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Show of "Losf Battalion" Was iijege gA World NAar s Supramo Haro Story Aj" ! l !" h G- -n for the RrS, .he Chrome e of Th,s "Unle, Poigant Ephod. Whose Luster He, Dimmed oy a larnish of Mystery and Sensational Rumor." Sr W O Western Newspaper Union. In regard to the legend, the authors of The Lost Battalion say: Major Whittlesey never said Go to hell! if only because there was no German present to whom to say it. But, German and all, the myth has been perpetuated by a colorful artists painting, and even by a fake photograph allegedly snapped by one of the Lost Battalion. The myth probably originated in the headquarters of the division. Thence someone sent an official report giving the text of Lieutenant Prinz's surrender letter and the concluding line: The reply to the above was go to hell! back to Lieut. E. Kidder Meade at First Corps headquarters. A day or two later, on a visit to the division of headquarters, the this volume, Thomas M. Johnson, asked General Alexander, What did Whittlesey tell em? What WOULD he tell em? General Alexander retorted. He Seventy-sev- enth SCOTT WATSON of THE afternoon ELMO ij 'er October 8, 1918, war, 0j 194 Mid !rnal s clamped ragged, 'hem trembling Prtanc ly but troub t think 1 a party American sol-- L haggard, some been led , happened t3in hat thee a the Gen t0 J todi ght up ij dory at p,. -- turned ii Sr n v V u , valley in Forest in were march-j- . rear, to brigade e ' and rent. prom beyond La Wih Ivf M re-rv- the Palette, JtfL p. told em to go to hell. 4 TS u But at P !r; the the tment to ny Those who Bat-Io- n re left of the Lost did not even turn their ,ds; they looked neither One, the right nor left. saw them pass, remem-r- s today their eyes. When into those eyes, looked was iere nothing I could advenrj finger-tip- der bladei steadilj- -jj fr t fire It meant iug, and one I toe day, al them. ach is the graphic description he climax of one of the most .aatic incidents in American The uory, as given in the book written by ft Battalion, imas M. Johnson and Fletcher :att and published recently by company. The s Battalion ije of the Lost after 20 years as the at their s, i Bobbs-Merri- ll en-esu-i- American hero-stor- of y the fore- Yet this .que, poignant episode has had complete chronicle, and its :er has been dimmed by a tar- of mystery and sensational To get and tell the full lor. r.h, we have joined forces: a etime war correspondent who orted the episode at the time, eit under censorship, and an .orian who has specialized in s: ys World war, 1 to this book. it just I e had ita: ninute me: ife and fe, dull roar ing began ng toward that was lost-w- ith history. itary order to !: make their book a ac-- at nplete and authoritative of this epic event, the au-.:- rs did a thorough and pains-;in- g job of research. They all the army records con-:e- d and bearing upon the inci-:- t. sur-tr- s the of the Lost Battalion are ered all over the country interviewed in person or by er as y many of these as examined diaries and tiers written at the time and reked the Reichsarchi in Pots-- a to get the German side of patches itches and speed like their feet Although 100-od- d ;y possi-The- iek from the room, ememberi ipe plaifoi ugh an c ;e story. Dispelling a erged habit falling the Myths. has story far different in many ways much all their research of Out in that la 'a, and e escape le might was too burning - irnjs- Mir-I- g out ,al of stilr-re- d hot ir g b on nding. uld get t :orched t be shewn bos-s- e this g girls, Mwn to went to CipT. be was ath of t in the 6 body tt a pini nds on 0 GEORGE G. McMURTRT of the Lost Battalion creditable to those partici-un- g the legend which has profusely about it. le epic of the Lost Battalion its origins in an order by Maj. Gen. Robert Alex-j-e- r ,n than, so is-v- fd -- of enship m of ooe te, Qua- -' being tate fational- lost t count: the W 4 and Pr 1 ! count-- Washir citizen examp :n elect in try is. EVts resen'fi i Seventy-sevent- h n at the beginning of its gainst the Germans in . n Argonne late in September, .at order read: ground once captured must atn crcumstances be given aosence of direct, j f positive Ve orters to do so ema-'m- n frm tl)ese headquarters. PS ground must against counter-- a gains held. It is J'nte trick of the Boche to jL. , confusion among our out Retire or fall any action, tty such command is heard, offi- and men ,,s bat may h certain occupying made r the di-,o- Ament tizeostp a:tsrUPPrted ?nd a1 ! it Vmn a a ?.lven by 1111 enemy- traito1,es such a command it is the duty of 3 ,4, I JfPiS, ! A 5, ;' VS , His whole position, on being Maj. Charles Whittlesey (left), commander of the Lost Battalion, and Major McKinney, commander of the First battalion of demobilized, was a painful one. the 307th infantry, which relieved the Lost Battalion. (Photo by He was naturally a rather modest and retiring individual; nat- the United States Army Signal Corps.) any officer or man loyal to his seventh divisions pigeon loft. country, who hears such an orCher Ami, its breast-bon- e shatder, to shoot the offender upon tered and a leg and an eye missthe spot. WE ARE NOT GOING ing, arrived at the headquarters BACK, BUT FORWARD loft shortly before four oclock. that order, By that time the bombardment Remembering Charles W. Whittlesey, major in had ceased, but the damage alcommand of the First battalion ready had been done. Whittleof the Three Hundred Eighth insey found that 80 of his men had dibeen killed or wounded in the fantry of the Seventy-sevent-h vision, had no thought of retreat friendly barrage. Later in the afternoon, the Gerwhen, on the morning of October 3, he found his command caught mans captured several of the in a pocket, a ravine a mile command, including two lieutenor so northeast of Binarville. ants, Leak and Harrington. Left Twice during the divisions alone for a few minutes, the prisdrive, which began on October 2, oners fabricated a tale that probhe had protested against making ably saved the Lost Battalion the attack that would put his from complete extinction. Each in turn, command in the dreaded pock- man, to same answers the enthe his overruled he was gave but by et, besuperior officers. His orders were emy questioners: that the to drive on without regard to leaguered American battalion flanks or losses. So he felt that consisted of 1,500 men well equipped with ammunition and he had no choice but to obey. food. Those inspired lies, the auHe Obeyed Orders. thors say, kept the Germans Despite the encircling move- from making a concerted attack ment of the Germans, Whittlesey on the pitifully weak garrison. knew on the morning of October During the next two days the 3 that he could get his men safely men of the isolated group were back to the main army, but he by the sight of Allied decided to hold his position. Lat- agonized flying over the ravine airplanes er regular army officers, trying and dropping packets of food, to gloss over the episode, blamed cartridges and first aid supplies Whittlesey for too much zeal and into the German lines. Besides for not withdrawing. not having the proper y The result was the the pilots were misled by siege in which Whittleseys force, the American panel signals steadily reduced in numbers un- which were set out by the wily til only 194 of the 554 men who Germans. The drinking water went into the pocket came out situation also was desperate. of it, beat off the assaults of the The morning of October 7 Whit Germans by infantry attack, by tlesey noticed that the morale of trench mortar bombs, hand gre- his men was breaking down. The nades, and machine gun fire, by runners he had sent back for resniping rifle fire from the front, lief apparently had been capflank and rear and finally by tured or killed. The Americans There was a shortage of writthe trees among dug materials, particularly of paing along the slope of the valley and per. A few men wrote final mesraof hung on desperately short sages to loved ones on scraps of tions, without enough water and bandage or pieces of shirttail with no surgeons to care for their whacked off with pocket knifes, wounds. with blood for ink, not in a gesAccording to the testimony of ture of melodrama, but out of most of the survivors, a necessity, period of the second day of the A Demand for Surrender. siege was the worst of all. Ata 4 was there October on noon Later in the afternoon the lull in the German firing. crumbling morale was revived men crawled out of their when the German letter asking s and sat around, wish- immediate surrender was reto eat. Sudfor ceived. Lowell R. Hollingshead something ing violent a was explfr; private who had been denly there sion, then two more and then captured by the Germans, bore three in quick succession. They the letter back to Major Whittlewere shellbursts, shells coming sey. from the south where the AmeriThe popular legend has Major can artillery divisions lay. Their Whittlesey shouting Go to hell! to the enemy. Major Whittleseys preliminary warning screeches n were distinctly the story is that there were no Ger 75s, not the German 77s. The mans near for him to shout that line of fire