Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-29

pancy. All the time the gun crews had
to be on duty with the guns to open up
at once in case the Boche drove our
doughboys back within effective range.
The big guns and howitzers were pound
ing the Boche batteries as fast as the
Allied airplanes discovered them. OF
course the position of some of the Boche
heavy batteries was previously known
and those batteries were given no rest,
but most of them were in positions un-
known to our people.
1t was, of course, vitally necessary
that the new German battery positions
be located and also that a close watch
be kept on the ground to our front so
the allied aviators flew until they were
shot down or out of gas. Just as soon
as their tanks were refilled away they
went again. During the nights the
bombing squadron bombed the German
lines of communication with tons of
high explosive in order to delay the
furnishing of supplies to the Boche
troops and the arrival of Feinforcements
The combat planes were doing their
best to shoot down every Boche. plane
they could find, to prevent them. from
bombing us or getting information of
our movements. But with all their
efforts many 'Boche airplanes slipped
through and flying only a few hundred
feet off the ground they shot us up with
their machine guns. Besides the
weather was rainy and misty and that
flying conditions most unfavorable.
Guns to the Front
But as I said;- during the night of the
some of our guns got through to the
front Eight, ten, and even. twelve.
horses were hitched to a gun and with,
the aid of every man who could get a
hand on the spokes OF the wheels or to
push, the guns durched and labored
through the new roads that were being
built. AS a result the infantry got a
little more help the morning of the 2Sth,
and were enabled to make several excel
lent local advances In fact during the
day the whole line was pushed forward,
in some places as much as a mile and
half All day long the guns were
coming through and at once were get
ting into action. The artillerymen rea-
lizing the necessity for haste worked to
the limit of their endurance getting the
much needed guns and shells forward,
and succeeded to a marvellous degree.
But remember that two full days and
nights had passed, during which time
tens of thousands of fresh Boche troops
had arrived and hundreds upon hundreds
orders to fight to the death, with the
result that it was harder to advance
a hundred yards on the 28th than 1t
had been to make a mile on the 26th.
The fun and excitement of the first day
had changed to a miserable He'll. With
out pause the Boche guns shelled us,
there were enemy machine guns in
every clump of bushes, in every ditch,
in every. woods, in every fold of the
ground. Enough guns of our own were
not yet up to lay down an intense roll
ing barrage and even IL the guns had
been up, there wasn't enough ammuni-
tion for such shoot. The result was
that every foot we advanced was pro-
tected only by our own machine guns,
81 millimeter guns and Stokes mortars,
with some help from the artillery on
special points. Every foot taken was
at the cost of lives, taken by dogged en-
durance and courage. Besides everyone
was tired, wet. cold, plastered with
mud, and beginning to get discouraged.
Actually many of the men had reached
the stage at which their only desire was
to get killed as quickly as possible and
have the misery over with. You who
read this, If you were not up front in,
France, cannot conceive of the utter
exhaustion, physical, mental, and nerve,
that the men were suffering by the third
day The constant she'll fire, the con-
cussion of exploding shells that knocked
the breath out of you. the never ending
expectancy of instant death, got every
one tangled, shattered nerves to such
a point of tension that 1t was all you
could do to keep from screaming out
For Gods sake, stop a minute and let.
me get my breath" But that is war
to-day; get men on the. ragged edge Of
a breakdown and keep them there un-
til they do break. The veteran reaches
a stage in which he is absolutely fatal
istic; il the enemy shell him. well !!
they are shelling. and If they aren't
shelling, we'll they aren't shelling
maybe they'll get you and maybe they
won't. Don't think for a minute the
veteran isn't scared, because he is, but
he knows how comparatively seldom
shell or a bullet will hit man, so he
calmly takes the inevitable, whatever
1t may be. with little nervous strain
The recruit imagines every shell is go
to hit him, and every bullet; he can
not see how anyone can come of the
He'll of battle alive, with the result
that in a couple days ne is a wreck.
Continued to Drive
BY the night OF the 2Sth a number of
the veteran divisions from the St Mihiel