Trench and camp. (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, October 23, 1918, Image 1

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i iI ■1L«~ . ' ■■ "■•JIII'M t~T, Wl® KB ®WTCT. Hancock Soldiers “Click” In FourthJLiberty Loan British Mission Guests of Honor at Banquets Tonight and Tomorrow General Edwards and Staff ! Hosts to Officers at Dinner! Wednesday Night ALL ORGANIZATIONS TO BE REPRESENTED Main Training Depot and Other Units Unite to Do Honor to Officers of Our Allies Brigadier-General Oliver Edwards and the headquarters staff will tender a ban quet to the. British Military Mission at tached to the Machine Gun Training (’en ter, Wednesday evening, at the old Red Gross building in the Fourth Group Special arrangements have been made for elaborate decorations for thr occa sion. Many of the prominent officers at tached to the Machine Gun Training ('en ter have been invited, and will be in at tendance to honor the mission which has co-operated with and aided the officers and men in the center with their ma chine gun knowledge gained on the west ern from. The following are the guests of honor, members of the British Military Mission: I Majors H. Jephson, William A. Stan ley, G. W. Hall, Herbert Smith, R. S. Mayne, and Arthur G. Edmonds. Captains J E Price, J. T. Lean, H. Daniels. A. S Foskett, H. Cartwright, K. B. M< Kellar, R. M. C. Orrnrod and S. E. Moore.. Lieutenants A. K. Boyd, C. R. Brown and William Faird. Lieutenant 1.. J. Mousset, representing! the French Mission, also will attend. The other guests invited are officers representing the follinws units: Main Training Depot, Colonel F. I). Wickman, commanding officer; Lieut. - Col J. L. 'Vailing, G. M. Lee. W. V. Car te y and R. (). Ragsdale; Majors G. W. G. Whiting. F. C. Rogers, J E. Johnstone, W. B. Mos:- W. 1,. Dixon, G. H. Farrell, R M. Douglas, J. I). Austin and C. A. McGarrigle. Specialists School, <'clone! I'.. G Oven shine, commanding officer. Central MacMii* Gun officers’ Train ing School, Lieut.-('ol. Wade H. West moreland, commanding officer; Maj. Karl S. Bradf-u.d. senior ins! dh t.>r. and Major: Francis Brannon. Jeffery G. A. Montague, Herbert R. Rising and Estill V. Smith. Development Battalion, Major Richard T. Fleming, commanding officer. Machine Gun School, Colonel George J. Holden, commanding officer; Majors C A Bagby. W. W. Erwin, T. F. Taylor and ' E. F. Reinhardt. The Song That the Machine Gun Sings By Regt. Sgt.-Major Ron aid Phillips Barnum. The following verses, “The Song of the Machine Gun,” is the impression that the great Machine Gun Training (’enter at Camp Hancock h. s made upon the mind of one of the camp’s most gifted poets, Ronald Phillips Barnum. The Song of the Machine Gun. Come, list to the song of the gun; Come, hear the tale of death. My voice is like to the roll of the drum, But the fire of hell is my breath, And the song that I hum Is the song of death. I’m the spider that lurks on the sand neath the sun In the web of life as I spin it. Thousands must fall ere the web be spun; Thousands must die ere my work shall be done; They must and they shall—there’s a fight to be won — There's a fight to be won—and I’ll win it! For the fire of hell is my breath, And the song that I sing is death. The foemen come, but the foemen ; stop. I speak and I see them crumple and drop As withered leaves from the wind swept top: Writhing—or still —on the plain they lie. By hundreds they come—by hundreds they die. I laj- a barrage across the field. No foe alive can pass through it. Huns Ordered to Holds Yanks at All Costs I With the American Armies in France. Oct. 22.—The Germans continue to strengthen their forces opporing the Americans in the Argonne-Meuse region by rushing in i n.ts of new divisions. A captured order issued by General von der Marwitz appeals to ti e German soldiers to hold this section at all costs, which he de clares is the most vital to German military movements. Prisoners re port their officers are determined t > hold back the Yankee push. In clearing out the Rappes wood which the doughboys accomplish ea yesterday afternoon in three hours despite heavy machine gun and artillery fire they have removed one of the most serious obsta cles to their continued progress. LODGE DENOUNCES PEACUTTEMPT Washington, D. C., Oct. 22.