THE IRON DIVISION

THE NATIONAL GUARD OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN THE WORLD WAR

H. G. PROCTOR

 

 

THE AUTHENTIC AND COMPREHENSIVE NARRATIVE

OF THE GALLANT DEEDS AND GLORIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS

OF THE 28TH DIVISION IN THE WORLD'S GREATEST WAR.

 

PHILADELPHIA: THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 1919.

COPYRIGHT, 1918, by THE EVENING BULLETIN

 

To the mothers of Pennsylvania,

and especially those who mourn for lads who lie in the soil of France,

this book is dedicated.

 

HEADQUARTERS 28TH DIVISION

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
FRANCE

27th October 1918.

MEMORANDUM - RED KEYSTONES

  A RED KEYSTONE has been designated as the distinctive insignia of this Division.

  Keystones are to be worn on all coats and overcoats, including the trench and short coats worn by officers, and the Mackinaws issued to Engineers motorcycle drivers, etc., but not on the slicker.
  A standard size of Keystone of selected color and quality of cloth has been adopted and contracted for by the Quartermaster's Department. These will be Issued at the rate of two per man and no others will be worn. They are to be sewed on the left sleeve with red thread, the top to be on the line of the seam.
  The proportions of a Keystone are shown below:

By command of Major General Hay:

W. C. Sweeney.

Chief of Staff.

 

THE OFFICIAL ORDER DESIGNATING THE 28TH AS THE KEYSTONE DIVISION (Reduced)

 

 

 

Foreword

 

IF LOVE, admiration and respect, with a sense of personal gratification at seeing the hopes and predictions of years fulfilled, may be pleased as justification for a self-appointed chronicler, then this book needs no excuse.  It is offered with a serene confidence that it does justice, and nothing more than simple justice, to as fine and gallant a body of soldiers as ever represented this great commonwealth in action.
  There must be, for the loved ones of these modern crusaders, as well as for the thousands of former members of the National Guard, who, like the writer, whole-heartedly envied the opportunities for glorious service that came to their successors in the organization, a sense of deep and abiding pride in the priceless record of achievement.  To all such, and to those others to whom American valor is always a readable subject, whatever the locale, the narrative is presented as not unworthy of its cause.

H.G.P.

 

Contents

 

I

Men of Iron

11

II

Off for the Front

25

III

The Last Hun Drive

48

IV

"Kill or be Killed"

60

V

The Guard Stands Fast

77

VI

Boche in Full Flight

91

VII

Bombed from the Air

108

VIII

In Heroic Mold

121

IX

The Church of Roncheres

137

X

At Grips with Death

157

XI

Drive to the Vesle

168

XII

In Death Valley

184

XIII

Stars of Grim Drama

199

XIV

Ambulanciers to the Front

213

XV

A Martial Panorama

227

XVI

In the Argonne

241

XVII

Million Dollar Barrage

251

XVIII

"An Enviable Reputation"

262

XIX

Ensanguined Apremont

278

XX

Toward Hunland

291



 

France at Last! Iron Division Debarking
After months of vexatious delays, the Pennsylvania Guardsmen acknowledged their welcome on French soil with expansive smiles which showed their pleasure at having come thus far on the great adventure.



 

Into the Maw of Battle

Pennsylvania Guardsmen attacking a German position in the Soisson-Rheims pocket.  A bombing squad leads to blow up the German wire and open the way for the infantry waves which are seen following close, headed for the holes in the wire network.



 

Briefly at Rest in the Argonne Forest

Periods of rest in the inferno of fighting in the Argonne were not frequent, but this group of Iron Division doughboys was snapped by the camera during a lull, while they were grouped about the entrance to an old German dugout.

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Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja

USGenWeb Archives Project: Pennsylvania

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