A 1919 article that recalled the U.S. Army's First Division
Armistice Day assault in the Bois de Romaigne:
"The First Division was a pretty tired outfit. It had seen eleven months of almost continuous fighting...Rumors were around that there was going to be an armistice, but few listened and none believed. We had been bunked before."
"The artillery fire increased and the machine guns rattled. You were on outpost and you fired your rifle, just fired it at nothing in particular. Everybody was doing it. The din increased until 11 o'clock, it ended with a crash that startled you. Fini la Guerre?"
This uncredited STARS and STRIPES article dwells on the same topic as the well-researched book by Joseph Persico,
Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918 (2003, Random House). For those who are curious about the violent climax of the war, this two page article will help you to understand which A.E.F. units were still attacking along what front at 10:59 a.m. on November 11, 1918.
"Then a quite startling thing occurred. The skyline of the crest ahead of them grew suddenly populous with dancing soldiers... The Germans came with outstretched hands, ear-to-ear grins and souvenirs to swap for cigarettes."
"A Congressional committee of investigation has recently been treated to a scathing arraignment of the General Staff because military operations on the front of the Second Army were continued up to the hour of the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Members of the operations Section of the Staff, particularly the chief, Brigadier General Fox Conner, have been accused of slaughtering men on the last day of the war in order to satisfy their personal ambitions."