— The Ger man reply is “a clumsy trap, awkwardly »et to involve us in diplomatic discus uon,” today declared Senator Lodge, TRENCH- andvc AMP THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF CAMP HANCOCK, THE MACHINE GUN TRAINING CENTER OF THE U. S. ARMY VOL. 2. With the Co-operation of the Augusta Herald, Augusta. Ga. OCTOBER. 23, 1918. Under the Auspices of the Army Y. M. C. A. No. 3. i Non-Commissioned Officers to ■ Entertain Cousins on Thurs- i day Night GENERAL EDWARDS AND OTHER OFFICERS INVITED Lieutenants on Committee to Arrange Affair. General’s Aide in Charge of the Details A banquet will be tendered the non commissioned officers and enlisted mer of the British Military Mission now on duty at the Machine Gun Training (’en ter, on Thursday evening at 7:30 p. m,. in the Red Cross building in the Fourth Group. The dinner is given by the non commissioned officers of the Machine (Jun Training Center. The committee in charge of the ar rangements for this affair included Lieu tenant Samuel Evans, Jr., aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Edwards and Lieu tenants A. N .Braham, (*. Roby, F. (’. McCarthy, C. S. Stebbins. D. D Sin gletary, John A. McClellan and L. F. Raymond of the Main Training Depot, and Lieutenant Alexander, personnel of ficer of the Machine Gun School. Regi menta Supply Sergeant Joseph A, Quinn is assisting in arranging an eleborate en tertainment which will follow the ban que.t Brigadier-General Edwards and a num ber of officers have been invited to at- I tend. Major G W. Hall and Captains J. E. Price and S. E. Moore will be pres ent to represent the officers of the Brit ish Military Mission Patriotic colors will dominate the deco rations and the tri-colors will be draped on the walls. The non-commissioned officers and mon of the British Military Mission invited are as follows: R. S. M., J. C. .Maclean. Q. M. S._ H. Noonan. C. S. m.’s- J. T Murray, A. V. Smale, J. W. Husher, W. R. q’hnmas, Walter ark ins. Sergeant Instructors—F. J. Bull, H J. D, T. Jones, S. B Cooper, R. J. M. Ross, Wm. J. Hanney, James <’. Park, J* Pope, W F. A. Walker. E. Lambourne R. J. Greenfield, W. Laurie, W. Rush worth, A C. Locker, H, Jenkinson. Privates—V. G. King. E. A. Bastable, S. E. Mackay, L. Sampson, J. W. Lee, "'• Ma >’« H., Bowman. Wm. R. Storey’ • I' - Meagher, 11. R. Henderson, J E. I Grieves, A. At tewell. I've a message of steel and my heart is steeled. There’s work to be done. I’ll do it! The fire of hell is my breath, And the song that I sing is death. Yet mine is no hatred of man, Mine no wild frenzy of rage; Mine is no lust for blood That death alone can assuage. The Song of Death—l must sing it still— Would to God 1 might silence an end it! But slaughter I must, so slaughter I will— There’s a Cause to defend. 11l defend it! The fire of hell is my breath. And the song that I sing is death. My sights may be trained on the foe, But my aim is high above it. Over the misery, anguish and woe ' There’s Truth to be 1 love it! Though the fire of hell is my breath, And the song that I sing is de. th. I curse the power that bade me live. For the lives I must take I’ve a life to give, On the altar of Freedom 1 lay it. 1 1 kill but. to die that others may i There's a price to be paid. Well, I’ll pay it! The fire of hell is my breath, And the spng that 1 sing is death. Come, list to the song of the gun; Come, hear the tale of death. My voice is like to the roll of the drum, But the fire of hell is my breath And the song that 1 hum Is the song of death. i ranking republican member of the for eign relations committee. Lodge declared that there should be no | reply by the United States except the , same unconditional surrender which was i exacted from Bulgaria. 1 "It seems to me unbelievable that any one should be taken in by the last Ger- ; man note," said Lodge. < "It is varnished over with a little false « flattery directed to the President and i the people of the United States which can ( deeive no one. In other respects it is a I clumsy trap, awkwardly set. to involve < us in diplomatic discussion—of all things to be avoided at this moment. It will i not bear the slightest analysis. r BRITISH SURPRISE RAID ...... _ „„ --— —“”7’ - r- - <1 ■ m p ■. ■ i r T J,sr-1 •Si.rre.i^.iT’.r sl , ACTUAL PHOTOGGRAPH OF BRITISH RAID ON GERMAN TRENCHES. This official photograph shows a British patrol in a surprise raid eha rging through a heavy fire into a town held by the Germans. Many thousands of prisoners have been taken by th •• British in these sudden raids. Machine Gnu Batteries Roar Accompaniment to “Big Show” Staged at Range Near Hancock Students in Advanced Course at Machine Gun School in Great Demonstration NIGHT BARRAGE FIRE FURNISHES THRILLS “Zero Hour” Greeted With Hail of Death From Forty- Eight Browning Guns O —VO I 55 FIELD OFFICERS AND 58 SUBALTERNS COMPLETE COURSE A (.