USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > South Hadley > South Hadley, Massachusetts, in the world war, 1932 > Part 14
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APREMONT: two towns of this name are memorable to our troops. One was in the St. Mihiel salient near the jump-off of our attack in that brilliant offensive. The other, in the Meuse- Argonne, was captured early in the operations by the 28th Division.
ARGONNE: a hilly, wooded and swampy region of northeastern France, through which flows the Meuse River. (See Meuse-Argonne.)
BACCARAT: a town in Lorraine between Nancy and St. Die, in a relatively quiet sector of the lines. American units were sent into this section to undergo their baptism of fire.
BAPAUNE: an important town in the Somme Sector, part of the British front, where some of our troops helped sustain the German drive of 1918. (See Somme.)
BEAUMONT: a village on high ground, taken by the Second Division, November 4, 1918, in the great advance toward the Meuse.
BELFORT: a large town in the Vosges section where some of our units saw their initial line service.
BELLEAU-WOOD: a small forest of thicket and underbrush near the village of Belleau, about a mile from Chateau-Thierry. The fighting here was a continuation of the battle of Chateau- Thierry, which itself was one of the major engagements of the Aisne-Marne Offensive.
On June 6, 1918, American troops of the Second Division had driven the Germans from Chateau-Thierry into this wood. They immediately began the task of dislodging the enemy and clearing the place of its machine-gun nests. For nearly three weeks the Marine Brigade fought its way through the wood daily, finally clearing it of the enemy on June 25. As a tribute to American gallantry, the wood is now called by the French, "The Wood of the Marine Brigade."
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CAMBRAI: a town in northern France on the edge of the Somme Sector. The first American troops to take part in a major operation were a few medical and engineering units serving with the British in the Battle of Cambrai, near the end of the campaign of 1917.
CANTIGNY: a small town in the Mondidier-Noyon line, where Americans won an early battle.
CHAMPAGNE: a district of northern France through which flow the Marne and Seine Rivers.
In the early years of the war it was the scene of much trench fighting. The Champagne front on which American troops were engaged was along the Rheims-Verdun line. Here on July 15 to 18, the 3rd, 42nd, and part of the 28th Division held, and then counter attacked the enemy with much success.
CHATEAU-THIERRY: a town on the Marne River, in the Department of Aisne, France. When the German Offensive of the Aisne-Marne slowed down, the Americans, who had repulsed them at this point, counter attacked, June 6, 1918, driving the enemy back for a mile into Belleau Wood. (See above.) Chateau-Thierry was again the scene of a bitter struggle, when on July 19, eight American divisions were thrown into the line to stay the German final push. The town was recovered by Franco-American forces on July 21, 1918.
CHEMIN-DES-DAMES: a roadway through ridges of hills, very difficult for military operations, north of the Aisne River. It was here that the 26th, the first National Guard Division in the line, passed into the organization of a French corps in February, 1918. The sector had been calm for several months, but the newcomers soon enlivened things by a series of patrols and trench raids. A considerable German raid was repulsed, and the New Englanders began to feel ready for anything.
CLERMONT ( en Argonne): a starting point for some of our units in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
DUN-SUR-MEUSE: reached by American troops, November 2, 1918, in the great Allied Offensive. The town, set upon a hill overlooking the Meuse, was caught between contending artilleries.
GONDRECOURT: a town in Lorraine in the lower Toul Sector, where American troops received training preparatory for line service.
LAGNY SECTOR: part of the Toul Sector, which see.
LE VALDAHON: a town near Belfort in the Vosges; a training area for artillery.
LUNEVILLE: a town in the Vosges area where the 1st Division passed their first trials in trench warfare.
MALANCOURT: an objective (town and wood) in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
MARBACHE: a relatively quiet sector in the Vosges region, below St. Mihiel. American units were sent here to be initiated in trench warfare, preparatory to the great advance.
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MEUSE-ARGONNE: this sector had been the scene of stubborn fighting between French and
Germans all during the war. In September, 1918, the American Army was given the task of dislodging the enemy, again holding this dangerous salient. The object of the offensive, said Gen Pershing, was "to draw the best German divisions to our front and to consume them." Every available American division was thrown against the enemy. Every available German division was thrown in to meet them. At the end of 47 days of continuous battle, our divisions had consumed the German divisions.
"The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne was beyond compare the greatest ever fought by Ameri- can troops, and there had been few, if any, greater battles in the history of the world."
Col. Ayres in "The War with Germany."
Divisions engaged: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35, 37, 42, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 89,90,91. (in reserve 6.)
MEZIERES: an important railroad junction held by the Germans, captured by our troops in the Meuse-Argonne.
MONT BLANC: more correctly, Blanc Mont, to distinguish it from the famous peak in the Alps; a mountain ridge in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which after resisting French attacks was carried by a combined Franco-American assault.
