USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > Honor roll : Shawnee County, Kansas > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
HONOR
ROLL
SHAWNGE COUNTY EDITION
BUD
GREAT
1
ANSAS
KANSAS
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02251 4688
Gc 978.101 Sh2h Honor roll
Honor Rolf
Shawnee County Kansas
=
Dedication
To the brave boys of this county, who have so willingly and so courageously given their lives in the service of their country, the Honor Roll is Reverently dedicated
Honor Roll
I
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
DESIGNED, ENGRAVED, AND EDITED BY
THE BURGER ENGRAVING COMPANY 8TH AND WYANDOTTE STS. Kansas City, Mo.
PRINTED AND BOUND BY
THE HUGH STEPHENS PRINTING COMPANY Jefferson City, Mo.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018
https://archive.org/details/honorrollshawnee00unse
n
Memoriam
Capt. JOHN SWISHER LANGSTON 1st Lt. HARRY SWENDSON
2nd Lt. VIRGIL J. EATON 2nd Lt. FRED G. AUSTROM 2nd Lt. PAUL NOWERS Pvt. RAYMOND A. SMITHI NOEL ALBERT LODGE
Pvt. THEA M. DICE
Corp. JAMES ARTHUR WRAY
Corp. FRANK ASBURY PAVEY
Pvt. THEODORE L. McNEELEY ROBERT THOMAS MELTON
Pvt. WILLIAM H. SWAN LYMAN E. RICE Corp. EDWARD W. HUITT
Pvt. CHARLES T. JESSOP
Serg. LESTER W. WAITE
Pvt. JOHN O. AKERSTROM
Corp. GUY A. KARR
Pvt. JOHN LEO MARSHALL
Corp. CARL FRANKLIN LASSWELL
Pvt. KENNETH L. SUTHERLAND FRANK N. SIMON
Serg. JOSEPH DAVID BROGDEN
Pvt. RICHMOND VIRGIL FORD Serg. BOYD F. MULLIGAN Pvt. CLYDE M. GOODSELL Pvt. ZACHARY A. GRANT
Pvt. FREDERICK M. JOSEPHI
Pvt. WILLIAM F. KARR Pvt. CLIFFORD CLAY SPOTTS
Pvt. CLAUD E. HERMAN Serg. ALFRED GRANT BAKER Pvt. JOHN A. ALEXANDER OAKEY D. WILLIAMS
Pvt. ALBERT CALVIN COOPER WILLIAM MORTON BOLINGER Corp. HARRY MADDEN Pvt. DAVID R. JONES
Pvt. JOHN LEROY FLEMING
Pvt. CONRAD H. GRAF
Pvt. JOHN LIITTJOHNANN Pvt. ROBERT JOHN WEIRICH Pvt. EARL H. STOUT Pvt. EVENTUS S. DOUD
Pvt. JOHN L. BEST Pvt. ERWIN G. WOLF GOLDEN H. HANEY
Corp. AURIE EARNEST FAGER
Pvt. THOMAS C. DEACON
Corp. RODERICK J. SHIPLEY Pvt. MILTON IRVING KANODE
Pvt. LEO A. PYNE
Serg. HOWARD DICKERSON
Pvt. HAROLD G. OLSON KENNETH LYNDE BARBER Corp. HOWARD O. BIRT Pvt. JOHN A. McGOVERN Serg. HARRY E. BAYLY
Corp. JESSE J. GILLILAND
Pvt. ORA VANCE DOUGLASS Pvt. JORDAN PATTERSON
Pvt. ARTHUR S. MONROE Pvt. JOHN DAVID RAMSEY
Corp. IRVING TODD REYNOLDS
Pvt. ERNEST WOODCOX
Pvt. FOSTER R. BRADFIELD Serg. WM. F. L. KLINGE Pvt. LEONARD RAYMOND WILSON
Pvt. FLOYD W. BAILEY
Pvt. RAYMOND DOIDGE
Pvt. PAUL F. NEAL
Pvt. JOSEPH ALBERT LINGER
Pyt. LESTER E. KETTERING
Pvt. CHARLES R. BINNS
GREETING
T HE SHAWNEE COUNTY Honor Roll was conceived, the necessary material gathered, and the book published that the people of this county might have a perma- nent record of their total activities as called forth by the great World War.
