Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-18

The story OF the Boche trench raid Is
Of ancient vintage. and as said in my
cable reporting IL, worth perhaps ten
words In either French or English
communique. And yet to us of the
L. S. A. It meant a very great deal in
experiences and, as military value goes.
repaid the lives 1t cost and the prison.
ers lost. It's substance is known, first.
through the Boche communi1ue. and.
later, in correspondents dispatches; that
Il took place near the Rhine-Marne Ca
nal where the latter crosses the front
near Luneville; that it occurred at ESQ
a. m in the morning Of November 3. or
about the time folks at home had finished
evening dinner.
have felt that. in addition to this
information and such color as is given
70 their stories by American correspond
ents, q resume based upon rep jrts ccl-
lected by our stan might be interesting
IN, OF course. that portion thereof that
would not become of military disadvan-
tage TO our army. Hence this additional
tale.
STORY OF a RAID
At ten the preceding night. that OF
November 2. the platoon that was raided
had relieved another American platoon
in the secteur's salient. II was pitch
dark and raining hard. The Sammees
had no opportunity to familiarize them
selves with their surroundings I'm adj
dition, they had never been i'm a trench
before. save those of practice. The Of
ficer in charge was a second lieutenant
but n short time out of an officers
training camp at Fort Riley. Kansas,
and attached to his regiment shortly
before 1t went TO the front. His own
language as to what happened Is as
follows. 1t makes this story a personal
tale indeed.
The relief was effected at 10 p. m.
and l reported II back from my dugout
by runner. then made a tour Of in
spection and noted that there had been
no error in placing the men as per my
instructions. When 1 returned to the
dugout Sergeant --- was placing
the packs of the men on post, inside.
/ sent a runner TO the support platoon
for my blanket roll as I wanted the
candles 1 had wrapped UP with II.
told Sergeant and Sergeant
Halliburton (whose name Is permissible,
as II has been announced from WASH
Ington in the list of prisoners) to divide
watches, one with me during the day
the other on duty at night. By that
time the runner had returned with the
wrong blanket roll and consequently /
had no light during the night The
hour was Just half after midnight Then
I went on a slow tour of the secteur
trying to see into dark corners that l
might familiarize myself. / returned TO
find Sergeant ---, who reported he
had rockets. but could not tell what
kind they were. I ordered him to re-
port to my dugout and with pocket
lamp we would inspect them.
SHELLS FELL FAST
"Just as I spoke the first shell fell.
I was then almost at the apex OF the
raided salient a sharp right angle In
the front line trench baTbwire belted
ON each side The communicators ran
back in usual zigzag manner.
1 went north to get the men into
dugouts, warned post -, and as !
smoke was knocked down by shell con-
cussion, but got up. Just as I did !
WIS knocked against the revetment' or
trench wall, by the concussion Of au-
other. Immediately after I was knocked
completely out by a third she'll When
/ regained consciousness I sensed hand
grenades being thrown and heard she'll
FIRE as well. 1 was bit shaky' but
went on the job, aiding men to throw
balls of wire in the trenches to trip the
Boche If possible, placed an automatic
rife in position and grenadiers on its
flank. Just then another shell put me
entirely out, and when l woke up /
found myself in hospital"
RAID PLANNED LONG BEFORE
II has been definitely determined from
a prisoner taken that the raid had been
planned in August, long before Amerl-
can troops entered the secteur. Trench
raids are always planned ahead, and
carefully rehearsed through aerial pho
tographs. and shell-box barrago deter
mines to a nlcety by an occasional shell
upon a given point for weeks head. In
October the Boche found brown he'll
ineted soldier before him instead of the
blue of France and shortly after he
pulled off his plan. II was intelligence,
the usual thing by all armies on all
fronts, the exchange of life for informa-
zion II the former were necessary.
The officer commanding the raiders
was Lieutenant Wolf, a former Alsace
schoolmaster, one Of the many sent from
Germany into the reconquered province
TO spread "Kultur." His force vas COM
posed Of 210 men, an exceptionally large
raiding unit II was mostly Stosstrup-
pen, picked men used only IN attack
They wore blue and white brassards,
the Bavarian colors.
Trench raids are a Canadian invention
FIRST used in this war with the original
advent Of Canadian troops. then a sur
prise, pure and simple. carried out with
out artillery preparation. At the outset
raiders were small party. faces black
ened. creeping across No Mans Land
IN the dark. slipping into trench and
with knives and bludgeons killing as
many as possible, taking a prisoner OF
more, and sneaking back Before long
artillery preparation preceded, as II
now Invariably does. In this case II
was boxed about the sharp angle of the
salient and one could neither get out OF
IN during the forty minutes II lasted.
The dugout was the only spot TO go. No
wise man who knows anything about
this modern war game hesitates to dive
for a dugout after the first she'll breaks
near For every man killed twenty
years are necessary 10 reproduce him.
1t Is estimated that sixty-four Boche
reventy-sevens and larger caliber guns
performed the boxing and that they
iired about 1000 shells. II is most un-
likely that more than half the raiding
force entered the trench. The others
very probably nlassed about the com
mander just outside the French wire and
waited until the minute arranged for
ifting the barraee. then blew a way
through the wire with the usual piped
high explosive breaking path and held
while their comrades jumped IN on the
iNeaty-hve sammees, most OF whom
were IN duEouts.