Month: July 2020

The 36th gets packing

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

News of the 36th Division’s embarkment order raced through the Sixteenth Training Area in early April 1919. Soldiers of the 36th did not expect to be sent home until July or August. That they were going home this early was completely unexpected. There had even been rumors in the division that they would have to serve a tour of duty in Germany in the Army of Occupation.

All worries of months of extra duty, now that the fighting was over, were swept away by the thought of finally going home. The 36th Infantry Division arrived in France at the end of July 1918. Three and a half months later, the fighting stopped. The division had just entered combat, with twenty-three days in harm’s way when the Armistice was signed on November 11th. Since that time the nearly twenty thousand men of the 36th were stationed in northeast France, waiting. Now the wait was near an end.

Packing for home

The remaining weeks at the Sixteenth Training Area were a blur of activity. Equipment had to be returned to the Army. Bills had to be paid at local businesses. Soldiers were already sending home exotic items such as German helmets, knives, and medals (firearms and ammunition were harder to smuggle). Most of all, there were inspections: Uniforms, personal gear, and the men themselves were inspected thoroughly as the 36th prepared to depart.

The first team from division headquarters left Tonnerre on April 26th for Le Mans, site of the American Embarkation Center. Returning troops stayed in or near Le Mans to undergo inspections and wait for their ship. From Le Mans troops would travel by train to one of three French ports for transport home.

Get the boys home!

That the 36th Infantry Division was going home in May and not months later was the result of an incredible effort of the US Government. America wanted its soldiers home, and elected officials heard about little else from their constituents since the Armistice was signed. The result was a speedier process of transporting the massive American force in Europe. More ships joined the transport fleet. More docking space was added to French ports. In addition, larger American trains were sent over to help the French rail system.

Company F, 111th Engineers in Le Mans in 1919

The 36th Division, when it departed the Sixteenth Training Area, entrained at Tonnerre, Flogny, Tanlay, Ervy and Jeungny. It took sixteen trainloads to move the division. On May 2, 1919, the first troops left the Sixteenth Training Area in the familiar 40-and-8 (40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux) boxcars. This time, Regimental Sergeant Major O.K. Farrell was not among them; NCOs rode in coaches. The thirty-hour trip took them across central France to Le Mans. Soldiers in the 142nd Infantry Regiment detrained in Champagné, a town just east of Le Mans. From there they marched to Savigné-l’Évêque, about five miles to the north.

Life at the Embarkation Center

By May 5th, the 142nd Infantry Regiment reassembled in Savigné-l’Évêque. While there, they learned about the AEF war against lice. Before embarking for America, everyone and everything had to be deloused. The Army set up delousing stations all across the American Embarkation Center; and there were more at each of the ports. Every soldier had to give up all his worldly goods to be sent through a large steel tank. Inside the tank the items were subjected to steam and delousing chemicals. While this was happening, the men were led through a bathhouse where they washed. Clean soldiers emerged to receive their freshly steamed (and still damp) clothes.

Letter from O.K. Farrell to Gladys Loper, 1919

Life in the Embarkation Center was among the less enjoyable tasks for Americans serving overseas. This was because it was filled with record checking and health exams, inspections, and long lines for everything. The freedom of the men to move about and explore was very limited. No one wanted to fall afoul of the AEC staff and possibly delay their passage home. Above all, going home was the mission of these men. One soldier on the 142nd wrote his family, “Believe me, it is good to think about getting back home and among friends, for the people here are strange to me, and when I get back to the states I will take myself back to Rosston faster than the Germans took themselves back to Hun-land when once they started.”

“Yes, we’re still here”

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

“When Old Sol’s face does not appear/ Sometimes for most a half a year/

Go right on and grin and bear it/ When you’re home you can narrate/

How you adore, Old. Sunny. France.”

Private Barney Stacy, of Headquarters Company, 142nd Infantry wrote about conditions in northeast France while stationed near Flogny-la-Chapelle. His poem, “Old Sunny France” appeared in the April 4, 1919 edition of The Arrow Head. Now in their fifth month at the Sixteenth Training Area, men of the 36th Infantry Division were anxious to get home. The climate was not agreeable to the Southwesterners. In addition, the French were ready to get on with their peacetime lives. American soldiers frequently heard “pas comprend” (don’t understand) to routine requests they knew were understood by the French. Another thing that irked the Americans was that the price of things like bread, wine and cognac were higher for them. To top it off, the 78th Division, neighbors to the 36th, had just received orders to go home and were packing.

