem Of Equipment.
OF their equipment he says:
"Our entry into the war found US
with few of the nnxillaries necessary
for Its conduct in the modern sense.
Among II most important deficiencies
In material were artillery, aviation
and tanks.
In order to meet our requirements
as rapidly as possible, we accepted the
offer of the French government to pro-
vide us with the necessary artillery
equipment Of 75s, one 55-millimeter
howitzer and M IS G. r. +. gun from
their own factories for 30 divisions.
1.-THE wisdom Of this course is fully
demonstrated by the fact that. al.
though we soon began the manufac-
ture Of these classes of guns ut home,
there were no guns of the calibers
mentioned manufactured in America
on u front at the date the armistIce
was signed. The only guns Of these
types produced Mt home thus far re.
celved In France are 100 75-millimeter
guns.
First U. S. Planes In May.
I'm aviation we were in the same
situation, and here again the French
government came to aid until our
own aviation program should be under
way. We obtained from the French
the necessary planes for training our
personnel, and they have provided Us
with IA total Of 2,878 pursuit, observa.
tion, and bombing planes.
THE first airplanes received from
home arrived in May. and together
we have received 1870. The first
American squadron completely
equipped by American production, In.
Guiding airplanes. crossed the German
lines on August Z, 1918.
"AR To tnnEs. wn voru ~oynnoI1oA