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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1922)
THE SUND At OREGOXIAN. PORTLAND, JUNE 18, 1923 24 Tht atory' ot the breaking of the Hin- j denburff line w written oy fen . DorrH of Eugene, ex-first lieutenant in the 32d infantry, and a participant in the events which he describes. SEPTEMBER 29 is'a date that is . W alwavjs eood for a kickout Of U any 91st division man. While only a portion of th division was engaged actively on .that date, and while the whole affair was over al most before It had begun, yet the achievement was so complete and the cost o dear and so willingly paid, that It still brings a thrill to the witnesses as well as the partici pant's. On September 28the 361st infantry and the 364th infantry had fought their way through the woods be yond EpIHonvlll-e and Eclisfontaine against stubborn resistance and finally came to rest before the fa mous Krtemhilde St'ellumg, or Hin denburg line, which the Germans had ben foTtifying for years and regarded as impregnable. The di visions on the right- and left the 85th and 37th divisions had trouble in keptaig pace with the 91st and were the recipients of pertinent messages from the corps commander relative to holding the designated unrre. the backfire from which has an important bearing cm the next day's result. During the mfght following the 28th, the 861t was relieved by the S62d and the 364th by the 363d, both of which regiments 'were sup ported bv elements of the 847th and 848th machine gun battalions. Shortly after the relief of th 861st, at 7:40 A. M. exactly, a mes sage wa received by the commander of the second battalion, 3624 that the attack would start promptly at 7 A. M., preceded by a five-minute barrage. This message had been delayed somewhere Vn, transTniBsfon, but nevertheless the second battalion was Immediately thrown over the top of what was afterwords known &3 "100-hour hill," where they ran Into machine-gun, fire of such in tensity that a withdrawal was or dered beyond the brow of the hill as soon as It was seen that no gen eral attack was in progress. During the balance -of the morn ing, the remainder of the 862d con solidated their positions and waited orders. The losses during the morn ing were relatively light, amount ing to about 70 men, and a tempo rary hospital was Improvised in a quarry im, the ravine behind the hill. It was Impossible on account of the absence of cover on the ground in front of uhe hill to make any reconnaissance other than from the woods on either side and behind the hill, but from these vantage points It could be seen that the terrain con sisted of -three distinct hog backs, running parallel to the front held by the 362d, about 200 yards apart, and the last of which ran down to the town of Gesnes. The -Germans had machine gunners and snipers on each of the hog backs, and several batteries of 77s in the woods on the elevations Immediately behind the town. The distance from the brow of "100-hour hill" to Gesnes was ap proximately a mile. The 362d spent th monning and fore part of the afternoon on their backs in hastily dug "fox holes," taking it as easy as possible, and wondering when something would happen to relieve the monotony ..The Germans kept up a desultory ar tillery fire on the ravine behind the hill, where tine bulk of the regiment was parked, varied with a little- long-rangei maohlneigun fire from a distance sufficient to permit the bul lets to land within the ravine. This rather served to Irritate the 362d. which had never succeeded to gain tag- a reputation for even temper. In the meantime, the divisions on the right and left had made strenu ous efforts to advance, and had ad vised the corps commander of each bit of ground gained. Shortly after noon, the 35th division, claimed to be in Exermont, and the 37bh claimed to be in Cierges, both slightly be yond the line held by the 91st, and that their advance was held up by the 91st being behind them, thus ex posing their flank on that side. Nat urally, the commander of the 91st was not long In hearing from the corps commander. As soon- as the telephone was sufficiently cool to permit using it, he called up the 181st brigade, and in "honeyed" accents demanded to be Informed whether the brigadier knew there was a war on, etc. Colonel Parker, of the 362d. whose regiment held the line, was next on the list. Parker was a man famous for many pecuiliairitieS: among which was a willingness to talk back to any and ajl generals. He told the brigadier his regiment could take Gesnes any