-lass consisting of staff and I held officers, of th.- rank of Lieu- I tenat Colonel and Majors uho are I staff offietrs. graduated ‘Saturday i from the Machine Gun School, i where they received an eight weeks i course of instruction. Another class composed of 58 I second lieutenants, who are repre ■ sentatives of tho various colleges throughout the country, and who were all commissioned at Camp I Hancock, also graduated Saturday. These officers were sent to the Ma- I chine Gun Training Center to ac- I quire machine gun training and I I will be instructors in tho Students’ | I Army Training Corps. | I I o _____ o Night. Black night, and the silence of death. Not a sound to betray our plan to the "enemy,’’ hundreds of yards dis tant. In the silence and the dark, forty eight gun squads twisting wheers and clamping levers or forty-eight machine guns, training them with deadly pre cision on tho •‘enemy’’ lines. "Cr-r-r-a-a-a-sb: ’ The staccato bark of a Browning, mingled with the voice of seve t n other Brownings into a steady roar, tearing the silence to shred.-. Ajid i for a width of one hundred yards, a hail | of lad splashing into the "enemy trench." ' One-minute —two minutes—three minutes' then Silence! Silence so loud as to be ear- i splitting after the crashing noise of the ; second before. What does it mean? If you wore in that ■ enemy trench, anywhere along the line, | and heard it, though you were not in ; the path of the leaden hail, what would you think? You woldn’t have time to t hink. "Cr-r-r-a-a-a-sh!” Before ynu had time to collect your thoughts, again that roar. Farther away this time—a m.ile to the right. But now, in that enemy trench you hear the whine of that stream of steel hurtling over your head, the minor wail of the machine guy's song of death. You gasp with the realization that three hundred yards farther back, your re serve trench, where wait tho m*>n who are to rush to your assistance if you are attacked, are the target of that stream. i For half an hour it keens nn- to your | right., .to the lef and for directly in front, while consternation spreads among the men in your trench and the surround in.; trenches. As soon as one battery ceases to spe;»k. another start. - . What's coming? Arc the Americans go ing to attack? In the back areas, your comrades are massing to move un into ’he front line at the first move from the trenches opposite. Down in a deep dutrout in rear of the American treinches. the commander <>f the machine gun battalion sits, blocking out on the rm • in front of him with a red pencil, little squares which the har rassing fire -f his nine batteries have made untenable for the enemy. He con sults his watch. In j.ine shallow emplacements, scattered I apparently at random throughout the sec- j tor where a brigade of American infan- I try awaits the word to go over the top. nine battery commanders, wearing the crossed rifles and the "M. G.” of the American machine gunner, crouch down and look at their watches bv the pin point of light from a tiny pocket flash. Eight of the batteries are silent, and the gunners are again twisting wheels and clamping levers are they alter the lay of their guns, fine lone battery of four guns, away off to the right, has- taken up th£ work of worrying the enemy. The other eight tense, silent, are waiting. The battery commanders still crouch with eyes glued to the second hand on their watches —and every second hand is mov ing precisely as every other one does. The major, down in his dugout, synchronized all the watches with his, an hour before. The lone battery stops firing. For a mo ment there is silence. Suddenly— "Cß-R-R-A-A-A-SH'” The sounds that «ent before were weak and ('..liipi’.rru wiln this. Foriy- eight un’s speaking as one. And for hun dreds of yards acoss the enemy sector. st el curtail suddenly drops a harrier of