USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine county in the world war > Part 30
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Hammiller. John
McPherson. H. Alexander
Stankus, Gus.
PRIVATES
Hansen, Hans C.
Menefeldowski, Edward .A.
Stewart, Lonie C.
Anderson. Frank E.
Hansen, Leo
Metten, Louis M.
Sugden, Charles B.
Archambault. Adelbert
Harris, Thomas R.
Meyer, Edwin D.
Tarr. Willis W.
Baldwin, Harold C.
Hart, Eugene C.
Michel. John
Thelen, Louis H.
Bax, Lambert
Heidenreich, Anthony P.
Mitchell, Dean
Thompson, Bruno
Behrens. Bernard C.
Helgeson, Harry C.
Moe. Arthur
Urban, Alvin P.
Bowman, Herhert .I.
Hill. Ben L.
Mullen, Lawrence M.
Voss, Aloy H.
Brown. Herbert E.
Hill, Edward L.
Murphy, Edward C.
Walley, William C.
Christensen. Arthur C.
Murphy, Jerome E.
Weber, Leo M.
Christensen, Andrew M. Christensen, Herman
Hecht. Paul
Musil, William
Wittey. Albert .J.
Jacobsen. John
Nelson, Chester A.
Zarzecki. Joseph
Jacobsen, Nels E. James, Hiram
Nelson, Christ K.
Zirbes. Allie M. Larsen, Neils A.
Contu, H. J. Walter
James, John, Jr.
Nelson, Louis S.
Westrich, Frank L.
Crook, Lester L.
Jensen. Albert T.
Niebler, Edwin M.
Follanshee, Earl D.
Daceno, Jack
Jensen, Martin
Novaicky, Gabriel
Simpson, Edward G.
Deschler. Howard
Jensen. Thorwald M.
Oberg. George
Krebs. Lucas T.
De Vroy, Anthony J.
Jorgensen. John
Olsen, Axel
Weber, Edward E.
DeVroy, Rueben J.
Doonan. Frank P. Durstling, William .A.
Junkham, Oscar J.
Petersen, J. Arthur
Kaestner, Clarence
Peterson, Peter
Dowding, James .1.
Kasten, Homer
Piazza, Tony
Godske, Carlyle E.
Llada, Raimundo
Gothe. Walter
Lui, Arthur
Schuit, Nick Shevel, Lawrence J.
Graves, Jay Harold
Marsch. Peter
Slammon, John J.
(freene. Guy M.
May, William
Tan Bree. Harold R.
Williams, Glenn
Hush, William H.
Hone. Felix, Jr.
Murphy, Raymond F.
White, Wallace
Clancy, John F. P. Collotta. Frank Connolly, Robert
Nelson, Louis P.
Johnson, Einer S.
Peil, Joseph W.
Loehr, Edward G.
Falck, Viet n'
Kuypers, Geo. E.
CHAPTER XXV
FACTS REGARDING VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE ARMY
R ACINE county men were in almost every division of the American army in France. Some became members of their organizations intentionally through en- listment; some were in smaller units assigned to certain divisions; some were members of draft contingents sent to cantonments where divisional organizations were being completed, and still others were "casuals" or members of replacement detachments sent to France to replace casualties.
In addition to these combat divisions, there were numerous other military organizations necessary to the operations of the army in the field. The most important of these was the Service of Supply, which extended from the ports of embarkation in America to the end of the railroads directly behind the zone of the advance, or "the front." In the Service of Supply (or "S. O. S.," as it was universally known) were scores of subsidiary organiza- tions, such as factories, repair shops, mills, railroad systems, warehouses, docks, labor bat- talions, motor truck trains, arsenals, clerical departments, a bureau to mark and care for soldiers' graves, a secret service section, chemi- cal research department, salvage plants, tailor shops, butchering plants, remount depots, in- ternational courier force, army post offices, training centers, replacement camps, civilian mechanics, prison camps and dozens of other institutions required to supply the army in the field quickly and efficiently with everything needed, from men to harness, from shoes to jam, from aeroplanes to bullets. Inasmuch as every organization in the field asks constantly for every article which it thinks might make it more comfortable and useful, the problems of transportation and priority of demand were neither small nor easy of solution.
Every requisition for material of any sort had to be foreseen and provision made to meet it. As most of it came from America and cargo space was very limited, it is not hard
to see why the successful functioning of the S. O. S. was one of the most remarkable fea- tures of the work of the A. E. F. As an ex- ample, American made automobiles were sup- plied to the army. The S. O. S. had to figure out which parts were likely to give out first, and have plenty of spare parts on hand. These had to come from the United States and it would not do to use cargo space for too many of them when every cubic foot of room was needed for munitions, food, clothing and other supplies. At first, many of the guesses were pretty wild, but by the end of 1917, the S. O. S. appeared to be using an uncanny foresight in anticipating wants of all sorts.
