Thirtieth Faced 20
Hun Divisions
First Lieutenant M.W. Veach in a letter dated December 11 to
Mr. George Bailey gives the names and dates of the battles fought by the 30th
division, the towns the division took and the number of German divisions which
were fought from August 21 to October 19. Lieutenant Veach is in the 120th
Infantry and he says he is glad the affair is over.
The following places were taken by the division on the dates
indicated:
Lankhof Farm (Ypres), September 1 to 2
Belicourt and Nouroy (Hindenburg line) September 29 to 30
Premont and Brancourt, October 8
Busigny, October 9
Becquiny, Bohain, Vaux, Abdigny and L. Hale Mencrsse,
October 10 to 11
St.Martin Rievre, Mazinier and Heights of Catilion, October
17 to 19.
Exactly 20 divisions faced the Tennessee, North Carolina and
South Carolina troops from August 1 to October 19. Lieutenant Veach gives the
numbers of the divisions and their quality. Of the number of enemy divisions 14
are rated as “average” and six as “very good.” This was a rather tough
proposition for one division to be handled, but Generals Pershing and Haig have
vouched for the way the young men treated their opponents.
Card from Joe Murphy
Under date of December 16, Joe L. Murphy of the Rainbow
Division informs a member of the Record staff in an appreciated card that he
was 15 miles from the Rhine as part of the army of occupation. “The conditions
are pretty good,” Mr. Murphy writes. “The people have enough to eat. Have hiked
300 miles since signing of armistice.”
Two Hickory Men in
Famous Division
A letter to the Record form First Lieut. C.C. Freeman gives details
of the work done by the 5th Division in the last few weeks of the
war. Mr. Ralph Shed of Hickory is a member of this division, being connected with
the 25th field hospital, and Lieutenant Freeman says “I feel sure
his people and friends will be glad to know that he was with his organization
and did faithful work during this drive.”
The 5th Division forced the famous crossing of
the Meuse river below Sedan and for its valor has been cited by Maj. General
E.E. Ely for bravery. These men built bridges and swam the river in the face of
heavy machine gun fire and performed a feat that was cabled to all the papers.
The exploit, which was carried by the Record at the time, was one of wonderful
ingenuity and courage, and no reading was more gripping than this.
“For two days and nights,” the citation reads, “the fifth
division held a front of 20 kilometers against the enemy on its front and both
flanks. Not content with this, it went out of its own sector on the north and
took the time of Meusay and turned it over to the 90th division. On
the south it went out of its sector and took Voiosges, enabling the French
division on its right to cross the river.
“In the 30 days preceding the armistice, this fifth division
was seriously engaged under shell and machine gun fire for 37 days. In the past
two weeks no day has passed that some town, wood, or hill has not been wrested
from the enemy. Bois des Rappe, Ainereville, Bois de Babiemont,
Cleary-leGrand-Clery, Brieulles, Dun-Sur-Meuse,” and many other points named. The
penetration of 20 kilometers into the enemy’s line was made, and when the
armistice was signed it was 5 kilometers, or over two miles, beyond the troops
on its right.
Thirty-seven cannon, 461 machine guns, over 900 were
captured by the division. The commander, however, congratulates the division
most on its untiring, uncomplaining tenacity of purpose “in its constant driving
of the enemy in spite of fatigue and shortage of rations. Being wet from the
swimming of the river and canal or wading the swamp of the Forest de Woevre,
this is a brilliant example of what an American soldier can do in an emergency
when he must go on to the utmost of his power. The division commander is proud
of the division. No division could have accomplished more and every member of
the command should be proud of the division which has so brilliantly ended its
record in the greatest war the world has ever known.”
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