Page:History of the Sixth Regiment, United States Marines.djvu/49

44 44 History of Sixth Regiment, U. S. Marines. On the morning of October 25th the regiment embussed in camions at Somme-Suippes. at 6 A.M., and proceeded to Les Islettes, where it wa* debussed and marched to camps along the Les Islettes-Losheres- Croix de Pierre road about five kilometers north-northeast of Les Islettes. Here the regiment camped until 3 P.M. of the following dav, with Regimental Headquarters at Camp Lenhart. On the aftern o on nf Ortnhe r 26th this jgj^muiLjT.) a rched through the Argon ne_ Forest^over difficult foacTs7~a nd arri ved early on The morning of October 27 th_i n an area south of~TimTnont. - 1 he troops were bivouaced in the woods west to the ExefmonTChaudron I" arm road and Regimental Headquarters was located at Chaudron Farm. The regiment remained in this area for four days, during Which time the men were given a much-needed rest. The nights and mornings were cold, but the days were bright and comfortably warm, and the men had their lull equipment — biankets and overcoats. Many reconnaissances were made of ihe front lines by the Intel- ligence personnel and company oilicers and non-comm .ssioned officers. The enemy had been pushed out of the Argonne Forest by the First American Army and the grand offensive, which was to push them across the Meuse and seize the important line of railroad communication be- tween Metz and Mezieres, and render helpless ihe Crown Pr nee s armv in the district of Rheims, was to begin. While bivouaced in the woods the regiment was subjected to some long range fire and there was some activity in the air. Enemy aviators paid nightly visits and dropped bombs. Dur ng the daytime enemy fliers paid much attention to Allied observation balloons and several of them were brought down. A large number of Allied anti-aircraft guns were in this area and during the hours in which observation was possible an almost constant anti-aircraft barrage was kept up. Enemy fliers also dropped much propaganda, serving to break the monotony of the stay in the woeds. The Regimental Commander held da ly conferences with the bat- talion commanders and explained the duties of all of the units of the regiment at the different stages of the proposed attack. The battalion commanders in turn explained the plan of the attack to all subordinate commanders, until practically all of the orhcers and non-commissioned officers of the regiment were familiar with the plan of attack, and each knew the task that was to be allotted to hm during the different staqes of the atlark. On the 29th of October the Regiment was issued twenty-five Browning automatic rifles. On the night of October 30th-3Jst the Regiment moved up into the forward ?rea, ol the 3rd Battalion of this regiment relieving the support battalion or the 166th Infantry in a position on the southern slope of a high hill a k lometer and a half south-southeast of Som- merance. The 2vA Battalion relieved the reserve battalion of the 166th