Father Duffy's story : $b a tale of humor and heroism, of life and death with the Fighting Sixty-ninthDuffy, Francis Patrick
History
Father Duffy's story : $b a tale of humor and heroism, of life and death with the Fighting Sixty-ninth
Duffy, Francis Patrick
United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 165th; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American
Headquarters, both American and French, have been very anxious for
somebody to take prisoners, and we were all very much pleased this
morning to hear that a patrol from Company D had gone out and bagged
four of them. Out across No Man’s Land from Ancervillers there
is, or used to be, a few houses which went by the name of Hameau
d’Ancervillers. There was some reason to believe that a German
outpost might be found there; so at midnight last night a patrol of
two officers and twenty-four men, mainly from Company D, went on a
little hunting expedition. They crossed No Man’s Land to the old
German trenches, which they found to be battered flat.
Lieutenant Edmond J. Connelly remained with a few men in No Man’s
Land to guard against surprise, and Lieutenant Henry K. Cassidy took
the rest of them, including Sergeant John J. O’Leary of Company A,
Sergeant Thomas O’Malley of Company D and Sergeant John T. Kerrigan
of the Intelligence Section to examine the ruins of the hamlet. Part
of the wall of one house was left standing. O’Leary led three men to
one side of it, and O’Malley three others to the other side, while
Lieutenant Cassidy approached it from the front. They were challenged
by a German sentry and the two Sergeants with their followers rushed
at once to close quarters and found themselves engaged with six
Germans, two of whom were killed, and one wounded, the survivors
dashing headlong into a dugout.
Lieutenant Cassidy, pistol in hand, ran to the opening of the dugout
and called on them to surrender. If any one of them had any fight
left in him we would have had to mourn the loss of a brave young
officer, but they surrendered at discretion, and our whole party,
with no casualties, started back as fast as they could, carrying
the wounded prisoner and dragging the others with them. It was an
excellent job, done with neatness and dispatch. Valuable papers
were found on the wounded man and other information was obtained at
Division by questioning. The only thing to spoil it was that two of
our men, Corporal Joseph Brown and Charles Knowlton got lost in the
dark coming in, and have not yet reported.[1]
REHERREY
_May_ 9th, 1918
War is a time of sudden changes and violent wrenches of the heart
strings; and we are getting a taste of it even before we enter
into the period of battles. We are to lose Colonel Barker. Back in
Washington they are looking for men who know the war game as it is
played over here, and, as Colonel Barker has been observing it, or
engaged in it, since the war began, they have ordered him back to
report for duty at the War Department.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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