The War book of the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment Field Artillery, United States Army, 1917-1919 online

nently with a 'dog tag' to mark the spot. Observers
McDonnell and Skooglum took over the post, and both
speak enthusiastically about the game of 'duck your
nut' which John Boche played with them.

"In the meantime, the rest of the immortals moved
to a shack in the quarries. When darkness came Fritzy
decided to 'fini' the affair, and sent so many gas shells
over simultaneously that they neutralized each other.
In this young barrage. Observers Rose, Armitage and
Peterson made their way to the post. In the shack Ger-
son was enthusing on the possibilities of two boxes of
potato mashers going off, and Labares was solemnly
cheering the boys with the idea that the gas was of the



98 RANGING IN FRANCE

unsmellable but deadly kind. Every one favored a re-
treat as necessary for the 'good of the service'.

"Fritz, no doubt thinking he had succeeded in his
fiendish design, ceased, and his victims, now gathered
together, performed that well known movement 'pulling
out/ We passed the night peacefully in a half -filled
Boche powder magazine. In the midst of all this hor-
ror of war. Corporal Lebald never lost his side rule;
the potato mashers never exploded and everyone voted
it a 'banged up* affair."



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 99

CHAPTER V.

WITH S. R. S. NO. 2

With the exception of F. R. S. No. 1, S. R. S. No. 2
made more moves and covered more territory than any-
other section in the service. This detachment reached
the front on April 3, making its first headquarters at
Grosrouve. The detachment had been given orders to
take over a French Sound Ranging Section which
operated the T. M. (Telegraph Militaire) system more
or less successfully.

The officers and men found matters in anything
but a satisfactory condition. The lines were badly
''balled up" (using the terms of a linesman) and Lieu-
tenant Coles and the men in his command were kept
busy about 24 hours each day in an effort to keep up
communication. Sergeant Smith spent much time and
energy in mending oscillograph springs in central. The
central operator appeared to be connected with every-
one in the vicinity, mostly Frenchmen who talked con-
tinuously.

Much of the following information regarding the
activities of the detachment is taken from the noted
diary kept by Private Bela Hubbard, who just prior to
the closing of the war received a commission as sec-
ond lieutenant.

Our first casualty was Private Marousek, better
known as "Gunsel." Marousek put his nose to a frag-
ment of a German shell one morning to determine if
the projectile had been gas or high explosive. It was
gas. Marousek went to the hospital.



100 RANGING IN FRANCE

Artillery barrages and raids by both the Americans
and Germans were nightly occurrences and at any hour
of the day or night one might expect a cataract of
shells from the enemy guns.

Failing to operate the T. M. system successfully,
about half of the detachment departed for Broussy,
where our next attempt at sound ranging was to be
staged. We reached Broussy after dark and found that
we were to be billeted in quarters that had recently
been occupied by chevaux. The place, of course, did not
present an inviting appearance, and we were compelled
to do considerable "policing" before proceeding
further. The first ten days at our new base were spent
in stringing wire, digging a dugout, etc. Lieutenant
Stewart and Sergeant Wicks arrived from Fort de St.
Menge on April 18, bringing the "Bull Tucker" (Brit-
ish Sound Ranging apparatus) with them. They also
brought 11 sacks of mail, the first we had received on
the front.

The village was approximately two miles back of
our front line, about opposite Loupmont, the nearest
town held by the Germans. On May 21, the sector in
which we were located was taken over by French colon-
ial troops from Algeria, relieving the 26th Division.
The 26th, however, continued to hold the lines on our
right.

Many amusing incidents occurred during our stay
at Broussy. One evening while returning from Bucon-
ville, a village two kilometers north of Broussy, a num-
ber of us were held at the point of a bayonet by an
Algerian guard. The bayonet was several feet long, and
I found it impossible to get close enough to give him a
pass which I carried. All attempts to approach the
guard were stopped by a vigorous thrust of the bayo-



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 101

net, and some sort of a challenge which sounded like
the grunt of a pig. Thus we were held at bay until the
sergeant of the guard arrived and permitted us to pass.

