The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, June 11, 1919, Image 9
AMERICAN DIVISI
JUST BE
.27th and 30th Divisions,
Ready to go in Lines A
Signed. Casualties we
Out of 20 Miles Gaine<
The followipg account of the opera
tions of the 27th and 30th Divisions
after they had crossed the Hlindenburg
line was taken from the .Stars and
Stripes, the "oflicial newspaper of the
A. '1. F." of May 16th. This ediltion
was mailed to The Advertiser by Lieut
Marion R. Wilkes, who is now in
France.
..... .... lw New Drive.
The morning of October S found the
30th Division just east of Montbrehain,
between Camrai and St. Quentin,
ready to Jump for.ward on the new
drive that was intended primarily to
carry it ncross the river Selle, nine
miles ahead, and eventually to take it
toward the Sambre canal and river, six
miles beyond the Selle
The division sector was Ihree miles
wide and the direction of advance lay
northeastward across rolling country.
Tha Germans were known to be wait
ing with strong. machine gun resist
ance at villages and farms, and the
strongest defense of the enetry behind
the Selle was anticipated.
The British front on both flanks of
the 30th was well up to its line and at
):10 o'clock on the morning of the 8th
a general attack was made by the First
French Army and the Fourth and
Third British .rmies, the Fourth Army
having the Ninth Corps on the right,
the Second Araerican in the center and
the Thirteenth Corps on the left. Be
hind a rolling barrage and accompan
panied by tanks, the 30th Division at
tacked with the 117th Infantry on the
right and the 118th on the left.
The enemy put down a counter-bar
rage but a morning mist favored the
attack and, except at the occasional
villages, farms and bitP of woodland,
t\e advance across country almost as
open as Wiestern prairie met with com
paratively slight resistance. 13y noon
Brancourt an.] Premonit had been tak
en in a forward sweep of about three
ules and th2 line rested diagonally
across the liohain-lremont-Cami)rai
road. The 6th British Division on the
right was somiewhat back, but the ad
vance was re'nmed eariy the following
morning all along the line. The enemy
continued to retire rapidly, offering
only rear gua.rd opposition, and all
ove.r the country behind his lines ap
ieared the smoke and flanes of burn
lug buildings iand supply and ammuni
tion (lumps which he was firing as he
went. The destruction was particular
ly great in the vicinity of Hohain, one
of his great depots, which lay in the
sector of the 6th British 'ilvision.
About 5 o'clock that evening the 6th
Division took ilohain, at the same mo
ment that the 0th Div'sion was occu
pying Ilusigny and flecquigny, north
and somewhat east of there, after a
(lay's adlvane of four miles. Just west
if usigny the 30th Division had cotme
astridle the western circuit of the
enemy's most important railroad line,
the one from Metz through Mezierecs
and Hlirson to Valenciennes and 1ille.
On the morning of the 10th, with the
25th British [Division up to the line on
the left but the 6th still somewhat
back on the right, the attack was again
taken tup. Esaaufourt was captured on
the left and, after an adlvance of near
ly a tmlle, the western edges of St.
Solpiet in the center and of Vauix
Andigny on the right, were entered.
lBut St. Souplet was on the west bank
of the Selle River, almost due south
of Le Cateau, and the enemy had es
tablished a line of resisitanco on' the
crest of the hllls~ east of the stream
and had brought upl to it reinforce
ments whose lire (quickly halted the
advance. The following (lay was spent
itn cleaning upi Vaux-Andigny, St.
Souiplet and St. Bienin and advancing
to the rIver bank commanding the
railroad which parallels the Belle from
Si. Souplet northward to Le Cateaui.
On the night of October' 11 the 27th D)I
vision relievedi the 30th.
rThe front of the Fourth Army had
now penetratedl far to the east of the
htideoust desohation of the Somme val
Iey and the shetli-heaved foreflold land
scape of the old stabilized troech zones
andl had conmo Into regions untouched
1by ,war, wvhere~ green things In fields
and gardens, where houses still had
rooks and winrdown and wheren civiinns
ONS RELIEVED
FORE WAR'S END
Relieved by British, Were
gainWhen Armistice Was
re 15,430. Advanced 16
1 by Corps.
lived like normal human beings.
Though now for a few days the rage
of war was sweepling through this
peaceful land, it could produce noth
ing like the effects wh!ch months and
years of it had brought about else
where.
III comparadvelv pleasant surround
ings for a front line, the 27th Division
lay still for a few (lays while guns,
supplies and ammunition, which had
been unable !o keel) pace with the
rapid nine-mile advance, were brought
up and distributed.