screeching, sizzling bullets, absolutely im penetrable. The “S. O. S.” barrage! The enemy reserves are shut, off! out at the rifle range of tho Machine Gun Training Center, where thousands of line Americans are undergoing intensive training to enable them to go “over there" ami car* on with the job of the American machine gunners, who turned the Hun tide back al Chateau Thierry, they staged last week a "big show" that was almost as realistic as actual bttle, with the ex pption that in place of a live enemy they used targets. Every detail was accorded with the tac tics now being used on the Western Front. The officers of the. Machine Gun School, which is one of the most impor tant branches of the Machine Gun Train ing Center -the place where officers and non-commissioned officers receive their training in the theory ami practice of machne gun tactic: - saw to it that every thing was carried out just as though an enemy actually were present. It was a. demonstration of the use of machine guns, on a larger scale than has ever been undertaken in the United States. It was the first of the big things that art! iu store at the Augusta camp, since the equipment of the School of Fire, formerly situated at Fort Sill. Okla., was foved to the Machine Gun (’enter. Forty-eight guns, and the quota of men for an American Machine Gun Battalion look part in the '‘show.” Ie served a double purpose it furnished instruction for every man that took part in it, and at the same time, served as a test of the qualifications of officers who are tak ing the advanced course in machine gun cry, and who must pas slhe test before they leave the school. The policy of the Machine Gun School at ('amp Hancock is not. to (111 the offi cers and men full of hook learning and lectures, but to give them practical tests in the work they have studied, before they have studied, before they can be J qualified as machine gun officers. Two lof the batteries used in the problems ! worked out. last week were manned en tirely by these prospective graduates. , There wore nine batteries in a)l. six of ; four guns each, and three of eight guns, lor 18 in all. Some ofg the groups were | distant for the others as much as nine- I teen hundred meters, more than a mie. : The batteries were divided into four i groups. In addition to th’e group com ! posed of the students in the advanced I course, the • uns of one group were rnan- I nod by men from the provisional machine ! Gun < unpany of the school, which is ful jly equipped for instructional purposes, ■and the two other groups wore composed -I of men that have had very little train . • ing, having been on the range only three ■ days prior to the demonstration. I Perfect bason was maintained through- I out the demonstration. The battalion commander kept in constant communica tion with the group commanders by tele- J phone, the commu neat ion being estab i fished bv the 17th Ser vice Company, Signal Corps, which is assigned to tho [Machine Gun ('enter. The group com : . manders maintained • communication with I the batteries under their supervision by • | means of runners. I As far as the instructional purpose of ■the demonstration is concerned, it served • j its purpose admirably. It was intended to show the organization and of ■ machine gun batteries in barrage work. [ And as far as the test it afforded the i embryo machine gun commands is con •.cerned, suffice it to say that they show- < 1 a perfect score. Examination of the targets, by daylight the next morning showed them riddled by bullets. Not a battery but what reached its objjeetive with a perfect hail of fire. Ami all this with not a light visible to the enemy. j To tell exactly how this was accom plished would meat: a long, technical and therefore uninteresting to the layman— explanation a box with its closed side toward the enemy and its open side to wards the machine gun nest. A light is placed in the box, which naturally is invisible to the enemy but can be seen from the machine gun emplacement. The box is then shoved out a few yards in front— out in No Man’s Band -and by calculation of angles of elevation and angles of traverse, your machine gun ner can tell just how to set his gun so that he can aiYn at the light in the box and hit the enemy. All of the targets were hit with as much precision as though the firing had been done at high noon. The demonstration Wednesday night consisted of a program of harrassing fire. T- ' All watches were synchronized to the second. Orders were issued by the bat talion commander t<> harra> :• points in the enemy line with a fire curtain. ( on the second, one battery would open task. When it had finished, another, per haps more (han a mile away would wor ry the enemy at another point. At one limo the word went out for an “S. o. S.