The brave lads who fought "over there," those equally sincere who were left in camps at home, and the loyal ones who stood be- hind them all, each have attained a niche in world history. If, in years to come, this book calls forth a mirrored image of the stirring days of 1917-18, its publishers will have considered their work worth while.
WOODROW WILSON
Twenty-eighth President of the United States. Born, Staunton, Va., Dec. 28, 1856. Married Ellen Louise Axsen, of Savannah, Ga., June 24, 1885 (died Aug. 6, 1914). Married (2d) Edith Bolling Galt, of Washington, D. C., Dec. 18, 1915. Graduated from Princeton, A. B. 1879, A. M., 1882. Graduated in law, University of Virginia, 1881. Practiced law in Atlanta, Ga., 1882-83, Ph. D., 1886. President of Princeton University, Aug. 1902-Oct. 20, 1910. Governor of New Jersey, Jan. 27, 1911-March, 1913. Nominated for President, Democratic National Convention, 1912, and elected Nov. 4, 1912. Re-elected President, Nov. 16, 1916.
Page 9
3 1833 02251 4688
US,
GEN. JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING
General, United States Army. Born Linn County, Missouri, Sept. 30, 1860. Married Frances H., daughter of Senator Warren, Wyoming, Jan. 26, 1905. Graduated U. S. Military Academy, West Point, Class of 1886. Re- ceived degree LL. B., University of Nebraska, 1893. Served Apache campaign, New Mexico and Arizona, 1886. Served in Sioux campaign, Dakota, 1890-91. Served with 10th Cavalry, Santiago (Cuba) campaign, 1898. Served in Philippine Islands campaign, Nov., 1899-June, 1903. Was with Kuroki's Japanese Army, Manchuria, 1905. Served on the General Staff U. S. A., 1903-06. Commander Department Mindanao, P. I., and Governor of Moro Province, defeating hostile Moros, battle of Bagsag, June 12, 1913. Commanded U. S. troops sent in pursuit of Villa, 1916, into Mexico. Appointed General in command of American Expeditionary Forces in France, 1917.
Page 10
GEN. FERDINAND FOCH
Supreme Commander of Allied Armies. Born Oct. 2, 1851, at Pyrenees, France. Educated at Metz. Com- missioned a Lieutenant in the Franco-Prussian War; a Captain in 1878; a Lieutenant Colonel, 1898; Colonel, 1903; General Commanding 13th Division of Infantry, 1907; served during European War (Grand Croix Legion of Honour) Marshal of France, 1918. Renowned throughout the world as an instructor in military tactics and strategy. Startled the world by his generalship at the battle of the Marne in 1914. Recognized as the supreme commander of the Allied Armies.
Page 11
FIELD MARSHAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG
Field Marshal of Great Britain. Born Cameron Bridge, Fife Scotland, June 19, 1861. Married, 1905, to Hon. Dorothy Vivian. Hon. fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. Joined 7th Hussars, 1885. Served in Soudan, 1898; South Africa, 1899. Inspector-General Cavalry, India, 1903-06; Major-General, 1904; Chief of Staff, India, 1909-12; General Officer, commanding First Army in France, 1914-15; Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Forces in France and Flanders since 1915.
Page 12
GEN. ARMANDO DIAZ
General, Italian Army. Born in Italy. Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Armies since November, 1917.
Page 13
ADMIRAL S. S. SIMMS
Commander of the United States Naval Forces during the late War. Highest ranking officer in the United States Navy and one of the most outstanding figures in American naval history.
Page 14
OPUBLIDLER
ARTHUR CAPPER Ex-Governor and United States Senator from Kansas.
Page 15
.
HENRY J. ALLEN Governor of Kansas.
