The weekly Alaska citizen., 1920-01-19

with few auxiliaries necessary for |,

with few auxiliailes necessary for its eonu1.t iu liv hIoue-n svlis.. i.".. tash oI the UIunallCe QepaIli.ient In supplying artillery WAS especially dif- ncuit. in order 10 met our require nents as rapidly as possible, we ac- cepted the oIIer of the French govern inenL tO auppiy Us MitII the att,l,e.y equipment oi 75's, l55mm. howitzers and 155 c. F. F. guns from their owl, factories for 30 divisions. The wis dom of this course was fully demon strated by the fact that, altho we classes of guns at home, there were no guns of American manufacture oi calibres mentioned on our front at the date of the armistice. The only guns of these types produced at home which reached France before the ces- sation of hostilities were one hundred and nine 75 nm. guns. In addition, twenty-four S-inch howitzers from the United States reached our front and were in use when the armistice was signed. Eight 14-inch 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 effl- cient direction of Admiral Plunkett of the navy.
 Tn aviation we were entirely de- pendent upon our allies and hele again the French government came to our aid until our own program could be set under way. From time to time we obtained from the French such planes for training personnel as they could provide. Without going into complete discussion of aviation material, it will be sufficient to state that it was with great difficulty that we obtained equipment even for train ing 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 pursuit, observation, and bombing machines. The first airplanes received from home arrived in May and alto gether we received 1879 planes oI the de Haviland type. The first Ameri- can squadron completely equipped by American production, including air planes. crossed the German lines on August '. 1918. AS to our aviators many or whom trained with our allies, It can be said that they had no SUI periors in daring and in tigntlng abil- ity. During the battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne our aviators ex- celled all others. They have left q record of courageous deeds that will ever remain a brilliant page in the annals of our army.
 In the matter of tanks, we were ! compelled to rely upon both the French and the English. Here, how ever, we were less fortunate for the reason that our allies barely hat sufficient tanks to meet their own re quirements. While our Tank corps had limited opportunity, It's fine peI sonnel responded gallantly on every possible occasion and showed courage | of hn hiobncf battalion of heavy tanks engaged or the English front. On our own iron, we had only the light tanks. and ths nunlDer available to participate Ill the last great assualt O. November was reduced to 16 as result ul lnr previous hard lighting in the Mouse, Argonne."
 General Pershing closes his report with the following Appreciation" In this brief summary of tht achievements of the American EX- peditionary forces 1t would be i'm possible to cite in detail the splendid ability, loyalty and efficiency tna. characterized the servlce oi both com blatant and non-comDatant indiviuuals and organizations. The most strik- ing quality of both officers ana men was the resourcelul energy anu com mon sense employed. under all cir cumstances, in handling their prob lems.
 The highest praise is due the commanders of armies. corps anu divisions, and their subordinate lead CTS, who labored Loyalty and ably to- ward the accomplishment of our task, suppressing personal opinions and 1 ambitions in the pursuit of the com mon aim; and to their staffs, who de- veloped, with battle experience, into splendid teams without superiors in any army.
 ITO my Chiefs of Staff, Major James G. Harbord, who was later placed in command of the service of supply. and Major James w. McAn- drew, l am deeply indebted for highly efficient service in a post of great responsibility.
 The important work of the staff at general headquarters in organiza-