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A History of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Troops in the War
By John V. Hanlon (Copyright 1919 by The Pittsburg Press)
Chapter XVII
(The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, April 27, 1919, page 82)
THE ARTILLERYMEN OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION FROM PITTSBURG AND WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA MADE UP A LARGE PART OF THE PERSONNEL OF THE 107TH REGIMENT OF THE
FIFTY-THIRD ARTILLERY BRIGADE, AND THEY DID SOME WONDERFUL WORK IN ASSISTING THE
INFANTRYMEN IN THE BIG DRIVES. THIS SECTION OF THE HISTORY HAS TO DO WITH THIS
REGIMENT AND TELLS OF ITS EXPERIENCES AND ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF
FRANCE AND BELGIUM
The Fifty-third artillery brigade of the Twenty-eighth
division of which the famous One Hundred and Seventh artillery regiment,
comprised mostly of men from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, was a part, is
the only unit of the American overseas forces that went directly into the thick
of battle after receiving the necessary training. Other units were usually
permitted to visit some quiet sector of the line for a few weeks until they
became accustomed to occasional shelling and the horrible sights before being
transferred to a section of the line where the heat of battle was at its height.
The Fifty-third brigade, however, made such rapid strides during the training
period that no hesitancy was exercised when the time came for them to see
action. They were sent into the battles of Fismes and Fismettes which were two
of the fiercest and bloodiest engagements of the war.
The artillery brigade, after the splendid work it
performed during the Argonne fighting, was detached from the Twenty-eighth
division as a part of the army that went into Belgium and was called the “army
of liberation.” This was an honor and a recognition of its former good service,
for the Belgian liberation army needed confidence to go forward and with the
best American artillery unit behind them giving support and protection their
advance was rapid and their success all that could be desired.
AT CAMP MEUCON
When the One Hundred and Seventh regiment arrived in
France it went into training at Camp Meucon, situated near the west coast of
France, which is admirably adapted for artillery practice on account of its
magnificent range. It is said that it is the finest artillery range in the
world. In Meucon intensive training was begun. In the United States the
Pennsylvanians in training had used the American three-inch guns of the light
field artillery. In France now, the famous French 75s were assigned. This made
it necessary for the gunners of the Fifty-third brigade to learn how to operate
the new guns. The French 75 milimeter [sic] gun is regarded by military experts
as the most accurate firing piece ever invented, and its great work in the late
war upholds their opinions. The American three-inch gun which was used in
training by the Fifty-third brigade at Camp Hancock, Ga., is a close second to
the French 75 millimeter, although not as rapid nor accurate. Its barrel is
slightly shorter than that of the French gun.
The Pennsylvania men learned how to operate the French
weapons in an incredibly short time. Every man in each of the regiments got
personal training in handling the guns, and each battery was organized into four
distinct squads of gun crews which became efficient firing units. Besides the
actual gunners and as significant in importance were the men who specialized in
signal, telephone and instrument work, mechanics who mastered the intricate
mechanism of the guns, and the drivers who drove the teams that brought the
firing pieces up to the battle front. The latter found it necessary to learn
part of the French language to make the French horses understand what they
wanted them to do.
The unit trained for one week at Camp Meucon learning
the fundamentals and then went to the artillery range and here it went through
conditions which were found later in actual combat. While at the range Battery
“E” had the distinction of laying down the first successful barrage fired by the
brigade. The fine range permitted the gunners to see where the fired shells
struck, and the results of their firing was evident by the straight line of
bursts and upheaval of earth. It would have been impossible for a single living
thing to have emerged from the barrage, and the men of the Fifty-third received
a vivid impression of what these mighty little guns would do, and what power lay
within their command.
A few weeks of this sort of training went by and then
it was announced that the One Hundred and Seventh regiment would engage in a
firing contest with other regiments of the brigade. This place new zest in the
training and the gun crews immediately got busy with all the determination
possible to win, perfected their already skillful manipulation of the guns, and
worked early and late. This diligence by the One Hundred and Seventh won for
them the regimental championship honors when the contest was held.
To further stimulate the boys to good work, another
contest was held – this time to ascertain the most efficient battery.
BATTERY E WINS
It was staged one Saturday morning in the rear of the
Fifty-third Field Artillery headquarters, and consisted of all such conditions
as would later be found existing on the front line including the methods of
fire, such as sweeping, progressive sweeping, barrage, and actual handling of
the guns while wearing the gas masks. As the contest progressed it was clearly
evident that Battery E of the One Hundred and Seventh was leading in practically
all of the events. About three thousand spectators viewed the contest, but were
barred from making any demonstrations whatsoever, and it was with difficulty
they restrained themselves. The competition was keen, and when the outcome of
the contest at times became in doubt, members of the different regiments which
were participating found it hard to keep from encouraging their favorite gun
crews.