One of the biggest jobs for the S. O. S. was the transportation of troops in France. Rail- road Transportation officers were stationed at all railroad junction points and important cen- ters to direct troop trains and arrange for the care of men and horses en route. As a freight train could only carry one battery of artillery or three companies of infantry it can be seen that the problem of moving divisions of 28,000 men around was no small undertaking in it- self.
The combat divisions of the army in France were forty-two in numher. Not all of these reached the lines in time to participate in actual hostilities. Most of them, however, had some experience at least in quiet sectors.
The offensive operations with which the American forces were identified were officially classified as follows:
Ypres-Lys-From Aug. 19 to Nov. 11, 1918. The fighting was done in the vicinity of Ypres, Lille and Armentieres. American divisions en- gaged were the 27th, 30th, 37th and 91st.
Champagne-Marne-From July 15 to July 18, 1918. Near the Rheims-Paris highway west of Chateau-Thierry. Divisions engaged were the 2nd and 3rd, with the 28th in reserve.
Aisne-Marne-From July 18 to Aug. 6. From the semi-circle through Rheims, Chateau-
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Thierry and Soissons, north to the Vesle river. Divisions engaged, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 26th, 28th, 32nd.
Somme-From Amiens and Montdidier north- east between Laon and Cambrai, from Aug. 8 to Nov. 11. Divisions engaged, 27th 30th and part of 33rd.
Oise-Aisne-Aug. 18 to Nov. 11. From Sois- sons and the line of the Vesle river north-east. Divisions engaged, 28th, 32nd, 77th.
St. Mihiel-From Sept. 12 to Sept. 18. From St. Mihiel east, north-east and north. Divi- sions engaged, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 26th, 42nd, 82nd, 89th, 90th, with the 33rd, 3rd, 35th, 78th, 80th and 91st in reserve. The objectives were reached before it was necessary to call on the reserve divisions for relief.
Meuse-Argonne-From Sept. 26 to Nov. 11. From a line eastward from Verdun through the Argonne forest, almost straight north to Se- dan. At the close of hostilities, the American front line ran from Sedan in a south-easterly direction to a point on the Meuse river north of Verdun, and then south a few miles, then east toward Metz, then south-east to the Swiss border, through Alsace-Lorraine.
In addition to the divisions named, the War department records show that some time was spent in quiet sectors by the 92nd, 6th, 81st, 88th and some units of the 41st, 83rd, 85th, 7th, 8th and 76th. Those listed as not having reached any portion of the front but which were training for battle in France, were the 40th, 39th, 87th, 86th, 84th, 34th, 38th and 31st.
Statistics relative to the number of days spent in battle by each division, and published on another page, are intended to refer to di- visional organizations as a whole. Some regi- ments saw more actual service than others. Artillery regiments generally stayed in the lines continuously, supporting new divisions when their own infantry was relieved tempo- rarily. No field artillery is known to have re- ceived more than a total of ten days' rest from the time they first entered the zone of the ad- vance until the end of the war, excepting as they might have to leave the lines to transfer from one sector to another. They could stand it, as their living conditions were not as nerve- racking as those under which infantry existed during an offensive.
The army divisions bearing numbers from 1 to 15 were nominally Regular Army organiza- tions. Those numbered from 25 to 50 were National Guard divisions. Those numbered above 50 were made up of drafted men. In the National Guard and National army divisions,
the infantry regiments were numbered consecu- tively in accordance with their divisional af- filiations and as there were four infantry regi- ments to a division it is possible to tell what division a regiment belonged by dividing its numerical designation by 4. If the answer contains a fraction, take the next largest whole number. Thus, to determine what divi- sion the 339th Infantry belonged to, divide by 4, which gives 8434. Taking the next larger whole number, you have 85, the number of the division to which the regiment belonged. This rule does not apply to Regular Army regi- ments, as many of them were known by their old designations.
The two overseas divisions which contained the largest number of Racine county men were the 32nd and the 85th, the first a National Guard and the other a National Army unit.
The Thirty-second division, composed of Michigan and Wisconsin men, went overseas in January, February and. March, 1918. After two months of intensive training it took its place in the lines in Alsace in June and re- mained there until the Aisne-Marne offensive began. As its field of activities were across the German frontier as established in 1871, it was the first American division to fight on German soil. Late in July it was sent to the vicinity of Chateau-Thierry to join in the of- fensive operations, and won high praise for its work in that bloody affair.
