The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-16

taken to insure the prompt transmits
 sion to the troops of the announce
 ment of an Arnistice.''
 Under the headings of ordnance.
 aviation and tanks. General Persh5ug
 gives some first hand information of
 the actual equipment of the army
 with those much discussed inpIa-
 ments and shows the extent to which
 America was compelled to rely on
 the Allies He says:
 "Our entry into the war found Us
 with few of the auxiliaries necessary
 for it's conduct in the modern sense.
 The task Of the Ordnance Department
 in supplying artillery was especially
 difficult. In order to meet our re-
 quirements as rapidly as possible. we
 accepted the offer of the French
 Government to supply us with the
 artillery equipment of 75's 155 nm.
 howitzers and 155 G. P. F. guns from
 their own factories for 30 divisions
 The wisdom of this course was fully
 demonstrated by the fact that, al-
 though we soon began the rnanufact-
 ure of these classes of guns at home. there were no guns of American man ufacture of the calibres mentioned on our front at the date of the arrais- tice. The only guns of these types produced at home which reached ! France before the cessation of hos : tihties were one hundred and nine 7 nm. guns. In addition, twenty . four inch howitzers from the United States reached our front and were in use when the Armistice was signed. Eight II inch naval guns of i American manufacture were set 11r on railroad mounts and most of
 these were successfully employed on the AIeuse-Argonne front under the efficient direction of Admiral PIunket of the Navy.
 Tn aviation we were entirely de- pendent upon our Allies, and here again the French Government came to our aid until our own program could be set under way. From time ] to time we obtained from the French ! such planes for training personnel as l they could provide. Without going l into a complete discussion of aviation l material, it will be sufficient to state 1 that 1t was with great difficulty that 1 we obtained equipment even for 1 training. As for up-to-date combat ] planes, the development at home was i slow, and We had to rely upon the l French who provided us with total ! of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and l bombing machines. AeropIanes re- i ceived from home arrived in May and altogether we received 1889 planes l of the HaviIand type. The first i American squadron completely equipped by American production. in- cluding aeropIanes, crossed the Ger man lines on August '. 191S As to l our aviators, many of whom trained with our Allies, it can be said that | they had no superiors in daring and fighting ability. During the battles of St MihieI and Meuse-Argonne our aviators eXceIIed all others. They have left a record of courageous deeds that will ever remain a brilliant page in 1 the annals of our Army
 Tn the matter of tanks. we were compelled te rely upon both the French and the English. Here how ever, we were less fortunate for the reason that our Allies barely had sufficient tanEs to meet their own re- quiremenLs- While our Tank Corps had limited opportunity it's fine per sonaI responded gallantly on every possible occasion and showed cour- age of the highest order We had one battalion of heavy tanks engaged on the English front. Our own front we had only the light tanks and the number available to participate in the last great assault of November 1
 was reduced to 16 as . result of the previous hard fighting in the Meuse- Argonne.
 General Pershing closes his report
 with the following "Appreciation'': Tn this brief summary of the achievements of the American Ex- peditionary Forces it would be inn possible to cite in detail the spendid
 ability, loyalty and efficiency that characterized the service of both combatant and -combatant indi- and striking quality of both officers and men was the resourceful energy and common sense employed, under all circumstances, in handling their problems.
 'eThe highest praise is due the com manders of armies. corps and divi- sions, and their subordinate leaders. who labored Loyalty and ably toward the accomplishment or our task. SUD- pressing personal opinions and ambi- tions in the pursuit of the common aim; and to their staffs. who de- veIoped, with battle experience into splendid teams without superiors in any army.
 ''To my Chiefs of Staff. Major Gem
 eral James G. Harbord. who was la 1 ter placed in command of the Ser l vice of Supply. and Marjor General 1 James W. McAndrew, I am deeply in l debted for highly efficient service in | q post of great responsibility. ''The important work of the staff i at General headquarters in organ ] ization and administration was char
 acterized by exceptional ability and d 1 fine spirit of cooperation. No ca.ef ! ever had a more loyal and efficient | body of assistants.
 ''The officers and men of the Ser | vices of Supply fully realized the i'm portance of their duties, and the op- 1 erations of that vast business system | were conducted in a manner which 1 won for them the praise of all. They | deserve their full share in the vic-