Norwich bulletin., 1919-03-27

steady. constant advance three hours tl:ey charged the impre-R4bIe defens- es and won. In that increcibry short
 Ierlod they ,eached chr tor of the kiJl Of Mont Blanc and rhc Gibraltar O. the Hindenherg line was taken.
 And they pushed rigat on Nedeah Farm fell before their onslaught and 1 they took possession of The high ground that looked down -r.to the val ley Of the little Arnes ri#er. on which i Ste. Etienne was s1tu1te1. Their ad- vance of siz I5i}oI1Gtars had however. brought them into grea- da- ger. They ! had @ooe 90 far ahead of he troops , on the left that they were ln jeapody ! q being enc+Ccled, when q fresh ! French division wac nal ig behind
 rlls, ,a to protect their lo.s |, n}.s.
 ! The next 21orring they renIned the ! attack at 4.10, and ran i-.co Very. heavy 1 l'esfHan machine gun G'rG artillery re- i .1:stence nort1 of tho Arcs ITver. They swept their way through t9 jI1a neigh H0Th0od oi. Ste. EtleuHG. gaining 3 tfoo ling on 1he piateau of Drseail. The i day of the fifth was 0e5-o-Cd to con- soiidatiGg their newly-v-lG positions. : All this time Llera Wa a Inurderous | fro from the Germans. with constant /; s'as a.tacE1s. The Ar2crtca@ positions l were being fired at from tHe front and i both Elarks. as the supporting troops on either sid> V@-2 constantly -&5ging i tehind. Every inch Was heing won ! :,t terrible cosl. for the tiG27E2ans knew
 what would he the result of losing
 lthat high ground and :leT were re-
 sisting the advance win every means
 possible.
 And now or the 9th. the marines
 stood before The little village of Ste.
 1'tienue. It lay in Q valley and on the
 nilI opposite were the Germans with
 their artillery and machine guns. Be
 fore the village was q most CCn7pE-
 lcated set Of iaarb-wire dEferses. rf al
 more inpregnable by the band arn~
 ades which the Germans had Mdlt
 iu the wires. These hand srenado
 were about a foot long. and were ea
 rloded by pEU;ng 9 string attached r . z cap at one end. The strings huns . loosely On tlIe wires. and many . marine when $ sttemptiug to cut througi the entanglelnentz woGld pull one O
 these strings and the next momen . would be torn to bits. And it va
 here at the wire tangi-nlents. tha
 the artillery fire was tnickest, for tn
 men had to stop and cut their wa, , 1 through, exposed 10 direct fire and m ? opportunity for defense,
 , Against these dtabolicaI defenses = the marines Of the 74th and 18th com |. l Nanies charged the neX- morpip2 g They charged. cut uheil. way througt y aId took the town, driving the enem :. heading before them to tic defens 0 nf the strongly fortified rositions O ' the hill beyond. the last i1ili of the en (, tire ridge. But this great attack wen :. for naught. fer the French troops ha ; not come up on their left They wer ], far behind: they had nor Leen abl g It7 advance against the heavy counter [, attacks of the enemy. From the yer T beginning of the attack on Mor # Blanc OH the third, the marines ha ' kept ahead Of all the troops of tn Ientire allied forces in Champagne. br
 iE the previous fighting. tie Frenc 5. had always come up in time to saV y the little band of marines from be n ing encircled. This time they ha r. failed them. and only one thing WE n Ic ssible for the two companies in St |, F1ienre. It was murder to remain = that open exposed village, with Il 3f German artillery trained m them fro d front and sides. And so Capta- K Chandler ordered his men 70 fall bat n. to the position Of the night before > The fighting had now heen going { s steadily for five days. Lacking foo It lacking supplies, without rest. witt at out relief. the marines hal gone fo to warti-forward every time. Durin n. al! these terrible days of 5g1ting, I 'n rael Cohen had played TO small pal g. For one and and half years he h; ly been training for this week for eig' ,y teen months he had ioean receivil Id all that the greatest service Tn [
 world--the Marine Corps-had to off l. in the making up of 8 soldier. A m thia intensive training had been i or tensifed in the camps ir F.ance. ''F g. are practicing shooting three hou in every day." he wrote several tim III during the summer.
 -s. He had become a. marlsman, an Q de kert rifleman, a sharpshooter. A h. in addition to rife shooting drilled at every branch of warfare ahat "