Tag: AEF

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.

January, 1919

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

“Geese…Chickens cackling…Bread wagon horn…Bell at gate…Soldiers cussing…Dog barking…Truck passing on highway…French people talking…Small French kid whistling…Creak of farmer’s wagon…Wooden shoes on hard ground…Cattle mooing…Rooster crooning…Chain on well…Wheelbarrow squeaking.” Ed Sayles of Abilene wrote about French country living while stationed near Flogny, France after the Armistice. As a lieutenant, he commanded the 37mm Gun platoon during the fighting. Captain Sayles was now a company commander in the 142nd Infantry.

The 142nd Infantry Regiment and the rest of the 36th Infantry Division was quartered with two other divisions at the Sixteenth Training Area in the Département of Yonne in northeastern France. The 142nd Infantry Headquarters Company and Medical Detachment were located in the town of Flogny. 1st Battalion Headquarters and Companies A and B were billeted in Percey. Companies C and D were located at La Chapelle-Vieille-Forêt. 2nd Battalion Headquarters and Companies E and F were in Carisey. Companies G and H were billeted in Villiers-Vineux. 3rd Battalion Headquarters, the Machine Gun Company and Companies I, K, and L were located in Lignières. The Supply Company and Company M were billeted at Marolles-sous-Lignières.

Winter sets in

The men of the 36th Infantry Division were beginning a long residence in eastern France in the winter of 1918-1919. Before they began their 130-mile march from the front, the 36th received about 3,600 replacement soldiers. Most of the replacements were in good health and in good spirits. However, the long march did take a toll on the men’s feet. Boots wore out for greenhorn and veteran alike. Many of the men had essentially nothing to walk in by the time they reached their living quarters, so they stayed indoors until new boots arrived.

As it was also winter, some of the new men were beginning to get sick. Close living arrangements with what amounted to a bunch of strangers was toughest on the replacements. The unit hospitals began to fill up. It was around this time that the global influenza pandemic once again reached the 36th Division. It had hit the 36th Division when it was stationed near Bar-sur-Aube in September 1918. Fifteen men from the 142nd died in the hospital that fall from influenza or the pneumonia that came after it. Five men from the 142nd died in hospital in the winter of 1919.

POWs

Ten men from the 142nd Infantry were missing in action in the fighting of October 8-28. In fact, these men were Prisoners of War in Germany. About 2,450 American soldiers, marines and airmen were POWs in Germany. There were also U.S. sailors and merchant marines, making the total 4,120 held captive. When the Armistice was signed, Germany agreed to the immediate release of Allied POWs. (Read more about the American POW experience here.)

The way home from POW camps in Germany was sometimes chaotic and improvised. Most American soldiers, marines and airmen were transferred through Switzerland to France by the International Committee of the Red Cross. American sailors and merchant marines traveled by sea to England. Therefore in early 1919 ten came back to the 142nd, including Privates John Martin and Joseph Krepps and Sergeant Norman Duff of Company A. They had been captured in Saint Étienne on October 8. Also returned was Private Buster L. Stinson of Company C, captured during a daylight patrol on the wrong side of the Aisne on October 21, 1918.

Soldiers playing basketball at YMCA hut in Chaumont, France

Basketball

As much as the 36th Division enjoyed football, it was now basketball season. The division had 68 basketball teams spread across their encampment. In all the competition across the division, no one could beat the top five players in the 142nd Infantry Regiment. The 142nd All-Star team ended up winning the 36th Division crown and went on to beat their neighbors, the 80th Infantry Division. However at the I Corps championships, the 36th Division team lost to the 78th Infantry Division team, 20-28.

“Wouldn’t care if I never went home”

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

As 1918 faded into 1919, American commanders were aware of a problem in France. With the fighting over, more than two million American servicemen suddenly had some free time. Although Germany had signed an Armistice on November 11th, it would be a long time before American troops would reach home. There were two reasons why Doughboys would remain in Europe a while longer.

Firstly, a peace treaty was only now being negotiated in Paris. President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France on December 13 to lead the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. The Conference itself did not get underway until January 18, 1919. It was a lengthy process. But until a peace treaty was signed, the war was not yet over. American soldiers had to remain in France as a guarantee that Germany would accept the terms of the Conference.

Secondly, there just weren’t enough ships. It had taken eighteen months to bring the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe. Even with a negotiated peace, it would take months to bring them home. Until that time, AEF commander John J. Pershing and his staff would have to keep the men busy making peace instead of war. That task would require all their ingenuity.