At last the contest came to an end, and after a
conference by the judges, who were selected from the French Field Artillery, the
commanders of the various batteries and regiments were called to the center of
the field and it was announced that Battery E of the One Hundred and Seventh
regiment had won by a safe majority of points. Then the great crowd broke loose
and cheered. Capt. Weaver was warmly congratulated by Brig. Gen. Price for the
excellent work of his men, and was informed that Battery E would have the first
opportunity to fire a shot into the German lines when actual combat was begun.
It was by hard, honest, consistent and diligent work that the boys of the
battery carried away the honor. Every man in the battery showed a personal pride
in being among its numbers, and at all times tried to acquit themselves worthy
of the great city in which the battery was organized – Pittsburg.
MOVE TO THE BATTLE FRONT
The training at Meucon lasted six weeks during which
Battery E became known as “the pride of the Fifty-third.” It was in August that
the brigade bade farewell to the comfortable quarters found at Camp Meucon and
set forth for the battle lines after 12 months of careful training and “make
believe” fighting.
The men boarded a train riding in the famous French
“Hommes 40 Cheveaux 8” box cars, which could not be praised to any great extent
for their easy riding qualities nor comfortability, and rode for 36 hours,
finally arriving at Mezy at 3 a.m. on Aug. 12. The brigade detrained and at
daybreak crossed the Marne and marched forward on ground that had been recently
won. The sight of newly made graves and the sound of distantly rumbling guns,
were sufficient to tell the men as they trudged silently along, each absorbed in
his own thoughts, that war was really a serious thing, and that a great task lay
before them. It would be impossible to describe the thoughts of these men as
they went forward beside the rattling guns and caissons. Back in the training
camps they had heard of the stories of the battlefields. To a certain extent
they were nerved to expect the worst horrors of the war and if, in the gray
dawn, the courage or confidence of any of the men of the Fifty-third was shaken
it was not known. Later deeds prove that the grim determination they had so
carefully fostered never faltered for an instant.
DESOLATION EVERYWHERE
War’s desolation could be seen on every side. A number
of hopelessly wrecked villages were sights that brought home the truly gigantic
destruction possible with artillery guns. Sometimes only a all would be left
standing, or a corner of a once beautiful chateau or church.
The course lay through a dense woods about six
kilometers from Mezy. Upon entering the little forest, the stench of dead
bodies, human and animal, became so oppressive that it was almost unbearable.
This odor from decayed bodies was one of the most reproachable things of the
way. Finally the troops reached the villages of Roncheres where they were
billeted in old barns and buildings, occupied by the Germans four weeks earlier.
They remained here all night and the following day. While at Roncheres the
troops witnessed their first air battle. The Germans succeeded in destroying an
allied army observation balloon.
After the little rest the batteries moved forward again
on the evening of Aug. 13 in the direction of Fismes, where they were told they
would take up their first gun position. As they marched along they enjoyed the
hellish fireworks of man’s ingenuity. Flares and star shells lit up the heavens.
It was hard to associate their beauty and magnificence with the brutality they
were intended to aid. A German bombing plane flew over head and dropped two
large bombs about 50 meters in advance of the marching column. Protecting allied
planes immediately swooped down from the heavens and gave chase to the Hun
aviator. A running fight ensued and finally the merry spat of the machine guns
died away in the distance. Apparently the German aviator had escaped behind his
own lines.
SET UP GUNS BEFORE FISMES
Twice during the march the French guide who was leading
the column got of the right road and delayed the marching men. Finally at 2:30
in the morning they reached St. Martin and were met by Capt. Weaver and other
officers who had gone in advance to locate a gun position. The position selected
was finally reached just a few minutes before daybreak, but the men, working
with considerable rapidity, succeeded in getting the guns in position and
camouflaged. The dawn found the cannoneers exhausted but “sitting pretty” in the
little sector of the Western front. Forty-eight hours had elapsed since leaving
Mezy.
The first day was quiet, and it was well for it
permitted the new soldiers to rest and become accustomed to the front. However,
the German airman who had observed the marching column probably delivered his
information and that night, Aug. 14, the “Fritzies” let loose with a terrific
shelling and wound up with a five-hour gas-barrage, the fumes from the bursting
shells filling the valley with their deadly poison. After the barrage ceased it
was necessary for the men to wear their gas masks for an addition two hours.
The valley mentioned was known as “Death Valley” and
the Pennsylvanians were located in it. The “Jerry’ seemed to have a particular
spite against the place and was continually gassing the area. Almost every night
he would open up about 12 o’clock with hundreds of gas shells, and in an
incredibly short time the poisonous vapor would fill the entire valley and
because of the pocket formed by the valley, would hang close to the ground,
creating a dangerous situation. The gas used was mostly of the mustard variety,
and caused a number of casualties in the Fifty-third brigade during its stay in
Death Valley.
On the second day after arriving at Fismes the gunners
of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment region laid their guns and that night
got busy on the Hun. The French guns worked like charms, and it was only a short
time after firing had begun when information was received by aeroplane that the
gunners were doing good work in annoying enemy supply trains that were going to
the German front line trenches, and that they had succeeded in registering a
direct hit on an ammunition dump. This sort of work spoke well for the
Pennsylvanians.
