On September 28th, the Americans
reached the Kriemhilde line, while the British were close in on Cambrai.
On September 30th, the British took Messines Ridge, while the French
were still advancing between the Aisne and Vesle Rivers. On October 1st,
the French troops entered St. Quentin and the British took the northern
and western suburbs of Cambrai. During the next week an enveloping
movement was instituted north and south of Lille. On October 5th, the
Germans evacuated Lille, on October 9th the British took Cambrai.
In these drives the American colored troops played a conspicuous part.
The entire Three hundred and sixty-fifth regiment, composed wholly of
colored troops, was later awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre, or War
Cross, by the French Government. It was a well-deserved honor, for the
boys of the Three hundred and sixty-fifth bore themselves with great
gallantry in the September and October offensive in the Champagne sector
and suffered heavy losses. In conferring the Croix de Guerre, the
citation dealt in considerable detail with the valor of particular
officers and praised the courage and tenacity of the whole regiment.
The Germans were retreating in Belgium day by day, under the attacks of
the Belgian and French armies. On October 11th the Germans evacuated the
Chemin des Dames.
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