methodically moved to, so he just folded up the let forward and then concentrated ter, put it in his pocket and said the to Hollingshead, Go back squarely on the place where battalion lay. your post. In his written report the major said simply, No reThe Friendly Barrage. ply seemed necessary. mesWhittlesey scribbled a road One effect of the letter was to We are along the sage: own artillery infuriate the Americans so that Our 276.4. parallel on for two days more they valiantly is dropping a barrage directly held out until finally on the night it. stop sake, us. For heavens Caof October 7 several volunteer French the Omer Richards, runners got through to the 154th nadian pigeon man, nervously to the leg brigade and the First battalion clipped the message of the 307th infantry, led by Ma of the last pigeon, Cher Ami, and McKinney, smashed through tossed the bird in the air, start- jor German lines and reached the ing it on the hazardous jourrry The Lost Battalio' "pocket. back to Corporal George Gault- the saved! was who was in charge of the Seventy- A cross-examine- s. es Wffiit-tlese- funk-hole- Franco-Amer-ica- Crisis Presented First Test of itlnff Came That Won Him Power Over Iteieli. Czech JOSEril W. LaBINE The greatest mystery of our modern times is Adolf Hitler, who feels within himself a godlike mandate to guide Germanys destiny. Perhaps that very mystery is what gives him strength, for men have always stood in awe of that which they cannot unBy derstand. Behind the mustache and frowning eyes lies a mind that is both brilliant and irrational. Adolf Hitler is at once a master of other men and a slave to himself. He is an inveterate brooder, and though brooders seldom have power over other men, Der Fuehrer is master of the Reich. He is a bluffer wffio has stubbornly waved a sword at world democracy, refusing to give an inch betwo-edg- ed cause dictators cannot afford to change their minds. But it cannot be said that Hitlers power has gone to his head, for he demonstrated this same stubbornness long before the Munich beer-cellputsch, long before the late President von Hindenburg grudgingly made him chancellor. To know the man you must follow his growth, a story In whose every chapter is a trace of the bitterness that can only come from misguided genius. It is the story of a potential giant who stumbled through his early years, groping desperately for an anchor. HIS FOLLOWERS WERE REWARDED! ThU picture teas taken early in 1932, before Adolf Hitler became chancellor, at he addretted a mast meeting of national toeialisl tludenlt. Inconspicuous in the background ( at left of Hitler) were Herman Wilhelm Goering, now chief of staff, and Paul Joseph Goebbels, now propaganda minister . months. A psychologist has said he took refuge in blindness, a nervous reaction in which he did not allow himself to see Germany shame. Medical annals record such cases. Finds His Tongue Peace brought Socialists, Communists and reactionaries to Germany, men who loved to orate from soap boxes. In such an electrified element Hitler found his tongue, developed oratorical tricks and learned to control his audience like a magician. The bitterness of youth was giving way to the vengeful spirit of manhood. Adolf Hitler was on I His ancestral home is Splttal, Austria, once on the frontier, where poverty and inbreeding have long been the peasants' tragedy. His father was Alois Schicklgruber-Hit-ler- , a strong-willecobbler whose first wife brought him money, whose second wife died shortly after her marriage, and whose third wife was the first Mrs. HiUers housemaid. It was to this third wife that the child Adolf was born, a weak, sensitive child who disliked his father, and who probably learned to brood through this same dislike. He lived within himself, so much that his former playmates have pictured him standing on a hillside at night, bawling a political speech at two fruit trees while school chums giggled in the nearby bushes. He was expelled from school for smoking, a strange trick in view of the adult Adolf Hitlers strict abstinence. And it was at Vienna, when 17, that the future Reichsfuehrer first felt lifes reality. Twice refused admission to an art school, forced to earn his bread and beer by painting houses and hanging paper, he suffered for five years the agonies of a man who feels himself unwanted by society. But this bitterness was In enough to set him thinking. Mein Kampf, the autobiography he was to write later while sulking in a German prison, he attempts frantically to explain the Vienna failure by heaping scorn on the effete Hapsburgs, on