Sergeant Hocker undoubtedly still has in his pos-
session a souvenir from Broussy, in the way of an
Algerian's red cap. Hocker traded a pair of shoes for
the headgear and trouble was threatened the next day
when the Algerian put in an appearance with the shoes,
which he managed to tell us did not fit him. He camped
in front of the dugout the entire day for Hocker and the
red cap. When evening came, the visitor left. What
the blood-thirsty Algerian did with the shoes will prob-
ably never be known, but Hocker kept the cap.

The members of the detachment have not fogotten
the occasion when one of the "boomer" engineers sal-
vaged a magneto and wired the benches at the mess
table. While the hungry Sound Kangers were making
an earnest attempt to satisfy the "innerman" the
switch was turned, and the room became full of scram-
bled soldiers, flying mess kits, etc. Later order was re-
stored, but the originator of the joke was in peril of
his life, when a linesman approached the lister bag and
put his mouth to the faucet for a drink. Instantly his
lips became glued to the faucet, while the victim danced
frantically about in an effort to free himself. A few
moments was all he was permitted to suffer.

While these events were transpiring at central, the
observers were having some interesting experiences at
their posts, which were practically located in No Man's
Land.

Owing to the lakes and swamps along that section
of the front, the Allied troops had never constructed
trenches, and only patrols were maintained here by the
Americans. The right observation post, where the men



102 RANGING IN FRANCE

were also billeted, was located in a lonely strip of
woods on the shore of the lake, northwest of Boucon-
ville. Its loneliness increased immensely when the four
observors stationed there were warned repeatedly by
their officers to be on the alert for raiding parties, as
the night patrol was of but little protection.

It was the first night at the post. Observers Phil-
lips and Cottrell, on being relieved from duty, repaired
to the sleeping quarters nearby, which consisted of a
small hut with a cover of "elephant iron." Soon Phil-
lips was fast asleep, but Cottrell remained awake, plan-
ning what he would do in case of a German raid. Hours
seemed to have passed when he heard a sound that im-
mediately claimed his attention — a sound made by the
duckboard as it oozed into the mud just outside the door
of the shack. Then the door itself creaked slightly as if
being tried.

**Halt! Who's there?'' challenged the observer. No
answer. Cottrell slipped from the bunk. In a stage
whisper he awoke his companion.

**Out of bed. Get your rifle. There's a Boche raid-
ing party outside !"

Picture two men crouching low and breathless, un-
hooking the door, clad in tin hats and rubber boots,
their ammunition belts bristling with a hundred rounds,
their fixed bayonets gleaming in the faint moonlight
that filtered through the cracks of the hut. But imagine
their surprise and chagrin when they discovered, sit-
ting high and dry on a board and suspiciously eyeing
the new occupants of his home — old Tom, the cat !

The left observation post was located at the edge of
the Bois Sans Nom, or the Woods of No Name. It was
directly opposite the village of Apremont, which as be-



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 103

fore stated, was held by the enemy. Only a string of
barbwire entanglements separated us from the Ger-
mans, and the only infantrymen along this section of
the front being a nightly patrol. To the observers on
duty it was always a guess as to whether it was a
friendly or enemy patrol. On one occasion an American
and German patrol met just in front of the post, and
a royal battle ensued. Hand grenades, automatic pist-
ols, and machine guns all added to the din. Corporal
Amery was on duty in the post and the bullets riddled
the shack. The Germans retired to their own lines,
taking their wounded with them.

Later Fritz shelled the woods heavily and finally
succeeded in demolishing the post held by the observ-
ers. The men escaped uninjured, but the post was
moved to Fort de Liouville. The left line station was in
charge of Sergeant Keitel and in addition to the ob-
servers already named, Strane, Campbell, Kennedy,
Balch, Stanwood and Marousek were stationed there.

It was while the section was stationed at Broussy
that Sergeant Smith and Private Hopkins, assisted by
a raiding party from Company M. of the 104th In-
fantry, 26th Division, performed the remarkable and
heroic feat of cutting a heavy electrified cable in front
of the German lines near Loupmont.

Company M. of the 104th Infantry was in the lines
at this point, a company that deserves great credit for
its daring raids into enemy territory. It was during one
of these raids that Lieutenant Mesky discovered that
the Germans had constructed the electric cable, which
was causing no little trouble to the American raiding
parties. Lieutenant Coles, learning from the infantry
officer that the cable existed, asked permission to cut,
it, which was given.