On the night of July 29-30 the 64th infantry brigade relieved the 3d U. S. division on the Ourcq in the vicinity of Rencheres. The 3d had been fighting continuously since the Ger- man offensive started two weeks before and it was up to the 32d to overcome strong Ger- man resistance in the Bois de Grimpettes.
Just three and a half hours after the sector had been taken over troops of the 127th in- fantry followed a rolling barrage and went over the top into the wood. They pushed through until they were stopped by machine gun fire from the right flank, but they gained the edge of the Cierges wood and established themselves there.
Just before midnight the enemy delivered a counter attack, but in a fierce bayonet combat the Americans won. Heavy shelling followed, but during the night the 63d infantry brigade relieved the 28th division on the right, and on the morning of July 31 the two brigades of the 32d, side by side, attacked to capture the vil- lage of Cierges and Hill 212.
After a brief artillery preparation, the ad- vance was made under the protection of a bar- rage. On the left the 63d infantry brigade
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MXVII
-
Photos by Leonard-Billings-Pavek
Top Row-Gustav C. Peters, Chas. Plocek, Earl Ray, Carl James, George Noe, H. W. Lewis. Second-Holger Larson, Carl Schulte, Wm. Fred Mau, Michael Welch, Walter Draeger, A. Brown. Third-Robt. Jorgenson, Harry P. Newell, George Bridgman, John Nyberg, Harry Heneman, Wm. D. Brown. Fourth-John B. Gilday, Herbert E. Brown, Carl Zager, Stephen S. Brown, Wm. T. Droysen, Viggo Helding. Bottom-Julius Pavek, Earl Shepston, Byron A. Gere, Philo E. Harpster, Louis Kraft, E. A. Rodiger.
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promptly reached its objective, Hill 212, and on the right the 127th infantry took and passed beyond the village of Cierges, where it was held up by a heavy fire from Bellevue farm, a strong center of resistance.
This position could not be taken by a frontal attack, but the right flank of the 64th brigade succeeded in filtrating through as far as Hill 230. This was a fire swept salient in a short time, as French troops on the right could not advance to straighten the front. A withdrawal was effected from the hill and a position was taken up on the reverse slope between Cierges and Bellevue farm.
The line of the Ourcq had not been broken, but it was badly battered, and Maj. Gen. Haan decided to attack along his entire front on the morning of Aug. 1. That attack captured both the Bois de la Planchette and Hill 230, maneu- vered the boche out of Bellevue farm, and gave the division the key to the entire enemy line north of the Ourcq.
When Hill 230 fell the Germans were forced to retreat, and during that night information was obtained showing they pushed their re- tirement with great rapidity. Therefore the commander of the 6th French army ordered a consolidated advance for the following morning -Aug. 2.
Progress was rapid. Early in the day the 32d reached its objective on a line south of Chamery, but the pursuit was pressed ener- getically onward to north of the village of Dravegny. This was reached at nightfall after an advance of approximately six kilometers.
The pursuit was resumed the following morning, and at the end of the day the Michi- gan-Wisconsin men had gone another seven kilometers to the hills overlooking the valley of the Vesle. Continuous streams of artillery and machine gun fire were poured in by the Germans from the heights north of the river, but at midnight came orders to advance to the river and provide means for crossing it.
The 63d infantry brigade attacked the rail- road yards on their front and in spite of the heaviest resistance took them in the late after- noon, and succeeded in getting a few small patrols across the river during the night, but were unable to maintain them there and they were withdrawn.
At 3 p. m. the 127th moved out from St. Gillies toward Fismes. During the attack it was badly cut up and late in the day Col. Langdon organized a provisional battalion out of what was left of his regiment and sent it forward to storm the town. After a desperate assault the battalion succeeded, about night-
fall, in passing through the city and establish- ing itself on the south bank of the river.
In the morning, Aug. 5, these troops mopped up the west half of the town and attempted to cross the river. That night the 3d battalion of the 128th-the only strong battalion left in the brigade-came up as reinforcements, and on the morning of Aug. 6 relieved the 127th. This battalion continued to mop up Fismes. In the eastern part of the town German and American patrols fought throughout the day, but by nightfall the Americans completely oc- cupied the town.
During the night the 28th division took over the sector from the 32d and relieved the 128th in Fismes the morning of August 7th. The 32nd division artillery remained at the front for two weeks more, however.
In the seven days of fighting the Michigan- Wisconsin troops had gained nineteen kilo- meters, had broken through the strong German line on the Ourcq, had stormed, taken, and held the city of Fismes, and had completely occupied the south bank of the Vesle.
