10/07/2026
Trench Mortars in the Argonne
As the 28th Division organized a new, modernized force structure for the world war, it created for the first time a dedicated modern mortar unit. The 103d Trench Mortar Battery was created from the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry and other excess troops of the division, and it joined the fight in France in August of 1918. As this excerpt from a history of trench mortars explains, they brought their own unique method to modern warfare.
“On the afternoon of October 7, 1918, Lieutenants Cartier and McAdoo and myself started on a hunt for German "77's" which were not too badly used up to be of value as a weapon of offense…
Lt.-Col. Crookston led us up on the hill overlooking their position and showed us a gun which some of the members of his regiment had been firing since its capture from the Huns a few days previous.
This gun was in perfect condition, and Col. Crookston very kindly turned it over to our officers. We had seen plenty of am******on lying around in diferent places, particularly an old German dump just outside of Varennes-en-Argonne, and anticipated no difficulty in securing a sufficient supply for our needs.
Everyone took great pleasure in working on the gun and palling the lanyard which released a bunch of H.E, or shrapnel to do its worst (or best) among the "Kultured" beings
over the line. Twas here that "Scotty" the Cook came into his own, and with his deep-sea walk swaggered up to the gun, and to use his own words "Crowed a few iron rations over to Jerry." Sgt. Shires, Corp. Cahn and I then put over a little sweeping barrage of our own which lasted several minutes. Corp. Cahn was loading, and he certainly knew how to make every move count, for, believe me, we got 'em off fast.”