time they wanted to, but since he believed the 37th division was slightly in error as regards Cierges, he demanded a written order to attack, which eventually reached him shortly after 3 o'clock, and demanded Gesnes be taken "at all costs." Parker gave the orders for the attack, the first and second battalions in the front line, supported at 500 yards by the third battalion, and the second bat talion of the 361st, the supporting regiment, and elements of the 347th machin6-gun battalion. A prelim inary baa-rage of five minutes was to start at 3:35 P. M., and the at tack at 3:40. Following this he in . formed his staff that the 362d in fantry was expended, that it had no further use f-o-r a co,n,knei. conse quently be intended to go over the top at the head or his regiment and he released his staff to do as "they damned pleased." The response was unanimous. Promptly at 3:40 o'clock the first ranks of the front line slouched over the brow of the hill and quite as promptly tne machine-gunners on the other side began to write Ion letters on -their typewriters. Line after line appeared over the hill each rank spaced about ten yards apart, and the front line besan to fire from the hip at every clump of weeds ahead of them in an effort to smoke out the machine gunners. Al most Immediately the artillery be hind Gesnes came into action and began to shower shrapnel on the brow of the hill, and the machine guns in front of the 182d brigade, perceiving no attack was threatened , from their front, began to chime in with enfilade or diagonal fire, the most efficient of all machine gun fire. Caught from three directions by machine gun and sniper fire, and sprayed by shrapnel, interspersed with high explosive, the front ranks began to melt away, but the ad vance never stopped. Soon the front ranks dropped down into the first ravlna. and were temporarily re lieved from the artillery fire and a good deal of the machine gun work. Meanwhile, other ranks came over the brow ana took a blooding. In less time than it takes to re late it, fhe front lines had crossed the ravine, overwhelmed the ma chine guns on the first hogback and received their second helping of hate. By this time Fritz was thorough ' ly alive to what was happening and had begun to mix gas in with the shrapnel and high explosive, as well Hurapy A. Dakin, who has been - chosen as Oregon's greatest hero, to represent this state In the "Living Hall of Fame" at the convention of disabled veterans. ginning to adjust his fire to the contour of the ground, with which he was more than familiar. In ad dition, several airplanes had ap peared and were zealously machine gunning the. fast thinning ranks from the air. The place was a veritable inferno. High explosive, with Its morale breaking din, was bursting every where. The lines continued to ad vance at a fast walk, the men lean ing forward as though breasting a strong ' wind, an impression pro duced by the continual "put. put, put" of the machine guns, which sounded like a vast office full of typewriters all being worked at top speed, punctured by the almost con stant blast of high explosive and the shriek and whine of shrapnel. All around men were falling with odd, amazed stares, or queer grunting sounds. One seemed to be going through an immense foundry, through sand a foot deep, time stood still and every step seemed f the greatest effort. Then there would J come a brief lull in that particular spot, as the artillery shifted slightly to the right or left, and time would come back and reason return. One was surprised to find he had come upon a machine gunner, crouching in a shallow, hole and quite obliv ious of everything but the firing of his gun, "until some maniac ran upon him and spitted him on a bayonet or crashed in his skuu with a clubbed rifle. One was mildly sur prised to realize the maniac was himself. The cry of "gas" began to make Itself heard, and one felt a strong resentment against any out side interference. The habit of discipline made him automatically put on hia gas mask, but the heat of his sweaty body quickly put a film of steam on the eye pieces, and the nose clip hindered his breathing. In hundreds of cases the masks were torn away, and men risked gassing in order to-be unhindered in their deadly advance. Suddenly a little town came Into view as a hog back was topped and with a wild yell men burst into a run down the slope. The artillery fire ceased as the German gunners brought up their horses and re moved their guns ona wild gallop to safety, isolated machine gunners on the elevations