Montour Machine Gunners Return

Saw 16 Days of Actual Front Line Fighting and Under Shell Fire Two Months.

Helped Take Montfaucon

Were First in the A.E.F. to Turn Browning Machine Guns on the Germans.

There were twenty Montour county men in the Machine Gun Company of the 314th when the regiment went to France and when it went into action in the Argonne. Of these fourteen have just returned. They are:

• Sergeants Bob McCoy,
• John Cady,
• Gus Tanner (Mausdale),
• Lewis Mayan,
• Corporal Joseph Rishel,
• Cook John Shetler,
• Horseshoer Ralph Bylor (Mooresburg),
• Mechanic William Fern,
• Privates Fred Owens,
• William Fry (Mausdale),
• Harry Lamberson,
• Frank Hickey,
• Francis Burke, and
• William Schram.

• Sergeant Jack Winner, killed by a shell on November 11;
• Corporal Charles Cotner, died of wounds;
• Howard Smith, who has been home for some time having been discharged for wounds;
• Joseph Woods, now in a hospital recovering from wounds;
• Roy Wintersteen, who arrived home some time ago after having gone through an officers' training school and
• Edward L. Gill, who attended an officers' training school, received his commission and is still in France.

A Fine Body of Men.

The Machine Gun company of the 314th landed in France with the Regiment on July 15 and moved into the 10th training area, where for six weeks they were given a course of intensive training. They started for the front on September 13th and took part in the great allied drive that opened on September 26th the 314th Machine Gun Company being in the front line at the center of the drive. The Regiment captured the village of Malancourt and then on September 28th, they stormed and took the very important town of Montfaucon. For this feat of arms the 79th Division was awarded the Lorraine Cross by the French. After five days of intensive fighting at and beyond Montfaucon the 79th Division was relieved and was in reserve until October 31st.

On November 1 the Montour county boys of the 314th with their division again entered the front line at Belleu Woods, east of the Meuse River and there they suffered their heaviest casualties, losing the Captain of the Machine Gun Company, Sergeant Winner and many others killed and wounded. They remained fighting in this sector until the armistice was signed.

The Montour county boys saw 16 days of actual front line fighting and were under shell fire for two months.

After the armistice the 79th Division was occupied with more training, including maneuvers, regular drill and athletics up to the time of sailing for home. The 314th sailed from St. Naziere on May 16, and landed at Hoboken on May 26th.

An interesting side light on the story of the 314th Machine Gun Company is that this outfit was the first in the American Expeditionary Forces to take the American made Browning machine gun into the front line and turn its terrible fire on the Huns. Other American machine gunners before them had used the French guns.

Two more young men of the 314th who have just returned home are Sergeant Elliott Bird and Corporal Earl Treas, of the South Side. They were members of Company F.