Letter from O.K. Farrell to Gladys Loper

“Play Ball”

“Now that the spring of the year is almost in flower, the thoughts of young dough-boys turn to the one and only sport – baseball.” The Arrow Head, April 4, 1919

After the loss to the 89th Division in the American Expeditionary Forces Football championships, baseball promised to lift the men’s spirits. The number of baseball teams across the division outnumbered all other sports teams combined. For example, the 142nd Infantry Regiment had 70 teams. The gridiron laid out at Tonnerre was expertly repurposed into a diamond by two landscapers in the division, and a schedule was drawn up.

Not to be left out, the 36th Division as a whole had an All-Star team that was ready for the best in the AEF. Its players came from semi-pro leagues and collegiate programs from the Southwest and boasted a pitcher from the Chicago White Sox organization. The team was managed by Lieutenant Eddy Palmer, formerly of the Texas League, who also played second base.

Although many divisions had already shipped out of France by springtime, the 36th Arrow Heads did play the 6th Infantry Division in Tonnerre on April 16th, 1919 and won, 3-1. More changes in the AEF meant an end to Arrow Heads baseball after just one game, but the team had promise. (More about baseball in the AEF is found here.)

Know the drill

Another avenue to healthy competition in the AEF was in military skills. This was the Army, after all. Turning skills such as military drill, marksmanship, horsemanship, and maneuver into a sport did increase the participation of the soldiers. As a result, men of the 36th entered the arena with gusto. Company A, 142nd Infantry Regiment won the Close-Quarter Drill competition at the I Corps Military Tournament in Tonnerre. 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment advanced to First Army Tournament in the Battalion Maneuver competition and came in second. Private Carl S. Kennedy of the 141st Infantry Regiment placed 10th in the entire AEF in marksmanship with his rifle. A two-man team from the 111th Engineer Regiment took first prize for horsemanship in wagon driving at First Army.

Baseball team of the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division in Germany, 1919

Literally old school

The most effective program in the AEF for soldiers waiting to go home was the schools program. It seems unbelievable today, but enlisted Americans in Europe attended Oxford University and the Sorbonne. Classes were established at nearly every level of command. For example, vocational skills such as welding and boilermaking were offered. Languages, literature and history were also popular subjects. Soldiers, sailors and marines attended at campuses from Ireland to Italy. With the added incentive of less work detail for students, schools in the AEF did a great deal to engage the men overseas. Schools also prepared them for the future at home as civilians.

A surprise visit

The most memorable event for men of the 36th Division was on April 9, 1919. The entire division assembled in a field in Melisey with field gear and shiny bayonets to be inspected by General Pershing. The Commander-in-Chief, AEF and his staff gave a characteristically thorough inspection, lasting several hours. A number of the men received their Distinguished Service Cross that day. In addition, the flags of the individual units were festooned with campaign ribbons by the general. The whole event took five hours.

General Pershing decorating a soldier of the 36th Division with the Distinguished Service Cross

While many of the men remembered the April chill and the rain of that afternoon in France, their time was worth the trouble. As with every division inspected, news came down from AEF Headquarters the next day that the 36th Division was to turn in their gear. They had orders to report to Le Mans for embarkation to the United States. The Arrow Heads were going home.

The Game

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

Although the first Super Bowl was played in January 1967, sports historians consider the 1919 AEF Football Championship as rightfully the first national championship game. And it was played in Paris!

American Expeditionary Forces commander John J. Pershing was facing a morale problem at the end of 1918. Germany had signed an Armistice, which had stopped the fighting. But the war was not over. Between the November 11, 1918 Armistice and a formal peace treaty was months of diplomatic back-and-forth between the Allies and Germany. Mostly, it was a back-and-forth among the Allies over which victorious nation would receive what concessions from the defeated nations.

