One Man's War — The Diary Of A Leatherneck by Corporal Joseph E. Rendinell George Pattullo

Author:Corporal Joseph E. Rendinell, George Pattullo [Corporal Joseph E. Rendinell, George Pattullo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782893479
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Lucknow Books
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

XII — Retreat

MAY 30th.—Decoration Day. I was transferred to Battalion Intelligence under Lt. Marshall. At 6 P.M. orders to pack double quick and marched to Serans. Bivouacked all night out in open fields & boarded camions in morning for a rush to the front lines. The Germans have broke through and are headed for Paris. Everybody excited. At last we will have a chance to do some real fighting.

The long caravan of camions took a route that brought us close to Paris. The people in these small villages ran out & yelled “The Americans are coming.” Most of these people never seen American marines & soldiers in great numbers as there were now, miles & miles of camions all loaded with American soldiers. We were kidding & joking with them as if we were on a picnic. Children were yelling “Vive l’Ameríque.’

On the edge of Meaux we seen refugees. The roads were crowded with them. A steady stream of carts with the few belongings they could take along. Some of the peasants pulled their carts themselves because they did not have any cattle. Old women & young women with babies at their breasts. Children hung on to their skirts & they all looked tired & were crying. Hundreds of them knelt on the side of the road when they seen us go by & prayed for us. It sure was a pathetic scene. We were not laughing now like we were before. This was the saddest procession I ever seen.

We were on the road in camions about 33 hrs. We reached a little town & left our camions and bivouacked for the night. We could hear the artillery booming away in the distance & Boche aeroplanes was dropping bombs somewheres near.

The French were retreating. Thou-sands of them passed us & only the French rear guard were checking the Germans till the main body could beat it. As they went by they shook their heads & said Good bye to dear Paree. They felt sure it was all over now. The situation was mighty bad, at that. A few more miles and the Boches could shell Paris. We were ordered to move & support position in back of French.

June 2nd.—The Germans made another attack on the French, who were forced back through our lines.

June 4th.—On June third, about 5 o’clock, the enemy attacked again & then we were ordered to open fire. “Make every shot count, men. Pass the word on down the line. Do not waste ammunition.”

It was machine-gun & rifle fire. How we raked the German ranks. We all took carefull aim before every shot. My gun got so hot I could not touch it, so I crawled over & took one of my buddies rifles for he was done for and I used both guns, alterinating as they got too hot.

The Germans kept a-coming though. Then they would stop and seemed wondering what kind of fighting is this, anyhow? At last they broke and started to beat it. A French observer reported he had never seen such accurate shooting as what we did.

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