Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1918 — HOW FRED HUBBELL CAPTURED 34 HUNS [ARTICLE]

HOW FRED HUBBELL CAPTURED 34 HUNS

Francesville Tribune: The first in- j formation as to how Corporal Hub-1 bell captured thirty-four Huns, unassisted, is told in the Stars and Stripes, I the official paper of the American. Expeditionary Forces, published in Paris. Here is the*story: Corporal Hubbell’s company had run across a series of dugouts of German artillery officers and had taken a few prisoners who said there were no more Germans underground. A half hour later, while Corp. Hubbell’s company was encountering machine gun resistance and expecting a coun-ter-attack, the Francesville, Ind., boy was crouching in a dugout entrance. He tells what happened: “I saw a German private stick his head out of the door behind me,” he said. ‘T told him to put up his hands, but he jumped back inside. I heard him speaking to me in English, and I finally persuade him to come out. He said there were thirty others in the dugout. I told him there were plenty of Americans all around me, and the Germans all might as well surrender. He said he’d go down and talk to them. He went down, but didn’t come back. After a short time I yelled down I was going to throw a, hand grenade. I waited but nobody came up. There were several dugout entrances near, and I was afraid they might catch me from behind, so I moved to the left where I could see all the entrances. “In a minute another Heine stuck his head out and ducked back. I was getting real leary. Just then an officer appeared at another dugout steps with a pistol in his hand apparently looking for me. It was lucky I had moved. When he saw me he was so surprised he tumbled over backwards down the steps. “Then I ran to the steps and yelled again I was going to throw down hand grenades if they didn’t come out. The private who spoke English finally came up and stood at the entrance and passed on my orders. Pretty soon they began to come out with their hands in the air. “When I had them all lined up and the other boys arrived the English speaking private told me that when he’d gone down the first time and told the officers there was Only one American outside they were furious. They weren’t going to surrender to one American private. They ordered the private to sneak out and shoot me "but he refused. "“All the Germajis had been caught in their dugouts by our barrage, they said,”