History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0455/04559.txt

Text File | 1992-10-12 | 8KB | 147 lines

$Unique_ID{how04559}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{True Stories Of The Great War
VI - Story Of How Pershing Saw The Germans Attack}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Lane, J. Welling}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{now
section
attack
american
boche
post
another
army
piece
three}
$Date{1915}
$Log{}
Title:       True Stories Of The Great War
Book:        With The American Soldiers On The Fields Of France
Author:      Lane, J. Welling
Date:        1915

VI - Story Of How Pershing Saw The Germans Attack

     (Told by J. Welling Lane, with American Ambulance)

     The writer of this letter, J. Welling Lane, left his place with the
banking firm of Montgomery, Clothier & Tyler, 14 Wall street, New York, in
April, 1917, to go to France with the American Ambulance.  He had served on
the Mexican border with the First Field Artillery.

France, Aug. 23, 1917.

Dear - :

     Well, old man, I can certainly tell of some real experiences now.  The
latest: Last night we had an air raid, beginning around 9 o'clock, when the
Boche came over and dropped some bombs, trying for some gun positions near
here, then at exactly 12:30 A.M. a big raid.  There must have been at least
five machines or more came flying very low and dropped a bomb within twelve
feet of our barracks, wounding one of the boys who slept in the corner
nearest the bomb in the bottom of his heel.  He will be all right soon, but
will take quite some time to recover.

     It is a wonder to all he did not get it anywhere else.  I drove him to
the hospital with our Lieutenant and waited until they extracted the eclat,
and am keeping it for him.  It went through the wooden wall, through the
blankets and carried a piece of blanket into the wound.  Then another of the
fellows lying opposite received a hard scratch, but only a scalp wound.

     Our Brigadier, or Quartermaster, who keeps tires, etc., was sleeping in
a little shed within seven feet of the hit, and when we all rushed over we
heard him groaning, and I broke in the door to find him on the floor.  He was
hit in three places, a long piece in his side and one little piece piercing
his backbone.  He is dead now.  Our barracks is riddled with holes from the
eclat.  The hole is about three feet deep and very narrow, the eclat
spreading in all directions.  There were all told eight bombs dropped around
us.

Sept. 26, 1917.

     One did not explode and can be seen in the ground near a stable.  If it
had exploded it would have no doubt killed many horses.  That was a pretty
close call for all of us, no doubt being brought on by the new gun position.
One of the guns, by the way, was the one that silenced the German gun that
used to shell Dunkirk, being able to shell twenty to twenty-five miles.

     We just gave them a most successful attack when every objective was
gained besides 6,000 to 7,000 prisoners - 174 officers were taken.  We
assisted Section 18 of the American Ambulance and I worked from 11 o'clock
Sunday to Wednesday at 7 P. M., and during that time had only about seven
hours sleep.  But strange as it may seem, no doubt, the excitement and all,
I did not feel sleepy or tired but as fresh as if I never had worked.  We
secured our meals after a fashion, often times missing some.

     The wonderful part is the few wounded other than very slight wounds upon
the French side.  The Boche said the artillery work was awful.  One English
speaking person said he had no food for three days and of a battalion of
1,000 men only twenty-one were left.  The food they are getting is very poor
and very little and every one was tickled to death to be a prisoner.

     Some of the strangest sights were the Germans working as brancardiens
helping to carry the wounded.  One instance which I photographed was a Boche
coming down the road helping a wounded Frenchman.  Another was five prisoners
coming down from the post of securs that we moved up to as soon as the
position had advanced, which before was on the three line trenches, came down
the road without any guard at all.  They just told them to walk to the next
village.  It is all so wonderful; never have I been so close or in such an
interesting place.

     From our post secours, which by the way has been advanced again to the
spot which before the attack was no man's land - you can see all the French
lines being on the side hill, the Boche positions being on top.  Now advanced
about four kilometres.  This attack we have been through makes up for the
long repose we have had.  Our division was not in the attack, only one
regiment, and we only assisted Section 18, but they are a white livered bunch
and our section did duty continually while they sat around telling their
weird tales of gas and having to work so long without sleep, &c.  Far from
the spirit all section four has, who were fighting all the time for more
work.  All the time grumbling did not have enough.

     One man who is dying now I heard is to get the Medaille Militaire, the
very highest honor the army has, and is only bestowed upon the men when there
is no chance for them.  Some section we have, haven't we?  Now another of our
boys will receive the Croix de Guerre medal.  He came down one portion of the
road usually shelled with three couches and one assis on the seat beside him.
As he came down they were dropping them in.  The boys were tiring and
replacing the cars in between the shots, which came at 2 1/2 minute
intervals, and one broke near him, wounding the assis beside him.

     A piece of eclat caught our man in the arm, making a slight flesh wound
and leaving a piece of wood in it.  It had passed through a part of the body
of the car and blew this wood into him.  He had enough gas in the feed pipe
to carry him about a hundred feet outside of the zone when another of our
section cars came along and took his assis, who by now was a couche down for
a dressing.  Our man stopped a carrier and had these take his blesses back
to the post while he tried to start his car, but was unsuccessful.  He ran
down a trench through the falling shells from another post of secours with
a note to our post telling that everything was O. K., and the wounded taken
care of.  They took him to the hospital, and he is now back with us, but not
in service for a while.  He is to get a medal.

     We are certainly being hammered up a bit, but think the worst is over,
so there is absolutely no need to worry about me, as I haven't come near
anything yet.  Pershing and Petain were down the road while the attack was
on, and also our post was visited by a Regular American Army Medical Colonel
while we were in action.  It is now all over and the service is to be taken
over by the American Army.  I don't know what difference it will make with
us.  Since last night's fracas we are to have a guard posted all night to
warn us of any more raids so we can get into our trench, which is more than
safe against any repetition.

     An English speaking boche gave me a photo postal card of himself and
mate and gave the date and place and signed his name.  I have a boche gas
mask and many buttons and shoulder-straps.  The boches do not recognize
hospitals plainly marked with red cross, since they threw bombs on a nearby
hospital, burning up four buildings, killing 170 and wounding forty-one.
'Tis one of the hospitals we evacuated too, but now is being evacuated by a
French section.  A British section of the best which has been in this section
with the French army two years and has been twice cited in army orders was
hit and one couche killed and four were wounded and the driver only a slight
flesh wound during the attack.  Strange to say, so many ambulances always
come clear.  Their speed helps.  Good luck to you all.