Page 16
SENATOR CURTIS OF KANSAS
Page 17
KAN
4
BRIGADIER GENERAL C. I. MARTIN
Page 18
9
afrody
MRS. C. I. MARTIN Commander of The National Military Sisterhood of America.
Page 19
-
MRS. H. O. GARVEY Topeka, Kansas
War President, May, 1917-19, Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs. Member Kansas State Council of De- fense, State Chairman War Victory Commission, Liberty Loan Speaker, and National Speaker for the League of Nations.
Page 20
.
MRS. DAVID W. MULVANE Topeka, Kansas State Chairman, Woman's Committee Council of Defense for Kansas.
Page 21
MRS. CHARLES L. MITCHELL Topeka, Kansas President of the Red Cross Canteen Workers.
Page 22
E
>
FRED W. FREEMAN Topeka, Kansas District Chairman for the Liberty Loan Campaigns.
Page 23
--
1
1
-
1
-
-
1
-
1
THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDING AT MIDNIGHT
This picture was made at midnight of April 5, 1917. Congress had been in session all day, debating the reso- Washington, D. C.
lution to declare war on Germany, the session continuing until 3 o'clock A. M. when the Act was passed, the Presi-
cent signing the Declaration the same day.
A heavy rain, which had been falling just previous to the time the picture was made, formed a pool of water
in a neglected depression in the pavement, making possible the beautiful reflection in the foreground.
Page 24
LOCAL ACTIVITIES
LIBERTY LOANS WAR SAVINGS STAMPS RED CROSS SALVATION ARMY Y.M.C.A .- Y. W. C.A. KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FOUR-MINUTE SPEAKERS -- ADDENDA
.
SHAWNEE COUNTY'S RECORD
S HAWNEE COUNTY stands out as one of the banner counties of the State of Kansas in respect to the manner in which its citizens rose to meet every situation called forth by the exigencies of the late war. During the Liberty Loan Drives, the sale of Thrift Stamps, and the Red Cross and War Fund Drives the promptness with which the various quotas were subscribed to made this fact very evident. Over- subscriptions were the rule rather than the exception, and the county as a whole can proudly look back on its activities during those stirring times when democracy trembled in the balance to fall one way or another unless borne alike by the brave lads on the battlefields of France as well as the loved ones at home.
One example may be very readily taken up to show how well Shawnee County met every test given it by the needs of War. The sale of Thrift Stamps or War Savings Stamps for the county exceeded the quota by $50,000.00, showing how efficiently the work was carried forward. Every possible agency was mo- bilized for action during the War Savings Campaign of 1918, according to Charles S. Elliott, director of the Shawnee County Savings Committee. Their efficiency was proven by the fact that an average of ten war savings stamps for every man, woman and child in the county was sold during the year. While the Topeka postoffice led in the sale of the stamps, yet the Boy Scouts and the schools helped very materially in achieving the results obtained. The interest taken by the principals and teachers of the schools had a won- derful effect upon the minds of the children and in that way practically every home was reached, no matter what the circumstances of the family might be.
Page 26
HONOR .ROLL
S. E. COBB Topeka, Kansas State Chairman of the Red Cross. War Fund Cam- paign, May 20-27, 1918.
CHARLES L. MITCHELL IIO East 8th St., Topeka, Kansas A prominent War Worker in the various campaigns.
J. R. BURROWS Topeka, Kansas County Chairman of the Liberty Loan Drives.
DAVID W. MULVANE Topeka, Kansas County Chairman, War Fund Drive.
Page 27
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
FOUR-MINUTE SPEAKERS Top row-FRED VOILAND, JUSTICE J. S. WEST, FRED S. JACKSON, FRANK CURRY Second row-JUSTICE HENRY F. MASON, P. J. MONAGHAN, E. E. BROKENS Third row-T. A. MCNEAL, JUSTICE SILAS PORTER, JUSTICE JOHN S. DAWSON Bottom row-WILLIAM A. BIBY, S. N. HAWKES, WALTER PAYNE
Page 28
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
-
FOUR-MINUTE SPEAKERS
Top row -- - -, JAMES A. TROUTMAN, JOHN M. KINKEL. Second row-CHAS. DILLON, B. P. BARTLETT, WALTER A. JOHNSON. Third row-JAMES MULLIN, WILLIAM WOLFE, CURTIS W. MYERS. Bottom Row- -, C. M. SHELDON, REV. E. J. KULP.