These was little variance in the daily routine to break
the oppressing monotony of the cave-dwellers’ life which fell to the lot of a
soldier in this strange war of wars. The days were more or less quiet and were
spent in fighting the flies and yellow jackets which annoyed them almost as much
as the enemy shells, while the nights had plenty of work for everyone as
practically all of the fighting was carried on after nightfall.
As a rule it was possible to obtain a few hours of
sleep in the early morning, but occasionally this sleep was interrupted by one
of the enemy’s gas barrages, in which case the soldiers were “outa luck,” since
the extremely torrid weather and the flies rendered it quite impossible to sleep
during the day.
STENCH OF DEAD BODIES ANNOYING
The Jerries almost hourly shelled a small clump of
trees about 500 meters from the position of the One Hundred and Seventh which
contained a large number of dead “Heinies” and a larger number of dead horses.
The enemy evidently believed that a battery was located in the woods, which
accounted for their frequent shelling. The dead bodies thus uncovered and
stirred up created a terrible stench, which the wind carried down the valley to
the Pennsylvania soldiers. It was so offensive that at times it became almost
maddening, and invariably the shelling would take place about mess time, making
eating an impossibility.
The infantry ahead of the artillery was going great
work. While the artillery laid down barrages and received the enemy’s barrages,
they slowly and surely pushed the German hordes back to the Vesle river where a
short pause was made, during which the German forces were greatly strengthened
by reinforcements. But it was to no avail, for on Sept. 4, the American
doughboys crossed the river under a terrific shell fire and completely routed
the enemy, but suffered greatly in the effort, for company after company was
almost completely wiped out. It was a great effort, and a successful one.
(The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, May 18, 1919, page 76)
Chapter XVII (cont.)
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH ARTILLERY KEPT RIGHT AT THE HEELS OF THE RETREATING
ENEMY IN BELGIUM UNTIL THE WAR WAS OVER. CORPORAL POLLICK, IN CONTINUING HIS
DIARY OF THE ACTIVITES OF THE PITTS BURG AND WESTERN PENNSVYLANIA BOYS OF THE
EIGHTIETH DIVISION TELLS OF THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE ARGONNE-MEUSE DRIVE AND OF
THE ARMISTICE.
The effect of the hatred of the Americans was realized
by the Germans. They started to retreat so fast that the artillery almost killed
their horses trying to keep in touch with them. Occasionally the German rear
guard would resist long enough to prevent a wholesale slaughter of the whole
army. The batteries of the One Hundred and Seventh were on their heels at all
times and fired at every opportunity. Upon reaching the Lys valley, the Germans
had flooded the surrounding lowlands and further advance was delayed for a short
time. The batteries of the Pennsylvania regiment took position of the west bank
of the valley and set their gun sights toward Audenarde on the other side. The
sights were then elevated so that the shells would not strike the town, and for
two days they shelled the area outside of the city doing effective work. Their
only target was over eight kilometers away. While in this position the armistice
negotiations were begun.
THE WAR OVER
When the armistice was signed the Pennsylvania
artillery moved across the Lys river and stayed in the old war zone for about a
month, billeting from time to time in small villages and farm houses. A stall in
a cow stable was regarded as a “good” place to sleep, the floor of the house
“excellent” and to get a bed, “heaven.”
The artillery brigade from Pennsylvania finally moved back to Proven, Belgian,
near the French border and occupied a little camp which had previously been
built up a regiment of Canadians. This was almost a month after the armistice
was signed. Christmas was fast approaching and the boys had nothing to do that
day, but to “exist.” On Monday evening before Christmas, Battery E planned an
entertainment at the suggestion of Capt. Weaver. Sergt. Walcamp was appointed to
arrange the program. No one had time to prepare anything and the acts put on by
the men were entirely impromptu. The engineers found an old barn, which with a
little fixing soon developed a stage and a few seats. At 7 o’clock Christmas eve
the show was on, and from first to last it seemed like a show staged by
professional artists. Chaplain Peters, Capt. Bundy, Capt. Reese, Lieut. McGovern
and several English officers who were present responded to the call of the
footlights. There may have been better shows given by the soldiers in France but
none were appreciated more than this one.
On Christmas day the cooks using only the field
kitchens and their accompanying utensils prepared a dinner which was a pleasure
and a joy to all of the men. The menu consisted of roast beef, rich brown gravy,
Brussell’s [sic] sprouts, home baked beans, corn starch, home baked cake, tea or
coffee, oranges and apples. Sergt. Phillips took special pains to see that each
man was filled up to the neck. No one applied for seconds, according to
authentic information except Horseshoer Hedrick of the Northside, Pittburg, and
that was due to force of habit. Every man pronounced it an enjoyable Christmas.
Shortly after Christmas, the brigade moved to France
and was stationed at LeMans in a “homeward bound” zone.
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