Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1919 — YANK GUNNERY AMAZES BOCHE [ARTICLE]

YANK GUNNERY AMAZES BOCHE

Captured Hun Says He Never Saw Such a Perfect Barrage. IRISHMEN SAVED THE DAY Famous New York Infantry Regiment Did Great Work at Took Terrible Toll of Death From Enemy.

New York. —Over the rail of the hospital transport Sierra as it came in one day recently leaned Roy Davis of Chicago. He was a soldier of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth artillery, formerly the First Illinois, In command of H. J. RetHy.~ He yelled down to those on the police boat: ‘.‘Tell the people of New York the old Sixty-ninth (a famous Irish infantry regiment In the New York National Guard, now the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth, a part of the Rainbow division) saved the day at the Champagne. The people of France are wildly enthusiastic over the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth, and, believe me, they have reason to be. “We followed the Sixty-nlnih up at the battle of Champagne, laying down their barrage for them. It got hot as hell behind those boys and then hotter and it was just as bad In front. The Poilus started to go back and yelled to the One Hundred and Sixtyfifth to turn and follow them. “ 'To hell with that!’ yelled back the Sixty-niuth. ‘We’regoing right on.’ And, believe me, they went right on and saved the day. Exacted Terrible Cost. “The gray-green uniforms strewed the ground in front of the Irish positions. One walked on a carpet of dead bodies after the attack was hurled back. The Sixty-ninth was cut up, but they exacted terrible cost from the Boche.” It was of the One Hundred and For-ty-ninth field artillery that a captured German said: • “Let mb see those men wfid are be; hind those, guns. I never saw sqch a perfect barrage In all my life.” One es the most popular officers on

the transport was the Rev. Ray F. Jenney, the fighting chaplain of Decatur, 111., who had four wound stripes on his sleeve. When all the officers of a company in his regiment had been shot down in the big, drive at SEW hiel he led the men on and brought back a trophy in the shape of a silvermounted Luger pistol that he toqk from a German commander when his company smashed up a machine gun. Bear Distinguishes Himself. Among those wearing the Croix de Guerre was Lieut. J. Sanford Bear of Illinois of the Thirty-ninth infantryHe is twenty-two years old. On July 27 he distinguished himself in a novel manner. It was before Chateau-Thler-ry and a group of officers in French uniforms on the opposite bank of the Vesle were believed to be Germans in disguise. It was to find out if the officers who pretended to be French were really so that Lieut. Bear volunteered to swim the Vesle and make

close observation on the other shore. Whether they were friends or foes Bear was exposed to the machine-gun fire of the enemy while swimming, but he carried through his mission successfully, found that the French uniforms were but disguises, and so permitted the fire from the American Ade to be centered upon the enemy positions. For this he won the cross.