104 RANGING IN FRANCE

Consequently, Lieutenant Coles, accompanied by-
Sergeant Smith, Private Hopkins, and others, began the
work of constructing some apparatus to ''ground" the
electric circuit before severing the wire.

When the raiding party was assembled, the com-
manding officer of Company M. objected to Lieuten-
ant Coles accompanying the party on the grounds that
he was an engineer officer of special qualification.
Much to the disgust of Lieutenant Coles, he was left
behind.

The party was made up of Lieutenant Mesky, four
scouts, two automatic rifle squads, two grenade parties,
one squad of expert riflemen. Sergeant Smith and Pri-
vate Hopkins. The jaunt into the first line trenches
was tedious and laborious. It was utter darkness, and
to converse with each other meant to invite a sniper's
bullet. At 9 o'clock the party climbed over the parapet
into No Man's Land to accomplish their perilous task.
As soon as the barbwire entanglements in front of the
American trenches were cleared, they assumed a V-
shaped formation, with the scouts at the points. They
were followed on each side by the automatic riflemen,
grenadiers and expert riflemen. Sergeant Smith and
Private Hopkins were with Lieutenant Meskey just
ahead of the scouts.

No Man's Land at the point where the party crossed
was about a kilometer in width, and it was well after
midnight when the party reached the vicinity of the
German lines. The party found it slow work making its
way across No Man's Land. Many times the scouts
would go ahead, flanked on either side with grenadiers
to explore the territory they were penetrating. At last
the electric cable was found and between the Very light
displays. Smith and Hopkins applied their apparatus.



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 105

The men placed their grounding instruments about 25
yards apart, throwing the current from the wire in the
intervening space. This section of the cable was then
removed.

It was of the greatest importance that caution be
observed, as a spark from the wire, which was strung
on stakes about two feet high, would reveal the position
of the Americans. It would also bring down a machine
gun barrage from the Germans, as the enemy trenches
were only a short distance away. A little beyond the
cable and less than 30 yards in front of the German
lines, were the barbwire entanglements. It was the
good fortune of one of the scouts to find a small bell
hanging on the wire at a tactical point, placed there by
the Germans to serve as an alarm in case of attacking
Americans. The scout quietly removed the bell and cut
the wire for the party to pass through. Two hours were
then spent at this work, one scout estimating that he
cut no less than 2000 wires.

Their purpose accomplished, the party started home-
ward, but had only reached a point half way across No
Man's Land when a Very light revealed their position to
the enemy. The machine guns poured forth a deluge
of bullets, but no one was struck.

It was the morning of June 4 that orders were re-
ceived for the section to proceed to a new base in the
St. Mihiel sector, with central at la petit Mandre, near
Boncourt, six miles north of Commercy. Here we took
over a French Sound Ranging section, using our own
apparatus. We were attached to a French army, and
during the three weeks we spent there we found "busi-
ness*' rather dull. The principal excitement at central
was frying oef f s and pomme de terre by the night shift.
Lieutenant Mitten was especially "strong" for the eggs



106 RANGING IN FRANCE

and was even known to retire for the night on occasions
when eggs were scarce and ''Corned Willy" on the bill
of fare. Boncourt was full of French soldiers, and
therefore had beaucoup cafes, among which the
"Bouncing Bar Maid Inn" was the most popular, with
sweet Marguerite the attraction — at least for Morgan
and Kennedy.

We put the outfit in cold storage on the morning of
June 27 when orders came to move to Chateau Thierry,
where the Americans had halted the Germans in their
apparently irresistible drive on Paris. We were bound
for the one point on the front upon which the attention
of the entire world was focused. The trip lasted two
days. The weather was fine, and as we made the trip
in trucks, we were able to see much of the territory
over which the Allies and Germans had been fighting
for four years. We passed the famous Marne battle-
fields of 1914, where graves dotted the grain fields
everywhere. Our road led through American concen-
tration camps, aviation centers, and towns filled with
British "Tommies."

Passing through Le Ferte, we turned north and
reached our destination late in the afternoon, where we
found F. R. S. No. 1 already in action, under the com-
mand of Major (then Captain) Theodore Lyman.

Our central was located in a hunting lodge in a
large woods a few kilometers behind the lines in the
vicinity of Bouresches and west of Chateau-Thierry.