behind the town continued their work, but in the main were disregarded as the lines swept into the town and began to mop up on the dugouts and cellars. In almost no time, resistance was ended, and long lines of gray-clad prisoners began to file back over the ground just covered, and over which the support lines were ad vancing, under long range artil lery fire. In rage at their failure to hold the town, the German artil lery was turned on the lines of prisoners who scurried to gain the protection of the American lines, At that time it was 4:10 P. M. Outposts were pushed beyond the town and the commanders of the various battalions began to con solidate their positions and dig in. In the second battalion, Major Edmonds was still in command, but In place of the 700 men he took over the top he could muster but a scant 200, and a scattering of men from other battalions. His officers were almost expended. Major Bradbury and his adjutant were both wounded, ana captain Montgomery took over the first battalion. He found the companies under him had lost their identity almost altogether, most of their men being on the field behind them, and they consisted of a nucleus of their own men and scattered men from other companies of the regi ment. A temporary organization was effected in each outfit, and every one got feverishly to work, as a counter attack was expected each minute. No one expected that Fritz would remain idle after such a slap in the face as the breaking of the famous Hindenburg line However, the blow was so sudden and so complete that the Germans were put into the utmost confusion, and had a general advance been ordered at once it is probable that the Hindenburg line would have been taken and held In the Argonne with only a fraction of the loss sustained six days later on Oc tober 4. And in the meantime the com manders of the 35th and 37th di visions announced to the corps com mander that they not only would not be able to hold the ground they then held but would beIorced to retire. This left the 91st division with both flanks exposed, and the 362d sticking out like a sore thumb, ready to be lopped off any time Fritz cared to send a few men in behind it, as he could etteily have done. Consequently, the division commander at midnight ordered the 361st to take over the front for merly held by the 362d. and the retirement of the 362d to a posi tion behind and supporting the 361st. To cap the climax, a heavy wind came up about midnight, and shortly thereafter one of the old- fashioned rain storms so dear to the heart of all middle westerners came to attend the party. As the 362d retired,- they gathered up all the wounded that could be located, as the stretcher bearers had been ab solutely unable despite really hercu lean efforts, to cope with the situa tion. Every two able-bodied men. and some of the slightly wounded ones, were carrying a "blesse," yet in spite of every effort,1 many were overlooked.J During the night, Ger man patrols followed up the with- drawal. and made impossible every effort to search the ground the next day. The next morning the first of ficial check of the missing was made, but on account of the mix ture of men during the attack and the subsequent withdrawal during been given, to the writer's knowl edge, but the best estimate avail able or the Joss to tne aoza is so killed and wounded, in addition to several hundred casualties to the second battalion of the 361st, which had its usefulness as a first-line battalion destroyed until replace ments could be procured. The loss to the second battalion of the 362d has been estimated at 425. v " More than 3000 Californians have signified their intention to go to Seattle for the reunion of the 91st division association to be held in the Sound city August 19 and .20, according to advlceis received at re union headquarters from James X Herz, secretary of the association at San Francisco. "It was declared that two steamers would be chartered to take the California contingent from San Francisco to Seattle. It is said that California will . probably send the largest delegation to Seattle, al though reports from Oregon, Mon tana, Idaho and many parts of Washington indicate large delega tions from these states. Tacoma, stamping ground of the famous "wild west" division during the days of training at Camp Lewis, plans to stage sa monster reception on the second day of the reunion. On that day a great divisipnal re view will be held at Camp Lewis, to be followed by a programme of sports and entertainment. W. ' J. Coyle of Seattle, ' president of