Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-11

- It wasthe day before tn,
ton that the Rainbow. divisi,
marching distance of the trel
about 10 miles back. The 6
guard artillerymen from India
finished shooting at targets
caught up.~
Luneville was the \"quiet
was telling the people about
been no fighting there since
reached Rambervillers, and d
Rainbow Men c
A rolling wooded country was
this part of 1korraine-altogether
toe~ beautiful to be the scene OF
battle. And by a sort of tacit
agreement both Germans and
French had been sparing the villages.
Neither side used gas and in the
daytime shot was seldom heard.
With the arrival Of the Rainbow
division things changed.
They went into the trenches
quietly enough. The First division,
when it had entered the line pre-
viously in a nearby sector, had
aroused the suspicious of the Ger
mans and had brought down on
their own heads deadly burst OF
fire and raid in which they had
lost prisoners Profting by the
First's experience the 4 Rainbow
sneaked into position and took up
its vigil over No Mans land in the
night without the knowledge of the
Germans and without losing sim
gle man.
But new foe was facing the
boche in LORRAINE youthful,
eager foe, confident of his ,untried
strength and impetuous to use it.
And he knew there were 100000
600 people back home wondering
how he would use it and how he
was getting along. So the Germans
were not long Without knowledge
Of the change in their enemy's or
der of battle.
Stopped Huns Laundry.
1t was many weeks later that
there went abroad the story about
the Germans who came out of their
trench to wash some clothes in a
shell hole in No Mans land, in full
sight of the americans. 1t was a
true story, and it happened during
the Rainbow divisions first few
days in the trenches.
The Germans had washed clothes
N that she'll hole before and nothing
had happened. They had known that
nothing would happen. On their
side the French had peacefully
smoked their pipes in the cool Of
the evening on the very top of the
trenches. 1t was simply one of the
workings out of the tacit agree
ment.
But little outpost Alabamians
got one glimpse Of this group OF
boches in understands arrogantly
dipping dirty clothes in the water
of No Mans land and they opened
fire. The Germans scattered like
rabbits, some of them hugging
wounds.
: A French officer came rushing
to the outpost in a fury of excite
ment. What did the Americans
mean? They had done terrible
thing. Now the Germans would be
angry and everybody was in for a
period of shelling and gas and raids,
He rebukcd the hot-headed Yanks
sternly.
"What the hell?" said one of the
men later. 81 came out here to kill
these boches, not to sit and watch
them wash clothes"
Officer Was Right.
But there was justice in the
French officers rebuke. The Rain
how division was the pupil of the
French army. Going into the line il
had been divided into small units
and brigaded with four French di
visions of the Seventh French
corps.
| The 165tb from New York plus
two compahies of the l50th machine
gun battalion from Wisconsin
were with the l64th French infantry
division, with their front line in the
Foret de Parroy. The Tooth infan
| try from Ohio plus the other two
companies of the l50th machine
gun battalion. were in the St. Glenn
ent sector with the 14th French di
| vision. The l6Sth infantry, from
Iowa; 10Th from Alabamal and th'
l5lst machine gun battalion from
| Georgia, were in the Baccarat sec
tor with the 12Sth French division
! The rest of the Rainbow units wer'
distributed along the front Of thu
Seventh French corps where they
could be of most use and get thu
most experience.
Germans Give Battle.
The irate French officer had beer
right, too, in his estimate of thu
result of the Alabamian's rashness
THE tacit agreement for kid
glove war in Lorraine went some
what to pieces from that moment
The Germans knew now that new
American troops were just acros
the way. They didn't have to de
pend upon instinct to prove il
They could see our men in uniform
I Just as our men could see the Ger
mans, so close together were thu
trenches in some places. 1t wa
enough
| AT 4 o'clock on the morning o
March S the boche came over, ant
the men of the Rainbow had thei
first battle.
| For several minutes the Germal