“ barrage, and on the second, forty-eight guns answered the <*nlL Thursday’s program was entirely diff erent. Watches were again synchronized, and the “zero hour” set. at 11:10 a. m. Again on the very second, forty-eight guns sent, forth their stream of lead on a front of nine hundred meters, laying down an impenetrable barrier that no living thing could pass through. An interesting feature of this problem was that one of the battery groups was placed well forward, and fire from the rear batteries passed directly over the heads of the men in the advanced ma chine gun “nests ” As a convincing demonstration of the safety of overhead (ire, such as is used over the heads of our advancing infantry, it was most con vincing. To show (he mobility of the machine guns, and how perfectly the situation was in hand, an unexpected element was in troduced into the problem. An imagin ary cross-roads was plotted on the map. and the loc tion given by telephone and messenger to the battery commanders. Within the space of a very few seconds, (Continued on page seven.) WHAT’S IN A NAME? What’s your idea of an expressive nickname for a Machine Gunner ? Last week’s Trench and Camp carrried an announcement that a contest for nicknames would be held, ini i‘.mg all Machine Gunners to send in their sugges tions. To date some very good names have been sent in, but the number is too small. i Every branch of the service has its own peculiar nickname. When you see a blue-hat-corded soldier you involuntarily think of Doughboy. When you see a sailor you call him a Gob. The British call their Machine Gunners the Emma Gees, and in speaking of their machine guns call them “typewriters.” Let’s I have an American nickname, something with some “real live Yankee PEP.” something that will suggest the “CLICK” of the Machine Gunnery; something that will associate these rootin’, tootin’, scootin’, shootin’ suns of guns” with their work of planting the Stars and Stripes in Unter den Linden. I I There is only one best branch of the service, and the Machine Gunner takes it for granted that you know what that branch is. And yet when you mention him, you only call him a Machine Gunner. Let’s get a name that will indelibly stamp the Machine Gunner as a distinctive kind of chap, a name that will not only go through this war but one that you can tell your grandchildren in years to come. One that will by its very sound tell the story of how the Yank Machine Gunners showed the Hun what a real scrap was. Camp Hancock is the Machine Gun Training Center of the United States army. Mull that over a little, Buddy, and you’ll come to tjie conclusion that this is SOME MORE camp and that there is SOME MORE jdb on hand, that of I training the Machine Gunners for the entire United States army. No other camp in the world has this distinction, no other camp has a bigger job. What is more appropriate then than Camp Hancock should once and for all name the man who is at the present time making history for Uncle Sam and who in the days to come is destined to play an important role in making the world safe for demo cracy. Start the old gray matter working fellows. Send in your suggestions to the Name Contest Editor of Trench and Camp. MAKE IT SNAPPY! MACHINE GUN LIBERTY FIVE UIMN LOAN South Carolina Town Mistaken in Supposing Quota Had Been Reached Call for As sistance. "FLYING FIVE"’TO RESCUE PUTS LOAN ACROSS. Final Count Shows Barnwell Went Over the Top by Twen ty Per Cent Surplus. When General Edwards granted per mission to the Machine Gun Flying Five to answer urgent call from Barnwell, S. (’., who. due to an error in tb<> figures were twenty odd thousand dollars behind their quota on the last day of the drive, he assigned the boys a men’s-size job. Having experienced the glory of going -ver the top, and then finding that it was a. mistake, was the luck that befell the folks of Barnwell, the county seat of that county. 