the 91st division association, who is going to San Francisco to be an honor guest at the national con vention, of the disabled American veterans of the world war June 26 to 30, will attend a mass meeting of 91st division men, at which time he will be expected to tell the Cali fornians all about Seattle's plans to entertain them at the forthcoming reunion. post attended the services in a body. I Under his able leadership the post has rendered valuable service to the veterans of Dallas, as well as seeing , that all the veterans were. in employment Carl B. Fenton post was one of the early Oregon posts to "g-o over the top" in mem bership. He left Friday for Dallas. Fred H. McNeil, chairman of the publicity committee for the fourth state convention of the American Legion to be held in The Dalles in July, drove a few hundred miles from The Dalles to the Canyon City country for some convention work with the legionnaires of the Blue mountains. He also attended the celebration at Canyon Olty. " . In line with the announcement of the United States veterans' bureau that a war-risk Insurance reinstate ment week will be held from June 12 to 17, the American Legion, through its 110 posts in Oregon, has started a big push among ex-service men. Through initiative of the le gion's national iegislative committee at Washington, miles of congress was obtained holding open dates for reinstatement of war insurance until March 26, 1926, otherwise re instatement of government Insur ance would not have been permitted after December, 1921. The Veterans bureau, in an en deavor to speed up reinstatements grouped certain cities into classes. In western Oregon, Salem, Albany, Corvallis, The Dalles and Eugene, and in eastern Oregon, Pendleton and La Grande and in southwestern Oregon, Grants Pass, Roseburg, Ashland and Medford. . In western Oregon each city has been given a- quota of J125.000 worth of insurance; in eastern Oregon, $100, 000 apiece, and in southern Oregon, 8100,000 apiece. The national body of the legion has lent its indorsement and sup port of the 11,000 legion posts to the movement and the indorsement of the auxiliary units in the state of Oregon has-, been given to the legion. EflBflflflflBBflflflflflBflflBfl iiircc razcsi ITMslciatGadstoysl as to speed up the rate of fire. By (the storm.iit was two or three days the time the first wave had passed before anything like an accurate the brow of the hill he was firing j check could be made. No official battery fire, at about the rate of (account of the casualties directly 'eight to tin minute., and was be-j due to this short action , has ever A, lively tilt between the progres sive and conservative forces appar ently is brewing for the 23d annual encampment of the veterans of for eign wars to be held in Seattle, Au gust 15 to 19. As a result the sup porters of the two factions are l'n- ing up in large numbers for the in vasion of Seattle and it is apparent that the gathering will be one of the biggest In the rhistory of the organization. Melvin Ryder of Washincton. D. C., who recently resigned as ch'ef of staff, has announced his candi dacy to succeed Robert G. Woodside of Pittsburg, Pa., as commander-in chief of the veterans of foreign wars. Kyder heads a so-called Dro gresslve group in the veterans and he is expected to be a Drominent ngure at the encamoment. JJirrerences on questions of nolicv Deiween neaaquarters of the veter ans in New York and Ryder's Wash ington office, led to Ryder's resig nation as chief-of-staff, when Com mander Woodside supported New York headquarters, according to re ports from the east. The ex-chief-of-staff has been active since his appointment by Woodside last June and his activity has been in the direction of giving more power to state deoartments and local posts. This policy, it is said, was contrary to the desire of New Tork headquarters and fre quent clashes occurred. Hursey A. Dakin. ex-cornoral In Company F, first gas regiment, and reewater, . Or., boy who is now studying electrical engineering at the Oregon Agricultural college, Is Oregon's candidate to the "living hall of fame," one of the many features of the convention of dis able American veterans to be held in San Francisco. The "living hall or tame will be made up of rep resentatives of every state and ter ritory in . the union, the erreatest nero in each state being chosen In each case. Dakin won his distinguished serv ice cross as the result of heroic action during the flghtins- in the Argonne. He was with the 79th division at the time and the Ameri cans were suffering