El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-03-04

ized motorized strength, listed as fol-
lows in the table Of organization; One
hundred nineteen trucks 10 be used in
carrying men and ammunition, 80
touring cars. 20 tractors. three ambu-
Ilances and 10 motorcycles
Many DisappOintments.
Ancient history VIII show that the
I1Sth was 10 be motorized several times
but the idea never got any further
than the on paper stage At Fort
Bliss, the horses were turned IN before
I leaving for France and many Of the
j regiments personnel were sent to
machine shops for instruction. They
got the instruction. but the motor
would get il in France, everyone
thought Before the regiment left for
the front. however the old gray mare
was doing duty on the 'heaVies-' Sew
Y eral times on the front Il seemed as
Though motor equipment would be an
actually but nothing doing To speed
up the motorizatiOn OF the regiment
as much as possible details OF men
Z have been sent to the motor center
near St 'Nozaires France, 10 bring
. equipment lacking"
The Fight IN France.
Telling of the regiments fighting IN
! France, and letting out enough in
formation 70 show that the transports !
carrying the FL Paso fighters over
Iseas came near sinking The Barrage'
says
i-They win not quit That IS the
spirit OF the 18th field artillery. The Z
regiment was a bunch Of 'stickers' at
Fort Bliss. It is not changed a whit
to-day.
when the Asolius and the Huron I
/ cOlided at sea on the third night out, .
I II looked like a cold swim to nowhere /
for all Every battery moved 10 its
proper place on board ship as If at
/ drill There was no crowding- Where 1
do We 90 from hereE predominated.-i
I They did not quit
'sThe regiment moved into its
flrst position on the Marine. The
enemy had taken aerial photos Of
mnuy positions In preparation for
their Paris offensive. They were
enabled by these photos 10 necu-
rutely shell positions and blow up
( ammunition dumps Mustard =sS
in great quantities. was THROWN
over in among the men sSrEfnE at
the guns Suffering many losses
and much discomfort from the ef-
feets OF the gas they stuck to
their guns, many declining medI-
cal attention. in tie first Bkase
Of the battle, a. Enemy, with I
seeming success. crossed the
Marine. Three guns o. one battery 4
were put ont Of commission. The
remaining gun kept doing DAMAGE
to the Huns. The rest Of the hat
AEE.H Win AUL4El. EAAAEAr Aulu IN
wait on the hillside for any furth-
er advance. That advance didn't
happen, and meanwhile the lone
gun destroyed a valuable Ger
man observation point. The Ger
mans were beaten back across the
riFer.-rhe boys OF the 18th did
not quit.
In the Areonne.
IN the Argonne open warfare was
used The men were exposed to shell
Of the country Montfaucon. Cierges,
Aladelaine farm-all will be remefn-
5ered as the death traps that they
were For six weeks the guns bat
tered away at slowly weakening
enemy They won
The armistice was concluded and
the American army Of occupation
formed For more than a month the
men liked across France and Ger
many TO the Rhine There were sore
feet aplenty and at times supplies I
were mighty hard TO get The men
stuck until their destination was,
Peace has not yet been signed.
some new emergency may arise II II
does the men in ths 18th stand ready"
The History 1T FL Pnso.
Considerable space is given TO the
story Of the regiments formation at
Fort Bliss Following are some ex- !
tracts referring to FL Paso and the :
"A few hundred men were trans !
ferred from the Fifth field artillery, s
stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. in NAY, !
1917 and by the first Of June this Z
body Of men was known as the 18th 7
field artillery
For more than a month the regf- z
ment refnained in skeleton form, and a { I
large percent Of the old men were {
made noncommissioned officers. With 7
the middle and latter part OF June Z
came large assignments Of recruits / e.
ana also large number Of men from O
the coast artillery corps. Long DAYS 4
OF foot drill, in which we tramped the 4 n
burning sands to the eternal echo of
Onel Two Three FOUR sung in the
deep base Of the drill sergeant or. a
perhaps 1t was the three hours a dav,
spent astride a barebacked horse. II
which most impressed US However. Z,
these days were frightened BY the a
passes 70 Fl Paso and an occasional q
Given the Howifzers. :
About August 81 we were eoufDped q
with six inch hoWitzers which the
Fifth field artillery turned over 70 US ri
upon departure for France. Thus. for b
The first time fully equipped. We were Il
able 70 begin drill in earnest. In
Then followed months Of intensive N
raining Even before the end Of the n
summer marked change could be I,
seen for the men were being rapidly II
y e---a-1A All1- INTO uEoMu- rugged. x
husky soldiers fit to tackle any task d
set before them w
Throughout the long autumn davs s
We drilled. expecting each day TO be
called into foreign service. We we're n
equipped for overseas service and IN q,
spected time after time, but each M
we were disappointed to In
lWake and find ourselves stflI on the r,
sands OF Fort Bliss. III
On the Last Lap. I'M
with the coming Of the New year 80
anne new item Of interest we were
% be motorized How glad We were p
WIEN on January ] we turned in our
horses, for it meant half Of our daily "
abors gone. a
The regiment spent several DAVIS in Il
he latter part OF January on the rifle W
'ange- Here for the first time many II
II the boys got their initial kick from m
N army rifle h,
During February preparations were al
completed for our departure. Fully In
we were loaded in cur cars
nd shipped TO another training camp. n
yhere. burning with Impotence. we =
waited orders TO move
col Otho w =. Earr took command
z the regiment after Christmas and
.eld It throughout the long journeys -
o the firing line During the months q
GLOWING Christmas many new Off y.
ers came 70 the regiment, while we ID
ost one Of the most popular IN the
erson Of Capt Meyers. who was O
transferred back 10 the coast artiI- az
cry. After having supervised much of =,
ur training at Fl Paso as regimentaI -
commander.