Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1920-02-06

Try 8, 1920. 5s .s.5=
for q single commander and stat.
Therefore on October II that portion
of our front extending from Port-sur-
Seille, east Of the Moselle, to Fresnes-
en-Woevre, southeast Of Verdun, was
transferred to the newly constituted
Second army with Lieut.. Gen. Robert
L. Billiard in command, under whom
1t began preparations for the extern
sion Of operations to the east in the
direction Of Briey and Metz. On Oc-
tober 16 the command of the First
army was transferred to Lieut.. Gen.
Hunter Liggett, and my advance head
quarters was established at Ligny-en.
! Barrois, from which the command Of
the group of American armies was ex-
! ercised.
Summarizing the material results
which had been attained by the First
army by the end Of October, we had
met an increasing number Of Ger
many's best divisions, rising from 20
in line and reserve on September .26
to 81 on October 81; the enemy's elab-
! orately prepared positions, including
the Hindenburg line, in our front had
been broken; the almost impossible
Argonne forest was in our hands; an
advance of q kilometers had been ef-
fected; $4,000 prisoners, $40 cannon,
1000 machine guns and a mass of ma
terial captured; and the great railway
artery through Carignan to Sedan was
now seriously threatened.
On the morning Of November 1
three army corps were in line between
the Meuse river and the Bots de Rour-
gogne. Preceded by two hours of VIC
lent artillery preparation the infantry
advanced, closely followed by accom-
panying guns"
BY nightfall the Fifth corps, in the
center, had realized an advance of al
most nine kilometers, to the Bots de
la Folie, and had completed the cap
ture of the heights Of Barricourt,
while the Third corps, on the right,
had captured Aincreville and Ande-
vanne. Our troops had broken through
the enemy's last defense, captured his
artillery positions and had precipi-
tated retreat Of the German forces
about to be isolated in the forest
north Of Grandpre.
The following day the advance con-
tinued toward Sedan with increasing
swiftness.
Munitions.
Our entry into the war found US
with few of the auxiliaries necessary
for it's conduct in the modern sense.
The task Of the ordnance department
in supplying artillery was especially
difficult. In order to meet our require
ments as rapidly as possible we &C.
copied the offer of the French govern
ment to supply US with the artillery
equipment of 75's. 155 nm. howitzers
and 155 G.. r. F. guns from their own
factories for 30 divisions. The wis
dom Of this course was fully demon
strated by the fact that although we
soon began the manufacture of these
classes of guns at home there were
no guns of American manufacture Of
the calibers mentioned on our front at
the date Of the armistice.
The only guns of these types pro-
duced at hGme which reached France
before the cessation Of hostilities were
100 Is nm. guns.
In addition "a S-inch howitzers from
the United States reached our. front
and were in use when the armistice
was signed. Eight 14-ineh naval guns
of American manufacture were set up
on railroad mounts, and most Of these
were successfully employed on the
Meuse-Argonne front under the eff
cient direction Of Admiral Plunkett of
the navy.
In aviation we were entirely de-
pendent upon our allies, and here
again the French government came to
our aid until our own program could
be set under way. Without going into
complete discussion of aviation ma
terial it will be sufficient to state that
it was with great difficulty that we~ob-
tanned equipment even for training.
AS for up-to-date combat planes, the
development at home was slow and
we had to rely upon the French, who
provided us with a total of 2,676 pur-
suit, observation and bombing ma
chimes.
The first airplane received from
home arrived in May, and altogether
we received 1879 planes Of the De
Haviland type. The first American
squadron completely equipped by
American production, including air.
planes, crossed the German lines on
August Z, 1913. AS to our aviators,
many of whom trained with our allies,
it can be said that they had no supe-
riors in daring and in fighting ability.
During the battles of St. Mihiel and
Meuse-Argonne our aviators excelled
all others. They have left record
of courageous deeds that will ever re-
main brilliant page in the annals OF