Weu York-Division'

AS ATTAC WEU YORK-DIVISION' F-O-R-E-W-O-R-D E are all glad to have a Christmas number of THE GAS ATTACK. With the enterprise and thoroughness so characteristic of our men, those charged with the work of producing- this number accomplished their mission in the manner shown by its pages. They are indeed to be congratulated. Our last Christmas number was published in Spartanburg, S. C. Very much has transpired since then. We have come overseas. We have served and fought in Belgium and in France. It fell to our lot to take part in wdiat doubtless will be regarded as one of the greatest battles of this greatest of all wars. The valor of our officers and men, their determined skill in action and their tremendous pride in their organizations, have been the subject of such continued praise and from such eminent sources, that no further reference to them need be made here. I have said that much has transpired since the appearance of our last Christmas number. Much indeed, for the soldiers of the division today are not the same men who came with the division to France. They may answer to the same names and there may be a resemblance so far as outward appearances are concerned. In those mental qualities, however, which individualize men and distinguish them from others — in those qualities, our men are new men. They are not the men we brought to France. They are not the men we brought to France because they are products of a new and extraordinary life, an existence that may be likened to the process employed for the production of steel. For our men have been through the crucible. They are the survivors of all character and intensity of fire. They have seen and faced death in all its violent forms. In physical effort ani in mental strain they have endured what none but the hardiest could endure, and survive. When our men return to their homes they will look on the world through eyes that will depict the sheltered life, its joys, its problems, and its sadness, in forms and in hues very different from the pictures seen by the ordinary man. Home and hap• piness, friends and pleasures, will no longer be accepted as matters of course, but by contrast with other days and this other life, will be appraised and truly valued. How contemptibly trivial to men who have lived and half died in shell holes at night, in mud and water to their waists and with machine gun bullets skimming the tops of their tin hats, seem those circumstances of the sheltered life which constitute for some such apparently vexatious and depressing problems. Merry Christmas and many Happy New Years to our soldiers who will constitute with their discriminating minds the America of tomorrow. JOHN F. O'RYAN, Major General. MAJOR GENERAL JOHN F. O'RYAN COMMANDING 27th AMERICAN DIVISION T a time when the fate of Europe hung in the balan• the transports in search of the elusive craft, and they A ces the Twenty-Seventh Division was ordered to dropped depth bombs in the wake of the ship carrying entrain for ports of embarkation preparatory to depart• the division headquarters staff and elsewhere. Allied ing for France. hydio planes hovered over the destroyers giving signals New York's Own division, composed of broad-shoul• and otherwise assisting in.the thrilling light. A terrific dered, energetic soldiers — the kind of soldiers with canonading ensued. whom our Allies consider it a privilege to fight — was The efficiency of the navy accounted for a notable soon to have an opportunity of proving its fitness for victory. Two of the enemy underseas fighters were participation in the most titanic struggle of all ages. netted, as officially reported, wdiile in all probability When these soldiers left their training camp at Spart• others were put out of action. anburg, S. C. last April, after eight months of diligent The erstwhile sleepy port towns in which the sections work they knew full well what they were up against. of the division disembarked, and which opened their They knew their rifle, their bayonet, the hand grenade, arms to the American boys, were buzzing with war and all the details of modern warfare. work. Yanks were by no means strangers to the But more than all they knew they were ready to meet French peasants, but the humble village folk had not the Boche. wearied of extending warm welcomes to the men from And so it was with a goodly supply of confidence that America. If the khaki and campaign hats of General they gathered at Atlantic ports, and sailed for the war O'Ryairs soldiers interested the quaint people, the war zone. The cheering civilians, who greeted the boys in Aveary civilians in their sombre clothes were curiosities every city and town through which their trains passed to the new arrivals. en route to the ports, could read no signs of misgivings Little opportunity for sightseeing was afforded the in the countenances of those stout lads. There was no troops in these tOAvns, for it was essential that they be room for gloom on the transports | that carried these cleared of soldiers with as much despatch as possible fighters to the shores of France. to make room for new units. The railroad yards Ave re The division was off for the wrar— the fighting end filled Avith long- trains of box cars marked " 40 Horn mes- of the war. It was starting the first lap of a great 8 Chevaux and into these the troops Ave re loaded. adventure which history perforce will record as nothing- The cars were so small that they seemed like toys, and short of amazing. too frail to carry the load of huskies assigned to them. The division that the Empire state had fitted out, In each car Avere boxes of rations, enough for three trained and donated as a tactical fighting unit to the days. United States Army wras just getting a start toward the The destination was unknown, ot course, to the men. Hindenburg Line, widely press-agented as " impreg• For thirty-six hours these trains wheezed, jerked, nable". halted and sped into France, bringing up finally 'at a It was a gay party, a festive frolic — that journey across rail-head in the Somme river basin. The division the Atlantic. For a fortnight the men forgot the serious• detrained, went for a few hours to a rest camp, and pro• ness of their mission, and enjoyed themselves on deck, ceeded next day to the towns in Avhich the units Ave re below decks, in the gallies, crowds nest and stoke hole. to be billetted during their preliminary training period. One convoy made the trip without the thrill of a sub• None of these towns was a great distance from the marine attack, but another section of the division learned English channel. The presence of British troops in each something of the method of attack employed by German village was unofficial notification to the New Yorkers sub-sea craft. that they were to be brigaded and to do their fighting, The convoy in which the latter section crossed the for a time at least, with Field Marshall Haig's forces. ocean was attacked on two occasions, the last of which " Jerry ", as the German airmen arc called, lost no involved a sea battle lasting more than an hour. Aero• time in bringing to the attention of the troops the fact planes, torpedo boat destroyers and the armed trans• that he was still a factor to be dealt with in the Avar. ports were all engaged in the encounter against a school The drone of his machine, and the consequent bombard• of U-boats which had waited at the entrance of the'port ment of the sky by the Allied anti-aircraft guns were of debarkation for its prey. The coast of France had heard the first night spent in the interior of France and just loomed into vision when bells aboard the trans• every clear night during- the period of training brought ports signalized the appearance of the sub sea fighters. a repetition of the first night's activity in the heavens. The destroyers immediately began maneuvering among But the men were so actively engaged during the day in _ 3 _ The GJJS J1TTJICK that reserve system as conscientiously as though it had DIVISION'S MOVEMENTS IN FRANCE been the front line. The division's sector was along a front of approximately 3ooo yards, divided into three One section of the Twenty Seventh American sections Avith one regiment to each section. The infan• Division disembarked at Brest, and another at try regiments alternated in assuming responsibility St. Nazaire. The division went almost immediately for the line, and in practicing on a rifle range in the into Flanders where it was brigaded with the Bri• back area. Continuous detachments Ave re sent from tish. Some of the cities and towns in which the each unit of the division to the front lines for observation New Yorkers lived and fought during their sojourn and tactical study. While on those trips several men in France and Belgium follow : were killed and wounded by German shrapnel, and others were cited for gallant service. NOYELLES-SUR-MER. DOUGLAS FARM. Under harrassing fire directed by the Boche at the FAVIERES. ST. RIQUIER. area occupied by the New York division, details from RUE. BEAUQUESNE. the various units laid long lines of communication cable.

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