Jewish capitalists and unpatriotic Socialists. In 1912 he left Vienna for Munich, turning his back on the Austria he was destined one day to rule. In the World war he served four years, mostly as an orderly carrying messages. Comrades describe him as a recluse who loved war and boasted how he would conduct Germanys offensive. The comrades laughed and called Adolf Hitler ein Spinner, which is Bavarian dialect for one who is cracked. Shortly before the armistice, on October 14, 1918, he was gassed and taken to the hospital There, while peace was signed, while Germany suffered degredation, he closed his eyes and remained blind three d d BRIG. GEN. ROBERT ALEXANDER urally he had always been acutely uncomfortable in the presence of anything that savored of personal publicity or personal display. He had an acute sympathy with the forgotten man and want- ed to be one himself . . . Now that the fighting was over he wanted nothing so much as to revert to his previous status, to sink into the crowd and bury himself in his legal work. But he was not permitted to revert. He had been named by Pershing himself as one of the three outstanding heroes of the A. E. F. and he was the only one resident in New York and instantly available for all kinds of speeches and ceremonies. His office became a rendezvous for Not a day but I hear from some of them he said once. He was not a private citizen, but an exhibition piece, a plush horse. A plush horse constantly on exhibition in circles where a word about his real convictions on war as a bloody and unnecessary business (which do not appear to have changed) would have caused a violent scandal and made people think him insane. Still more would a word of his real convictions as to the episode for which he was being honored; he thought it fortuitous and futile. Not merely the desire to avoid publicity such a word would entail, but also his sense of social duty in this case, duty to his old comrades of the A. E. F., many of whom had given lives to an ideal he regarded with suspicion forbade him to speak; forbade him publicly to question any detail of the offiYet every day cial version saw him forced deeper into his false position, every event forced honupon him more undesired ors, more elements of a career not of his own choosing. The result was that about two weeks after the dedication of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington a ceremony which he, with some 30 others who had received the Congressional Medal of Honor could not avoid attendsteamer for a ing he boarded a vacation in Cuba. Thatnight hft went out on deck and jumped cvrer the rail. job-hunti- ... at speeches delivered wherever there was an audience, usually in beer cellars. Thus came the famous beer cellar putsch, an almost-fatblunder through which he sought a short cut to power. Leading 2,000 Nazis, he swung into the square fronting Munichs historic Feldherrenhalle, where local police killed 14 of his followers. But the dynamics of Hitlerism had taken effect. Sentenced to five year In prison, he was released six months later by a warden who whispered: "Herr Hitler, you have made a Nazi out of me." al Naziism to Poicer Austrian by Birth 1 fox-hol- soles u: t flame-thrower- ir body e her eyi he 'Ti. five-da- windows, d. its r to again, it r felt the them nothing. and Captain McMurtry wrote into their official report that: No reply seemed necessary. But typewriter, cable and linotype to say nothing of headline writer had done their work; millions of Americans were throwing down their newspapers to give three rousing cheers for and the Whittlesey Lost Battalion that had not lost its nerve. Whoever invented that story was a genius at wartime propaganda. He could have put into the mouth of the New England lawyer no words that would more endear him and his men to average Americans or more inflame their war spirit. In this hero worship, according to Johnson and Pratt, lay the main reasons which caused Whittlesey later to commit suicide. They write: Go-to-h- 0 at! workers i s. plied: We told bullets, almost enemys last grop-- th' Shortly afterward, Mr. Johnson asked Major Whittlesey the same question. The major reHe ma-e-gu- rId. h Seventy-sevent- K l raw wind brought a faint sound, and above heads came the whip-- n and snapping of -, work- & - Charlevaux :0SS Y e with weakkeeping in forma-- 3 bv a major and a tramped wearily Hitler, Germanys Man of Mystery, Founded Ilis Success on Psychology The modern Adolf Hitler, a torrid speechmaker who the masses are unintellithit ihey will learn only gent, by constant