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Show YANKEES EIIST OE AMIENS Americans Under French High Command Face Enemy Line. ! WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES IN NORTHERN FRANCE, Sunda, April 28. (By The Associated Press ) , American troops have taken up positions po-sitions on the French battle Front,! Under the French high command in which all ranks have supreme confi-1 dence, the American forces face the I enemy on the line barring the Gor- mans from Paris and Amiens, where they have been a certain number of' days. . Announcement that American troops had entered the allied line east of Amiens was made by the Paris war office last Wednesday night. The Germans that day attacked the British, Brit-ish, French and Americans along a (Continued on page 12.) Yankees East i of Amiens (Continued from page 1 ) : ; lengthy front from north of the I Somme line to below Castel. Par-1 ticularly stubborn fighting occurred' around Hangard from which the French wTe dm en. but part of which they regained, A Paris dispatch Thursday announced an-nounced that more than 100 wounded Americans had reached Paris hospitals from the battle front, French Positions Occupied by Yanks The Americans on entering the line! found their pbsition in a rolling ter- i rain. The artillery was the first on' the line, entering on a dark night; which was made red by the contlnu- ; ons clashes of friendly and hostile guns. Under a fire, w hich In some j cases was rather heavy, the Ameri-i can gunners took up the positions of i the French batteries and completed the work of digging in. When the infantry' moved in the firing fir-ing was just as intense In some places our troops, after passing through villages were raked now and then with shrapnel. In several in - I stances they found the trenches shallow, shal-low, while in other cases there were no trenches at all. By this time the positions have been improved greatly land the shell holes connected The American positions are from 100 to -100 yards apart and the high ground is about evenly diwded. What the future holds for the American forces is of course, unknown, but the I Americans are confident that under I the efficient French direction, although al-though the task ahead may be dun cult they will give a good account of themselves and strike the boche a blow if an opportunity otters. It should be understood that this j section is not especially active in comparison com-parison with others to the north, al- though it is more active than those the J Americans previously had faced. The i artillery' fire is heavy and intermittent, intermit-tent, the German s'hells whizzing over the lines into towns in certain reari 1 areas. There ha-; not been a raid on either sld' of the line for several days, but at night the patrols are active. Americans Ameri-cans approaching close to the enemy's lines. All during the nicht rapid machine ma-chine gun and rifle fire indicates that the American fire is keeping out paired pa-ired parties. The march from the billet bases to the fine was very impressive. Many units started off with the strains of "The Star Spangled Banner," played b regimental bands, in their ears. At one place the tune must have 'reached the German lines, so close was the band, the gun flashes being ' reflected on the instruments. The constant roar of artillery was deafen -' ing as the Americans, marching as if on parade, disappeared down the roads past the American batteries, which were Bending many shells into the i enemy line American Troops Moved Up. The training periodfor the Ameri-1 Ameri-1 cun troops lasted a few days, after which they niovrd up to within sound ' .ot the guns. There they rested, while awaiting orders to go into battle, at the Bame time uimg the last iourh a to their equipment Many an Infantryman Infan-tryman curled up in his blankets under the star-, the m re fortunate obtainmc beds of straws in houses or barns The Officers fared about the same All ap-peared ap-peared unmindful of their hardships,, although it is a tradition in the American Amer-ican army that the infantryman has to have something to grumble about, providing pro-viding he is in cood health and spirits Certain it is that the men are as healthy, heal-thy, enthusiastic and happy a lot as ever shouldered a rifle. Waiting for Huns to Come Across. While wailing for the time when the Germans again come across No Man s Land, the Americans have not lot Bighl of the battle progressing in then neighborhood. French and English newspapers wen- brought up as soon as the men arrhed. Ever paper passed pass-ed through hundreds of hands and is read until it is in pieces. As many as fifteen men are seen reading one paper at the same time, the war office reports re-ports receiving first attention. Few Reported Sick, The number of men reporting sick .ire . ccedingly few. The doctors say that in many cases the men apparently apparent-ly put off making such reports, because they might be sent to the hospital and lose their chance of taking part In the great battle. For a few days before the troops went into the trenches, officers look energetic measures to suppress false and vicious reports regarding the pro gress of the battle. How these rumors got started are unknown but the Americans Am-ericans ha e now got to such a state of mind that they will believe nothing they hear. Unless they have read it in an oflicial paper, the men are inclined to doubt all unofficial news whether cood or bad. Many Pitiful Scenes. Along some of the roads over which the Americans passed they encountered encounter-ed streams of refugees going the other way The troops watched them silently si-lently for the most part, and the pitiful scenes caused many an American to grit his teeth. More than one infantryman infan-tryman has shared his rations with some French family whose only home wat a farm wagon containing a few of the most cherished possessions. On the evening before the troops entered en-tered the line, diversions were provided pro-vided for them The regimentaj bands played in almost every town where troops were billeted, and they played the latest American tunes brought over for them Thousands of men gathered to hear the bands, even standing in the pouring rain to listen to the shrapnel belmeted musicians and whistling all the tunes they knew Moving Pictures Shown. On some evenings just after dark moving pictures hae been shown in various towns by the Y. M. C. A. Both French and American films were displayed dis-played and roars of approval greeted well known moving picture actors There were especially loud cheers for the women stars, for the men have been away from their wives and sweethearts for a long time and even the picture of American women on the screen was appreciated vastly. Pictures1! showing scenes in American cities gave a touch ot home which only mud - ' splattered American -oldlers overseas on the eve of going into battle could understand. |