from intense machine gun fire. He and a com panion volunteered to go forward and scout out the positions of the machine gun nests. Armed only with their automatics, they cleaned out the four nests and either killed or put to flight the Germans charge of them. Dakin was, badly wounded, but managed to get back to the lines before dropping un conscious. -, Overseas Dakin covered 147 miles of advance work while serving wun xi airterent divisions. Irv. Kafka, company clerk and In formation department of Portland post of the American Legion, is now convinced that he was born under a lucky star. When he saw the advertisement of A. Gerald Paffenbarger in the paper the other day asking for con tributions for the financing of a book to be written about Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, Kafka began to feel the urge to do a little amateur detective work on behalf of the legion, an,d ferret out the mystery of the "Paffenbarger-B e r g d o 1 1" fund. However, before Kafka had time to get into action City Detec tive Persinger took up the investi gation and was soundly "crowned" by Paffenbarger when the detective entered (tne iatters room. Paffen barger was later arrested and fined 825 by the police judge. "And only think if I had been a little bit earlier I would have been the one to get , that 'slam,' " said Irv. , Eight delegates will be sent by the local chapter of the Disabled Veterans to the second annual con vention of Disabled American .Vet terans to be held in San Francisco the last of this month. The Port land delegation will include W. J. Murray, Tom Mulvey, Joe Zdnech, A. W. Daniels, C. W. Akins1, John F. Haley, Rollo Ellis and George R. Hastings. The delegation will leave on special cars at 1:40 A. M. Satur day, June 24, for the convention city. . Advices from convention head quarters are that about 20,000 vet- erans will attend the gathering. No expense will be spared at San Fran cisco to give the boys welcome. The - United States veterans' bu reau has granted leave of absence to all the men who wish to. go to the gathering. All who intend go ing should make reservations at the office of the Disabled Veterans, 310 Buchanan building. Special rates for the trip have been granted by the Pullman, company. . . William R. Bald, a. member of J?ortland post, American Legion, has been cnosen vice-cnairman or the committee having in charge section 7, class D, of the Rose Fesival floral parade. He is securing en tries from all patriotic and veterans' organizations and their auxiliaries. -., Conrad Stafrin, commander of Carl B. Fenton post of Dallas and a familiar figure with the Third Oregon regiment, was a recent caller at state legion headquarters. He announced that the post at Dallas had charge of a wonderful Memorial day service and that union services under the auspices of the post and in charge of Rev. Frank James, chaplain of the post, who is also' chaplain of the state legion, were a wonderful success. The Second Annual Wedge woo Demonstration and Bread Baking Contest d a The wonderful success of this dgt) was the talk of the town. demonstration and contest a year " This year it will be bigger and better than last, and Gadsbys' want every housewife to profit by it. Val uable baking information will be FREE and all questions will be cheerfully answered: Jeff Ayers of Corvallis was elect ed commander of the Withycombe post, American legion, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of F. W. Klme. He announced that all efforts will be made to increase the membership of the post in order that a good report can be rendered at the legion convention. . T. Selmes Walmsley, chairman of the convention arrangements com mittee for the fourth annual nation al convention of the American Le gion, to be held at New Orleans next October,.' announces rBat-for one night the whole city will be turned Into Paris. No more American department stores all French no American hotels all French. French streets, French girls, French decora tions, French eatsr-preceded by a big French pageant and followed by street dancing. The convention committee announces' there will be everything in the way of entertain ments, banquets, dances, American Legion shows, fireworks battles, river trips, plantation sight seeing trips, rodeo shows, airplane events, field and track meets and boxing tournaments. A big naval show will be held on the river. Battleships from all the allied nations will be t ,aiH,ii, a.nA TTnole Kn.m'ct Viiff-erpRt nnrl hoc:r rt r pa rlnon eh t A will rA in ' line. There will be hundreds of sub chasers and Eagle boats and thou sands of gobs all on parade. 