repetition. be-lier- es way, planning craftily like a that press agent for the build-uwould eventually bring him to power. From Austria's ancient national socialism he took the swastika, a good luck sign of antiquity. From his party, tne workers national socialist" group, he took the initials, which, in German, spelled Nazi. From Mussolini, who was about to on Rome in a Pullman "march car, he borrowed the shirt" idea because he knew Germans loved uniforms. His program, aimed at the nebulous objective of building a great nation, had as its cardinal principles the ousting of Jews, repudiation of war guilt, reparations and the Versailles treaty. His stronghold was Munich, and there he began drawing huge crowds his p That was in 1924, and the next six years found Germany prospering, then succumbing to depression. Far from defeated, though still brooding, Hitler had realized his Munich blunder and was building a stronger party. On the night of September 14, 1930, the world gasped to leara he had won 107 deputies in the Reichstag election, placing the Nazi party second in power. Two years later he was reluctantly made chancellor by President von Hindenburg and the conquest was complete. All but one thing. Naziisms rise had produced faithless followers, one of them Ernst Roehm. On June 30, 1934, he and at least 70 others were quietly liquidated and the world knew Adolf Hitler was supreme in Germany. Why? Is it his remarkable gift of oratory, his personality, his program or fear? Is it Germanys appreciation of the Fuehrer who has led them confidently from one conquest to another? Probably a combination of these qualities, but behind them all is the most important secret: Adolf Hitler is a master psychologist. He threw over the Versailles treaty and walked into the Rhineland when Great Britain and France were busy watching Premier Mussolinis conquest of Ethiopia. He took possession of Austria when Britain and France were busy with internal strife. His game of foreign conquest has been a continuous bluff, until it seemed certain that no power would challenge his occupation of Czechoslovakia. He was mistaken there, but the bluff continued with amazing success. He turned down repeated offers of peaceful settlement, confident that Britain and France would eventually capitulate. When they refused, he caused a war scare that threw all Europe into a turmoil At the last moment, when there seemed no way to avoid armed conflict, he summoned a meeting of powers to discuss a peaceful settlement. History will say he won again. Psychology Triumphant He uses psychology in oratory, knowing that emotion is a stronger appeal than common sense. The words come in torrents, at first then intense, then breaking high-pitche- d, HITLER HIGHLIGHTS 1889 1909 1912 1914 1918 1920 1923 1921 1930- 1933 1931 1933 1936 1 938 1938 Born in Braunau, Austria, the son of former cobbler and his third wife ho use maul of the first Mrs. Hiller. Migrated to Vienna where he was turned down for art study, becoming a house jiainter and paper hanger. Migrated to Munich, Germany. Joined German army, serving four years, mostly as an orderly. Lost eyesight temporarily, ostensibly through gas attack hut probably from nervous condition. Began addressing political meetings in Munich. Attempted Munich beer hall putsch to inaugurate march on Berlin. Was arrested, thrown in prison. Released after six months, dropped into obscurity. !azi party won 107 deputies in Reichstag, becoming second largest group in nation. Appointed chancellor by President von Hindenburg. Blood purge liquidated ISazi parly's enemies. Tore up disarmament clauses of Versailles treaty. Marched into Rhineland. A nnexed A u stria. Annexed Czech Sudeten area. into a sob. He uses psychology in showmanship. At the recent Munich party congress he kept the air charged with constant expectation. Soldiers marched and bands blared. Loudspeakers announced Der Fuehrers every movement as he left the hotel, began driving to the stadium and began mounting the platform. He uses psychology in his program. Though German work hard and have little to show for it, the hazy promise of a greater Reich hangs constantly before their eyes. By girding his nation to war, Der Fuehrer has reduced unemployment and busy people seldom complain, especially when the worlds greatest propaganda machine directs their thought and effort. Lastly, he uses psychology in selling his personality. To Germany, Adolf Hitler is a man of mystery, strong chinned giant who once told them: "You are mine and 1 aru yours, as long as I shall live!" Westera Newspaper Union. |