Page 29
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
35
NURSES WHO SERVED IN CAMPS AT HOME AND OVERSEAS
MISS MINNIE
MISS LOUISE KIENINGER MISS GERTRUDE LEWIS
MISS HELEN
MISS GRACE JAMES
MISS IDORA P. BUNDS
Page 30
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
NURSES WHO SERVED IN CAMPS AT HOME AND OVERSEAS
MISS ANNA MAINS
MISS ANNABELL BONNETT
MISS ELIZABETH DICKSON (Deceased)
MISS LILLIAN REH
MISS MARY ALEXANDER MISS ELLA NAGLE
Page 31
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
HARRY CARLTON GREEN 812 Monroe St., Topeka, Kans.
Associate Field Director American Red Cross. At Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas, April 22 to November 19, 1918. Assigned to overseas service but orders can- celled on signing of Armistice.
MARY B. SWEET 320 West 6th St., Topeka, Kans. Red Cross work in Italy. Overseas in September, 1918. Returned in February, 1919.
MRS. CHARLES B. THOMAS 1011 King St., Topeka, Kans. Chairman, Home Service Section, or Chairman Civilian Relief Committee, Red Cross.
-
MRS. CLEMENT W. SEELY 227 Broadmoor St., Topeka, Kans. Secretary Home Service Section, Red Cross.
Page 32
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL F
FRANCES MCCLINTOCK SHOEMAKER 1313 Fillmore St., Topeka, Kans.
Born in Topeka, Kans., Sept. 3, 1893. Daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John C. Shoemaker. Married. Entered Y. M. C. A. work in Sept., 1918; entertained by sing- ing in the camps overseas.
MRS. CHARLES F. SPENCER Topeka, Kans.
Daughter of the late Col. W. D. Alexander. Liberty Loan Speaker and Lecturer with exhibition of Patriotic War Posters.
-
ANNIE B. SWEET 320 West 6th St., Topeka, Kans. Engaged in Y. W. C. A. work in France. Went overseas in July, 1918, returned in Feb., 1919.
MISS NANON LEE HERREN 410 Topeka Ave., Topeka, Kans. Born in Lawrence, Kans., Instruc- tor in Public Speaking in University at Beaune, France.
ANNABEL ALEXANDER GARVEY 515 Buchanan St., Topeka, Kans. Y. M. C. A. Sec'y A. E. F., in General Federation of Women's Clubs Unit. Recreation and Canteen worker in Leave Areas, at Grenoble, Allevard and Le Mans, France.
Page 33
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL F
MILITARY
-
?
SISTERHOOD
1
1
THE LOCAL CHAPTER OF THE MILITARY SISTERHOOD MRS. G. F. REES, President of the Local Chapter 1240 Wayne St., Topeka, Kans.
Page 34
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
DOLLARS
17
SPECIAL STREET COMMITTEE IN SALVATION ARMY DRIVE
Left to right-MISS GRETCHEN VOILAND, MISS NANCY BOONE, MISS MARY CLARK, MISS FAYEBEN WILLIAMS, chair- man, MRS. G. L. TUER, MISS SARAH ENGLE, MISS THEODORA SMITH, MISS EDITH PENNINGTON, MISS CECILY ALLISON, MISS ESTHER MCARTHUR, MISS ALBERTA KEESEE
1
THE CLEAN-UP SQUAD
Girl workers in the 1918 Christmas Roll Call of the Red Cross.
From left to right-MISSES NANCY BOONE, MARGARET WHITTEMORE, PINA EDWARDS, ERNESTINE BIBY, MARY CLARK,
MR. WM. D. WOLFE, publicity department, MISSES FAYEBEN WILLIAMS, chairman, DOROTHY CRANE, ELIZABETH EDSON, NAN WEIGHTMAN, MARIAN WILLIAMS, LOUISE CLARK, BETTY FROST
Page 35
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
+
LANTELÄ„
AMERICAN RED CROSS CANTEEN WORKERS
Page 36
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
+
+
-
A.R.C.
