Greenwood daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1919-1926, 1920-01-08
DECEIVED BY RADIO
Telephone Squad Also Conducted Mis-
leading Conversations for German
Listeners Benefit - Staff
Worked Overtime on Game
OF C1mouflaQe.

A0AOAu VI ~ JuAAOA OAASSAS;
thrown into til. field" overnight,
and for days five crack German divi-
sions just east of Verdun, in the
Etain region, were kept on their toes,
momentarily expecting IN attack
which never came.
At a dinner table in a Coblenz cafe
overlooking the Rhine an American in.
telligence officer recently told the
story of the creation Of the mythical
TX army" as it was called. 1t ap
pears that the Germans were expect
ing an attack in the Etain sector at
any time, and the Americans knew it ;
but at that stage of the game he First
American army was devoting its ener
gies to driving the enemy out of the
Argonne forest and the hill country on
either side. So the mythical army was
created, in preference to a real diver.
sion, requiring many men, to convince
not be wise to weaken the Etain front
for the benefit Of the Meuse-Argonne
front.
Commanded by Captain.
Five fresh divisions had been placed
by the Germans on the Etain line.
These constituted their last and finest
reservoir Of available divisions. The
Americans realized that the minute
the Germans decided that this was not
a danger point any or all of the i've
divisions could be withdrawn, re-
placed by exhausted and fragmentary
divisions coming from the battle
fronts, and that the appearance of the
fresh troops in the line west of the
Meuse would have a tremendous effect
on the American offensive.
The TX army was assigned to a
front from Bezonvaux to Fresnes.
From the morning Of October % until
lust before the armistice this army
"functioned." Capt. Charles III. Matz
of Hubbard Woods, ILL.,, was command
er in chief; Capt. William h. Dear
den Of Springfield, Mass, and Wash.
ington, D. c., was chief of staff; Lieut..
John III. Graham of Lexington, Va,
was chief Of troop movements ;" Capt
O. w. Neidert was in charge of Gil,
or administration, and Lieut.. ii. L.
Griswold of Old Lynn, Conn.,, was
chief Of artillery. The staff of the *
army we're all members Of the In
~telligence section of the First army
and, of course, before beginning oper-
ations. had obtained the consent OF
their chief, Col. Wiley Howell.
The wireless and the telephone were
freely used to convince h Germans
that the Americans were prepared fol-
an attack in the Etain sector. To
make sure that the Germans would
be able to "break into" the code used,
the Americans furnished them with 8
satisfactory key.
Functioned Until End.
One wireless station of the TX
| army was established in a clump Of
woods near Verdun and was called
HEADQUARTERS of the K army" This
station functioned until the end of the
game, all "orders" for the army going
| out from this place by wireless. Soon
after the station began working the
Germans located its whereabouts ano
frequently shelled the woods and vi
cinity, apparently in hope Of breaking
up the radio of the latest Of annoy
ances. The TX army also had a port
able radio station, which moved about
and represented itself at a different
station every day or two.
The first message from the "X
army" headquarters was a general
dispatch to all wireless stations in the
army ares (none of which actually ex
isted). in the new code Of course, di
recting that none Of the stations an
swer or make use of their sending in
struments, for fear of the enemy locat
ing them, but hat they be on the
alert at fixed hours to receive mes
sages. The effect was to convince the
Germans that q large number of wire
less stations had been set up and t6
advise them of the hours when the en-
envy intercepting stations should be
On the alert for the American mes
sages
This was followed by a series Of
messages designed to indicate that the
TX army was preparing for a full
fledged operation. In order to inform
the enemy Of the geographical limit:
of the sector of the tx army" many
messages were directed to imaginary
officers at existing towns on the EtaiI
front.
Wireless Works Night and Day.
Meanwhile the rowing wireless sta
ton was working overtime day ant
night. It began sending out message.
in the Fresnes sector and trying tt
give the impression that it was sew
eral stations at widely separated 10
cations. One message in particulal