New-York tribune., 1919-01-27
33lst Infantry Is Sent to
Camp Mills; Injured Cas-
uals Co to Camp Merritt
Tale of CruciGed Cat Told
Lieut.. Darden Relates How
Foe Baited Death Traps;
. e'Old Glory in Berlin

regiment OF infantry aNu WOuHueu
casuals numbering 3,97S officers and
men came TO port from Brest yes
terday with straneetalcs Of war. Some
Of the narratives were told by sturdy
American warriors who had tasted OF
German savagery and who had cursed
the armistice that kept them from
beating the enemy into the heart OF
Berlin
The sting Of their wounds did not
bother them much. but the treachcry
Of an enemy that tortured and killed
their comrades was the Incentive for
their desire to go on with the war.
In lounge of the Cunarder, await
ing transfer to a hospital, sat First
Lieutenant Thomas r. Darden, OF the
301st Heavy Battalian of the Amer
lean tank corps.
In Washington he was known as
Tommy Darden. He was newspaper
correspondent; in France he was called
the devil of the tanks" The British
with whom his battalion fought in
Picardy, regarded him as a reckless
fool OF Yankee who took needless
Out on deck, up on the ventilators.
iammed in the forepeak like bees about
q hive, were the men of the 331st In
fantry who had never been in action.
The Homecoming was & big and happy
thing for them, but Darden didn't even
80 out to look at the Statue OF Lib
erty.
Burial Parties Blown to Bits
"Yes, I am home," he said with a
faint smile, but it isn't my fault. Got
IL I L
bit by gas and they sent ne back to
get patched up. Pm all right and could
just as we'll have stayed over there"
"They would have killed q lot more
of us il the war had gone on" he said,
"but | know thousands of fellows who
would nave taken that chance just to
fight them back every inch to Berlin.
Great Scott, man! You should have
seen what | saw at Bapaume, Canal
Tunnel and Beaurevor, and later on
when We burst through the Hindenburg
line.
I'VE were at it all the time from
August "a to the finish and never were
we more than 5000 yards back of the
front line.
zone day early in September, when
we were close to the Belgian border,
the artillery laid down big smoke
barage and mustard gas. We went up
II.
we had driven the enemy half mile
our men went about picking up the
dead. Here and there the burial parties
were blown to pieces when they touched
a body. These fiends in their retreat
found time to put shrapnel bombs
under the bodies Of their dead and our
own, and the moment dead man S arm
was lifted the shell exploded, blowing
the burial parties to bits.
Crucifed Cats as Traps
Sometimes, when they knew they
would have to move back the Germans
took live cats and crucifed them to
trees and doors and anything they
had left upright in their retreat On
one occasion, when was advancing
on foot with the tanks, | saw one of
u corporal and ordered him TO take the
cat down. There was nothing about
the creature to indicate that it was g
German trap. But it was a trap, and
i bad one
These swine thought they could
appeal to our sense of feeling for
dumb creatures, and their guess was
right. My corporal walked up to the
cat saying. We'll, Puss; what have
they been doing to you?'
Gently he pulled out spike from
one Of the upper paws and that was
the end of the corporal, the cat and
the tree. We put all we could find of
that poor boy into small sugar sack
and buried it in the hole of the ex-
plosion. found that other fellows
had been killed in the same fashion
when trying to liberate crucifed ami
mails. After that we merely shot all
creatures we saw pinned to trees and
doors.
II have seen things worse than this
things that could not appear in de-
cent print. Is it any wonder that we
wanted to go on and wipe these brutes
out OF existence? We could nave done
IT, too, and they knew it, Ours was the
only heavy tank battalion that went
atrocities we took 5000 prisoners, but
after that we took none.
mere was one exception however,
on September 29, when one tank that
ran out OF ammunition captured 400
Germans: If there had been shot
ieit IN the magazine there would have
oeen few Jess prisoners to take"
Waves "Old Glory" in Berlin
Max Borland, of Philadelphia, a pri-
vate OF the Tooth Field Artillery. was
captured by the Germans at the Marine
S,y On July 10, after both legs had been
broken by she'll fragments. He also was
d.
Iney never would have taken ma -
had oeen able to crawl" he said. "but
MADE up for it all on December II by
narchlng through the streets Of Berlin
noic'ng above my head small silk
rican flag that they were unable to
"nd when they searched me.
mere were twcnty-one other bows
VINO had been prisoners, and thev
marched behind me through the streets
~ was only small flag, but held il
up on big stick and the Germans saw
~ ney were sore looking bunch
out they didnt say anything in English
or Try 70 take or insult the flag. Thev
may nave said some mean thinos =
herman, but we didn't get and we
oion LOOK for trouble"
While the wounded caeuo,s ru.
1rwa.tina transportation to hospitals
Iofporai Charles s. Wingart Of Bav-
9pInne; n; j.. limped about the deck
ms leg had been shattered in the A..
gonne night while fighting with the
losth Infantry. "''" '"e
some cane, isn't 1t ?" he arked ~
one or the personnel officers.
rretty fair. Where did YOU get I. ~
replied the officer. ''N S'e' ~
nigh Price for Walking Stick
Cot It in Paris, and you cant e,rosa
What paid for IL. It's worth shNn,
~ IN broadway here, but French
snopEeeper soaked me so francs for II,
hac to have IT, 10 forked over the
Among the wounded officers was
...A i