On the night of the 16th, the 30th Di
vision came back into line, taking over
the right half of the sector and thus
giving to eact division a front of about
2,000 yards, which was quite enough
as neither had received replacements
lately and their combined infantry
strength was only about 15,000. It
was obvious that the enemy intended
to make a stubborn stand here, as he
had, as nearly as cou!d be ascertained,
five complete divisions and elements
of six others 'n this part of the front.
Confirmation of the presence of some
of these units was secured in a day
light raid on the afternoon of Septem
ber 14, when 30 men of the 27th Divi
sion waded the Selle through three feet
of water, capitred 30 Germans in the
dugouts along the railroad embank
ment and brought them back acrosq
the river.
At 5:25 o'ciock on the morning of
the 17th, in a drizzling rain and thick
mist, the attack was launched again
behind a barrage. The enemy put
down a heavy counter-barrage and ma
chine gun fire but, despite the resist
ance and the 4lippery footf'ng on the
wet, chalky soil, the troops waded
the river, climbed the op)osite bank
and pushed doggedly on into the mist.
The remaining 141 tanks of the 301st
American Tank Battalion crossed the
river at a narrow noint north of St.
Souplet and tried to swing to the north
in front of lie 27th Division.
FIventually, althoui the left of the
27th was held back because of the dif
ficulty ex perieniced by the 25th British
ivision in g-?tling through the trian
gle of railro.(d tracks south of I'va
Cateau, the front pished over the
ridge, captured Molainl on the tight
411d (.tablishred a 1lio through Arbre
do Guise, two miles from the jmnipiv
off line, alttlaugh both flanks were
drawn back for liaison with the ad
joining divisiens. The whole advance
was:l mado against heavy artillery fire,
and several strong (lerman counter
attacks were repulsed during the
'course of it, for the enemy had appar
ently been taken somewhat by surprise
b~y the resumption of thte attack andl
was obliged to resist strongly to cov
er the further wiltdrawal of his heavy
artillery.
The 27th DIvision attacked on the
morning of October iS in conjunction
with the Thirteenth Corps andl en
countered heavy machine gtun fire from
farms on the hillside. as wvell as re
ipeated coutftr-attacks supplorted by
artillery, Shortly before noon the 30th
Division, which had started later, had
an otbstinate .fight for Rtibeauvilie,
which was only taken finally wvith the
assistance of artillery barrage. Abot
the mididle of the afternoon the ene
my's resistance sutddenly weakened
and the whole front pulShler on to t he
north ridige, which was within two
miles of -the Sambre Canal and the
town of Chatlillon, on its western
bank.
Mazingdeim, in, the hills between
Ribeauville and Catillon, was occut
pled by the 310th Ilvisiion in the moon
light, assisted b~y a flank attack by
troops5 of the 27th UlvisIon from the
north, The 27th Division, on its part,
during the 'Jay had conquered Jonc
do Mer Farm and L~a Roux Farm,
crossed the Jone de Mer brook and
ridge and pushed up nearly to the
ridge just west of the St. Maurice Riv
er, The next dlay, October 19, patrols
were pushed out toward the Sambre
Canal all along the front, those of the
27th 'Division attaining the wvest bank
of the St. Maurlee and those of the 30th
getting to the last ridge overlooking
Chatillon and the canal,
Artillery and other preparations
were now in progress for the next
strongly organized attack, to be made
for the crossing of the Sambre Canal
and river. The 4lvo American divi
slons, however, after their long and
exhausting period of service in the
battle front, wero not in condition to
be used longer without a period of rest,
and they were relieved before that at
tack was made, the 6th British Divi
slon taking over the sector of the 27th
Division on the night of October 21-22,
as the Ist British Division had taken
over that of the 30th on the previous
night. Both divisions now went back
to the vicinty of Amienjs for rest and
training and were still there, though
daily expecting orders to return to the
pursuIt of the enemy, whe) the armis
tice was signed on November 11. The
British forces which had taken their
place sin line had meanwhile pushed
the Germans another 25 miles beyond
the Sambre, 'nd ended the war just
within the frontier of Belgium.
