The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-03-02
ENEMY /: N R. RAT / TIED |
BY \ ' TANKS
,Ruse That Kept Germans Guess
ing on Eve Of Agonne
Disclosed.
STAGE 0ME-N|GH1 STANDS
Their Bluff Attacks Divert Two Ger
man DivIsions-U. s. Army Gets
First Two Of Improved Type
Of Battle Tank.

Washington.-The story Of five little
American tanks and the part they
played in the great Argonne offensive
is told as follows In a statement is
sued by the war department:
"Gen. Pershing with the first Amert-
can army had Just finished awakening
the German high command to healthy
fear of the American soldier by re-
ducing the St. Mihiel salient. and the
plans for the Meuse-Argonne offensive
were about to be carried into execu-
ton. In these days Of the airplane
and wireless telegraphy, it seems i'm
possible to deliver . surprise assault.
Nevertheless no pains are spared to
deceive the enemy as to the exact
point of attack. As a means Of cover
ing the true point Of attack, the chief
Of tank corps presented scheme
which received the approval Of the
high command.
Cut Up Like an Army Of Tanks.
Accordingly, after the withdrawal
Of the tanks from the st. Mihiel sec
tor, Lieut.. Higgins with his platoon Of
the Three Hundred and Thirty fourth
battalion tank corps. was directed to
proceed from this point in a north
westerly direction along the lines via
narrow gauge railway. He was to stop
each night and make reconnaissance
tn front Of our positions with his
tanks and Immediately load uh and
repeat the operation the following
night further down the line.
ION Sept. 10, the five tanks and
their crews were loaded and the ex-
petition started. That evening they
stopped in the rear Of a little wood,
many kilometers west Of St. Mihiel.
on the little narrow guage fiat cars
tumbled the the tanks and nosed into
the woods for concealment. About II
O'Clock all was ready and the minia-
ture army started forward on It's mis-
sion. Everything went off as sched-
uled. The tanks rolled through our
positions and into No Mans Land.
'uThey were operated hack and forth
for half m hour After this they
were quietly withdrawn. crawled back
on their little narrow gauges and
started merrily on their way. They
timed their work perfectly. and as
they pulled out terrific barrage hit
the wool they had left.
"The following evening the proceed
ure was repeated. Again the bar
rage descended too late to hurt the
jaunty band. For six successive
nights the troupe staged their one
night stands. and the reports all along
the sector showed that the Hun was
up IN the air. All day long the sky
was full Of planes searching for the
army OF tanks which the enemy was
sure was concentrating on this front.
All suspicious looking places were
bom,arded with the usual Hun thor
oughness and intensity. All night
long the darkness was dispelled by
hundreds vt flares and rockets. and
all ir,dicat lions showed that Henie was
not going to he caught mapping.
Diverted Two Divisions.
"Best of all. just as the little band
was preparing to entratn to get into
the big show in the Argonne there
came = message from the intelligence
section stating two German divisions
withdrawn from Argonne front. En-
training fGr your sector.'"
The tank corps has just received
at Camp Meade. NIL. from the Rock
1slanG arsenal two Mark VIII, tanks.
This type. the largest yet placed In
quantity production. was especially de-
signeh for use against the linden.
burg line and similar .defenses. Not
So fast nor. 50 easily handled as the
tighter types it possesses the ability
to cross much larger bitches. crush
more formidable obstacles. and car
ries mucl, heavier armament.
, The great difficulty with the large
British tanks was that they were un-
derpdwered and. on account of the ar.
rangement Of the machinery within.
did not afford the proper room for the
crews. A commission Of British and
American experts has corrected faults
largely through the adoption Of the