Holes torn out by huge shells. Where our boys fought in Belleau Woods, France

Holes torn out by huge shells. Where our boys fought in Belleau Woods, France

In Belleau Wood where our boys fought and won

18724

The whole of Belleau Wood, as our view of a small part of it shows, looks as if it had been struck by a hurricane. And so it was, but the hurricane which tore this particular forest to pieces, smashing into kindling noble, century-old trees, tearing their branches into fragments and uprooting these giants of the forest, was the storm of shot and shell which for days swept the wood—first, when our boys drove out the Germans ; second, when the Germans sent two crack Prussian divisions to try and win back the wood by dislodging the Americans. The storm of shot and shell which rained upon the wood was terrific in either case. The Huns were dislodged and driven back ; the Americans maintained possession of the wood and hurled back every Frenchsh onslaught of the German troops. Just before the winning of Belleau Wood it had become evident from letters found on German dead and prisoners that the Huns were beginning to realize the quality of America's troops. One of these letters, written by a German officer, and found on his body, said : "The Americans are so courageous that they do not allow themselves to be made prisoners." It was in the attempt to win more than a material victory that the German high command used their best troops in an effort to drive our boys from Belleau Wood. American fighting qualities were aiding in the restoration an maintenance of French and British morale, just as surely as they were undermining the morale of the Kaiser's forces.

1 stereograph : b&w

1 gelatine silver print stereograph (8 x 15 cm) mounted on card (9 x 18 cm)

Copyright. The Keystone View Company

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World War through the stereoscope