O.K. gets a pass

The first tactic in keeping the men occupied was the generous use of leave policy. The AEF was aided in France by nearly thirteen thousand welfare volunteers during World War One. These volunteers came from the United States with organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army and most notably the YMCA. These and other organizations had outposts in the field, sometimes even in areas under German shellfire. After the Armistice, they organized local centers for sports and social events near the troops. They also organized rest areas for American soldiers on leave.

Twelve months after his last leave, Regimental Sergeant Major O.K. Farrell got a ten-day pass. The destination was the Côte d’Azur: Cannes, Nice and Monaco. It was by far his best time in France. He wrote many postcards home to his family and to his girlfriend, Gladys Loper. He toured the sights including Monaco and Menton and even across the Italian border.

Even more than the French Riviera, Paris was a popular destination for soldiers on leave. American servicemen managed to tour England, Ireland, Italy and even Greece during their service in the AEF.

O.K. Farrell is third from left
O.K. Farrell on left, Monte Carlo
O.K. Farrell’s ten-day pass.

T-patchers

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1918, saw the first troops of the 36th Infantry Division arrive at their new home. The 16th Training Area in the Departement of Yonne was centered in the town of Tonnerre. There was no fort or army base, just towns and villages, a railroad, and a highway. The American Expeditionary Forces had organized twenty-one training areas behind its front line in the Meuse-Argonne area. Before and after deployment at the front, the AEF stationed its Infantry divisions in a training area nearby.

The training area around Tonnerre was a lot like the other twenty training areas. It was mostly rural, with villages separated by lots of farmland, and with very little for a soldier to do. However, when the 36th Division first arrived at the Sixteenth Training Area, there was much to do. Accommodations were subpar and winter was about to come. The whole division was put to work improving or building from scratch the basic necessities of army camp living.

O.K. Farrell’s billet, office and, um, Best Girl in Flogny-la-Chapelle

Return of the Engineers

Joining the 36th Division at this time was its engineer regiment, the 111th Engineers. The 111th had just earned an enviable record as the I Corps Engineer unit, working nonstop in the only two large American offensive operations of the war. They had been in harm’s way for over sixty days, nearly three times as long as the rest of the 36th division. During that time, they’d been bombed, shelled, strafed by German planes and shot at by German machine gunners.

During combat the 111th Engineers followed closely behind front-line troops to build and repair roads for ammunition, ambulances and supplies to reach the front. In the constant rain and mud of France in autumn, it was backbreaking work. Since the Armistice on November 11th, the 111th Engineers had been marching from the front line to rejoin its division. (Read more about the 111th Engineers here and here.)

U.S. Army Engineers in France, 1918

Unfortunately for the Engineers, their first order of duty was to repair all the local roads. The wet fall season meant roads were rutted and flooded. The engineers spread across the Sixteenth Training Area to restore the roads which brought food and supplies to the division. The onset of winter did not help matters, and soon infantrymen were detailed to go help the engineers. As the season wore on, the engineers opened some rock quarries for paving the roads. Soldiers of the 36th spent time away from their normal duties breaking rocks for building roads.

Home Improvement

Men of the 142nd Infantry were quartered in and around the town of Flogny-la-Chapelle. Facilities available to the soldiers varied a great deal. Living arrangements in Flogny itself were considered “excellent” by AEF standards. But some accommodations nearby were “possibly the worst found during the stay of the American Expeditionary Forces”. Although the Sixteenth Training Area had been in use since the previous spring, facilities were incomplete or missing. There were not enough beds or bathing facilities. Latrines were primitive. Sanitation was a problem. In addition, cooking facilities were outdoors and unsheltered.

Before the 36th division could fully move in, they had to make a home for themselves. Beds were moved off the ground or floor. Mess halls were built. Moreover, kitchens were enclosed or moved into buildings. Sanitation was improved and latrines were built. Most importantly, the soldiers’ beds were separated from each other using curtains or wood panels. These measures reduced the spread of disease.

Arrowhead Patch in WWI configuration

Arrowheads

Around this time the AEF command ordered each division in France to submit a design for shoulder insignia. In the fifteen months of its existence, the 36th Infantry Division was known as the Panther Division, the Lone Star Division, the Tex-oma Division, and others. “Arrowhead” was probably the least associated name, but by December 1918 the Arrowhead insignia was submitted to AEF headquarters.