As the peace process went on and the cease-fire was extended month after month, General Pershing knew he had to keep the Americans in Europe busy. What he and his staff envisioned was a schedule of sports and military competitions to keep the men engaged and healthy. The Federal Government pledged one million dollars to a program of recreation and sports for Americans serving in Europe.

The Government’s million-dollar bet paid off. The citizen soldiers of the AEF were better accustomed to sports than military pursuits. When war made such sacrifices necessary, American men made them. Now the fighting was over, their interest in military matters waned. Soldiers and Marines enthusiastically switched gears and took up athletics. In the 36th Division, there were fifty-two football teams spread across the 16th Training Area.

Panthers football

The first AEF football season revealed the 36th Infantry Division All-Star team hard to beat. They won every game but the unofficial championships versus Services of Supply-Saint Nazaire. A second, longer season immediately got underway. Captain Wilmot Whitney, who’d played while a student at Harvard, coached the team. In addition Capt. Whitney was also on the field as quarterback. Captain Walter Birge, formerly of the University of Texas Longhorns, was another coach in the 36th All Stars.  This wealth of gridiron talent was common throughout teams in the AEF in 1919.

In the second season, the 36th Division beat its neighbors in the Sixteenth Training Area, the 78th and 80th Divisions to win I Corps. They then defeated the First Army Headquarters team, 3-0. It took the 36th two games to beat the 29th Division (the first game was tied, 0-0). The First Army Championship game was played on March 1 in Bar-sur-Aube in the 13th Training Area, previously the home of the 36th Division. In the rematch with the 29th Infantry, the Panthers won 3-0 to claim First Army.

Bar-sur-Aube in 1919

Road to Victory

Fresh off their victory for the First Army crown, the 36th eleven found themselves in the AEF playoffs. At the quarterfinals, they faced S.O.S.-Le Mans at the Auteuil Velodrome, where the 36th Division won 13-0. On March 21, 1919, the semi-finals pitched the 36th Division against the Second Army champs, the 7th Infantry Division. A mass of 25,000 soldiers gathered at Bar-sur-Aube to view the semi-finals, overwhelming the town of four thousand. King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium were there. General Pershing was there, and of course the generals commanding First Army and Second Army.

The March weather was raw and drizzly. The two teams duked it out in the mud, taking penalties and picking up fumbles. The game went into the fourth quarter with no score. A late play in 7th Division territory yielded the lone touchdown for the 36th, who kicked for the extra point. The huge crowd, including eight thousand Arrowheads, rushed the field in celebration. Also joining the two teams on the muddy field were their Royal Highnesses, who paused to have their picture taken with the gladiators in green. Crowned heads were treated to a little American cheek while waiting for the photographer to take the picture: a voice called out from the enlisted throng, “Hurry up, kid, it’s cold out here.” Another called out, “I want to go home.” An icy stare from their Commander-in-Chief, Pershing, brought the crowd to order.

The Game

Parc des Princes, a velodrome in Paris, was the site of the first superbowl. Opposing the 36th was the 89th Division, Third Army champions with a perfect record. Nearly four thousand Arrowheads arrived in Paris on March 29, 1919 on leave, and a few thousand without leave, for the game. Generals, a Navy admiral, politicians, and a surprising number of French citizens were also present. In addition, twelve hundred soldiers from the 89th arrived by special train from Germany, where the division was stationed.

Once again in the cold and mud, the titans of the AEF battled for the championship. The 36th Division team dominated in the first half, exploiting a fumble and scoring in the first quarter. Arrowheads in the crowd went wild with an on-field celebration. In the second half, the 89th regained their composure and scored two touchdowns. The Third Army champs won the AEF, 14-6. In conclusion, General Pershing told the two teams, “You have carried out the letter and the spirit of the plan adopted to promote clean sports.”

The Arrow Head

Peter Larsen3 Comments

As winter wore on in northeast France in 1919, men of the 36th Infantry Division prepared themselves for a long stay. As soon as the Armistice was signed, rumors traveled among the 2,057,675 uniformed Americans in Europe about when they were going home. Rumor was about all the average American had to go on because there was no pattern when it came to the units first sent home.

The men of the 36th Division were told by their commander that they would be among the last divisions sent home, though that did not turn out to be true. Soldiers then expected that they would board ship for the States sometime in July 1919. American troops occupying western Germany would have to stay even longer.

