BELLEAU WOOD
There was a dangerous bulge in the new American line formed by Belleau
Wood. In their advance the Americans had been unable to take this
forested little stronghold perched on a hill among rocks, and had swept
past it, after capturing a near-by elevation, and rushed on to
Bouresches. The wood concealed ambushes of German infantry and machine
guns, which were a thorn in the side of the Americans on the outskirts.
They had made several raids in the wood, expelling groups of Germans
here and there; but the next day the enemy would reappear and pour a
harassing fire on the American lines. Notwithstanding searching shelling
from American guns, the Germans seemed to retain a firm hold.
A German attack on June 8, 1918, to oust the Americans from the
positions they held on the borders of the wood precipitated an energetic
counterassault to clear the enemy completely out. The Americans had
already matured plans for riddling the entire woody plateau with a
deluge of shells. This artillery scheme was carried out on mathematical
lines, the area of the wood being marked off into checkerboard squares,
a square to each battery. Every part of the wood therefore had
established targets for the American gunners to play upon. The artillery
preparation lasted all of Sunday and Monday, June 9 and 10, 1918. It was
the most expansive exhibition of ordnance in action that the Americans
had undertaken. The wood was raked with more than 5,000 high explosive
and gas shells. At 3 o'clock on Monday morning the marines, who had been
in conflict with the Germans in their attack of Saturday, proceeded to
advance into the wood and penetrated it for two-thirds of a mile on a
66-yard front.
The operations were tersely reported by General Pershing to the War
Department as follows:
"June 11.--Northwest of Château-Thierry we were again successful in
advancing our positions in the Belleau Wood. We captured 250 prisoners,
of whom three were officers, and considerable material, including a
number of machine guns and trench mortars."
"June 13--Yesterday afternoon our troops northwest of Château-Thierry
captured the last of the German positions in the Belleau Wood, taking
fifty prisoners and a number of machine guns and trench mortars, in
addition to those taken on the preceding day."
The Germans now became a menace on the borders of the wood, where they
impinged on a number of awkward pockets or little salients. The
Americans in the wood enjoyed no sinecure, but were engaged in
continuous skirmishes against groups of the enemy. One small pocket the
Germans found too untenable under American fire on the northern side of
the wood and hastily vacated it on June 19, 1918, enabling the Americans
to advance five-eighths of a mile without resistance. A short and sharp
artillery fire on the position presaged an infantry attack, which the
Germans elected not to face. They carried their material with them in
their retreat, and the Americans, therefore, did not take any machine
guns nor prisoners. On the morning of June 21, 1918, the Americans
straightened their line further on the northern and eastern side by a
series of small but effective attacks. They rushed the positions held by
the enemy without the customary artillery opening. The Germans for the
most part fired a few shots and retired. Members of one post alone held
their ground, only to be annihilated. To the east a thin line of
American skirmishers obtained the objective in view there by merely
firing as they advanced.
Still the borders of the wood were not clear of the Germans. On June 23,
1918, the Americans directed their attention to the northwestern corner,
where the Germans held positions that appeared impregnable. The
Americans, in a night attack, started a heavy barrage, after which they
went forward and drove out the Germans. The operation lasted only half
an hour.
Another engagement that took place in the same quarter on the same day
was more extensive in scope though local in object. It resulted in the
Americans advancing their lines a distance of 200 to 400 yards on a
front of one kilometer, routing the Germans out of several hidden gun
nests, and the capture of five machine guns. The fighting was marked by
certain features, described by Edwin L. James:
"This fight, which lasted four hours, was not accompanied by artillery
or gas fire, and was mostly close hand fighting, the kind which
Americans most prefer. It was a fight such as seldom occurs in this war,
where usually trench positions are so well defined that barrages can be
laid safely by both sides down to a matter of inches.
"Germans and Americans got so mixed up in the north end of the Bois de
Belleau that neither side risked using artillery for fear of killing its
own men.
"The Americans began to advance at 6 o'clock in broad daylight. In the
extreme north wood the Germans had been able to establish some machine
guns, which were firing against us. Our men advanced against these
positions and discovered that to the north of the wood the Germans had
established a strong line position."
As to the ubiquitous machine guns, the Americans found that the Germans
had organized such posts with great ingenuity:
"At one point the nature of the terrain prevented machine guns on the
ground from commanding the surrounding area. Here a dead German gunner
was found seated in the crotch of a tree, his hand still resting on a
machine gun slung from a pulley and carefully counterbalanced down so
that it could be pointed in every direction. This German stayed at his
post until an American shot him.
"Another machine gun was found on a cleverly concealed platform in a
tree, while in another tree a one-pounder was mounted until we put it
out of commission.
"Preceding the advance of our infantry, American artillery had put down
a heavy bombardment of German positions in the woods, but large trees
impaired the effectiveness of the shells."