CANTEEN
-
S
+
AMERICAN RED CROSS CANTEEN WORKERS Center picture shows Canteen Hut at Union Pacific Depot in Topeka
Page 37
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
THE MASONIC SERVICE GROUP
Top row-F. G. TODD, G. P. CHRISTMAN, E. J. OTTO, H. L. RUDE, G. C. FERRIER, W. J. LEWIS, K. L. PAULSON, E. A. KIENE, S. A. HAMMEL, C. C. LULL, W. R. MORRISON, P. R. LOCKWOOD, R. G. REYNOLDS, C. H. NEWMAN, G. W. NEWMAN, F. M. MILLER, C. A. JOHNSON, G. S. LEATHERBERRY
Middle row-D. M. RIDDLE, R. M. SWEARINGEN, M. G. MILLER, C. Z. MONTGOMERY, J. A. EDDY, W. G. TOWNSEND, J. L. GOHEEN, O. F. ELLIS, D. D. WELLY, P. F. DWINNELL, F. S. WHITEHEAD, J. M. JEWELL, R. S. THOMAN, G. K. CLOSSON
Bottom row-R. G. BECKER, P. H. HANSTINE, R. A. MERIDITH, B. C. MOHEBECHER, C. H. TUCKER, C. T. AKERS, A. C. APITZ, W. N. CARNEY, A. E. SUTTON, E. B. MOREHOUSE, I. D. GREGORY, H. E. ROBBINS, W. J. WARDIN, M. E. PALMER
SUNFLOWER AUXILIARY-AMERICAN RED CROSS
Top row-MRS. MILDRED COLEMAN, MRS. G. A. BIGBEE, MRS. E. JACKSON, MRS. B. TAYLOR, MRS. JENNIE TAYLOR, MRS. J. SHUCK, MRS. G. A. GOODWIN, MRS. J. H. CLAYBURN, MRS. WILLIAM RANSOM, MRS. MATTIE CAR- PENTER, MRS. D. A. JEFFERSON, MRS. THELMA COLEMAN, MRS. LOUISE RUSSELL, MRS. JOHN R. HICKS, MRS. L. PEAK, MRS. C. C. DANIELS, MRS. BELL CRITH, MRS. HELEN RANSOM, MISS MARTHA HICKS, MRS. AMOS BOOKER
Second row-MRS. L. A. HARRIS, MRS. BELLE DILLARD, MRS. S. F. MALONE, MRS. JENNIE DAVENPORT, MRS. L. M. HOLMAN, MRS. CARRIE DOWDELL, MRS. PRESTON TOLBERT, MRS. J. H. RIIODES, MRS. W. 1. JAMISON, MRS. ROSIE JACKSON, MRS. ROSALIE JACKSON, MISS CARRIE CROCKETT, MRS. GEORGE HICKS, MRS. S. A. SHIELDS, MISS ANNA GAY, MRS. SUSIE WASHINGTON, MRS. N. E. MCGILL
Bottom row-MRS. LILLIAN CLARK, MRS. MARY CABBELL, MRS. MARY CLARK
RANKS
MRS. W. 1. JAMISON Chairman Auxiliary MRS. L. PEAK
Chairman
Knitting
MRS. J. H. RHODES Chairman Home Service MRS. MARY CABBELL Secretary
MRS. LILLIAN CLARK . Chairman Sewing
MRS. ROSIE JACKSON Treasurer
Page 38
VICTORY
-
B.S.
