Evening star., 1940-08-22
Guard Heading Home,
Proud Of 'BIitz' That
Licked 1stCorps
D. c., Maryland and
Virginia Units Leaving
Today and Tomorrow
By ROBERT ERWIN,
Star Staff Correspondent.

Star Stall correspondent.
RENSSELAER, FALLS, N. Y, Aug.
22.-"Finis la guerre" was the
standard greeting today in every
camp, town and crossroads of the
North country. For 10000 soldiers
of the 1st Army of the United
States, it was the end of one Of
the biggest peacetime maneuvers
In the Nations history.
Aching and blistered feet and
stiff muscles were shared by every
body, but the fruits of victory be-
longed to the 29th Division, and to
its components Of the Maryland,
Virginia and District of Columbia
National Guards.
How much credit the 29th Divi-
sion and its commander, Maj. Gen.
Milton A. Reckord, will receive for
their part in the whirlwind two
day maneuver that ended yester-
day morning remains to be seen.
The Regular Army wasn't talking |
much about it today, but the facts
remained the same-the 29th had |
licked the pride and pet of Uncle
Sans Regulars, the highly rated
motorized lst Division.
First Is Outblitzed.
Along with other pOSt-mOrtemS |
on the big show, pitting the BLACK"
1st Corps against the Blue" I'd
and Sd Corps, the story Of the
29th's victory over the 1st Division
was gradually unfolding. 1t wasn't
just a surprise raid by the 5th
Maryland combat team, commanded
by Col. Harry Ruhl of Baltimore,
but a well-planned and efficiently
executed blitzkrieg that out
blitzed" the 1st and captured its
truck train of 300 vehicles, four
officers of its high command and its
food supply at Chamberlain early
Tuesday.
The 5th Maryland Infantry was
turned into a combat team modelled
along 1st Division lines, instead of
battalion of it's own 10th Mary
land Field Artillery. However, it
was reinforced by almost the whole
regiment as we'll as a platoon of
the Districts 121st Engineers and a
detachment of the 104th Medical
Regiment (Maryland).
Col. Ruhl and Gen. Reckord had a
huddle the night before the blitz-
krieg. 1t was somewhat dangerous
undertaking, but Gen. Reckord took
1t, and his forces won. The 1st
Division was hit hard by its own
tactics of fast-fanking movement, |
something that its high command
had not figured National Guard |
division would try against the cream
Of the Regular Army.
This victory helped bottle up the |
1st and contributed to the close of
the big maneuver day ahead of
time, originally scheduled at noon
today. Umpires let the 1st out of |
the clutches of the 28th Division
Pennsylvania and the 29th Tues /
day night, and yesterday the war
games ended with the blues" carry |
ing out their mission Of crossing
the Racquette River.
Reckord Praises Men.
Sparing no words in praise for his !
men, Gen. Reckord today described
the 29th as "a wonderful division
They did everything I asked them
to do and were ready to do more. |
It Is a splendid organization and
with a little more training and a
little more hardening and some up !
to-date equipment, it would be tops"
The health of the division was |
one OF the laSt-minute marvels of
the maneuverS. The troops were
In the field Monday and Tuesday
nights. Their feet were soaked at
the outset. The nights were colder |
than usual, and the atmosphere was |
damp, with heavy dew on the !
ground each morning. The first
days marches ranged upward to %
miles. Food was rushed up to the |
front from kitchens behind the lines. |
It wasn't an easy lot for the Guards
men, thousands of them while-collar
men in private life, even after two
weeks of toughening. Yet they
stood the strain wonderfully well.
Reports of the 1O4th Medical Regi-
ment showed go men removed from
the field we're treated Monday night,
- Tuesday and 81 yesterday. Others
previously i'll have remained in the
base hospital. These casualties, none
serious, give the 29th an unexpect-
edly small number Of peacetime war
victims.
Except for the divisions fine rec
ord in the field, going home was the
chief topic Of conversation In these
parts today.
The first regiment of the District
Guard to move homeward Is the
260th Coast Artillery, based at Rich
vile, which Is scheduled to leave for
Washington by convoy at l pm.
today,
Engineers Leave Tomorrow.
The 121st Engineers, under Col.
John w. Oehmann, will board q
special troop train here tomorrow at
1920 pm, arriving in Washington |
late Saturday morning. They will
be followed at 250 pm. by another
Washington outfit. the Goth Division
Special troops, whose commander,
William T. Roy, was promoted from
major to lieutenant colonel Tuesday.
The 1st Battalion, 104th Quarter
master Regiment, Of Maj. Berns-
dorff will wheel its truck convoy out |
OF the 104th motor park and en-
campment at 2:05 pm. tomorrow,
southbound for home. This unit will
bivouac on the road overnight and
continue its journey Saturday.
The 10th Field Artillery, Mary
land National Guard, was scheduled
to start home today, while the main
forces of the 29th, the 1st and 5th
Maryland and 1st and 116th Virginia
Infantries, will depart by special
trains at various times tomorrow.
Hundreds of Reserve officers who
were assigned to active duty for the
maneuvers were checking in their
equipment and drawing their pay at
Heuvelton, Sd Corps headquarters,
~ A0VD AlEU01A