The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1920-01-27
SAYS THOUSANDS
DIED At SCISSORS
BY FAULTY PLANS
Gen. Summerall Blam 9
French High Command for
Needless Slaughter.


Addressing members OF the Field
Artillery Reserve at banquet
given in the Hotel Astor last night,
Major Cen Charles summerall, for
mer commanding officer of the 1st
Division Of the A. E. F. in France,
declared that while the battle OF
scissors proved to be the real
turning point in the war, it was the
poorest planned in the entire Allied
offensive of 1918, and that faulty
coordination of efforts resulted in
the needless sacrifice of thousands
OF lives.
"The Battle Of Scissors" said Gen,
Summerall, caused a world convul-
sion and out OF this convulsIon the
1st Division was born. on July Is to
July 25 the face OF the whole world
was changed for Germany. scissors
has been termed a French victory al
though French, British and our troops
participated in the engagement and
co ordination OF effort was conspicu-
Gus by its absence. A state Of chaos
reigned in making preparations for
the attack and it continued almost up
until the first battery was fired.
ION July u the movement of
troops toward Scissor began. Every
thing seemed to be conflicting. G0
as you please seemed to be the I'M
written order The men were hungry
and thirsty Food wagons were lost
in the shuttle
! ION July IS, when the offensive be-
! gan, but $50 minutes before II hour
nothing seemed to be ready. Batal-
lions were not in their proper places;
! staff conferences waEed hotter and
! hotter When the French High Com
mand issued an order, British or Nor
rocan commanders would Immediately
pick 1t to pieces and 1t would be re-
| sCinded. The result was that one
hour before the barrage began we
not only did not know wnere the en-
envy was, but did not know where our
own men were. The orders apparent
ly were to bring guns up in the line
and leave them there. Point them
somewhere in the general direction of
the enemy, but keep them pointed
away from Allied troops was the gem
eral rule. In the middle of the ex-
citement, telephone connections were
destroyed by a flock of tanks taking
a little ride. There was not even bar
rage tables given to the battery COM
manders. American troop command
ers couldn't make them up, because
what we might have done, would have
probably disagreed with the idea, II
any, that the French commanders
were entertaining.
AS it was, when the H hou- ar
rived, all the batteries began firing in
the general direction of Germany
with surprisingly good results when
all things are considered. Neverthe-
less the failure of the French COM
mand to have worked out a tangible
plan of attack, was responsible fol
Large losses and tremendous waste
Of ammunition.
81 don't think l shall ever forge
Scissors. 1t was a terrible ordeal II
was a colossal tremendous cannon
AIDE. The H hour brought with Il
darkness. And then, suddenly from
the murk and the gloomy pail, came
the crashing noise Of rolling thunder
and a belch of fame from the Allied
front which turned the country into {
living hell. The blaze from the
mouths of the smoking cannon lit vi
the black ravines and the stark wood.
like the red-gold sun IF hope shining
in the heart Of Allied victory. Ant
stil, that the hand Of God was with us
Is shown in the fact that the Allie
took their detectives and won the Bat
tie of scissors"