The retention by the Germans of positions abutting on the wood had been
reduced to a single point on the north. This remaining menace was
subjected to a dashing attack by the Americans on the night of June 25,
1918. In their various forays they had cleared the enemy out of the wood
several days ago; but the discovery was made that under cover of
darkness the Germans had planted machine guns behind huge bowlders, in
sunken roadways, in shell holes, and in trees in a narrow area on the
edge of the wood. It was most difficult to reach them in these
positions, and some fierce hand-to-hand fighting occurred in the
clearing process.
The attack involved an artillery bombardment lasting thirteen hours.
Only a small strip of underbrush, behind which the Germans had raised
their defensive works, remained to be cleared; but the importance of the
American advance was not to be measured by the extent of territory
taken. Though it only amounted to some 500 yards, it gave them
possession of virtually all of Belleau Wood, and enabled them to
dominate the ridge beyond, held by the Germans, besides straightening
their lines for more effective resistance to counterattacks as well as
for offensive operations. Over twenty machine guns were captured, with a
number of automatic rifles, small arms and ammunition, and 311
prisoners.
It was a surprise attack, in which the American artillery played a
brilliant part, throwing the whole German line in confusion and making
it such an inferno that prisoners said they were glad to get out of it
alive. In advancing, the Americans went one way and the German officers
tried to force their men forward the other way. One prisoner was shot in
the leg by his own officer because he hesitated confusedly between the
American guns and bayonets and the pistols in the hands of the German
officers.
An American private, who was in the first line of the advance, gave this
glimpse of the operation:
"We took up a position in the open wood; there were no trenches. The
Germans opened a heavy fire and shells fell around us like rain. We
charged over the rocky hill, our fellows laughing and yelling a war
whoop. We then came upon a wheat field and crossed in the face of a
withering shell and machine-gun fire, and drove back the Germans at the
point of the bayonet."
Interposing between the attacks around Belleau Wood were skirmishes for
the possession of Bouresches. This town, being only a mile or so to the
south of the wood, constituted a menace to the Americans if retaken by
the Germans, and consequently the latter made several determined efforts
to regain it. Two hours after the Americans made their first attack on
Belleau Wood on June 10, 1918, the Germans launched heavy forces against
the Americans holding Bouresches. A dark and cloudy night aided their
preparations for the rush, but the Americans, expecting an assault, had
the northern side of the town lined with machine guns, and had artillery
trained on the railroad embankment over which the Germans had to come.
When, at 5 o'clock, the Germans came they met a terrific machine-gun
fire, while a heavy barrage behind the attacking party, and gradually
lowered on it, not only cut off reenforcements, but killed many in it.
Two fresh divisions were thrown against the American center. Trusting to
the deep woods northeast of the village and the twisted spur of a hill
to conceal them, the leading divisions advanced in mass formation. They,
however, were observed from the Bois de Belleau and were brought under a
destructive hail of shrapnel before they could deploy. The fire was so
severe that the attack was disorganized and no progress could be made
for some time.
When the Germans did succeed in penetrating the defenses, they were met
with such enthusiasm in cold steel that their only choice was death or
surrender.
Another violent attack on the town came on the morning of June 13, 1918.
The Germans succeeded in entering the town after raking the American
positions by a furious bombardment. The Americans promptly darted out of
their shelters and engaged the invaders in a hand-to-hand conflict, in
which the latter were all killed or captured.
A moonlight sortie across the Marne east of Château-Thierry provided a
diversion for the American forces at that point while the marines were
busy on the Belleau-Bouresches line. Once over the river, they
established contact with hostile forces, killed a considerable number,
and brought back prisoners, mainly from Landwehr units. The following
description of the raid was furnished by an Associated Press
correspondent:
"Heavy clouds obscured the moon and a light drizzle had just begun to
fall when the two parties of Americans embarked in small boats and rowed
across the river from two points of the wooded bank. They crossed
without detection. One party entered the woodside held by the Germans
and penetrated cautiously under the dripping trees for a few hundred
feet.
"A break in the clouds suddenly let the moonlight through, and the
Americans saw Germans near by. The Americans immediately opened fire
from a little rise in the ground, and the Germans threw themselves flat.
Rifles cracked, and then the automatics got into action. Those of the
enemy who remained alive were taken prisoners. Twelve enemy dead were
counted before the patrol made its way back to the boats and rowed to
its own side of the river.
"The other patrol met another enemy party, apparently sentries, going on
guard. Several of the Germans were killed or wounded and one was taken
prisoner."
A previous diversion at midnight was directed at a wood, also to the
east of Château-Thierry. Aerial photographs had revealed a host of enemy
troops and much material concealed there, and upon them the American
guns poured an avalanche of projectiles, sending 1,200 shells of all
calibers into one small area in ten minutes. To the west of the town, a
fight occurred round a commanding hill whose northern, or unimportant
side, was held by the Germans. The latter sent forces around both sides
and over the top to expel the American and French troops, who held the
crest and the other flanks of the hill, without gaining an advantage.