El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-11-05

: Brig Gen Fred ". Sladen. and the
{ second brigade. commanded by Col
t william r. Johnston, liked TO the
ElteL hills and advance headQuar-
Z tiers Of the American forces in Ger
many moved toward the front 20
direct operations. There for a fort
night regiments marched and couu-
termarched through woods and over
hills, sleeping in the open, in wind
and rain and suffering all the dis
comforts Of war excepting enemy
fire and shortage in chow" Mean
while, stats OF various units, work
ing under actual war conditions, re-
celved orders late in the afternoon
or at night for movements to be be-
gun at daybreak- Practically moth
ing was missing but aviation liaison.
there being no planes with the Amer
lean forces OF occupation
At aChnteau-Thierry.1
Troops OF the 50th infantry simu-
lated the German attack on Chateau
Ihierry By attacking the village OF
Adneau- A battalion commanded by
Col William w McCammon advanced
20 miles through the darkness and
rain, Stimulating the maneuVer Of The
seventh machine gun battalion.
which was rushed 20 the south bank
Of the Marine 10 halt the Germans IN
1918. In McCammon's battalion were
a number OF the machine gunners
who actually fought at Chateau
Thierry and they RECALLED the young
trucks went rumbllnE along the
narrow roads TO Adneau-
For the two days following cha
teau-Ihierry the two brlgaQes at
tackled" each other after theoretical
artillery fire, seeking TO capture GER
tain positions. The umpires declared
the result a draw.
The problem Of taking over a sec
tor Of the front followed this ma /
newer. The two brigades. moving /
= III Ter
that carried the 90th division into I
battle at St MihieL Again actual |
conditions Of war were simulated. I
the trucks moving forward without I
lights during the night. infantry ma
neuvering through The woods in the I
daytime TO conceal the advance from 4
enemy aviators and pine b0ughs be-
ing used 10 camouflage artillery.
Practice Open Warfare.
The division arrived at the front
scheduled time 1t then repeated the j
open warfare operations carried out
by the famous Blue Ridge division
in The Argonne battle. when it at
tackled a strong point Of German re-
slstance in wood north Of Nan
tilois- The mounted detachment Of /
the army Of occupation was the "en-
envy, taking up positions from
which II poured machine gun fire"
into the advancing infantry.
The orders for the attack were not
received until late the previous night.
the orders being read by staffs by
candle light. Medical troops made i
ready 10 handle -wounded" signal {
corps troops laid lines over the en-
tire area; engineers went forward
machine gunners got ready for ac-
tions military police arranged straE-
gler lines and prisoner pens and the I
artillery began the desultory night I
fire that was 10 increase into bar
rage 20 minutes before zero" hour.
Go afOrer the Ton.1
At the actual front there was
something Of real warfare lacking,
but at headquarters, where the staff
officers pOred over maps and gave 4
impatient answers 10 telephone calls.
u was the old -jump-off" night OF
the ArEonne battle all over again. A
heavy mist covered the battlefield
throughout the night. but 10 lifted
JUST before the zero" hour and the
troops went over the top" with their
movements visible more than a mile
behind
There were the usual delays. re-
sulting from unexpected enemy re-
sistance," but the attack pushed for
ward AZ about the scheduled rate,
while ambulances began moving
7earWard with their burdens OF
wounded" for the field hospital In
Tour hours messages came back from
he advancing brigades that obiec-
lives had been reached and the war
vas over