The design was a light blue knapped flint arrowhead, representing Oklahoma. Inside the arrowhead was a tan capital “T” for Texas. Native Americans in the 36th didn’t like to wear it because the arrowhead pointed downward, a symbol for defeat in their culture. Nevertheless, the “T-patch” has represented the 36th for one hundred years and counting.

Otho Farrell’s T-patch from WWI

Football comes to the AEF

In December 1918, the Southwesterners were able to spare a little time, at long last, to football. A lot of football was played back in Texas at Camp Bowie. Some road trips were organized for games at other army camps in Texas during 1917-1918. For example, with around two million U.S. servicemen now in France, the opportunities for gridiron action seemed endless. Some games within and between large units were quickly scheduled, and by the end of the month the 36th divisional team was headed to the First Army championships. That game was played in Tonnerre on New Year’s Eve, 1918. The 36th Division eleven won First Army by beating the 80th Division 20-0.

On January 19, 1919, an unofficial game near Paris pitted the 36th Division against Services of Supply-Saint Nazaire football teams. This was considered the match of the two best lines in the AEF. SOS-Saint Nazaire beat the 36th Division 12-0, but football in the AEF was far from over.

Armistice

Peter LarsenLeave a comment

On November 11, 1918, the men of the 142nd Infantry Regiment were at drill practice in the tiny village of Louppy-le-Petit. The whole division, 36th Infantry, was preparing to reenter the battlefield. Just miles away raged what remains the largest land battle in American history.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive had started just before midnight on September 25th, over six weeks before. A massive cannon bombardment opened the attack and advancing American and French soldiers burst into German defenses. After surprising gains by Allied forces in the first two days of fighting, the German armies organized themselves. The American advance grinds to a halt. Consequently, casualties were high on both sides.

Since early October the American front had been reorganized twice, with depleted divisions taken out of the fight and new ones taking their place. For example, it took three weeks and 100,000 American casualties to reach the first day’s objective. Some American divisions had never been in combat before, others were seasoned veterans by now.

American commanding General John J. Pershing was now, in November, preparing a fourth phase of the Meuse-Argonne battle. He’d created a Second American Army and placed the 36th Infantry Division in it. In a renewed attack on November 1, American forces had smashed through the German line and forced a general retreat. Now American soldiers and marines are advancing miles per day where before it was just yards. Further, Pershing’s fourth phase was to begin on November 14. With it, he intended to break the back of the German Army and force it all the way home.

Louppy-le-Petit during the war

Germany offers a cease-fire

German military leaders, after flip-flopping for weeks, finally admitted to their government that the war was unwinnable in late October. Civilian leaders in the German government requested peace talks with the Allied powers and, on November 7th, sent a peace delegation to France. French terms, however, were uncompromising; but the situation was growing dire. An agreement was worked out on November 8th and governmental leaders on all sides considered their assent. In addition, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his roles as Prussian king and Kaiser of the German Empire. A new German government indicated on November 10 it was ready to accept terms.

On November 11th, the German peace delegation was in France to sign a cease-fire, or Armistice. Once again, they went to the headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, French general Ferdinand Foch. The Germans signed at 5:12 a.m., Marshal Foch and his British counterpart signed at 5:20 a.m. There were no Americans (or Belgians, another important ally) at the meeting. (Read more about the signing of the Armistice here.)

Word reaches the 142nd

The Armistice called for the cessation of hostilities that day, at 11:00 a.m. Paris time. American general Pershing’s headquarters was notified at about 6 a.m. As a result, word reached the 142nd Infantry Regiment by radio later that morning. The 142nd was behind the lines training and had expected to be on their way to battle when the news arrived. As 11 a.m. approached, they could hear the artillery fire at the front getting louder. Soldiers of the 142nd wondered if, through some act of treachery, the Germans had decided to counterattack. However, the increase in artillery fire in the last hour of World War One was nothing more than artillerymen firing in order to have no shells to carry back.

Eleven o’clock a.m. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month passed, and the firing stopped. The fighting was finally over.

The celebration begins

Concerns of fighting again gave way to thrilling release for the men of the 142nd Infantry. As an eyewitness put it,

“That night the little, shell-torn village of Louppy-le-Petit, woke up. It had lain dormant for almost four long years. That night it was lighted by all the lights that could be obtained. The 142nd Infantry Band broke the stillness that had shrouded that sleepy little town, and inspiring strains of music vibrated through the hills. The inhabitants were hilarious and mingled with the Americans as they gave expression to their feelings.”

