Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1919-05-30
Brief History of
the Ninetieth Division

individual divisions and ~corps to
straighten out the line and reach Il
position from which Il second great
iattack could be launched.
Relief of 9Th Division; Capture of
Isanthcvil!c.
The 90th Division went into the
line near the end of this second per-
iOd The l79th Brigade relieved the
10th Brigade of the 5th Division on
the night of October 21-22. The
lSUth Brigade was held in division
Preserve. The 3rd Division waN ul.
the right and the H9th Division ON
the left AT this time the front line
ran from just north Of Romagne ana
CuncI around the nOrthw estern edge
oi the BOis des Rappes. The Sath
Division had pushed forward and Oc-
lcupicd the BOis de lantheville on
the left. so that the line Of the JOth
Division formed Il pocket Il little Ov-
cr two kilOmcters in depth in tn"
front of the Corps. In this pocket
There were the villages Of Banthc
vile and BOurrut The first mission
of the division was to straiRhten out
the line. The 357th infantry attack
ed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon uf
October %, captured Banthevillc and
the high ground north and north
west of that town and established II
line from the northeast corner of
the Bois des ltappes over the high
ground north OF BOurrut to the
northeastern corner OF the BOls de
Banthcyille. where the line joined
with the S9th Division. The 35Sth
Infantry, in the Bois des Rappes at
the same time extended its left to
connect with the 3J7th Infantry
north of Bourrut and the same night
two companies of the 35Sth lnfan-
try crossed the AndOn Brook and es-
tablished Il line from a point about
500 meters southwest of Aincreville
along the Aincrevillc Banthcyille
road to the line held by the. 357th
Infantry This extremely successful
operation. upon which the division
was highly complimented by the Ar
my and Corps Commanders. resulted
in giving the division an excellent
position from which il could jump
off i'm case of great attack. This
advance position was held until No
vember |, despite many counter at
ktacks and continuous intense shell
ing.
Attack Of November I.
With the capture of Bantheville
by the 179th Brigade, everything
was in readiness for the great attack
bv the First American Army and the
French Armies on its left, by which
! il was hoped to finally break the
enemy's last line of resistance and
change his retreat into a rOut This
attack was ordered for November /.
On the night of October 30th the
1S0th Brigade was relieved by the
179th Brigade which had suffered
heavy casualties during its eight
days in line and was withdrawn into
division reserve. The 1SOth Brigade
went into line and attacked with the
360th Infantry on the left and the
359th infantry on the right. The
345th Machine Gun Battalion and
the 343rd Machine Gun Battalion
were in position On the front line
from which they could cover the ad-
vance with overhead fire. On the
morning of the lst these companies
fired more than 100000 rounds
i and contributed largely to the very
Vgreat success of the attack.
the 36Oth Infantry on the left. on Il
narrow front. and assisted by Il con-
centration of all available artillery,
should drive forward through the
Carrc Farm and the immensely
strong wooded position on the left
of the sector up to and beyond An
devanne. With this attack Il success
the 359th Infantry on the right
Il Ia. Ia. 4 Ia,
open ground west of Ancreyille
without disastrous losses. An cX-
tremely heavy artillery preparation
opened at $3.50 a. m. and on the LIST
of November and at $40 a. m. the
infantry went over the top. From
the outset the fighting was desper-
ate. The best veteran troops avail
able in the German Army were
thrown in to stop the advance of the
division. Machine gun nests were
everywhere, the gamers sticking to
their guns until wiped out. The
360th and 359th Infantry. splendid
ly supported by the l55th Field Ar
tillery Brigade lS0th Division). ad-
Vanced practically without halt.
Grand Carre Farm was taken and
mOpped up. The woods to the north
! were CltdHeu OUT, hHueVaHne ana
Cote 243 captured and the line push
ed kilometer beyond by the 36Oth
ChassOgne Farm and st. Marguerite
Farm were captured by the 35gth
Infantry and by late afternoon our
troops were on Or beyond their OBJ
jectives. The Freya Stellung, the
last known enemy position. was def
initely and completely broken.
On the 2nd of November the ed
vance was continued against desper-
ate assistance. Villers dcvt. Dun was
taken and passed. Hill 1921 was occu-
pied. and the Bois de Raux was put
within our lines before night. On
he right the 359th Infantry ad.
vanced more than three kilometers