Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareFig. 2-21. American troops firing on German positions whileunder heavy gas attack in the trenches of France during theAisne-Marne offensive. US Signal Corps photograph.Photograph: Courtesy of US Army Military History Institute,Carlisle, Pa.Oise-Aisne OffensiveIn mid August, the French started a series of driveson their front, which extended about 90 miles fromReims westward through Soissons to Ribecourt onthe Oise River (Figure 2-23). 35,43 Coordinating with theBritish, five French armies advanced on the Sommeto the north and the Americans advanced to the east.The AEF’s 32nd Division and part of the French 10thArmy spearheaded the penetration of the enemy’smain line on August 22 and captured the town ofJuvigny, a key high ground, on August 30. The 32ndcompletely breached the German front, forcing themto abandon the Vesle River line. 35 The American IIICorps (28th and 77th divisions) fought with the French6th Army east of Soissons, which, in late August, heldthe western part of the Vesle River sector extendingfrom Braine to Courlandon. As the Germans retreatedfrom the Vesle northward to the Aisne valley in earlySeptember, the III Corps took part in the aggressivepursuit operations. During the Oise-Aisne offensive,the AEF suffered 2,776 casualties, 573 of which wereattributable to chemical agents. 44Saint MihielBy September 1918, with both the Marne and theAmiens salients eliminated, one major threat to lateralrail communications behind the Allied lines remained:the old Saint Mihiel salient near the Paris-Nancy lineFig. 2-22. American infantrymen of the 167th Infantry, 42nd“Rainbow” Division marching through German gas wearingBoche gas masks and box respirators near Bouvardes, France.July 29, 1918. The mounted soldiers in the counter-marchingprocession are French dragoons returning from patrol. USSignal Corps photograph.Photograph: Courtesy of US Army Military History Institute,Carlisle, Pa.(see Figure 2-2). American units from Flanders to Switzerlandwere shifted into the area near the salient. 35,43,45Fourteen American and four French divisions assignedto the First Army for the operation contained ampleinfantry and machine-gun units for the attack; however,because of the earlier priority given to shippinginfantry (at the urging of the British and French), theFirst Army was short of artillery, tank, air, and othersupport units essential to a well-balanced field army.At Pershing’s insistence, this was the first major operationcarried out by an independent American force,but it was subordinated to the much larger Meuse-Argonne offensive in late September. 43,45The Saint Mihiel offensive began on September 12with a 3-fold assault on the salient. The main attackwas made against the south face by two Americancorps. On the right was the I Corps, on the left, the32