O. K. Farrell’s copy of General Pershing’s proclamation

The celebration continues

“On the morning of November 12th, about 11 o’clock, the solemn tones of a funeral dirge came floating into Regimental Headquarters. No one knew what it could mean…”

“Soldiers will be soldiers and what one cannot think of the other will. They had planned to bury the Kaiser. There before the inhabitants and a street crowded with soldiers, came the Band leading a procession. Slowly and apparently mournfully they passed along.”

“Behind the Band, with a step measured and slow, marched tall, slim “Gloomy Gus” of Headquarters Company. He wore a long coat for a robe and in his hand carried an open book, thus representing the “Sky Pilot”. He was followed by four supposed pall bearers carrying a stretcher upon which was the supposed Kaiser. Following these was a long line of supposed mourners.”

“The seriousness of the occasion, and the splendid manner in which it had been carried out, was appealing. The procession proceeded leisurely to the bridge, and, after due ceremony, the remains were raised tenderly to the bannister and at the proper time were gracefully dropped into the creek.”

“The Band lit up a lively tune and amid cheers returned to quarters feeling they had expressed themselves.”

Brave and True, part 2

Peter Larsen2 Comments

The 111th Engineer Regiment was part of a National Guard Division, the 36th Infantry, that was sent to France in July 1918. Six weeks after they got there, the 111th Engineers were sent to the front without the 36th Division. For the rest of the war they served as the Engineers of I Corps, First Army. Their job was to follow closely behind the leading division of the First Army and clear obstacles, defuse landmines, build roads and string telephone wire along the front. Their job would have been difficult even if it were not in the combat zone. Clearing mines and building roads so the wounded could be transported to hospitals saved a lot of lives, but the job was dangerous.

September 23, 1918 found the 111th near Les Islettes in the Argonne Forest. They were close to the front line and still with I Corps, American First Army. They had spent the last seven days on the march to get to the Argonne Forest, where the largest American operation of the war was about to begin. As usual, it was raining. The men found shelter wherever they could. The area was full of American and French forces moving forward, preparing for the coming fight.

111th Engineers Band
111th Engineers Band

Meuse-Argonne

On September 25th, the 111th Engineers were on the move again, marching at night once more. Around midnight hundreds of American and French cannon begin firing at the Germans and the battle is begun. By 5 a.m. on the 26th, the Engineers are on the road again marching through Clermont-en-Argonne and Neuvilly-en-Argonne in heavy rain. German artillery hit their position in Neuvilly at 10 a.m. and they spent the day repairing the road. The next day the 111th is at work further up the road between Boureuilles and Cheppy. German prisoners and wounded men on their way from the front fill the road. German artillery continues to fall, but Americans are still advancing.

The 111th arrives in Varennes-en-Argonne on the 28th to find the town demolished by the fighting. German aircraft once again are bombing at night. Artillery projectiles are falling all around, in one instance killing a number of soldiers near the 111th Engineers. On the 29th, Company D enters Vauqois, a small village that was the front line on the first day of the battle. It had been a battleground for four years. No living thing remained in Vauqois; artillery and tunnel mines from both sides cratered the countryside.

Company D, 111th Engineers, 36th Division near Bourruilles, France Sept. 26, 1918

Stalled

By October 1, the gains of the first days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive stalled. German forces had reorganized a defense just behind their front line, and the advances stopped. The 111th Engineers were in an unfamiliar situation: they hadn’t spent two nights in the same place for twenty days. The regiment was located near Varennes-en-Argonne at this time and there was plenty to be done. There were more roads to repair and since there was a bottleneck they were always crowded. The Engineers got to work and built a new road around Varennes to ease the traffic.

While American forces were making slow progress just ahead, German planes still ruled the air. On October 9th they bombed the 111th Engineers, killing one. They were also still in range of German artillery, which would send over shells for a few minutes and then go silent. On October 11th part of the regiment moved ahead fifteen kilometers to just south of Marcq and Grandpré repairing roads. It was raining there, too.