MONTDIDIER-NOYON SECTOR: Mondidir and Noyon are towns in Picardy, southeast of
Amiens, between which ran an important section of the Allied line. American troops of the 1st Division, serving with the British and French, took part in checking the German attack here in March, 1918.
On May 28, a first demonstration was given of the fighting quality of our troops by their capturing and holding the town of Cantigny. In another and fierce assault by the Germans, June 9 to 15, the 1st Division successfully held their part of the salient.
MONTFAUCON: a town on a ridge in the Argonne forest, carried by American troops after several attempts. Nearby is the Wood of Montfaucon.
MOUSSY: a town on the Aisne River, which became an objective of the Soissons front.
NEUFCHATEAU: a large town in Lorraine, just below the Toul Sector. Many American units, including the 26th Division, passed through here on their way to and from the front. It was advance headquarters for the S. O. S.
NOYON: see Montdidier-Noyon Sector.
OISE-AISNE OFFENSIVE: between these two rivers took place an important development
of the great Allied offensive of 1918. Starting on August 18, from the Soissons-Rheims line on the Vesle River, the French armies advanced by successive stages until on November 11, they were close to the frontier. In the early part of this advance they were assisted by the 28th, 32nd and 77th American divisions, but by September 15, all of these were withdrawn for the coming Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
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OURCQ-VESLE: these two rivers run parallel about ten miles apart, near Soissons. The sector
thus formed was fiercely fought over many times, the rivers offering strong positions for offense and defence. In the great Allied drive of the summer of 1918, American troops, particularly the 26th and 42nd Divisions, saw severe fighting from the Ourcq to the Vesle. This was part of the Aisne-Marne Offensive, (which see), and it led up to the Oise-Aisne Offensive, mentioned above.
PAS-FINI SECTOR: a part of the Marne salient, where some of our first troops, including the 26th Division, were engaged in the Allied summer drive, July-August, 1918.
PONT-A-MOUSSON: the St. Mihiel salient was a V-shaped bend in the line, with St. Mihiel at the point, and the town of Pont-a-Mousson, on the Moselle, at the right of the opening. The Americans wiped out this bend, capturing Pont-a-Mousson, thus seriously threatening the city of Metz in German Lorraine. (See St. Mihiel.)
ROMAGNE: a strong point in the German line, finally taken in the Argonne Offensive. It is now one of the four American cemeteries in France.
ST. DIE SECTOR: near the southern end of the lines in the Vosges region, not far from the Swiss border. American troops served their apprenticeship in such relatively inactive sectors.
ST. MIHIEL SALIENT: at the town of St. Mihiel, on the Meuse River, was a deep and dangerous bend in the line, held by the Germans. On September 12, 1918, the First Army under Gen. Pershing, supported by French Colonial troops, in a brilliant attack sustained for five days, drove out or captured the enemy, and thus straightened the Allied front.
St. Mihiel set a record for concentration of artillery fire: a four-hour artillery preparation consumed more than one million rounds of ammunition. (In three days at Gettysburg, Union artillery fired 33,000 rounds.)
Divisions engaged: 1, 2, 4, 5, 26, 42, 82, 89, 90; in reserve: 3, 33, 35, 78, 80, 91.
ST. MINNEHAULD: a town on the Aisne River, between the Rheims-Verdun and the St. Mihiel fronts. It was a starting point for several American operations.
ST. QUENTIN CANAL: see Ypres-Lys Offensive.
SAIZERAIS: a town northwest of Toul, headquarters of the First Corps in the St. Mihiel Offen- sive. It was a part of the Marbache Sector.
SEDAN: a large town on the Meuse River, a German base of supplies in the Argonne conflict.
In the final American attack, October, 1918, our troops surrounded this town and cut off many retreating enemy units. Fifty years before, in the Franco-Prussian War, the Battle of Sedan saw the humiliating defeat of the French; for this reason, the French were now given the honor of first entering the town.
SEICHEPREY: a village on the southern side of the St. Mihiel salient, which saw some bitter fighting - the opposing trenches running all around the village. (See Toul Sector.)
SOMME SECTOR: a region in Picardy, north of the Somme River, the scene of several momen- tous struggles throughout the war. The sector was held by British and French troops to whom a few American units were attached late in 1917. These were of the medical, engineer, and air services.
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SOMMEDIEU: a town, south of Verdun, where the 2nd Division received preliminary experience.
SOISSONS: an important town in the Aisne-Marne district. The American push at Chateau- Thierry straightened the Allied line to a new position between Soissons and Rheims.
SOUILLY: a town about midway between Verdun and St. Mihiel; it was the general staff head- quarters in the Meuse-Argonne.
STENAY: an advance town in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
THIAUCOURT SECTOR: when the Americans wiped out the St. Mihiel salient, they pushed the Allied front up to this town of Thiaucourt, and took over the maintenance of the line at this place.
