The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-04
fell OF BATTLE
New York Boys Fresh From
Attack Discuss Experiences.
Hair-Raising Experiences Dur.
ing Attack on Germans.
MANY HEROES IN FIGHTING
Crossed Hindenburg Line in
Most Terrible Fighting.
Met the Germans and Gained
Victory Over Them.

Met the Germans and Gained
Victory Over Them.
With the British Armies in France.
Oct. 4.-Fresh from a breathless con-
test with death, scores of New York.
high school and college boys today
told, stories of military exploits call
cuIated to stir the imaginations of the
folks of their home towns. Wet,
caked with mud, ragged and weary,
these boys are now resting safely this
side of the Hindenburg line after adj
ventures such as even boys scarcely
dream of. These boys are part OF the
American troops who smashed their
way thru one of the strongest points
IN Germany's greatest defense system.
Hid in Dugout,
Leon Davidson, aged 18, of Brook
lyn; Walter BURY. 20, Iowa, a Cornell
student; Arthur Giles, 10. of Brook
lyn; Ernest Menden, of the Bronx.
and Geoden Anderson, Brooklyn, par
ticipated in last Fridays fight to pre-
pare positions preliminary to the big
attack staged Sunday. When the bar
rage fire ceased the boys became sep
arated from the rest Of their platoon
and found themselves facing a battery
Of machine guns. The boys prompt
ly dropped into a shell hole, where
they remained for hours. Under. cover
of battle the youths found their way
to a dugout thirty feet deep and with
two exits. 4ra
i. Enemy machine gunners quickly
discovered the presence of the lads
and rained bullets upon both openings
to the .dugout. All Friday night the
boys remained prisoners in the dug
out. Selling an opportunity early Sat-
urday morning, they slipped out of
their hiding in the darkness but could
not get their directions and returned
to the 'dugout, where they remained all
of Saturday. subsisting on stale black
German bread and drinking rainwater.
Once. during the day they smelled gas
and for several hours lay gas masked.
Saturday night they stole out again,
and finding a wounded comrade lying
| in SHALLOW trench. carried him back
| to their dagout and gave him first
aid All that night the boys remained
| in their shelter. Sunday morning they
heard. the shells of anew American
barrage breaking in their vicinity and
presently the voices Of . American
troops at the entrance of the. tunnel
leading to their dugout. The lads
staggered from the shelter too weak to
| walk and were carried to the rear on
| stretchers. y. tt
Captured the Huns.
| Capt. Harry Close, son of the ath-
letic coach at Princeton, and Joseph
| Giovanni Brooklyn, with platoon
| were passing the entrance to a German
trench Sunday when they saw the cur
| tain before a dugout move slightly.
Close called upon the occupants to
come out and nine German soldiers
| and one officer emerged. Giovanni
was ordered to conduct the party to
the rear During the journey, Giovan-
ni,1 who Understands German, over
| officer OQSt To
| that they try to bolt. Instantly Gio-
| Fanni, ordered the officer to stand
aside and threatened to kill the first
man who tried to escape. The officer
then offered to guide Giovanni to the
American lines, but the doughboy
would have none of it and found the
| way himself. turning his party over at
headquarters The prisoners were i'm
! mediately put to work serving as
stretcher, bearers despite the protests
Of one who spoke of the .''indignity of
! ito r -
: One New York officer at the mouth
of the main Hindenburg tunnel found
| a German officer. The German ex-
planned the tunnel was lighted by
electricity and the New York sergeant
| ordered him to turn on the lights. Be-
| fore obeying the German carefully
| disconnected wires running into the
Hight switch which were connected
with big explosives. 2sa
| New York troops describe fierce
hand ito hand fighting Sunday night.
| Machine Gun Masses.
l Masses Of machine guns carefully
| camouflaged had been hidden SO cum
ningly by the enemy that the first the
doughboys knew of their presence was
when they opened fire at close range.
"Our boys were dropping all
around" said one of the Americans.
but they couldn't stop US. Our or
ders were to keep on going and we
Went on" sea
After this fight an American cap
tain was found dead locked in death
grip with a German neutenant.> An
| other captain, wounded, lay in a<shell
hole with twelve of his men. He or
dered the men to leave him and seek
safety. They went as far as the next
she'll hole. where the sergeant in. com.
! mand called a conference and the
men decided they couldn't abandon
their officer this way. All Immediate
| ly returned to the captains side. The
| place was exposed to shell fire for
several hours and all the men were
wounded when rescued. A major, un-
kempt and unshaven. who had not
! slept for forty-eight hours, had lost
none of his enthusiasm over the con-
duct of-his men as he described their
| exploits to the correspondent The
fiercest fighting, he said, took place
north of Bel1icourt beyond the canal
| Americans. and Germans met there
hand to hand in savage physical en-,
counters. The Germans at this point
proved better fighters than had beer
expected the major declared. but
proved no match for the magniffcen,
dash and enthusiasm of the Yanks..
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