Additional equipment arrived August 2, ten days before the regiment moved into a quiet sector in the Vosges Mountains for intensive training around Ponseux and Archettes, and on August 20 there was further removal to the St. Die sector previously occupied by the 7th Engineers of the 5th Division. Just before this division left for St. Mihiel, it conducted several local attacks down the Fave Valley and around Frappelle, which were finally captured. When then the 317th Engineers began the work of organizing and consolidating the positions left by the 5th Division, they found the enemy active. They constructed dug-outs, repaired trenches, often under shell fire, and mined bridges if these were in danger of being captured by the enemy. They also worked at logging and sawmill operations in order to supply French institutions as well as the fighting regiments at the front with firewood. Especially courageous was the work of twenty-five enlisted men engaged in gas-proofing dug-outs. They worked three days and nights under heavy bombardment where mustard gas and phosgene were used by the enemy, but they continued their labors until all the dug-outs were protected. On September 24, 1918, the regiment moved into the Argonne between Les Islettes and Clermont, and was assigned to the First Army Corps. The objective of the First Army was to close the Grand Pré gap and flank the armies operating against the French and British. The bombardment for this attack lasted three hours and it was estimated that 100,000 shells were fired. The American artillery averaged a gun every eight meters. After the bombardment changed to a rolling barrage, the men of the 77th, 28th, 35th, 79th, 4th, 80th, and 33rd Divisions went over the top in the greatest attack ever made by United States forces. In this attack one battalion of the 317th Engineers opened the road from Neuvilly to Bourielles, cutting it through to “No Man’s Land” on the night of September 26. The 111th Engineers assisted in this work. The Second Battalion opened the road from Croix de Pierre and Pierre Croisée, while the Third opened the valley road from La Claon to La Harze. In many places these roads had been completely obliterated by the heavy artillery fire. The engineers had to relocate them, often at night, and rebuild them through swamps out of logs and planks in order that the wounded might be carried to the rear and ammunition carts reach the front. Sometimes they used rocks and timbers taken from mined enemy trenches and burned buildings. They built light- and heavy-gauge railroads for hauling shells to new artillery positions on the front, and heavy-gauge railroads in the back areas, especially in the vicinity of Grand Pré. Throughout this offensive from September 26 to November 11 the 317th Engineers spent most of the time building roads and supplying the fighting units at the front with the necessary materials. The men often worked day and night under shell fire, but they labored