The Thirty-second division next saw heavy action on the Oise-Aisne front as a part of the Tenth French army under Gen. Mangin.
On the night of Aug. 27 it relieved the 127th French division and at once received orders to attack in liaison with the French.
The 63d infantry brigade in the front line promptly gained its objective, the railroad tracks west of Juvigny, lying facing the enemy on high, open ground on the slope of a hill containing little cover except shell holes, where the men were subjected to steady artil- lery and machine gun fire.
Shortly after noon the enemy delivered a counter attack, but it was stopped by artillery and machine gun fire, and orders were issued by Gen, Mangin for a general attack at 5:25 the following morning-Aug. 29.
The enemy machine gun strength was so great that the artillery preparation failed to silence them, and the barrage did not keep them from operating as the infantry advanced. The 125th infantry made a slight advance and captured a few prisoners on the left. On the right the 126th in isolated groups crossed the jumping off line and penetrated deeply into the woods, but it was impossible to bring the whole line up. No real advance was made, and this was true of the entire army. Casualties were severe.
The front line was thinned out, but the posi- tion was not favorable. Arrangements were made to improve it by taking the woods south- west of Juvigny, but corps orders directed that
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Photos by Leonard-Billings
Top Row-C. O. Driver, John Ronsholdt, C. Marquette, L. F. Harter, E. Zlevors, Howard Layton, Walter G. Williams. Second-Elmer C. Peterson, Z. Piotrowski, A. J. Krueger, Stephen Gurski, F. A. Schultz, E. G. Simpson, J. V. Hood. Third-J. H. Hensdens, S. G. Hultberg, Harry Augustine, O. C. Lange, E. O. Jones, H. L. Gebhardt, Frank Sheffield. Fourth-James Bie, John Halvorsen, Orrin Layton, Harold Homl, J. A. Carpenter, A. E. Poulson, Alfred Ball. Fifth-Wm. Gulbrandsen, E. Larsen, Aage Larsen, A. J. Sorenson, Axel Olsen, M. J. Bohn, Jesse Bowman. Bottom-Kenneth Nelson, Lonis Ruffalo, Ray W. Jones, E. J. DeMars, Allen Pederson, Julius Strauss, Wm. Frey.
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it be withheld in view of a general attack to be made the next morning. But that attack was not ordered. Instead the Wisconsin-Michigan men lay exposed on the hillside until word was received that the 59th French division had penetrated the German line on the right and corps orders directed the 32d to advance in liaison with that organization.
This gave the desired opportunity to attack at Juvigny, and with the 64th brigade in the front line the 32d made its way through a ra- vine to a position south of the town, partly enveloping it to the cast. One battalion of the 128th infantry moved forward west of Ju- vigny and finally reached a position to the north of the town. In this way it was practi- cally surrounded.
A heavy counter attack failed to check the movement, and troops from the 127th entered it from the southwest and mopped up after considerable bloody fighting. The town was in American hands for some time before enemy shells began to fall in it. doubtless because the enemy did not know it had been captured.
On the following morning-Aug. 31-the front line of the 32d was considerably in ad- vance of the divisions on its right and left, and from this position it led a general attack at 4 a. m., following artillery preparation that had begun at midnight. Arrangement of a triple barrage across the broken front was diffi- cult, but it was accomplished successfully and progress across the whole front continued un- til the division reached the Terney Sorney- Bethancourt road.
On the extreme right of the sector, however, in ravines and sheltered places, machine gun nests held up the division on the right of the 32d and some of its own forces. The general advance stopped and infiltration was used to capture machine gun nests and other strong points on the right. But the time was too short. Darkness fell and the position held was reorganized for further operations the next day.
In the morning further attempts were made to improve the positions, and a number of ma- chine gun nests were cleaned out. An effort was made to assist the 59th French division to come up on the right, and this task was under way when orders came for the relief of the 32d by the 1st Moroccan division.
In this operation the Wisconsin-Michigan outfit attacked a strong enemy well supported by artillery and intrenched in highly organized positions in a country naturally lending itself to defense, had again broken through a German key position, had penetrated his line to a
depth of five and one-half kilometers and start- ed an enemy withdrawal, thus paving the way for a forward movement by the whole 10th French army, which ultimately outflanked the German positions on the Vesle and the Chemin des Dames.
On Sept. 5 the 32d division received orders to join the 1st American army, which then was preparing for the big offensive at St. Mihiel and in the Argonne.
Moving to a rest area at Joinville, north of Chaumont, it received replacements and began training them, but the training had not prog- ressed more than eight days when orders came to move forward as a reserve unit. At once it was moved to the Verdun front and as- signed as reserve to the 5th army corps.
