Julius Klausner

“ Brooklyn hailed Brooklyn; Harlem called to Harlem; Bronx met Bronx. It was a breath of home to the already veteran Sixty-Ninth and more than a cheering welcome to us.
We shared Vacqueville with a battalion of the Alabama regiment of the 42d "Rainbow" Division. Advance parties were sent into the lines to acquaint themselves with the position which we were to take over. And in the dead of night, on June 20th-21st, Company B took over that part of the line between Ancerviller and Badonviller designated as P. C. (post commandant) Hameau and P. C. Montreux. ”

“ Once in Calais we found that we divided honors with Company C of our regiment in being the first two National Army companies to land in France, having debarked on French soil April 20, 1918.
That night we experienced our first real touch of war. Sheltered in tents in British Rest Camp No. 6, we received a call of welcome from a squadron of Jerry aeroplanes. A truly thrilling reception it was, with the thunder of Hun bombs alternating with the "ping!" of British anti-aircraft guns,—and thru it all the "pat-pat" of a multitude of machine guns. ”

“ On October 7th our division organized a concerted attack on the German lines. We realized the awful plight of the "Lost" Battalion and all day we fought against the enemy machine-gun nests. One by one they were silenced, and at 5:00 P.M. Company B, alone of all the division, succeeded in reaching and saving the "Lost" Battalion. The Germans were driven beyond the hill and once more the line was straightened out. ”

“ All day men and equipment poured onto the decks and into the hold of the giant transport. Our entire regiment and one battalion of the 308th Infantry were quartered between decks. Next morning, before reveille, the Justicia slipped quietly down New York Bay, thru Ambrose Channel, and into the Atlantic.
B Company had no quarters de luxe. We were crowded into small space—Section K—far down on D deck, with sleeping hammocks slung over our mess tables. And our mess, served by the British, was a sorry series of meals. ”

“ We went forward to their relief on October 4th, but were held back by the effective machine-gun fire of the enemy. Next day we again strove to extricate the besieged battalion, but again we failed. Certain enemy machine guns were so placed that their hail of death was impassable. They seemed an insurmountable obstacle in the path of the entire 307th Infantry. The men of Company B knew that the machine-gun positions of the enemy must be taken. ”

“ The casualties suffered from the raid, together with those resulting from the gas attack of June 24th, so depleted the Company as to make an immediate relief imperative and that same night Company L took over our sector.
A subsequent reorganization of the entire regiment distributed the men of the various companies so that all would have an equal strength. Our numbers were so few that we lost none of our men in this process but instead received increases not only from many of the other companies, but also from the 76th New England Division. ”

“ Early on the morning of September 14th, supported by a barrage laid down by combined American, French, and Italian artillery, we attacked the enemy position that lay on the far side of the Ravine Merval.
The advance was made down the side of the valley in the face of a withering fire of enemy machine guns. Tho suffering heavy casualties, our progress was unchecked and we swarmed up the opposite slope with undiminished vigor. So rapid were our gains that we had to pause to allow our flanks to catch up. ”

“ On November 5th the combined strength of our entire Regiment was hurled against the 195th German Division, and Stonne fell to us. The capture succeeded in liberating a French population that for four years had been under the dominance of an enemy army.
The Company Sergeants. Camp Mills, May 1st, 1919
The enemy by this time was retreating fast, and so closely did we press them, we were far in advance of our cannon. The progress of the big guns was much delayed by poor roads, but the spirit of victors was in us all and little did we miss our artillery. ”

“ The barrage did not lift until 6:00 A.M. and when it did the platoons were forced to take a defensive position to guard against any possible success of the enemy.
During the night before the attack, the men had been digging until a late hour on a system of trench defense. This entailed a lack of sleep which, together with the continued wearing of the gas mask and the exposure endured immediately after the barrage, weakened their resistance to such an extent as to make them easy victims to the poisonous gases. ”

“ The "school of the squad" divided time with gas instruction. The study of the automatic rifle was complicated, but so was the "school of the platoon". We practiced the manual of arms and learned how to throw hand grenades. Little by little we were perfected in the art of thinking, and knowing, and doing, the right thing at the right time. [Pg 10]
Camp Upton, New York. Bird's-eye View from Tower Hill
Early in 1918 we felt ready. On Washington's Birthday our division paraded down Fifth Avenue a complete fighting machine. ”