Route of the 111th Engineers in France

Doubling Down

With the advance stalled, American General John J. Pershing reorganized forces and sent new divisions to the front. The 111th were still near Varennes and trying to keep up. Rain was a constant; roads were turning into mud flats. Soldiers and supplies moving up toward the front, and wounded going away from it, kept the roads clogged. The engineers got in the habit of using rubble from ruined buildings in making roads, but more was needed. They found a quarry, and soon were hauling rock for their highways. They also cleared mines and improvised explosives buried in the roads by the Germans.

Through October the men of the 111th steadily built and rebuilt roads for I Corps north from Varennes. They even built a narrow-gauge railroad from their quarry in Chatel-Chéhéry. Through that month the American front line straightened and forces were better deployed at the front. By this point the First Army has overrun three German defensive lines in the Argonne region. German resistance was organized and determined. Their aircraft make frequent bomb sorties over the 111th, which make them a little nervous since some of them are encamped across the road from an ammunition dump.

111th Engineer Regiment on parade in Dallas, June 14, 1919
111th Engineer Regiment on parade in Dallas, June 14, 1919

November 1918

Just after midnight on November 1st, the 111th Engineers were on the move. At 3 a.m. they witnessed an artillery barrage that lit up the sky. “(T)alk about being able to read a newspaper at night,” one engineer wrote, “you sure could then.” One American Division, the 2nd Infantry, advances six miles the first day. The gains are costly and engineers encounter carnage on the battlefield as they make their way forward. The men are hard at work clearing the way for reinforcements. Once more, there are German prisoners streaming away from the fighting. In seven days the 111th had advanced twelve miles.

The retreating Germans blew up bridges, and shell holes dotted the roads. As the 111th repaired them, they saw abandoned trucks and artillery pieces. The enemy retreat was beginning to look hasty. The American advance brings the engineers further north. They are busy as ever, repairing roads, when Germany signs the Armistice on November 11th.

The men are hungry and exhausted. The 111th Engineer Regiment served 62 days in the combat zone, about three times as long as the rest of the 36th Division. On November 11th they began yet another long march, this time away from the front. Eventually they rejoined the 36th Division and waited until their transport back home. When they returned to the United States, they paraded in their hometowns of Tulsa and Dallas before the men mustered out of the Army at Camp Bowie in June, 1919.

After the war a motto was chosen for the 111th Engineers, Fortis et Fidelis. And that remains true of them to this day.

(You can read the account of Corporal Walter G. Sanders, Company B, 111th Engineers in Judy Duke’s post to WWI Texas History here.)

Brave and True, part 1

Peter Larsen1 Comment

Company A, Texas Engineers was a National Guard unit formed in the spring of 1916 in Port Arthur. In addition, Company B formed in Dallas later that spring. Because of the Border Crisis, the two companies were Federalized for service along the U.S. – Mexico border in the summer of 1916. The Engineers served, along with the rest of the Texas National Guard, until March 21, 1917. However, sixteen days later the United States was at war with Germany and these citizen-soldiers were again activated for duty. Company B traveled in June to San Antonio to build Camp Travis, future home of the 90th “Texas-Oklahoma” Division. Company A reported to Camp Bowie in August 1917.

The Texas Engineers were enlarged with the addition of Company C from Sweetwater in West Texas. The companies joined together for the first time in August at Camp Bowie as the First Battalion, Texas Engineers. Joining the Texans was the First Battalion, Oklahoma Engineers, who were recruited in 1917. Together they formed the 111th Engineer Regiment, the Engineers of the 36th Infantry Division. In addition, the two battalions gained a Headquarters detachment, a Medical detachment and the 111th Engineer Train. They helped the U.S. Army Cantonment Division construct the camp and took over responsibility for completing it when the Cantonment Division left Camp Bowie in November, 1917. Their home stations were as follows:

1st  Battalion, 111th Engineers

  • Company A: Port Arthur, Texas;
  • Company B: Dallas, Texas;
  • Company C: Sweetwater, Texas

2nd Battalion, 111th Engineers

  • Company D: Tulsa, Oklahoma;
  • Company E: Ardmore, Oklahoma;
  • Company F: Oklahoma City

Part of the 111th Engineers at Camp Bowie, Texas

Training in France

On August 5th, 1918 the 111th Engineer Regiment arrived in Bar-sur-Aube, France with the 36th Infantry Division. The 36th was stationed there for final training. Headquarters for the 111th was in Spoy, a small village eight miles from Bar-sur-Aube. As the division engineers, the 111th was busy improving local roads, building rifle ranges and a grenade training area. They also dug model trenches for training and mapped the area as practice for the front. A U.S. Engineer Regiment in France normally had 1,750 members. However, the 111th had about 1,500 officers and men at this time.