Much of the base was in full view of the German
observers, and we had much difficulty in running the
survey and stringing the lines to the microphones and
observation posts. The first day the section in which
the surveyors were working was shelled continuously,
they being chased out of a tract of woods by a deluge



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 107

ot gas shells. The following day the German observers
undoubtedly caught the reflection of the transit, for the
enemy dropped a barrage in that vicinity. The men
took shelter in an abandoned trench while Fritz con-
tinued the celebration. The jagged steel fragments of
the shells whined close overhead, clipping the dust and
cutting branches from the apple trees. There was a
lull in the firing and the surveyors crawled out to re-
sume their work, but a few minutes later Fritz opened
up again, and for protection the men again sought the
trench. These were the experiences of the surveyors
during the entire time they were establishing the base
at Chateau-Thierry. The linesmen had similar expe-
riences in stringing the lines.

The section got into operation about July 7, and
succeeded in locating seven batteries the first day. One
of the line stations was located at Coupru and the
other at Marigny. Lieutenant Beckett, lines officer,
was the busiest man in the section. We had over 75
miles of wire in the base and our total strength was
only 35 men. But despite the high resistance of the
lines and unfavorable winds, the section made a good
showing.

Coupru, south of Bouresches, lies in a little ravine
among the rolling hills, which at the time of the
Chateau-Thierry struggle were covered with fields of
ripening grain. Coupru as well as the neighboring vil-
lages had been hurriedly evacuated by the civilian pop-
ulation who had left behind all their worldly effects
and the accumulation of generations, to the mercy of
the Huns.

When off duty we spent our time selecting our oak
or mahognay bedsteads, feather mattresses, China
dishes, and our unique collection of clocks. Close to our



108 RANGING IN FRANCE

billet was the community garden and fresh peas, new
potatoes, small green onions and currants formed an
excellent supplement to our issue of hard tack and
"monkey meat." It was no uncommon sight to see a
"doughboy" driving a salvaged milk cow or chasing a
young chicken about the barnyard with dreams of a
real spring fry, as in better days.

When the French were falling back before the ad-
vancing Germans near Chateau-Thierry, they took with
them as much property as they could possibly carry
away, and such as was left behind the army made use
of, rather than let it fall into the hands of the Germans.
When the line became stabilized an order was issued to
the effect that the soldiers were not to interfere in
any way with civilian property. It was soon after this
order was made public that Private Kennedy found an
exceptionally fine single bed with a feather mattress
which he decided to move to his billet. He was pro-
ceeding up the street of the village with the bed bal-
anced on his head when he met an artillery officer,
who sternly asked Kennedy where he was going.

"Sir," said Kennedy, "I found this bed yesterday,
but my sergeant won't allow me to keep it, so I am re-
turning it now."

The officer accepted the explanation and Kennedy
continued on the way to his billet with the prize.

Coupru was quiet when we first entered it, but soon
with a change of divisions, more troops appeared on
the streets and Fritz began to "shoot up' the town. One
night after we had been chased into the cellar a num-
ber of times, a 150 struck near the building, blowing
out both windows of the room in which we were sleep-
ing. Keyes and Barnard rushed for the cellar. Another



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 109

**slow freight" unloaded with a crash at the side door
and Sergeant Roberts, wakening suddenly, hung the
French telephone around his neck for a gas mask and
made for the cellar. A third shell landed in the creek,
by the back window, blowing out the sash and covering
Cottrell and Kennedy with mud of a nice slimy variety.

The men who made their home at the left line sta-
tion in Marigny were thoroughly initiated the first day
of their arrival. The Germans could see the truck as it
entered the village and soon after threw over 200
rounds of mustard gas shells into the town. The Ger-
man artillery was very active during the entire time
that the Americans were in the village.

It was about July 13 that we received an official
notification from General Scott outlining a plan of
"neutralization." The "neutralization" was to begin on
"Day H." and "Hour J." The great significance of
this was not fully comprehended until a few days
hence.

It was on July 15 that the Germans renewed their
attempt to Reach Paris, further details of which are
given in another chapter. That night Cottrell and Balch
were severely gassed and taken to the hospital.

