Prelude
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At 1:30pm on September 25th, 1918, the men of the 79th Division received their orders; to “seize in succession Malancourt, Montfaucon and Nantillois... The advance shall be pushed with the greatest vigor.”[1] Thirteen hours later on September 26th at 2:30am, the full force of American artillery opened up on the German positions. Carl Glock, the author of the 316th infantry regiment’s written history, described the bombardment as “A thousand gorgeous sunsets – extinguished in a second, recreated in a moment- unceasing rolls of thunder, a night indelibly written in memory.”[2] Flying above the battlefield, the famous American pilot Eddie Rickenbacker described it as “a solid belt of flashes, lighting up the world.”[3]
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American Artillery (Courtesy of Getty Images)
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79th Division Archival Footage
Citations
Cover Image: Montfaucon from a Distance [link]
[1] History Committee, 79th Division Association, History of the 79th Division A.E.F. During the World War: 1917-1919, (Lancaster: Steinman & Steinman, 1922), 480. [Hathi Trust Digital Library]
[2] Carl E. Glock, History of the 316th Regiment of Infantry in the World War, 1918, (Philadelphia: Biddle-Deemer, 1930), 36. [Hathi Trust Digital Library]
[3] Lengel, 86.
[1] History Committee, 79th Division Association, History of the 79th Division A.E.F. During the World War: 1917-1919, (Lancaster: Steinman & Steinman, 1922), 480. [Hathi Trust Digital Library]
[2] Carl E. Glock, History of the 316th Regiment of Infantry in the World War, 1918, (Philadelphia: Biddle-Deemer, 1930), 36. [Hathi Trust Digital Library]
[3] Lengel, 86.
