Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-18
DELAWARE SOL D|ERS
IN THICK Of FIGHT
NEAR CLOSE OF WAR
Lieutenant Frank c. Hughes of
Wilmington and Private J. B. Nc
Coy of Kirkwood.
NARROWING EXPERIENCES

Lieutenant Frank G. Hughes, accord
ing TO q letter received from hun by Charles
h. Palmer, was IN the thick OF the fight
toward the close of hostllities in Europe
Lieutenant Hughes i a young VII
mngtonlan. who enlisted early IN tile
war-after America had entered lt-and
through his own efforts he was promoted,
last August. to second lieutenant in the
Field Artillery, though he had been act
Ing in that capacity for some time before
hand In his letter, which II dated Mo-
vcmbcr u. nearly two weeks after the
war had ended, he says:
Our division (thc 2Sthl had crossed
the Marine and driven the Hun along to
the Nesle There VIC spent a good bit of
time cunning for each other and getting
ready for the next boost As observation
and telephone officer for Battery L of the
I0Sth | had most interesting work. My
duties took nlc from the front observation
posts 10 renmental headquarters, and
each trip had IFS own particular bit Of cX-
pericnce.. My usual and favorite post was
a little hole in the ground overlooking
the Nesle and the hill beyond, where
Fritz lived and watched. There, with some
good glasses, could sec what was gong
on and direct our artillery fire / often
/
the French towns and roads, how much
more pleasant that would be if al that
we're happening on the other side Of the
Rhine Apparently that is not going TO
happen In September, we crossed the
Vesle, and although We paid for 1t, re
put the lines we'll along toward the .t1sne.
We were relieved by the French before
our battalion crossed the river and start
cd overland 10 rest billets. We never
arrived at those billctS, but after march
ing by dav and then by night, we sud
denly turned north and INTO the Argonne.
That trip through Northern France was
wonderful and was big resS III itself
In the Argonne we found lots OF rain and
mud, but lined up with lots Of other guns
for the Jump Off which occurred in
September The conditions for fighting
were very bad there; everything was
strongly fortified and enough barbed
wire TO fence all OF the farms IN Della
ware
Since the wal ended, Lieutenant Hughes
has been ordered to the Saumus Artillery
School where be now is. He visited Paris
for q short time; expects 10 visit It again
and hopes 10 get home soon, but has 10
idea when that will be.
N THREE EN0AGEmENIs
Mrs J. c.. Mccoy of Kirkwood has re.
ceived an interesting letter from one OF
| her sons, James B. Mccoy, who is In
| France with the 309th Machine Gun
! Battalion She has another son In the
| service there. Captain T. e Mccoy Mhe
{ Is IN the Medical Corps and Is stationed
+ at Base Hospital No. 100. According te
/ the letter, James was in the front hne,
i three times but was not wounded, neither
was hc gaased, and as the letter was writ
1 ten on thr 18th of November two days
after hostilitiea ceased, he Is nov safe II
! his letter he says he is recovering from 4
i cold and Is enjoying long walks In thC
! country, the fresh air being a big rele1
| from the foul gases of the trenches lis
hopes TO be home by the first of the year
| but saws there is uncertainty about the
/ matter Having been there nearly 81,
+. months, he soon viii be entitled % over
/ seas stripe Il don't sec how our bov.
ever drove the Bolhe out Of the Argonnt
forest he says, because it is 50 thicl
and the Huns hud deep, strong concrete
! dugouts But they were chased out enc
once out, they were never allowed to rest
We we're III the - Aiihiei front tu iet
and | tell YOU VIC had q warm receptian.
lie says they were under heavy hell fr,
for eight hours straight while there. anc
the.rcturn fire vas their first experience 8
shciting the enemy
T. They ran like scared sheep he says
in comment I'VE could not seem Il
catch up To them They must have travel
ed IN motor trucks, while we walked W,
chased them 25 kllometers in one day
The rouds were strewn with dead Boche
and horses Our artillery certainly r.adl
good hits We have some of the best ar
tlllery IN the world
This Argunne drive was the creates
drive ever made, as the Americans droy,
from one side and the French from til,
| other The line was IN the shape OF
wedge and the Boche was in the marrow
part The American and French armie
met and ! guess you know wh happe ne.
; then. The French are good fighters an,
they certainly can use their artillery.
The Argonne was the third engagement
Mccoy was in During that drive the,
chased the enemy p kilometers in y
| hours
"Ariillery and flying machines" h
says, played the biggest part in th
war" II glress tho Germans have Iearnes
IL big lesson" he continues, 'one tina
they viii never forget Cine thing
dreaded was bombs from aeroplanes, bu
rs it turned out, | never was near any
Just imagine bomb weighing 200 pound