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BEING THE NARRATIVE OF BATTERY A OF THE 101st FIELD ARTILLERY

Page 61

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The infantry brought back 23 prisoners including two officers; a large number for a raid of this sort. This was excellent, but better still, our barrage had been faultless. Our reputation for accuracy was established, never to be destroyed. From that day on the infantry swore by the 101st artillery, and not at them, as so often happens. As mutual confidence be­ tween infantry and artillery is a vital factor, the importance of this first barrage can be easily seen.

In the meantime, the Boches had shelled the valley back of us several times with big shells. Company A of the 101st Engineers had probably been observed in their position at the foot of the hill. Although most of the shells had exploded in the mud at the bottom of the valley, the splinters had struck all about our position. As a result, two men in the Bat­ tery were slightly wounded, our first casualties, and four men cited by General Edwards for work on the telephone lines under heavy fire. A splinter pierced the trail of the 4th piece, making a hole that was the pride and joy of the entire gun crew.

A few days later we were called on for a defensive barrage. The promptness with which our guns replied to their rocket, increased the doughboy's admiration for the artillery. Indeed, when a barrage was called for, the guns usually spoke while the rocket was still in the air.

While all this was happening at the active position, an old German position a kilometer or so to our rear had been taken over by Lt. Clarke, Lt. Storer, and a score of men. They were to reconstruct it with a view to its use as a reserve position. The dugouts

 

 

 

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