THE BOY SCOUTS WHEN FIRST ORGANIZED
B.5.1
TOR FEA
King
Photo
THE BOY SCOUT TROOP TODAY
Page 39
HONOR ROLL
+
2 20
THE RED CROSS SELLING FLOWERS IN TOPEKA
Page 40
VICTORY
THE THIRTY-FIFTH DIVISION
INSIGNIA OF DIVISION WORN ON THE LEFT SHOULDER OF EACH MAN
FOLLOWING IS PUBLISHED THE "LOG OF THE 35th DIVISION" WHICH RAN IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR OF APRIL 7-8-9-10-11 - 14, 1919
HONOR ROLL
Log of the 35th Division
From the Time the Middle West Division Left Camp Doniphan to the War's End
O N THE Atlantic seabord, the division was as- sembled at Camp Mills, near Hempstead, Long Island, and on April 24 and 25 the Middle West- erners, many of them smelling salt water for the first time, moved over to New York and Hoboken, "set a foot aboard a ship" and sailed away on the great ad- venture.
The 60th Brigade of Field Artillery, its ammuni- tion train, the Trench Mortar Battery and the 110th Field Signal Battalion were not with the division. They were to cross later.
It was a cold, windy trip on a boisterous sea. One convoy of great ships carried the division, and the submarine war was at its height. The convoy was routed far to the north so that at one time it was in the latitude of the southern point of Greenland. They turned southward when near the Scottish coast and passed through the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, and when Liverpool finally rose out of the water it got a cheer. That was May 7 and there was little sightseeing done in the British port, for the same day they were marched onto trains and shot through to Winchester.
FIRST DEATH OVERSEAS.
Cliff Berlin, an enlisted man, died of diphtheria in Winchester. His was the first death overseas in our outfit.
May 10 the division entrained again and rode to Southhampton, again embarked and in the night steamed down the Solent and through the submarine infested waters of the Channel safely to Le Havre, where they landed, May 11. Stories of submarine attacks have not been verified.' There were plenty of alarms, however.
By 11 a. m. May 11 all outfits had landed on French soil or were in course of landing. It was just six months later to the hour that the armistice was signed. .
QUARTERED 17 MILES FROM DIEPPE.
From Le Havre the troops moved as rapidly as possible immediately after landing to the vicinity of Eu, in which town divisional headquarters was set up
The 35th Division was formed in the fall of 1917, by combining the Kansas and Missouri Na- tional Guard troops, Kansas supplying approxi- mately 8,000, Missouri 14,750, and the remainder obtained from draft contingents, bringing the *
division to 27,000 strength. Maj. Gen. William
* Wright commanded, and the training was done * at Camp Doniphan, Fort Sill, Okla.
*
*
The division began entraining for the East April 11. Newspapers and everybody else knew of the troop movement, but nothing was printed. Attempted secreey did not prevent the word spread- ing to the mothers and fathers back home, and there were immense throngs at the stations in Kansas City, St. Louis and intermediate points to watch their boys go through. Kansas City had many separate units in the division. considering it almost the same as an entirely "home unit."
in the town hall. Excepting the units to come later the division was assembled, finally, in France, and the war was not very far away. By June 1 the outfit was quartered within easy range of Eu. Le Treport, a peace time summer resort on the sea, but now a hos-
pital center for convalescents, was three miles away. Dieppe was 17 miles to the southwest, and due east was the battle line.
These were parlous days in the great war. The enemy was pressing along the whole line, apparently feeling for a weak spot, and Foch could not know where he would strike. There was at that time no real American sector. We held a little stretch of trench up Lunecille way, and at a spot or two down in the Vosges we were in very quiet sectors. The British Army guarded the path to the Channel, while the great French legions stood watch and guard along the road that led to Paris.
WHEN HAIG FACED DISASTER.
The First Division already had tasted blood at Cantigny. Foch shuffled some other American divi- sions and put them into the line along with the French. The enemy was using a mobile force of 700,000 men, the intelligence section said. Foch knew he could stop them on the Marne. If the attack should slide farther to the west and north, the British would be in a bad way. At the direction of the high allied command Pershing lent all his forces in the training areas of the north of France to the British. There were nine divisions of them, one of which was the newly arrived Thirty-fifth. These were to be reserves to the British Army.
EQUIPPED WITH BRITISH RIFLES.