At 4 o'clock on the morning of July 18, the Allies
started their big offensive on the left side of the
famous salient, and we were awakened from our slum-
bers by the terrific on de choc of the 155 "longs" be-
hind us. "Hour J." had come. The sharper report of
the 75's mingled with the roar of the heavier guns and
the atmosphere all along the front was riddled with
"kisses for the Kaiser," as one of the boys expressed it.
The infantry went over the top at daylight, and from
that time the song of the 75 's grew fainter and fainter.
Boche planes had everywhere been replaced by Allied



110 RANGING IN FRANCE

planes going over in great droves. The sausage balloons
moved forward; the Flash Rangers packed up and
moved ahead. For two days the long range guns behind
kept up an incessant fire, until the retreating Boche
had been driven beyond their extreme range. As Sound
Ranging is not as mobile as Flash Ranging, it was
necessary for us to wait until the lines became stabil-
ized before putting in another base.

It was August 8th before the section packed up and
moved to the river Vesle. In the meantime, however,
the officers secured permission to make a survey of
former German battery positions. During the next few
days all the positions in front of us were located and
found to check up in a very satisfactory manner with
our former findings — that is, while the batteries were
in action.

Lieutenant Smith having been ordered to the Flash
and Sound Ranging school at Fort de St. Menge, Lieu-
tenant Beckett took command of the detachment.

Then came the joyful news — permission was ob-
tained for the officers and men to visit Paris on fur-
loughs of 24 hours' duration. Each man has his own
ideas of pleasure in Paris, but all returned on schedule
time except one — Private Kennedy, who has been men-
tioned in this narrative before. But it was not Ken-
nedy's fault ; he simply got on the wrong train. After
many experiences, Kennedy found himself in Chateau-
Thierry at 2 o'clock in the morning, without francs or a
place to sleep. But this did not baffle the Sound Ranger
in the least. He calmly walked up one of the streets in
the residential section of the city, and seeing a door
open in a mansion, entered. Kennedy found himself
in an elegantly furnished home and in one room dis-
covered a very elaborate feather bed. He looked no



WITH FLASH AND SOUND 111

further, but pulled off his muddy shoes and crawled in
between the fancy lace-bordered sheets. He awoks late
the next morning, put on his shoes, ate breakfast at a
nearby mess and returned to camp.

Our stay on the Vesle — August 9-12 — was brief but
exciting. We were quartered in a partially demolished
building in the central part of the village, not far from
a battery of 155 *'longs," which drew constant fire
from the enemy guns. The shells usually fell short,
bursting in the immediate vicinity of our billet.

As at Chateau-Thierry, the surveyors had trouble
in establishing the base. The surveying party was
divided into two groups. According to the plans formu-
lated, Harlow and Graham took the transit and set up
on a hill. Driver, Sessions, and others, proceeded to
station themselves on various other high points which
were designated, their duty being to raise a rod desig-
nating their position when the signal was received. The
survey was to be based on a triangulation network from
which the microphone positions were to be run in by
short traverses. The men went to their respective po-
sitions, but could see nothing but bursting shells around
the landscape, the smoke being so dense from the artil-
lery fire that no group of surveyors could see another.
At 1 o'clock two rodmen came in for dinner after hav-
ing spent the forenoon under an artillery barrage. A
second group drifted in about 5 o'clock and at dark,
Harlow and Graham arrived, tired and in anything but
an amiable mood.

The following day the work was more successful,
but the men were handicapped greatly by the intense
artillery fire. The Germans were leaving no section of
the front untouched. An amusing incident is told re-
garding Lieutenant McClanahan. The officer was mak-



112 RANGING IN FRANCE

ing a general investigation of the ground previous to
the microphone survey in that particular section. He
was pointing out the approximate point where Micro-
phone No. 1 v^as to be located.

'It is on that small knoll halfway between the tree
an — there! It is just on the spot where that shell
burst."

All admitted that it was a very desirable location.

This proved to be the most active front of any on
which we had operated. From any prominent point we
could watch the American shells bursting behind the
German lines. The amount of artillery that the Ameri-
cans and French had massed on the Vesle was aston-
ishing. On one occasion the surveying party, on estab-
lishing the position of Microphone No. 5, discovered
more than thirty 77's, almost ''hub to hub," along the
fringe of woods behind the microphone position. The
base is always chosen so as to avoid disturbing and in-
terfering with sounds in the vicinity of the detecters,