SERIOUS PREDICAMENT
Picking up both guns, each man carrying his allotted piece in manoeuvres, the party of thirteen started along the river for the main bridge. Reaching the vicinity of the approach, they discovered their plight. The enemy was almost upon them. Still carrying their guns, they jumped down, taking cover under the stone parapets at the river's edge. Thus they worked their way down to the iron bridge, though the Germans on the very parapet above were marching into a hail of American machine guns from the south bank.
B Company did not know that a detachment had not escaped. The German attack remained at its height, and the enemy, despite its losses, kept sweeping toward the iron bridge. Bissell and his men attempted to cross under their own fire. Three were immediately wounded. They retired, picking up their wounded.
The Lieutenant knew that B Company's guns were across the bridge, and he approached as near as he dared and yelled repeatedly. B Company's officers finished the story, which was narrated and corroborated by the Lieutenant and others at the rest camp today.
The first B Company knew that Americans were opposite was when they heard a voice calling "Cobey! Cobey!" Cobey was the other Lieutenant.
This time the German attack melted. B Company's guns ceased fire long enough for Cobey to cross the bridge and lead the Lieutenant and the men to safety. Throughout the remainder of the night the enemy vented his rage by heavy shelling. The next day, June 2, the heavy shelling continued. The enemy had picked up his dead and wounded across the river under cover of darkness and could be seen occasionally flitting from house to house.
Sniping was continuous between the French and Germans. Machine guns were silent during the day in order not to give away their positions. Nightfall was so quiet that the Americans were not able to understand such warfare. They thought all war was noisy.
However, at 9 o'clock at night the enemy made a fierce rush for the iron bridge. Fifteen minutes of heavy machine-gun firing squelched the attack and the shelling was resumed. The heavy bombardment continued.