the hill. A special detail of American artillerymen, held at the regimental post of command for
just this emergency, put the guns in operation.
At 4:30 o’clock on the afternoon of November 1 it had become apparent that the 360th
Infantry had been successful. When the second battalion had broken the Freya Stellung, that last
hope of the now-despairing Germans had been shattered.
The success of this regiment had been duplicated by most of the regiments of other
divisions in line to the right and left, and the succeeding division and corps’ orders indicated that
the gigantic German war machine which had fought so brilliantly for more than four years, was
fast crumbling.
Before the first battalion reached the crest of the hill orders had been received at
regimental headquarters from the division to the affect that the 360th would organize the corps
objective for defense, at the same time pushing small parties forward to keep touch with the
enemy. But when the reports of the performance of Major Morris’ battalion were received and
transmitted to the corps, which soon after heard of similar successes at other points on the line,
these orders were speedily changed, and at 11 o’clock that night the 179th Brigade was given the
task of consolidating the corps’ goal, while General McAlexander was told to push his brigade as
far forward as possible again on the morning of November 1. The Halles-Mont-devant-Sassey
line was indicated as the next resting place.
So the Regiment went over again on the morning of the 2nd and threw its weight against
the German defense, which had generated into centers of resistance wherever the terrain was
favorable for a stand. Early in the morning it became apparent that the way would be fraught
with difficulty, for, although the enemy’s infantry was fast breaking, his big guns were still a
powerful factor to be reckoned with and he held at least two positions admirable for defense.
These were Hill 321 and the Bois de Raux, just west of the hill. Before these two strongholds
the attacking troops stopped for several hours while the artillery directed a heavy fire against the
German position. At 1:20 o’clock in the afternoon the third battalion, which had come up from
the corps objective the day before, sallied out against the woods, while the first battalion moved
toward Hill 321. But we will stop a minute before detailing this advance and turn back to the
second battalion, which had spent the night in shell holes but a hundred yards from the strong
German position in the vicinity of the narrow gauge railway. Before the advance of the other
two battalions the second battalion must straighten out its line where it should join the left of the
first battalion. Although this advance was short there was more than one interesting event
incident to it. When the battalion stopped on the night of the 1st Captain Elmer Heard of G
company had displayed conspicuous ability by organizing the attacking waves for defense, and
again on the morning of the 2nd he was in the fore when he went among the men and cheered
them up. He had been wounded on the morning of the 1st, but for two days he had refused to
leave the front line and seek treatment. For this exceptional bravery he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross.
The night before the opposite line held many Germans, as was attested by Corporal
Gordon Blakeway of Company F, who had gone out “exploiting” with two men of his squad and
cleaned up two machine gun nests, capturing fourteen prisoners and two guns. But early in the
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