'The S. O. S. reached (’amp Ham- ck in time to speed Sergeants Case.\, Bales, Quinn, together with Corporal 'Handman and Private Bolger to the scene of the Liberty Loan rally at that place in the car of J. L. McCarter of Aiken. Arriving there, the bovs just sailed right into the Barnwell folks for the necessary amount, ami managed to im press them for an additional twenty per cent over and above their allotment But the eagles were not pouring into the cof fers as rapidly as we write about it. True, Barnwell is a very patriotic center, but. the fact that they had spent their en thusiasm a day earlies in going over the ton was almost too much for them. Despite this clouded atmosphere, the quintet at once started a very determined drive tn push the county seat over the top. After Sergeant 'asey had given the folks one of his best numbers, with the trio of Handman at the piano, and Ser geant Balos and Private Bolger, the fa mous pickers of the banjo accompanying him. the crowd showed a little interest in the afternoon’s doings Mr. A. E. Brown, the local chairman of ♦hi liberty Loan s his fellow citizens and told them of the great need for immediate uppnrt. Ser geant Quinn was introduced, and started a rapid-fire bond acmpaign. The first bargain he offered the Barnwell folks was a thousand dollar song, one of Ser geant Casey’s not pieces. It wasn’t long before the purchase price mounted, step by step, to the grand total of seventy two hundred dollars for the song. With t ricks and intrigue. - ach succeeding song and piece by the trio brought a higher mark. Before the meeting closed at the hour fixed by the government for the official ending of the Fourth Liberty Loan, the Machine Gun Five had succeed ed in selling twenty-seven thousand dol lar.4* worth of bonds. This amount was five thousand in excess of Barnwell’s allotment. The following letter sent to the authori ities was received at Headquarters telling of the manner in which the Machine Gunner “Click” made the dollars click in South Carolina: “Col. F. D. Wickham, “Commanding Officer, • : ' “Main Training Depot, “Camp Hancock, Ga. “My Dear Colonel: "I wish to thank v-u heartily for your kindness in granting our request to have (Continued <.n page 7) ’ ■ -J' L =S I IM ONE MILLIOH 111 IIOIKTJ BONDS BOUGHT 111 GAM? Boys Go "Over the Top” With a Vengeance in Buying U. S. Securities OFFICER CANDIDATES LEAD WITH $214,800 Construction Quartermaster’s i Office Second on Roll of i Honor. Group No. 2 Next Reports tabulated today show that ; Camp Hancock subscribed to the ; amount of $1,104,300 to the Fourth - Liberty Bond. The banner organization of the camp , is (iie Central Machine Gun Officers’ j Trajning School with a subscription i* of $214,X00, which represents the sales of 4,296 bonds. Following tho Central Machine Gun j officers' Trailing School was the ' » 'on. .ruction Quartermaster, with a j subscription of $148,850, representing 2,977 bonds. Third plac“ is awarded to the com- i panics of the Second Group, Main j Training Depot, with a subscription of $133,650 with 2,673 bonds. Group 3. Main Training Depot, which is next with $97,900 and 1.958 bonds, managed to beat the Machine Gun School, which subscribed for $89,550, representing 1,- 791 bonds. The total sales show that the Ma- ; chine Gun Training Center and Camp Hancock in general have made aver,; excellent showing and will stand corh ■ * parison w ; th the Liberty Bond activ ities of other camps. The summary of total subscriptions follow: Headquarters Co. and Detach- ment M. G. T „C$ 17,700 Quartermasters ‘Headquarters and Detachment 750 Motor Tr’v/k No < . Motor Cycle Co. No. 307 .... 700 Headquarters Infirmary .. .. 100 Camp Surgeon .. 2,250 Dental Sanitary Corps 1.000 Headquarters Main Training Depot 1,850 Group No. 2 133,650 Group No. 3 97,900 Group No. 4 1,550 Group No. 5 43,100 Group No. 6 N.... 32,500 Group No. 7 10,750 63d Company 3,050 Camp Personnal- Detachment 6,100 Machine < Jun School 89,550 Machine Gun Ordnance Re- pair Shop 1,250 Specialists’ School, M. G. T. C 1,250 Central Mach ne Gun Officers Training School .... .. .. 214,800 -*o2d Reserve Labor Bat- talion 2,850 Development Battalion . . . . 13,450 47th Service Co. Signal Corps 1,700 Camp Quartermaster 26,150 School for Bakers and Cooks 3,850 Base Hospital 11,500 (Continued on page 7) i