The sun., 1919-05-12
ENGINEERS RECORD 4
4 IN WAR REVEALED
War Department Publishes
History of It's Achievements
During Conflict.
MANY NEW SPECIAL UNITS
Sappers Formed Eight Per
Cent. Of American Troops
in France.

WASHINGTON, May 1.-THE war story
OF the Engineer Corps at home and in
France is told officially for the first time
I'm chapters OF the War Departments
brief history OF American war efforts.
made public to-day In advance sheets.
Many of the recorded accomplishments
OF the engineers have been published
before as isolated incidents. but this is
the first complete and connected story
which gives any idea of the extraordi-
nary scope OF the duties modern war
fare has laid upon engineering troops.
~ Probably the best Illustration OF this,
so far as the troops In France are con-
eerned. 10 the technical organization OF
The units of the engineers which reached
I. the other side.
There were seven regiments and two
shattalions of railway construction engi-
neers; FIVE battalions for maintenance
Of way: two battalions for maintenance
OF railway equipment: four regiments
and one battalion to operate the MAIN
American railways in France; three
regiments to operate light railways
end their repair shops; two regi-
uaents TO operate the regular railway re-
pair shops; two regiments and six sepa-
rate battalions on general construction
work. and two regiments for storing and
transporting engineer supplies. In addi-
ton there were forestry regiment; a
light railway construction regiment: a
road building regiment: a water supply
regiment; a mining regiment; a quarry
regiment; technical regiment for sur
veying and sound ranging; three survey
and printing battallons two railway
transportation battalions; an electrical
and mechanical regiment several sepa-
rate companies to operate cranes a
camouhage service: FIVE inland water
way companies to operate canal boats
and the like five pontoon trains and a
pontoon park: railway transportation
and stores battalion. and a searchlight
regiment. 81.
AnNTrained I'm America.
These special units. all composed OF
men trained in civil life In the United
States for the work they did in France,
were In addition to the fighting engi-
neers with each division, the 'sappers
who formed about eight per cent. OF all
the combatant troops In France.
One section of the report is devoted to
the development Of American railways In
France and to the production OF railway
the call from the front. There were
shipped to France 1,303 locomotives be.
fore the armstice was signed, of which
pos were in service at that time. In ad.
dition, 1888 freight cars were shipped
abroad. both engines and cars having
been produced specially for service ir
France. These were employed upon the
s37 miles Of standard gauge track laid In
France by the engineers with equipment
cbt fNAx ~.
ing stock was in addition to great guam
titles of light railway equipment fo
front line work that was also sen
abroad.
Hospital trains were obtained in Eng
land. nineteen of them with a total o
s04 cars, having been completed by De
cenber, 1913, with twenty-nine add
tional trains under construction. The,
cost more than $4,000 per car. but 1t Il
estimated that TO have produced them il
the United States and shipped then
would have cost $4,000 per car.
The report lays stress on the fact tina
great progress was made during the wa
in the development OF road building, rail
way and other engineering equipmen
which Will be OF value commercially II
peace time. The motorized mschin
shops alone. it Is stated. are PRACTICAL,
certain to bring about in this countr,
the use OF moving shops of this charac
ter In agricultural communities as farm
ing machinery increases
THE day may come" the report says
when the travelling machine shop viii
be familiar sight upon our rural high
ways"
Among the motorized shops create,
were the photolithographic press trucks
which were able to reproduce maps from
original sketches within twelve hours a
compared with four days required b.
similar French and British un.Ss.
A special chapter Is devoted to listen
ing instruments developed during tn
war to locate hidden guns. Improving
upon allied designs the Engineer Corp
produced machines for this purpos
which operated with ''uncanny accu
racy." one of them having spotted II
German gun positions In a single day
Subsequently these were followed by in
struments Of even greater power, and a
the close of the war there were twelv
complete outfits. each covering a fiv
mile stretch OF front, at work on tn
American lines.
Located Raiders mt Night.
Similar development of instrument
for loca ting hostile airplanes was car
rled out until it was possible to deter
mine the location OF raider at nigh
within an angle OF three degrees. TIL
American types produced were easil
portable and quickly set up to aid III
searchlights A hint at the scientif
developments which were in sight l
connection with these sound ranging de
vices is contained in the following para
graph:
when the fighting stopped our mill
tary scientists and others cooperatin
with them were working on the develop
ment of sound ranging apparatus In
tended to give troops warning of she
fred by the enemy in their direction
The preliminary experiments found thn
at Al miles these mecnanisms could d.
tect the firing of the gun as long a
nineteen seconds before the she'll al
rived, thus giving troops ample time
get under cover. Such a developmer
was possible because OF the far create
speed with which earth vibrations trav,
than those of sound in the air.
Except for lack of time In the brie
seconds between the firing of the gu
and the arrival of the shell 1t would b
quite possible with this proposed apps
ratus to calculate almost exactly wher
the shell would land"
The corps produced also q new forI
OF searchlisht more powerful than an
that had preceded It In any army an
with which the Second Field Army ha
been partially equipped.
1t weighed.A the report says. 'ont