“ Zouafques proved to be a sort of military high school, where we polished our elementary knowledge of tactics. Our "noncoms" were sent to specialized schools in scouting, sniping, musketry, automatic rifles, grenades, and infantry tactics. The instruction, as well as the food and equipment, was distinctly British.
Five weeks of this work and we took our next step trench-ward. Hiking from Zouafques at 1.30 A.M., May 13th, we entrained a la chevaux at Audruicq. A day's journey via Calais, Boulogne, Etaps, and Doullens brought us to Mondrecourt, in Flanders. ”

“ October 2d we left the reserve and assumed a support position. On that day the forces in the line drove forward, but in the execution of the advance Companies E, H, I, K, L, and M of the 308th Infantry and Company K of the 307th Infantry found themselves trapped by the enemy on a hill north of the Bois de la Buironne. These units were the only ones to reach their objective but by thus advancing ahead of their flanks, they gave the enemy an opportunity to surround them. In this hazardous position they struggled as the "Lost" Battalion. ”

“ After three days of little water and practically no food, at 5:30 on the afternoon of September 8th—still brilliant daylight—we crawled from our funk holes and, each squad in single file in formation known as "squad columns", we advanced against German artillery in an effort to straighten the line. As we reached the outskirts of Merval we were subjected to an intense barrage of H. E.'s, suffering the loss of four men killed and five injured. ”

“ The socks, the cigarettes, the wristlets and the soap were needs of vast import, but our knowledge that those behind us were marshaled just as we were was more warming than wristlets, more comforting than cigarettes. ”

“ Waiting until our patrol was fairly within their lines, and then partially surrounding them, the enemy centered upon our men a deadly fire of rifles, machine guns, and grenades. The raiders fought valiantly in return but were outnumbered four to one. After an hour's fighting, seventeen of our party, including Captain Barrett, lay dead, and sixteen were captured. Of the twenty-one who returned, thirteen were wounded. We were informed by two German prisoners captured a few days later that seventeen Germans had been killed. ”

“ It was an intermittent hike and we stopped successively at La Berliere, Oches, Harricourt, Fleville, Le Four de Paris, Florent, Sivry-sur-Ante, Noyers, Andernay, Hoericourt, Eclaron, Fresnay, Maisons, and Bayel, arriving at our base in Lanty on December 5th.
It was soon apparent that altho we had been spared the alternatives we still were not going to see Hoboken before Christmas. So we made ourselves comfortable and settled down to a long stay. ”

“ On September 17, 1917, the 77th Division came to life. One of the first units to be organized within the division was Company B—307th Infantry, formed also on September 17th.
Immediately we were on paper as a regular unit, we quickly took semblance of a military organization. Under the leadership of Captain Blanton Barrett, 1st Lieutenant Alexander D. B. Pratt, and 2d Lieutenants Philip Cheney and Everett A. Butterfield, we were gradually whipped into an efficient machine. Corporals were made and unmade—sergeants came and went—and we were drilled, drilled, drilled. ”

“ The enemy awoke, however, three days later, on the morning of Monday, June 24th, and attacked our regimental outposts. In order to effectively prevent any assistance being rendered by the platoons stationed in St. Maurice, a heavy barrage was laid on the town beginning at 3:30 A.M. During the early part of the shell [Pg 14] ing the continual use of H. E.'s (high explosive shells) , with an occasional gas shell, served to keep the men not only penned in their bomb-proof cellars, but also forced the continued use of gas masks. ”

“ Sergt. Edward M. Crimmins, Binghamton, N. Y.
Sergt. A. James DiMaggio, Staten Island, N. Y.
Pvt. 1st Class Hugh A. Donnelly, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Corp. Edward J. Dwyer, Buffalo, N. Y.
Pvt. William Ehrmann, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Sergt. Josiah E. Evans, Ansonia, Conn.
Pvt. 1st Class John Greany, New York.
Pvt. 1st Class P. M. Hagen, Lansford, N. D.
Corp. ”