6ea planes will do stunts in the air dur ing the water parade. )- The Dalles post of the legion has extended an invitation to the Dufur post, located in Wasco county, to stage a lodge of instruction showing all the ritual work of the American Legion during the department con vention to be held at The Dalles. Dufur post is one of the few posts in Oregon carrying out the com plete and impressive American Le gion ritual. ' -Adjutant Henry A. Wise of the department legion of Washington has asked the co-operation of the Oregon legion in finding Louis, or Antone Layman, whose father has died in Hoquiam, Wash., leaving his son an estate. Layman, world-war veteran, was last heard of in Mil waukie, Wis. Fred E. Kiddle, a member of the legion state executive committee, arrived in Portland a few days ago. He has been visiting with acquaint ances and assisting at legion state headquarters. Mr. Kiddle is in the flour business at Island City, where he has his home. ! EVERYBODY WELCOME-GOME B Do you bake bread? . f Enter Gadsbys' "bread-baking contest and win a val 2 uable prize. It costs nothing to enter but a little of your time. If you bake Come in and let one' of our expert demonstrators give you new recipes and short-cut methods with Fisher's "BLEND" Flour? -. Stop in and rest awhile - See "BLEND" and let him tell you why baking on a Wedgewood Gas Range, using Fisher's "BLEND" Flour, will give you better results. Remember! On Wednesday we will give away Free 5000 Fisher's "BLEND'" scones baked on Wedgewood Gas Ranges. " They're worth a trip to Gadsbys'. Be sure and get yours. I Bread Baking Contest Free Prizes Bargains In Glasses First Prize Second Prize Ijss Twenty - Four "Honor able Mention" Prizes inis $159.50 all-gray enameled Wedgewood Combination Gas Range. This $97.50 all-gray enameled Wedgewood Gas Range. ' 24-50-pound sacks Fisher's "BLEND" Flour. Third Prize A $50 Merchandise Order Good for anyr thing in Gadsbys' store. B9 a a H B H a B H 0 H H ta 0 are never found, unless the glasses you buy are fitted properly. No matter what you pay for a pair of poorly-fitting glasses, they are priced much too high. They not only cause you pain and discom fort, but are very liable to. be the cause of permanent injury to your eyes. Properly-fitted glasses tnose giving ease and com fort of vision are the only bargains in glasses to be had. They are real bar gains, whatever.the price in reason. . I offer you the best to be had in sight-testing equip ment the benefit of more than 25 years' research and practical experience and genuine KRYPTOKS, TOR ICS and SHUR-ON SPEC TACLES in furnishing you Perfect-Fitting Glasses with a positive guarantee of satisfaction. AH this at no greater price than you are asked for the ordinary examination and glasses. EVERY CASE HAS MY PERSONAL ATTEN TION. Dr. WHEAT OPTOMETRIST EYESIGHT SPECIALIST El Suite 207 Morgan Building a H a ra B a B H n a B B B B m B a B B m B B fl B a si B m mm W n1.1 I I 5 Winners will be announced Monday, June Jbth, by caras in our win- S dpw bearing names and addresses of the 27 Capital prize winners, stop by and see if your name, is among the lucky ones, and remember g' Ithat every contestant will receive absolutely FREE a 10-pound sack u 1 of Fisher's "BLEND" Flour. B - To Enter the Bread Baking Contest Simply bake an individual loaf of bread, using Fisher's "Blend" Flour, hand it in at our store on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, with your name and address in a plain sealed envelope. The' judge in this contest is a domestic science expert of national reputation, who is entirely disinterested, insuring each con 'testant's loaf a fair, impartial judgment. To everyone purchasing a WEDGE WOOD Gas Range this week we will give absolutely FREE a , 21-Piece Aluminum Set, Valued at $17.50 Note If you purchase a WEDGEWOOD this week and win one in the contest you will receive full credit. Vi B R a n b H R a n B B. B a ' B B B a B B B H a H B B B S Bread judging will take place every day beginning at 4 o'clock. All g S are 'welcome. Come in and see the way an expert judges the qual- a 3 ity of bread and let him tell you how you can improve your baking S by using BLEND r lour and a WtsUUZWUUU yas Kange. . Your old stove taken as pari payment on a Wedgewood Gas Range. Wedgewood Gas . Ranges are sold on liberal credit terms. m Gadsby & Sons CORNER SECOND AND MORRISON STREETS fl B H fl Q H B a a H B fl H a b fl fl M llBIaiBBIBliaSBBEBBlflHlIIIiaiBiaiaBBlBlBBBaiIBiaiBBIlBaBBlBBBBBlBMHBa