Even though the 36th Division felt resigned to a long residence in France, movement was happening across the American Expeditionary Forces in 1919. This was evident when 115 men returned to the 36th that winter from the 81st Division. They and nearly 2,000 other Arrowheads had been assigned to other divisions such as the 42nd, 90th and 81st in September 1918 during the St. Mihiel and Argonne Offensives.

Tale of the 61st

In February 1919, the 61st Artillery Brigade got its orders to pack for home. The 61st was part of the 36th Infantry Division but was separated from it in August 1918 when the division arrived in France. The 61st Artillery Brigade was formed at Camp Bowie in September 1917 from Texas and Oklahoma National Guard units. This included the 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment, whose B Troop was headquartered in Amarillo.

The first units of the 61st arrived in Brest on August 11, 1918 with the 36th Division. After five days there, they boarded trains for Redon in Brittany. Companies C and D of the 111th Ammunition Train did not go with the 61st Brigade but stayed with the 36th Division the whole time they were in France. After two weeks camped in the vicinity of Redon, the 61st Brigade marched to artillery school at Coëtquidan.

Training begins

The base at Coëtquidan was large enough, at forty square miles, to house and train two brigades at a time. At least ten U.S. Army brigades trained there from the summer of 1917. The reason for the extended training was twofold: First, American artillery units such as those in the 61st had very basic training in the States. Second, very few American cannon were used by the Army in Europe in World War I.

In the interest of transporting as many American troops to Europe as possible, little room on ships was available for American heavy weapons. Most artillery pieces, mortars, and tanks the United States produced remained stateside. Americans fought in French tanks and airplanes, for the most part, and shot French cannon. The French provided excellent pieces, including the Modèle 1897 75mm field gun and the 155mm Schneider howitzer.

American soldiers train with a French 75

With a staff of French instructors, training began at Coëtquidan in September. The American gunners found they had to learn everything from scratch. Compass work, signaling, and learning every part of the new guns was in the curriculum. Their first practice shots on the firing range in late September were disappointing. After four weeks of intensive training, however, even veteran French instructors were satisfied.

61st stands down

The 61st Artillery Brigade was trained and ready for action by the last week of October 1918. They were on schedule to rejoin the 36th Infantry Division in its second deployment to the battlefield when, on November 11th, Germany capitulated. The 61st remained at Coëtquidan uncertain about their future.

On February 18, 1919, the 61st was ordered to break camp. Being stationed in Brittany near the ocean, it made sense to the AEF to send them home earlier than most. The brigade began to leave Coëtquidan on February 21st and three days later all had left camp. The 61st then underwent a series of inspections and medical examinations at the port of embarkation in Saint Nazaire. This period of time was remembered by Americans overseas as the least enjoyable part, besides combat, of their time in France.

The 61st Artillery Brigade boarded a flotilla of ships leaving Saint Nazaire beginning on February 25th. By March 11th, they had all left France. After a stormy transatlantic journey, the Brigade was in Newport News, Virginia and eventually back in Texas. The 61st Artillery Brigade was inactivated on April 10th, 1919.

The Arrow Head, April 11, 1919

The Arrow Head

February 27, 1919 saw the first appearance of the 36th Division’s newspaper, The Arrow Head. Publishing a newspaper did a great deal to bolster the morale of the division during its time in the Sixteenth Training Area. It was written, edited, and published by enlisted men. Its editor-in-chief was a private who previously worked at the Dallas Evening Journal. The Arrow Head was an immediate success among the men, growing to a weekly circulation of ten thousand copies. Ten issues were published between February 27 and May 2, 1919.

The paper took as its model the weekly journal of the AEF, Stars and Stripes. “By and for the soldiers of the A.E.F.”, Stars and Stripes was published in France for seventy-one weeks between February 1918 and June 1919. It was also written and edited by enlisted men and came to represent the voice of the American soldier serving overseas. Read more about the Stars and Stripes here.

As any local paper, The Arrow Head published the news and sports reports everyone in the division wanted to see. Each of the constituent organizations had a column in the paper to report its weekly news. The Arrow Head also published letters from soldiers and creative work including poems and cartoons that caustically lampooned army life.