TOUL SECTOR: Toul is a large town in Lorraine, south of the St. Mihiel area. This sector was considered a relatively quiet one, and was used to initiate the Americans in trench fighting. The 1st Division underwent such training here, until relieved in March, 1918 by the 26th, com- posed of New England units. On April 20, after a heavy bombardment, a German attack was delivered upon the trenches of the 26th around Seicheprey. The 102nd Regiment was forced to fall back though resisting tenaciously. Fighting continued through the next day, when the trenches were recovered. This battle of Seicheprey was the most important engagement of American troops up to that time.
TOULON-TROYON SECTOR: a part of the new front above the Soissons-Rheims line, estab-
lished by the American success in the Chateau-Thierry Offensive. Troyon is on the Chemin- des-Dames. There is another Troyon, south of Verdun, where the 26th Division held the line through quiet and active periods in September and October, 1918.
VARENNES: an important town in the Meuse-Argonne operations.
VAUQUOIS: a strong objective on high ground, captured in the American offensive of the Argonne.
VAUX: a town near Chateau-Thierry. In that offensive on July 1, 1918, the 2nd Division took the town in 40 minutes.
VERDUN: an important city in the Argonne region, the object of much heavy German fire. The Americans began their great Argonne Offensive from both sides of this ruined city.
VESLE: a river, whose main course is between Soissons and Rheims; hence a much fought-over stream. (See Ourcq-Vesle.)
VIGNEULLES: a town in the heart of the St. Mihiel salient, where the 26th Division joined contact with the First, in their victorious advance.
WOEVRE FRONT: The Woevre is a great marshy plain. When the St. Mihiel "V" was straight- ened out, the new line extended from Fresnes-en-Woevre to Pont-a-Mousson. The Second American Army then took over this front.
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XIVRAY: a town, where the 26th Division saw keen fighting in the St. Mihiel drive.
YPRES-LYS OFFENSIVE: Ypres, a city of western Flanders in Belgium, early occupied by the Germans; Lys, a river of the region.
This northern section of the lines, which protected the Channel ports, was held by the British. American participation here was intermittent. Some of our medical and air units were engaged in withstanding the German push in April, 1918. In August, a part of the 33rd Division, brigaded with the Australians, were in the line, and in the capture of Chipilly Ridge. Later, in September and October, the 27th and 30th Divisions, who served throughout with the British, were used in company with Australian troops to break the Hindenburg line at the terminal of the St. Quentin canal. The 37th and the 91st, also, withdrawn from the Meuse-Argonne battle, took part in the last stages of the Ypres-Lys Offensive, the capture of Messines Ridge, the clearing of the city of Ypres, and breaking the Hindenburg line at these points, (October 31 to November 11).
Names Of Citizens Connected With Local Board For Division No. 7
Citizens of South Hadley, Members of Legal Advisory Board, Clerks and other persons who were connected with the Local Board for Division No. 7, State of Massachusetts, whose names appear in the records.
Clerks: Mrs. Gladys A. Skinner, Chief Clerk; Miss Hazel L'Esperance, Miss Helen G. Ford.
Legal Advisory Board: Fred M. Smith. Associate Members: Martinus Madsen, George F. Kelley, William H. Downs, Maurice E. Fitzgerald, Maurice J. Moriarty, Harry E. Hanks, Fred G. Allen, John J. Moriarty, Cecil Wallace, Miss Lois Cook, Miss Marion Wallace.
Doctors who helped on the Physical examinations and who volunteered their services in connection with the entire Draft: Dr. Herbert B. Lang, Dr. Forrest L. Leland, Dr. James F. Gaylord.
Dentists who gave voluntary service: Dr. Thomas K. McAleese, Dr. Howard F. Smith.
Volunteer Clerical Assistants: Miss Carrie L. Bardwell, Miss Daisy Ford, Miss Mabel Walsh, Mrs. Florence Ittner, Miss Maranda Lyman, Miss Lois Cook, Miss Ruth Sinclair, Mrs. Helen Goodwin, Miss Ilma Schmidt, Miss Katherine Yoerg.
Chief and Assistant Registrars, June-August 1918, September 1918 Draft:Precinct A - Martinus Madsen, Chief Registrar; Maurice J. Moriarty, George Kelley, Charles A. Judd, Maurice E. Fitzgerald, Josef Perowski, George H. Everson, Maurice H. Dugan, Willie C. Cowan, Law- rence F. Forward, Miss Carrie L. Bardwell, Miss Ruth L'Esperance, Mrs. Mary K. Clancy, William E. Corriden, George A. Morin, F. Herbert Webster, Emil Schimke, Eugene F. Clancy, P. August Moos, Wilfred F. Fitzgerald, William J. Moran, Albert Hager, Miss Ruth Bardwell, Mrs. Ellen F. Madsen, Harold Ranger.
Precinct B: John J. Moriarty, Chief Registrar; Alvin R. Wilson, Edson L. Smith, Ralph Burnett, Joseph F. Long, Erry M. Burnett.
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