On Sept. 26 it was directed to occupy as a garrison the original front of this corps, which that morning had gone over the top and at- tacked the enemy in the Argonne. The two in- fantry brigades were placed about four kilo- meters south of what for four years had been No Man's land, and in that position at 6:30 p. m. on Sept. 29 were ordered to proceed at once to the vicinity of Ivory and relieve as far as possible that night the part of the 37th di- vision then in the front line.
One hour after the orders came both bri- gades were under way. It was a rainy night, and the roads were so bad that nothing but the lightest vehicles could be taken across No Man's land in the darkness. But the infantry marched all night, covering from eleven to eighteen kilometers. The relief was completed the night of Sept. 30, so that on the morning of Oct. 1 the 32d occupied the sector, with a front line, extending east and west about four kilometers, lying half a kilometer south of the village of Cierges.
The position was a bad one, and it had been slightly improved by carrying the front line up beyond the village, when the division was shifted to the left to relieve the 91st.
Improvement of this position by an advance of one kilometer put the 64th brigade almost in front of well placed, well protected enemy ma- chine gun nests in the Bois de la Morine. The brigade made an attempt to take these woods without artillery preparation, but, although some progress was made, it was found neces- sary to wait for a deep artillery barrage.
Then, with gas and flame troops and a sec- tion of tanks, both brigades attacked on the morning of Oct. 5. The Bois de la Morine was overwhelmed and the machine guns wiped out, and the attack was shifted toward the north and the Bois de Chene Sec. There was hand
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Rephoto by John Hood
Top Row-Geo. R. MeCourt, D. Dorges, Louis Borgerson, I. Saskowski, Harry DeWilde, G. A. Gatzke, Peter Larson. Second-Alex Safake, Frank Francis, Peter Hanson, G. F. Farduti, Arthur Lemke, Peter Kuldacky, Cerbell Peterson. Third-Harry Harvey, John James Jr.,, H. E. Cooper, Wm. Funk, W. G. Zacharias, Joseph Stegner, Melvin E. Hart. Fourth-E. M. Bulgrin, E. H. Doolin, F. K. Cicero, Alfred H. Sorenson, Lonis Williams, Rasmus Sabel, Walter C. Jensen. Fifth-A. B. Hoffman, Burton M. Anderson, Art Price, Louis Swenson, W. A. Hart, Ben Sigeln, Clarence Jacobson. Bottom-Edw. Krupp, Dominick Pozzi, Vested Jensen, Carl C. Jensen, Herman Christensen, Harry O. Johnson.
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to hand fighting in these woods, but they also finally were mopped up and the advance pro- ceeded as far as the strong enemy positions on Hill 255 and Hill 269. Two days then were spent in reducing the strong points in the Ger- man line.
The division was ordered forward November 5th minus the artillery brigade, which had to be withdrawn because of the heavy casualties to horses. Tractors were borrowed to get the field guns back to a reserve area to be re- equipped. The armistice found the balance of the division still in the lines advancing toward Sedan. It later went into Germany as a part of the army of occupation.
The Eighty-fifth division, which contained several hundred men from Racine county and vicinity, was organized at Camp Custer, Mich. All of the first, second and third draft con- tingents from the lake shore counties of Wis- consin became part of the division, and most of the Racine county contingent were in the 340th infantry. Company D of that regiment was made up of soldiers from Racine county and Port Washington.
The division was at full strength late in No- vember, 1917, but its training was interfered with by the fact that it began to function as a replacement division almost immediately. A large contingent was sent to the 89th division at Camp Pike in November, and many of these men were in action in France in the St. Mihiel drive in the following September, and later in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Forty-five men from Company D were sent to the Fourth di- vision at Camp Green in December, and these were fighting as early as August, 1918. In April, 1918, Co. D was filled with recruits from Camp Grant and another contingent of Racine men arrived and were assigned to the 337th infantry. Other replacements were sent away, and in June more new men arrived and were given a strenuous two weeks' drill on the field and at the rifle range. On July 15 the division began its movement overseas from Camp Mills. The 340th infantry embarked late in July on the Corinthic, landed at Lon- don after a voyage of seventeen days and camped at Romsey for three days. Then it was transported across the channel to Le Havre where it was joined by the 335th in- fantry. They were sent to a training center at Veaugues, near Bourges and again began to function as a replacement division for or- ganizations in the lines. It was only a skele- ton of its former self when ordered to take position in the lines in the Toul sector on Nov. 7. It arrived there too late to see any fight-
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