The 151st Field Artillery Brigade

by Richard M. Russell

November 5th the Second Battalion of the 302nd reported its guns in position and ready to open fire. Hardly was this accomplished when the Huns began to give them a taste of gas, over 3,000 rounds being reported. One gun of Battery B, 303 F. A. was reported to be in position. The Brigade was detached from the 2nd C. A. C. (French), and was put under the command of the 17th C. A. (French).

November 6th one gun of the 303rd F. A. was ready to fire at midnight and the other guns were being moved up as fast as the positions were constructed.

From 10.00 p. m. November 6th to 2.00 p. m. November 7th, about 3,000 gas shells, mostly mustard, fell near B and F Batteries of the 302nd F. A., but though other artillery units nearby had a number of men gassed, the 302nd F. A. had no casualties, thanks to strict and effectual gas discipline.

In the vicinity of P. C. Gross, Second Battalion of the 303d, about two hundred gas and high explosive shells fell, also without casualties.

In the afternoon Field Order No. 1 was issued directing the 302nd to deliver harassing fire during the night on Ville en Woevre and on the roads from that place to Braquis and Hennemont. The 303rd F. A. was to fire on Hennemont, Pareid, Maizeray and Moulotte. At 6.10 the orders were changed by telephone on account of later information, with the result that the 302nd F. A. took under fire two additional targets, which were identified only by their coordinates. The 303rd fired at Pareid and Moulotte and on a battery in the Bois de Harville.

On the night of November 6th and 7th, in a two company infantry raid with artillery support against the Chateau d’Ardnois, one German officer and twenty-two men were captured and from ten to fourteen killed. Our own casualties were slight. There was very little enemy artillery fire during the day. At 9.15 however, on the night of November 7th, the operations officer of the 55th Field Artillery Brigade at P. C. Kilbreith reported heavy shelling by the enemy of Fresnes en Woevre. This village was now strongly held by our troops, and it was thought that the German fire was in retaliation for the raid. Our Sound Ranging Section S. R. S. No. 3 had located the enemy batteries that were executing the fire and we were asked for neutralization at the earliest possible moment. This order was sent to the 303rd F. A. by courier and telephone. At 11.00 a. m. the enemy having ceased his fire, the 303rd F. A. was ordered to discontinue firing. Field Order No. 2 was then issued authorizing the 303rd F. A. to fire at once for neutralization upon any enemy battery reported in action beyond Maizeray. In the meantime Major Hadley’s Battalion of the 302nd F. A. was fired upon by the enemy with gas shells. Captain Lefferts was the only casualty.

On November 8th two strong patrols of our infantry, sent early in the morning to the Bois de Harville and St. Hilaire, brought back three prisoners. The 33rd Division reported considerable harassing fire about Les Eparges and Saulx en Woevre, with some interdiction fire on the villages at the base of the hills. The total was about 3,000 rounds. This was the first day that the air was clear enough for the G. P. F.s to register, and Colonel Conklin registered on Joinville. Shortly after 4.00 o’clock, Balloon No. 22 reported two batteries firing. They were given to the 303rd F. A. for immediate neutralization. In the meantime, orders had been sent out for the night’s firing, the targets assigned to the 303rd F. A. being two batteries of 105 howitzers in the Bois de Harville and the towns Maizeray and Butgneville. The 302nd F. A. was given the Pintheville-Maizeray road, the Pintheville-Pareid road, Maizeray, Butgneville and St. Hilaire, the latter being the most important. The fire was to stop at 3.00 a. m. to permit an infantry raid to go into St. Hilaire and the vicinity. These orders, sent by telephone and courier, were in response to a request for help from the Divisional Artillery. They were followed by a Memorandum to the regiments designating the zones in which, after the start of the infantry raid on November 9th, it would not be safe for them to fire without express authority.

On November 9th a change of organization occurred as a result of the removal of a large part of the French Artillery from the sector. The two batteries which were left,—one of 120 long and one of 155 long,—were taken over by General Davis and assigned to the command of Colonel Platt of the 302nd F. A. in what then became known as the Groupment Platt. General Davis thus became Commander of the Corps Artillery of the sector.

Early in the morning of this same day, a request was received from the infantry through the Operations Officer of the 55th Field Artillery Brigade for help in a raid. It appeared that lack of ammunition for the Divisional artillery threatened to deprive the infantry of much needed artillery assistance. Orders were issued for concentration fire between 2.00 and 5.00 a. m. on Maizeray, Butgneville and St. Hilaire and between 5.00 and 6.45 a. m. on Maizeray and Butgneville. With the approval of Corps Artillery Headquarters the regiments were permitted to use ammunition beyond that authorized for daily expenditure.

The strong reconnoitering patrols sent out by the 33rd Division executed the raid on Marcheville. It was completely successful and resulted in the capture of eighty prisoners including three officers. Patrols near Pintheville and Riaville met strong resistance. At 3.50 p. m. an enemy barrage of about 4,000 shells was laid down between Fresnes and Wadonville, probably in retaliation for the raid of the previous night. Orders were issued that the regiments should fire at once on any batteries reported in action by the Sound Ranging Section (S. R. S. No. 3) and that every clear day should be utilized for registration. During the afternoon the 303rd F. A. was directed to fire on two batteries of 210 howitzers,—one near Labouville and the others northeast of Joinville,—and on a battery of medium calibre, just south of Moulotte.