|
Billets and
bullets of 37 division : cartoons and ragtime
Don Palmer - Jack Kons
1919
First Prisoners
Ohio had hardly stepped into
the front line trenches in the Baccarat Sector when volunteers
from the 147th Infantry, eager to see the difference between a
German who admitted it and the German-Americans who camouflaged
themselves behind steins of beer and pinochle boards, went
crawling over the top into “No Man's Land.”
It so happened that for many weeks four Germans had been
enjoying life in a P. P. (Petit Post). The sector was a quiet
one and in their dull minds was to remain a quiet one. They were
squatting very comfortably on the ground discussing the world
(as a part of Germany) and arguing as to their share in the
division of Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis when those
cities were captured by Wilhelm and his squad of submarines.
One had visions of turning the breweries in Cincinnati into
Krupp works for the final attack against Mars. He did not know
that Ohio had gone dry and soft drinks were the still among
those whose blood ran like water. Dreams of “der Vaterland” and
home sunk into their brains.
When in this state of happy intoxication they were rudely
awakened by “dough boys” from Ohio who prodded them in the ribs
as they yelled “Kamerad” to notify the other hound dogs further
back in the trenches. Back across “No Man's Land” they were
marched to be surrounded by curious soldiers as soon as they
struck the “duck boards” in the American lines.
They were the first prisoners taken by the 37th Division on the
morning of August 2, 1918 and were from the 40th Ersatz Regiment,
96th German Division. They were captured near the village of
Ancerviller in Alsace-Lorraine.
La photographie des quatre
prisonniers allemands (et de la patrouille américaine ayant
procédé à cette capture près d'Ancerviller) est sans doute celle présentée à
l'article 1918 - Photographies de la 37ème
division américaine, et reproduite ci-dessous. Il
est d'ailleurs aussi fort probable que cette capture soit non
celle du 2, mais du 5 août, effectuée au
Hameau d'Ancerviller.
|
