The “Buckeye Division,” the 37th Ohio, got a new nickname for itself
at Montfaucon in September, 1917. It was called “Spearheads” because
of its ability to start a drive and carry on until its objectives were
reached and captured. In a history of the Division Jack Koons (of the
Cincinnati _Inquirer_), who was one of the Spearheads, tells in a
breezily entertaining manner of the first experience of the boys going
“over the top.”
Montfaucon had been held for over three years by the Germans, and was
one of the so-called “invulnerables.”
The division historian says:
“Just before dusk on the night of September 25 the men began to enter
the trenches. Blankets, overcoats, packs, and all unnecessary equipment
were piled in large salvage heaps. Behind the lines, crouched beneath
leafy screens of camouflage, was the artillery. At 10.25 o’clock the
first gun spoke and all along the line great splotches of red seared
the sky and the boom, screech, and crack of the gigantic pieces echoed
and reëchoed through the hills. Far across the landscape, rising
from the plain and standing out upon the horizon, was Montfaucon.
The white walls of the city could be seen distinctly in the daytime.
A church steeple, long ago deserted by worshipers, stood, a vacant
monument to the ravages of the foe. In the advance against Montfaucon
it was necessary to advance approximately twelve kilometers, through
two dense woods, a marshy land, up a sharp slope, another plain, and
then a sharp ascent into the town. It was later learned that a German
Division Headquarters was located in the town.”
[Illustration:
© _Committee Public Information._