Trench Ballads and Other Verses Part 13

Doughboys is the popular present-day nickname for infantrymen.

Sitting on the World When the situation is thoroughly agreeable and everything is "breaking" just right.

S.O.L.

Well known soldier expression which, elegantly translated, means being totally and entirely out of luck, but not to be adopted for "polite conversation." Remember this admonition.

*Mr. Fly*

G.I. Cans Large high-explosive sh.e.l.ls of about 6 inches diameter or over, and made of thick galvanized iron or what appeared to be such.

Cooties Are pleasant little neighbors in the trenches, due to the inadequacy of bathing facilities.

*The Salvation Army With the A. E. F.*

John Doe. Private Doe The designation of an American soldier, where no specific name is used, as, for example, to fill in the place for a name on a sample blank or application of any kind. Not used as a popular nickname for the American soldier as Tommy Atkins is used for the British soldier.

A. E. F.

American Expeditionary Forces: the t.i.tle of the American troops in France during the war.

*Sh.e.l.l-Holes*

The "77"

The typical artillery piece of the German army, and having a caliber of approximately three inches, roughly corresponding with the famous French "75," though not as effective, but quite effective enough.

*Food*

Salvation Salvation Army.

*Song of the Volunteers of 1917*

Bayard The great chivalric hero and warrior of France during the reign of Francis I. The Chevalier Bayard was killed in northern Italy in 1524, during the advance of Bourbon at the head of the Imperial forces.

the Cid The chief heroic figure of Spain, who lived in the Eleventh Century, fighting ably against the Moorish power until exiled by his king in the year 1075, after which he became a free lance, sometimes engaging in battle the Infidel and sometimes the Christian. He died in 1099, and, while a very able commander, it is generally understood that most of his great deeds are a gorgeous fabric of tradition rather than actual history.

Artillery Registering The bursting of shrapnel over your trenches, by the enemy, in order to get the range for their sh.e.l.l-fire which is to follow.

*Trucks*

Toto A nickname for a Cootie, qv.

Including nuts, candy etc.

The American soldier has a notoriously "sweet-tooth," and big husky men positively gormandize on things saccharine, when obtainable.

Mademoiselle The army man p.r.o.nounces the word "mademoiselle" at full length, using the most punctilious care to enunciate each and every one of the four syllables. Whether this is due to the word being foreign to many of them, or whether it is due to their all-saving subtle sense of American humor, so that it seems rather delicious to call the little French ladies by so long and ponderous a t.i.tle, I really do not know, but I strongly suspect that it is the latter.

The First Division Caesar had his Tenth Legion, Napoleon had his Old Guard, and the American Army during the World War had its First Division. It might therefore not seem entirely malapropos to quote the words of the great French general Mangin, who was the corps commander of the First Division of the American Army, the famous First Moroccans of the French Army and the Second Division of the American Army, at the Second Battle of the Marne, that began on July 18th, 1918, and was the turning point of the whole war. In this great door movement the First Division was given practically the post of honor at the _hinge_ itself, i.e., directly at Soissons, only one division, the 153rd French Infantry Division, being on the inside of the First Division, and as it was in this engagement that a gentleman of Teutonic origin, operating a machine-gun from our extreme left flank, and apparently very much irritated about something, put a bullet in my side and out my back, it is only natural that the message of Gen. Mangin was of interest to me, and saved, and here quoted verbatim:-

Lauds Americans in Battle.

General Mangin Thanks Pers.h.i.+ng's Men for Brilliant Part in Drive.

(By a.s.sociated Press.)

With the French. Army in France, Aug. 7.-General Mangin, who was in direct command of the Allied forces in the drive against the German right flank south of Soissons, has issued the following order of the day thanking the American troops for their brilliant partic.i.p.ation in the battle which caused the German retreat between the Marne and the Aisne:

"Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Third American Army Corps:

"Shoulder to shoulder with your French comrades, you threw yourselves into the counter-offensive begun on July 18th. You ran to it like going to a feast. Your magnificent dash upset and surprised the enemy and your indomitable tenacity stopped counter-attacks by his fresh divisions. You have shown yourselves to be worthy sons of your great country and have gained the admiration of your brothers in arms.

"Ninety-one cannon, 7,200 prisoners, immense booty and ten kilometers (six and a quarter miles) of reconquered territory are your share of the trophies of this victory. Besides this, you have acquired a feeling of your superiority over the barbarian enemy against whom the children of liberty are fighting. To attack him is to vanquish him.

"American comrades, I am grateful to you for the blood you generously spilled on the soil of my country. I am proud of having commanded you during such splendid days, and to have fought with you for the deliverance of the world."

"The Stars and Stripes," the weekly paper of the A. E. F. in France, in giving a tabulated form of the record of the various divisions, and their insignia, which was worn on the shoulder of the left sleeve, said the following of the First Division:-

Division Insignia: Crimson figure "1" on khaki background, chosen because the numeral "1" represents the number of the division and many of its subsidiary organizations. Also, as proudly claimed, because it was the "First Division in France; first in sector; first to fire a shot at the Germans; first to attack; first to conduct a raid; first to be raided; first to capture prisoners; first to inflict casualties; first to suffer casualties; first to be cited singly in General Orders; first in the number of Division, Corps and Army Commanders and General Staff Officers produced from its personnel."