American newspapers at the time spoke of these American troops as having "finished their training" and of their being attached to the British Army. Their training really was not finished, but they had straightened out the kinks left by the long sea voyage; they had acquired a hurried, but acceptable, knowl- edge of the British rifle with which they were equipped, and they would have been able to put up a desperate fight if the British lines ever had given way. But they would have paid a terrific price, for they were not as capable then of taking the field as they were four months later, and the price paid at the later date was dear enough.
The parts of nine American divisions there ex- ceeded in the aggregate one hundred and seventy-five thousand men. American newspapers at the time, I learn from the files, made their larger headlines day by day upon the gradual increase of enemy artillery fire on the British front. These nine divisions were gathered in the little corner at the north of France, and they lay, nearly all of them, in the territory west of a line drawn from Arras to Amiens.
Our 35th Division engineers were sent further north than any other elements of the 35th Division. There they dug reserve trenches, erected barbed wire entanglements and otherwise labored in the prepara- tion of a line of defense to which the British could fall back if forced to do so, or into which some of the American reserves could be thrown to stop a rush to the channel. The enemy never reached that line. The infantry regiments got in some time at drill.
DIDN'T LIKE THE BRITISH.
When I returned from France early in March, 1919, it was on a ship which carried some fifteen hun- dred members of the 27th Division, formerly New
Page 42
VICTORY
HONOR ROLL
York National Guardsmen. They had spent their entire service in France with the British, and the officers, almost to a man, declared that they liked the British very much, that relations always had been friendly, and several of the enlisted men with whom I talked had the same opinion. It is the duty of the veracious chronicler to record that the 35th Division did not get along very well with the British. They did not like the British noncoms, or the British sol- diers, or the British officers. They conspicuously dis- liked the British rations, and they loathed tea for breakfast. It is almost impossible to make Missourians and Kansans drink tea for breakfast.
"But WE have ALWAYS drunk tea for break- fast," a British mess sergeant pleaded.
"Maybe that's what is the matter with you," the American mess sergeant answered.
There were occasional fights between our men and theirs. That did not aid in the cementing of the Entente. A British noncom who was a bit of a wag, heard an excellent wheeze at his own headquarters, and hurried to tell it to the Americans. He found three of them together on a sidewalk in Eu.
"I say you fellows! Did you know the next war is to be fought between the two yellow races? Yes, the Japanese and the Americans. Haw-
All three Americans hit the jester at the same time, and gentle hands bore him away to a hospital.
STRUGGLE WITH FRENCH LANGUAGE.
It was in the region about Eu that we first began having our struggles with the French language. The name of the town was called by the natives something like "Uhr," but we called it "You" until we had heard some Frenchman pronounce it.
All men of the division could feel the approach to the war, and could get much of the atmosphere of it from long trains of camouflaged trucks which plugged along the magnificent roads, or from the hos- pital cars which the trains carried daily down to Le Treport, where sick or wounded might rest and re- cuperate by the sea, or from the airplanes which flew over in formation on their way to front or back again.
On the night of May 26 and the morning of May 27, the Germans attacked on a 40-mile front, between Rheims and Soissons, against the British and French, and the endeavor to extend the gains made in the March offensive was apparent. Then they attacked below Ypres. The 35th Division came mighty near to getting into the war then, but we knew at the time little about how close we were to participation. The battle developed rapidly along the Vesle and the Aisne and May 28 a crossing of the Aisne was made. The French from Reims westward braced themselves against the push and the foe slipped further west- ward.
The concentration of the attack along the line held by the French made it appear that the German design was to make another attempt on Paris, rather than toward the channel. The need for the 35th in the British area passed, and they were booked for other fields.
.
June 7 the 35th Division resumed its travels. The great enemy offensive was stopped. He lay along the Marne, and he could threaten the British, as he did a few days later around Montdidier, but between the German hordes and Paris lay the grim Frenchmen, whose confession of faith and declaration of principles and litany were all embraced in the phrase "They shall not pass." Foch could again devote his energies to arranging his forces for his offensive to come, and one of the details of this arrangement made it necessary for General Pershing to send the 35th Division further to the eastward.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.