Company D, 111th Engineers at Camp Bowie, Fort Worth
Company D, 111th Engineers at Camp Bowie

Moved to the Front

On September 9th, 1918 the 111th Engineer Regiment was ordered to leave the 36th Infantry Division and report to I Corps, First U.S. Army at Frouard, one hundred miles away. The Texas – Oklahoma Engineers were going to war. The Engineers left Bar-sur-Aube on September 10th and 11th for the 10-hour train trip. Once the regiment arrived at Frouard, they unloaded their equipment and rested. On the morning of September 11, the regiment marched toward the front line past Griscourt, a nine-to-twelve mile journey. Consequently, the march took the regiment nine hours.

The first American-led attack of army-size in the war, the St. Mihiel offensive reduced a German bulge in the front line. The German Army had seized the area early in the war, in September 1914, and had eliminated French Army resistance inside the bulge by May 1915. The bulge stuck out over a dozen miles into France from the rest of the front, ending at the town of Saint-Mihiel. Busting the bulge would move the Germans back to the 1914 line. As a result, it would enable the Americans and French to send troops and equipment more easily by rail to their next objective, the Argonne Forest region.

French postcard featuring illustration of an American soldier, St. Mihiel

Saint-Mihiel operation

The 111th Engineer Regiment made camp for the night in a forest just north of Griscourt at 6 p.m. At ten o’clock, the sky lit up and trees shook as American and French artillery opened up along the front. Seven American infantry divisions went across the front line near the 111th early on the morning of September 12. As a result, the regiment was on the road again by 8 a.m. By three o’clock the next morning, the 111th reached Regniéville-en-Haye, a village so badly ruined by war that it does not exist today. At Regniéville the regiment built a road through the ruined village for army trucks and artillery to aid combat troops just ahead.

It was at Regniéville that the 111th took its first fire from the Germans. Artillery shells were a real danger for Engineer troops working just behind the front line. The first shells on September 13 killed some horses. German planes would fly over at night and drop bombs on the engineers. On the 14th, the regiment continued to build roads over captured trenches and shell craters. After that, they made their way another six miles to Thiaucourt, where they met newly-liberated French civilians.

After repairing the roads around Thiaucourt, the 111th Engineers started their march from the front at 3 p.m. on September 15. Away from the front, but not from danger. On the evening of the 16th, they were shelled near the village of Blénod and three men were wounded. The next night, gas shells hit near their camp at Dieulouard. After six days in the St. Mihiel salient, Texas-Oklahoma engineers had tested their mettle.

Company E, 111th Engineers in Le Mans after the Armistice.
Company E, 111th Engineers in Le Mans after the Armistice.

Meuse-Argonne

With the St. Mihiel pocket reduced, it was now time to prepare for what became the largest offensive of the war. Over one million American soldiers and marines would participate in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The French-American plan was to push through the Argonne Forest to the Meuse river and seize the fortress city of Sedan. If the Germans lost Sedan and Metz to the southeast, they would lose rail transport networks and their famous Hindenburg line of defenses. As a result, they would have little option but to retire back to Germany.

On the march

The front lines in the Argonne Forest were sixty-five miles away. To get there, the 111th Engineers would have to walk once again. They left Dieulouard on September 17th at 7 p.m. and marched all night. Along the way they passed a line of captured German artillery two miles long. The next morning they camped just past Sanzey, sixteen miles away. The regiment would march at night on their way to the Argonne Forest, which kept them safe from German artillery. By 5 a.m. on September 19 they had possibly reached Sampigny, 20 miles from Sanzey.

Two days later the Texas-Oklahoma Engineers were in Èvres, 26 miles away. By this point the roads are clogged with soldiers on their way to the front, and the going is slow. In addition, some of the men were coming down with influenza and had to be hospitalized. Americans in France all remembered the near constant rain. It had rained for much of the time the 111th was on the move.

By September 23rd the regiment was in Les Islettes, 15 miles from Èvres. In seven nights of marching the 111th had gone about 77 miles though northeast France.

(Read about the experience of Corporal Walter G. Sanders, Company B, 111th Engineers in France in Judy Duke’s post to WWI Texas History here.)

AEF Engineers stringing telephone wire near the front, 1918
AEF Engineers stringing telephone wire near the front, 1918