Lost Battalion Memorial, Binarville France, December 2018.
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Lost Battalion Memorial
On October 2 1918, US Major Charles W. Whittlesey of the 308th Infantry Regiment/77th US Army Division led nearly 700 men under their command into the Charlevaux Ravine. The objective was to take up a position along the Binarville-La Viergette Road and form a line with the 307th Infantry Regiment on their right and French forces on their left. The flanking forces had been unable to keep up and by nightfall Whittlesey unit was almost a kilometer ahead of the line. They dug into the northern slope of the ravine and created a positon that would become famously known as “The Pocket”.
By 10:00am the next morning German forces had surrounded The Pocket and began pounding the Americans with trench mortar and machine gun fire from the north and south. Whittlesey sent out a strong patrol to attempt a breakout but suffered heavy casualties. With carrier pigeons as the only means of communication, Whittlesey kept his Regimental Headquarters informed of the rapidly deteriorating situation as best he could. By the evening of October 3 all medical supplies had been exhausted and all food had been consumed. German machine guns kept the Americans away from Charlevaux Brook, the only available water supply, and 20% of Whittlesey’s forces had been killed or wounded. Whittlesey himself had been shot in the knee.
On October 4 the Germans continued their attack. American forces attempted to reach Whittlesey’s unit without success. The 152nd Field Artillery Brigade attempted to fire a “barrage of protection” around The Pocket to ward off the Germans. But an error in map coordinates resulted in artillery shells landing directly upon the trapped Americans. Whittlesey released his last carrier pigeon, named Cher Ami, with a plea:
We are along the road parallel 276.4
Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us.
For heaven’s sake stop it.
Whittlesey, Major 308
Twenty-two minutes later, missing an eye, a leg and shot through the breast, Cher Ami got through with the message. The artillery brigade had already realized their error and lifted fire, but 80 men had been wounded with 30 killed by the friendly fire.
By October 5 the men in The Pocket were out of supplies, fighting off continued German attack as well as infection and rain. Airplanes of the 50th Aero Squadron attempted to supply the Americans by air, the first such large scale endeavor in history. Back in the United States newspapers were already reporting the plight of “The Lost Battalion”, despite the fact that they were not lost and not a single battalion.
On October 6 the casualty rate at The Pocket was approaching 70%. Efforts to supply Whittlesey’s men by air would continue with three planes being lost to enemy fire. None of the supplies would reach The Pocket.
The final German assault on The Pocket began on October 7 at 5pm. The fierceness of the attack was matched by the stubbornness of defense, despite the exhausted state of Whittlesey’s men and ammunition. Battle farther up and down the line had put intense pressure on German troops and at 7pm the German’s abruptly withdrew from the area. Relief finally broke through to The Pocket shortly thereafter. Whittlesey was immediately promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He would also be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Of the 687 men that went into Charlevaux Ravine on October 2 only 194 were able to walk out on the afternoon of October 8.
Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey in 1918, photo Wikipedia
Three years to the month after the Armistice, Charles W. Whittlesey, a hero of the Great War but unable to cope with the torment of his memories, jumped over the side of a ship bound for Cuba. His body was never found. He had said to a friend prior “Not a day goes by but I hear from some of my old outfit, usually about some sorrow or misfortune. I cannot bear it much more.”
Cher Ami at the Museum of American History, photo Wikipedia
Whittlesey’s carrier pigeon Cher Ami was saved by Army medics that October day in 1918. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal for heroic service and died in New Jersey on June 13 1919. She is currently on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.
It is simply not possible to walk around sites like this, especially as an American citizen, and not feel the weight of history.
October 2, 2019