In the battle from September 20 to
October 2.1, in which one or both of
the divisions of the Second American
'Corps were almost continuously en
gaged, the total advance of the corps'
front had been about 20 miles, all but
four of which had been made by the
Americans. The 27th Division had
suffered total casualties of 236 officers
and 7,901 enlisted men and had cap
tured 48 German officers and 1,463 en
listed men. It did not report upon ma
terial capturod. The 30th 1Division
lost 259 officers and 7,0R4 enlisted men
in casualties and it captured, by an in
complete count, 72 pieces of field ar
tillery, 426 machine guns, many other
weapons and much materia, and took
prisoner 98 officers and 3,750 enlisted
men.
Their gallant work had well sustain
ed in the zone of the British armies
the reputation of the American soldier
for courage and determination and had
well merited the warm praise which
was bestowed upon them generously
by their various British commanders,
including General Monash, of the Aus
tralian Corps; General Rawlinson, of
the Fourth Army, and Field Marshal
Ilalg.
NOTICE OF ELECTION.
State of South Carolina,
County of Laurens.
Whereas, jpctitions signed by a legal
number of the qualified electors and
free-holders residing In Scuffletown
school district No. 1, Laurens county,
Souh Carolina, asking for an election
uipon the question of voting an addi
tional 6; mill tax upon the iroperty in
saii school district to be used for
school purposes, have been filed with
the county board of education, an
THUF
ANI
"Virti
This Picture is C
From t'
This Picture Will Be
tion i
DO NOT FAIL TO C
Children 25c
election is hereby ordered upon said
(luestion, said election to be held on
the 25th day of .June, 1919, at Long
iranch School House, in said disticet,
under the management of the trustees
of said school district.
Only such electors a. return real or
personal property to taxation and
who exhibit their ta: receipts and
registration certifcat s as required in
the general electio shall be aIowed
to vote.
Those favoring h1 'iIll additional
tax shall vote a ba ot containing the
word "YES" written Or printed I hereon.
tSDAY, THIS
FA STEW
IN,.
10 S
ne of the t and Best t
roduced.
6e Novel '-Virtuous'
an Added Attraction on
With Casey Comedy Com
:OME THURSDAY---TV
Including War Tax
Those agailst, the 6 inill additional tax
sha1ll vote a ballot containing tho
word "NO" written or printed thereon.
P'olls shall open at. the hour of 8
o'clock in the forenoon and shall re
inain open until the hour of .1 o'clock
in the afternoon lwhen they shall be
closed. and the ballots.counted.
''llxe trustees shall report the result
,,f the election to (he county anditor
1!dl vouinity superintendent of educa
lion within tel days thereafter.
.JAMIS I I. S'LLIVAN,
17-2t By order of County Board.
VEEK
ART
rives"
Kat Miss Stewart
Wives"
This Day in Connec.
panyl
10 SHOWS IN ONE
Adults 40c
"KEDS" SUMMER OFFERINGS "WELLWORTH"
SHOES AT AND
FOR "WORTHMORE"
CHILDREN SPEIAL PRI S AISTS
To those who are looking for a combination of Style and Low
Prices.. We making some unusual offerings this week in
Dresses and Skirts
Some Fine Skirts Values -Bargains in Silk Dresses
We are in a position to offer a beautiftil lot of e have a special lot of charming Silk Dresses,
white Skirts in the latest style and attractive p t. Taffetas, with Georgette sleeves that we are
terns at extraordinary prices from going to close out at a bargain. The very latest
$1.75 to $5.00 in style and attractive in design
$15.00 Value for $10.98
Just Received Just Right for Summer
A fine display of Ladies' Wool Skirts in Serges Just received a beautiful line of Gingham
and Poplins and Silk Poplin and Taffetas. These Dresses for Ladies and Children, latest in style,
were made by The famous Queen Skirt Co. In most pleasing in design and qualities
all sizes and most beautiful in pattern at For Children from 75 cents to $2.50
$4.49 up For Ladies and Misses from $2.50 to $6.00
An Attractive Line of Ladies' Skirts in Large Sizes at Extraordinary Low Prices
Ladies' House Dresses Printed Voiles
We have for your inspection a fine collection One Table of printed Voiles now on display
of Ladies' House Dresses. Just the thing for are unusual offering at unusual bargain prices
summer at 20 cts Value at 12 1-2cts
$1.25 and up 25 cts Value at 15 cents
1,000 yards of Staple Apron Gingham worth 16 1-2cts Wholesale to-day, we are
going to sell at 12 1-2cts per yard. All full pieces, no remnants. A sure bargain.
Packard Shoes for Men H .TR R V Ford Shoes for Women
(3W1
VOLUME XXXIV. LAURENS, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11., 1919.NUBR7