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The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12 to 15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against German positions. The U.S. Army Air Service played a significant role in this action. [5] [6]
This camp was in close vicinity to the front line. The time spent at the camp was used to prepare ammunition and supply dumps, conduct a reconnaissance of the area, and set up firing positions for the upcoming offensive around Saint-Mihiel. The battalion went into battle on 12 September 1918.
I Corps saw its first major action at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, while seeing its first offensive action several days later at the Second Battle of the Marne. After serving briefly in the defensive sectors of Lorraine and Champagne, I Corps later served in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse–Argonne Offensive. [14]
The St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial is located at the west edge of Thiaucourt (Meurthe-et-Moselle), France. The 40.5 acres (16.4 ha) cemetery contains the graves of 4,153 American military dead from World War I .
The British and French forces were allocated the sector around Amiens and the St Mihiel sector was allocated to the Americans. This salient projected roughly 16 miles into the Allied line and ran from Verdun in the north, south to St Mihiel and then east to Pont-a-Mousson on the Moselle River.
The division was then a part of the offensive at Saint-Mihiel, during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. The division then moved in position for the last major offensive of the war, at Meuse-Argonne. This campaign was the last of the war, as an armistice was signed shortly thereafter. [12]
On 12 September the Saint-Mihiel Offensive started. The group was given orders to fly low and attack enemy targets on the ground, a very dangerous mission that exposed the pilots to ground fire. A number of the pilots became experts in balloon strafing, and Lt Luke of the 27th shot down fifteen enemy balloons in seventeen days.
Although this mission has been tagged "a piece of cake" by some historians, the 6th Marines lost more than a hundred killed and about five hundred wounded at St. Mihiel; Navy corpsman David E. Hayden earned a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions while attached to the 6th Marines defending Thiaucourt. [10]