How N.C. National Guard units hastened Germany’s surrender in World War I

Near Bellicourt, Picardy, France, Sept. 29, 1918

Packed in their trenches, soldiers of the 120th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 30th Infantry Division (“Old Hickory”) awaited dawn’s over-the-top signal to spearhead the allied assault.

Their commander, Col. Sidney Minor, fitfully marked time: “At 4:30 a.m. all troops were [ready] and the slow passing second each seemed an age. At 5:45 we stood with watch in hand. Could the seconds never pass? At 5:49 all was still, a deathly silence. As the final second came, the thunder of all ages seemed to break at once, the earth trembled and the flashes of hundreds of guns in the early dawn gave it all a fearsome aspect.”

By 7:25, the 120th broke the main defenses of Germany’s vaunted, supposedly impenetrable Hindenburg Line in northern France, the only regiment achieving its objective on time. Another unit mopped up. By 10 o’clock, the 120th had overcome the fortified St. Quentin Canal, penetrated the last northwestern France defensive positions, and hurled the enemy into a retreat from which they never recovered. At 11:30, the regiment also occupied Nauroy, as an Australian division coming through pressed the attack.

Upon realizing their defeat, Minor noted, captured German officers “threw up their hands in despair, saying, ‘It is over; there is nothing between you and the Rhine.’”

The Hindenburg Line was the last zone of German defenses on the Western Front. This major victory 100 years ago precipitated Germany’s surrender and the Nov. 11, 1918, armistice declaration ending World War I.

As the World War I centennial concludes, it’s time to recognize the heroics of these two North Carolina National Guard units, which still operate today. The 120th is headquartered in Wilmington; the 30th in Raleigh.

Breaching the line

Once the deafening, creeping artillery barrage “came down” ahead, our men gambled with death and plunged into no-man’s-land toward Riqueval’s Canal. They faced three rows of barbed wire, each 30-to-40 feet across and “woven so thick as to resemble a mass of vines and briars intermingled”; six trench lines some 6,000 yards across; and concrete machine-gun emplacements providing enfilading fire.

Dense fog and barrage smoke immediately limited visibility to six yards. Officers lost control. “The success of the attack now depended upon the individual,” Minor continued. Told the German line was too strong, “Companies pledged themselves even if only one man were left. We were determined to leave an open road for the Australians [and] win. Perhaps they were working their way to death or capture, but turn back, never.”

Halfway between Bellicourt and its southern end, the canal built by Napoleon passed underground for 6,000 yards, conveniently multiplying the Line’s obstructions. Since 1916, Germans sheltered troops and stored ammunition and supplies there.

The 30th Division lost 241 men that day -- 128 from the 120th -- including two from both Wilmington and Shallotte among eight from Southeastern North Carolina.

“Dead and wounded were on the field,” wrote the 105th Engineers commander. “It was a hard experience to see our men lying dead, and while it was to be expected, it did not ease the pain. Many dead Germans. Dead horses were scattered around and several guns knocked out of commission. I do not like [shelling]. I am still, however, able to control my legs and make them go where I want them to.”

The 30th Division and 27th Division situated on its left comprised the U.S. II Corps, attached to the British Fourth Army. The 27th, with unfavorable conditions, failed in its objective.

On Oct. 1, the 30th was relieved, then re-entered and fought until Oct. 20th, suffering more casualties.

The Hindenburg prelude

Arriving in France in June, the regiment turned in all weapons and equipment to be issued British helmets, gas masks, and rifles as part of the British Army. “ In July they occupied the Ypres salient, where hundreds of thousands of British soldiers had died “where poppies bloom,” but minus their band. “Musicians are too hard to replace, and of great value in maintaining morale,” said Minor. British King George V inspected the ranks. Popular American entertainer Elsie Janis, “the sweetheart of the AEF” (American Expeditionary Forces), performed.

No one knew what lay ahead. Patrols and outposts skirmished. Otherwise, all appeared “normal.” The division’s first prisoner, a Chinese fortifications worker, was “either on leave or AWOL. In either case he picked a damn bad place to spend it.”

In August, 400 men from the 120th handled phosgene and chlorine, assisting the 105th Engineers’ gas attack on their front. The gas drifted toward the enemy, prompting machine-gun fire and hundreds of shining lights, which then ceased as gas clouds passed. “It was a beautiful sight and a successful attack, but prisoners taken later on stated there were no casualties beyond a few horses.”

In September the regiment deloused and bathed at the “Kill Bug Station and Hop Factory,” each man receiving clean underwear. “After a period in the line the little bugs were plentiful.”

Later they trained with tanks.

Regimental attack orders demonstrated the prevailing 1918 Western Front combined-arms warfare: artillery barrage, infantry charges, trench mortars, machine guns, tanks, pioneers to mark paths, and mop-up units. Every other man received a water bottle: take more water, ammunition, and food from the dead.

Prior to attacking, Capt. James Leonard entrusted his eggs to someone else. Major William Graham, expecting hot coffee when halting, arranged for both coffee and the pot to make it in. Capt. Ben Dixon, instantly killed, and his company solemnly agreed to fight to the end.


Upon hearing of the armistice, the regiment canceled maneuvers and declared a holiday. Returning to the U.S. in April 1919, it paraded in Charlotte before receiving honorable discharges. Other 30th Division units paraded in Wilmington in March. “There was many a tear in many an eye as hands were clasped for the last time,” Minor concluded.

AEF commander Gen. John J. Pershing wrote: “The 30th Division did especially well. It broke through the Hindenburg Line on its entire front.”

Yes, so it did.

“They fought like seasoned veterans, like warriors they fell;

They stormed the battlements of death;

they charged the gates of Hell;

And laid the haughty legionnaires of Hindenburg supine;

And the world sang ‘Yankee Doodle,’

when the Yankees broke the line.”

– Thomas Mosette Lee, of Clinton, N.C., 30th Division member

Wilmington native Wilbur Jones is a retired Navy captain, author and military historian.