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Into Charpentry.
143
the Infantry Lieutenant, who was a Corps Observer, went with a
telephone man (Cpl. Mercer of the 1st Bn. Detail) and myself, to a
position on the 'hillside to our right, among some ruins, from which
we could see westward past our position and across the valley.
Sure enough, there was a Boche gun and its caisson, visible on
the other side of the broad valley. Hardly had we set up our monocular telescope and connected our 'phone, than we got word that the
Battery was ready to fire. Capt. McGee opened with shrapnel, a few
rounds were fired for identification and adjustment, and then the
Battery opened with shell. The dirt began to shoot up in little
splashes. The initial data had been almost perfect. An increase in
range of 200 meters is the only appreciable change I can remember.
Up the slope and back down again the Battery fired, changing the
range by increments of 25 meters; then, at the most effective range,
going to the right 5 mils, left 10 mils, then right 5 mils again. Only
one section of our target was visible, and we did not know if it was
the right or left or center of our enemy battery, hence the changes.
After a pretty thorough 'strafing,' we ceased fire and about this time
another man (Private Shaeffer) from the 1st Bn. Detail, arrived
at our O. P. with our French scissors telescope. We had sent for
this because the Corps Observer and myself couldn't both see through
the monocular at the same time, and of course the one who wasn't
looking through the glass was eaten up with curiosity and excitement by the exclamations of the other, who could see it all.
Apparently our fire had been effective, and after it ceased we
both kept our eyes glued to our glasses to see if anything further
could be observed. The Battery remained laid on the same target
and ready to fire again at the word of the executive. Lieutenant
Eckberg had been on the other end of the wire during the engagement, and I heard joyous yelps and whoops mixed in with his recital
of my observations that I gave him over the 'phone for Captain
McGee.
But we had not long to wait. Less than five minutes after we
ceased firing, we began to see Boches hurrying around in the open,
near the gun. That was enough, and 'Fire' went down to our guns.
This time the target was even more thoroughly covered. Up and
down, back and forth, opening and closing our sheaf of fire, we made
sure there was no part of that area that escaped that raking fire.
Twice Eckberg let out a whoop as I told him of a big, fluffy cloud
of white smoke rising from the woods near the clearing, where a
caisson or ammunition dump had been hit. Finally, when the zona
had been thoroughly searched, I closed the sheaf, concentrating on
the visible section. Splashes of dirt went up on all sides of it, and
finally one splash directly between the gun and caisson was followed by another one of those fluffy white clouds of smoke, and
when it had cleared away we could see the gun had been blown
around in a different position, and the caisson appeared quite changed.
After fire ceased we watched and waited for a long time, but neither
then nor during any of the times afterwards, when we looked at that
spot, did we ever see any sign of life. The Corps Observer was so
delighted that he asked to talk to Captain McGee, and compliment
the Battery, saying that it was one of the most effective and exciting
pieces of work he had seen in the war.
Thos. C. Bourke."
Object Description
| Title | The artilleryman; the experiences and impressions of an American artillery regiment in the world war. 129th F.A., 1917-1919, |
| Collection Name | World War I Unit Histories |
| Subject.LCSH | United States. -- Army. -- Field Artillery Battalion, 129th; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- United States; United States. Army. Division, 35th |
| Subject.Local |
World War I 35th Division 129th Field Artillery |
| Description | World War I memoir of a soldier in the 129th Field Artillery, 35th Division. |
| Creator | Lee, Jay McIlvaine |
| Publisher | Kansas City, Mo., Press of Spencer Print. Co., 1920. |
| Date | 1920 |
| Date.Digital | 2012 |
| Type | Books and Pamphlets |
| Format | JPG2000 |
| Accession Number | 84.196 |
| Language | eng |
| Contributing Institution | National World War I Museum and Memorial |
| Rights | All images are in the public domain. |
| Copy Request | Contact National World War I Museum Archivist Jonathan Casey at 816-888-8121 or jcasey@theworldwar.org |
| Note | Some blank pages have not been digitized, resulting in variations in pagination. |
Description
| Title | Page 143 |
| Transcript | Into Charpentry. 143 the Infantry Lieutenant, who was a Corps Observer, went with a telephone man (Cpl. Mercer of the 1st Bn. Detail) and myself, to a position on the 'hillside to our right, among some ruins, from which we could see westward past our position and across the valley. Sure enough, there was a Boche gun and its caisson, visible on the other side of the broad valley. Hardly had we set up our monocular telescope and connected our 'phone, than we got word that the Battery was ready to fire. Capt. McGee opened with shrapnel, a few rounds were fired for identification and adjustment, and then the Battery opened with shell. The dirt began to shoot up in little splashes. The initial data had been almost perfect. An increase in range of 200 meters is the only appreciable change I can remember. Up the slope and back down again the Battery fired, changing the range by increments of 25 meters; then, at the most effective range, going to the right 5 mils, left 10 mils, then right 5 mils again. Only one section of our target was visible, and we did not know if it was the right or left or center of our enemy battery, hence the changes. After a pretty thorough 'strafing,' we ceased fire and about this time another man (Private Shaeffer) from the 1st Bn. Detail, arrived at our O. P. with our French scissors telescope. We had sent for this because the Corps Observer and myself couldn't both see through the monocular at the same time, and of course the one who wasn't looking through the glass was eaten up with curiosity and excitement by the exclamations of the other, who could see it all. Apparently our fire had been effective, and after it ceased we both kept our eyes glued to our glasses to see if anything further could be observed. The Battery remained laid on the same target and ready to fire again at the word of the executive. Lieutenant Eckberg had been on the other end of the wire during the engagement, and I heard joyous yelps and whoops mixed in with his recital of my observations that I gave him over the 'phone for Captain McGee. But we had not long to wait. Less than five minutes after we ceased firing, we began to see Boches hurrying around in the open, near the gun. That was enough, and 'Fire' went down to our guns. This time the target was even more thoroughly covered. Up and down, back and forth, opening and closing our sheaf of fire, we made sure there was no part of that area that escaped that raking fire. Twice Eckberg let out a whoop as I told him of a big, fluffy cloud of white smoke rising from the woods near the clearing, where a caisson or ammunition dump had been hit. Finally, when the zona had been thoroughly searched, I closed the sheaf, concentrating on the visible section. Splashes of dirt went up on all sides of it, and finally one splash directly between the gun and caisson was followed by another one of those fluffy white clouds of smoke, and when it had cleared away we could see the gun had been blown around in a different position, and the caisson appeared quite changed. After fire ceased we watched and waited for a long time, but neither then nor during any of the times afterwards, when we looked at that spot, did we ever see any sign of life. The Corps Observer was so delighted that he asked to talk to Captain McGee, and compliment the Battery, saying that it was one of the most effective and exciting pieces of work he had seen in the war. Thos. C. Bourke." |
| Identifier | ART129thFA_0158.tif |
