The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-04-25


the war game, for besides aerial activ-
ity. we could hear the roar Of, the guns
at the front.
On the right Of August 30, 1918, we
took our first position actually facing
the enemy. This was on the northern
edge Of the village Of Bernecourt and
with an easy range of the enemy
front line.
The first shot fired at the Germans,
was by the first section under the
command of Sergt. Clyde NJ. Willer-
ford, as section chief, at dug-out in
their front line trenches, They scor-
ed five targets out of twenty-five shots,
all Of which were close. This work
was compljmented by the French lieu
tenant at the forward observation
post with Lieut. Guy L. Joiner who
was directing the fire.
The battery occupied this position
until midnight of Sept. /, 1918, when
we returned to the Echelon, being re-
lieyed by Battery ID Of this regiment.
There was again a few days of camp
life, then began the preparations for
the actual battle in which the battery
was to take part. This was the first
great drive by American troops that
of the St Mihiel salient September
az, 1918.
Our position at this time was near
! the northwest corner Of the BEDSIDE
! Boieogne, about four kilometers north
west Of Bernecourt; and within TWEEN
| ty-hVe hundred meters of the enemy
FIRST line. On the night of Sept g.
1913, the battery was taken into pc
sition by end Lieut.. Francis s. Har
mon, who had been with the battery
since his assignment at Camp de Goet
qdidan
The remainder of the time until the
beginning of the drive was spent In
camoullaging, and other necessary
work on the position Quite lot OF
time was spent in digging gun pits
and building up around the position
with sand bags. This, we learned
later could be left off better than not
the methods employed in that, ant
the other offensives, being purely
/ those of open warfare
/ At a. m, Sept, II. 1918, the bat
terry fired its first shot in this grea
drive; opening fire at the same time
as did the big guns on our rear III
us who had never been in a battle be
fore, this firing at practically the same
ltime of an almost Uncomfortable nun
Der Of guns, of all calibres, was one O
the supreme moments of our lives
The battery fred almost continuousl!
on various targets back of the enc
my lines until but few minutes be
fore the hour, when the barrage be
gan After this We fired continual,
until O'Clock that morning.
This was when, it was very likely
that the Huns thought the Ladies
from He'll had most all left theil
abode and concentrated themselves OIL
the st, Mihiel Salient . At any ,Gate
all detectives were reach ahead o
schedule Due partly to lack of re
sistance on the part of the enemy, ant
the superior fighting qualities of the
infantry which we were supporting
Our battalion was supporting the
342nd Infantry, which was part OF
the seth division, whose commanding
| general together with high French of
icers, praised very highly the work
Of the artillery.
The rout of the enemy was so com
plete1 that after receiving orders tc
move forward, at p. m. Sept. II, il
took us until late in the afternoon OF
the 18th to get within range. Our in
fantry by this time had advanced some
distance north of the village of Thia
| court, and established line Of resist
tnce, having reached, and in some in.
stances gone beyond the final objec-
| lives OF the final drive.
This battery together with the re-
| mainder of the regiment, went into po-
+ sitiop on high ground about one Kill
| omcter north of Boullionvlle, where
we remained until the night of the
l4th. At this time the regiment be-
gan moving back, being relieved by
another organization. In this position
we had comparatively little firing ito
do, our principal mission being that
If supporting the infantry and re-,
pnfsflfg the enemy counter-attacks, of
which there were several during this
time.
+ 1t was in and around this time that
we saw our first example of the man
ner in which the Germans, especial
ly the officers lived in this, that had
heretofore been position warfare