To this might have been added that the First Division, which was a Regular Army division, and originally comprised about twenty or thirty per cent "old soldiers," and the rest of us "war volunteers,"

but proud of being "Regulars," the First Division, which consisted of the 16th, 18th, 26th and 28th Infantry Regiments, the 5th, 6th and 7th Field Artillery Regiments, the 1st Engineer Regiment, and a complement of Cavalry, etc., was the division that General Pers.h.i.+ng, the commander-in-chief, picked out to fill the most vital positions on important occasions, as, for example, when, from the whole army, he chose the First Division to go into the front line just west of Montdidier, at the Battle of Picardy, to help hold the very apex of the huge German bulge that had swept southwestward from St. Quentin to Montdidier, in the great series of Hun drives which started on March 21st. 1918. Again, it was the First Division that Pers.h.i.+ng placed at Soissons at virtually the hinge of the great door movement in the turning point of the whole war, the Second Battle of the Marne, as heretofore described; and it was the First Division to which Pers.h.i.+ng again gave the post of honor when the St. Mihiel salient was closed, as it was this Division that was placed on the inside position of the great southern jaw, just east of Xivray and dangerous Mont Sec.

Casualties and kilometers make very interesting reading, but when a Commander-in-chief consistently and persistently picks out one certain division for the most difficult and all-important positions, there is not much room for argumentation.

Mr. Page, in his article in _The World's Work_, for May. 1919. in describing the Second Battle of the Marne, tells how the First Division went over the top with the 153rd French Infantry Division on its left, and the famous First Moroccan Division and the Second Division of the American Army on its right, and how, in this gruelling engagement, the First Division outlasted both the Second Division and the First Moroccans, and really also the 153rd French Division on its left, as this latter was obliged to get reinforcements, Mr. Page recapitulating the situation with the following paragraph:-

"When the division (the First Division) finally came out of the line it had lost more than 7,200 men, mostly in the infantry. The full complement of infantry in a division is 12.000. Five days' constant and successful attack after a long march: an advance of more than six and a quarter miles (ten kilometers); losses of at least 50 per cent, of the infantry engaged: keeping pace with the famous Moroccan Division and staving longer in the fight-all this had demonstrated that the 1st Division could stand in any company." In mentioning these facts there is no desire on my part to pretend that this outfit single-handed won the war, because, if I said that, I would be talking sheer nonsense. The consensus of opinion both at home and abroad, seems to be that the whole American Army lived entirely up to expectations, so that any man who was in a combat division, has good reason to feel proud of his own division, irrespective of what one that may have been. With this little word of explanation I feel at liberty to quote the following which appeared in the Paris edition of The New York Herald:-

Prowess of Yanks Compels Praise Even from Hun, (Special telegram to the Herald.) From Burr Price.

With the American Armies.

_Friday_

From a captured officer of the German army comes a remarkable tribute to the fighting prowess of the First Division of the American troops, whose work will go down in history as among the most remarkable of the present war.

He declared the Germans did not believe the Americans could produce, within five years, a division such as they had found the First Division to be. The German, when taken, had seen four years of severe fighting. This is what he had to say yesterday:-

"I received orders to hold the ground at all costs. The American barrage advanced toward my position and the work of your artillery was marvelous. The barrage was so dense that it was impossible for us to move out of our dugouts.

"Following the barrage closely were the troops of the First Division. I saw them forge ahead and knew that all was lost. All night I remained in my dugout, hoping vainly that something would happen that would permit me to rejoin my army. This morning your troops found me and here I am, after four years of fighting, a prisoner.

"Yesterday, I knew that the First Division was opposite us, and I knew we would have to put up the hardest fight of the war. The First Division is wonderful and the German army knows it.

"We did not believe that within five years the Americans could develop a division such as this First Division. The work of its infantry and artillery is worthy of the best armies of the world."

Little Gold Chevrons on My Cuffs The gold chevrons, called "stripes," worn on the cuffs of "overseas"

soldiers, during the World War, each one on the left cuff standing for six months' "overseas" service, and each chevron on the right cuff standing for a wound. One wound chevron meant a wound or wounds severe enough to take a man back to the hospital, irrespective of whether he had one or a dozen bullets or pieces of sh.e.l.l in him on that occasion.

Captain Blankburg The patrol herein described was what was called a "reconnoitering patrol," sent out solely for the purpose of gathering information, keeping itself unknown to the enemy, and not fighting unless actually attacked. "Combat patrols" were sent out for this latter purpose.

*Interrupted Chow*

Buzzy-cart The carts that were sent from the company kitchens, which were usually from six to ten kilometers back of the first line trenches, up to within about two to four kilometers of the front line, where they would stop at designated points until chow details from the second line came back to them, to carry the cans of slum, coffee, and the bread or hardtack, up to the men in the first and second line. All this, of course, was done under cover of darkness, but as the Germans had the range of all the roads, etc., and knew at about what time the food had to be gone after, it meant that almost every night at least one detail was shot to pieces.