OCR Text |
Show AMERICANS LOSE PARTOFPATROL Volunteers Seek Missing Comrades Com-rades in Rain of Bullets Without With-out Success. GERMAN ATTACK FAILS Not a Single Hun Able to Set Foot in the American Trenches. WITH- THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Saturday, March 2. The Americans, the Germans claimed to have captured on the Chemin des Dames probably was the largor part of a patrol of thirteen men which went out when the raid began and has not been heard of since. The enemy obtained ob-tained no prisoners from the American trenches. Tho Gorman war office bulletin last j Friday said that near Chavignon, on the western sector of tho Alsne front, German troops had forced ,their way into the Franco-American trenches and captured ten Americans and a few French prisoners. The French official offi-cial statement of the same day, in reporting re-porting tho attack which occurred Thursday night, said that two columns of the enemy had been thrown back with heavy losses. German prisoners were taken by the French. j Volunteers Seek Comrades. Volunteers from American units ! along the Chemin des Dames searched No Man's Land in a rain of machine gun bullets for thirteen missing men of a patrol party, but did not find ; any trace of them except one man who' had been killed. It is certain the ' Germans obtained prisoners from this I patrol. Details of the German attack, which j failed completely to reach the trenches, are now available. American Ameri-can artillerymen laid down a barrage fire as soon as tho Germans started theirs. It is known that three companies com-panies of especially trained ."shock troops," which had been practicing for this operation for two weeks, took part in the attack. Each company was preceded by a picked party of twenty pioneers. The fighting was brisk for about an hour but the accurate machine ma-chine gun and rifle fire from the American front linos, coupled with the perfect American barrage which prevented pre-vented reinforcements from 'coming up, forced the Germans to withdraw after sustaining heavy casualties and without having set foot in the American Ameri-can trenches. Soon after the attack was over, a young lieutenant commanding a platoon, pla-toon, members of which composed the patroling party which had gone out into No Man's Land, went out to find them but without result. He returned to his trenches and asked for a voluntary volun-tary detail. Every man in the platoon volunteored but tho lieutenant plckod out a small party and set out again. They wore forced to return, however, when tho German fire becamo Increasingly Increas-ingly heavy: The lieutenant and a detail de-tail mado a third search just before dawn but without success. All tho missing men camo from New England, The American general commanding the unit on this front said tho men were eager for action and were cdh-tinually cdh-tinually asking permission to remain In the front line longer than the allot-( ted period. It has been found necessary neces-sary to caution 'them frequently against exposing thomselves, they bo-ing bo-ing so anxious to get a crack at tho enemy. en-emy. However, they are. tempted to peer over tho top in the daytime and go over at night in the hope of "starting "start-ing something." French Trainers Proud. Tho French genoral who trained theso troops is proud of the showing they are making Avhilo completing their period of Instruction. An American Am-erican captain said: "They called us tin soldiers in America Am-erica loss than a year ago, but I guess wo arc delivering tho goods just tho same." Americans Under Gas Attacks. Between 500 and 1500 gas shells are thrown on the Amorlcan positions on the Chemin des Dames' front each day but there havo been no sorlous gas casualties thero. Tho men havo been trained thoroughly In thcjiBo of gas masks and tho necossity of putting thorn on before going into tho trenches. trench-es. They do not find it inconvenient to work and fight "like divers," as thoy sav. A few men havo boon gassed slightly while adjusting their holmets but this Is inevitable when gas sholls are thrown a long dlstnnce behind the lines. A brigadier-genoral and a major who wero riding in an nutomobllo on a tour of inspection a few days ago woro gassed slightly whon asholl burst with 100 yards of their car. Thoy suffered suf-fered from headache and slight nausea. nau-sea. An American brigadier-general said today he had asked for an American divisional citation for each member of the raiding party of twenty-six of his men which assisted tho French on February .23 In which two of tho German Ger-man officers and twenty-one men woro captured. Two, officers and two men of the raiding party already havo been decorated by tho French with the wnr cross. This Is the first request for honors which has bee.v mado for Americans Am-ericans In this soctor. |