Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 74, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1917 — LETTER FROM VERN DAVISSON [ARTICLE]

LETTER FROM VERN DAVISSON

Rensselaer Boy In France Tells of Experiences at the Front. In France. November 21, 1917. Dear Father and Mother: I received you letter dated Oct. 19, 1917, just one month on the way over. I am O. K. and glad to hear you are the same. I received that two-pound package over a month ago. It came in very handy. Several of the boys got a share of it, for when any of us get packages froimi home we divide its contents, as this new section we are now in-, No. 9, is twenty-five American strong, and is more like a large family, although It is under strict military rules. We are deprived of many liberties we had before we were militarized. While in the old section, No. 72. we were at the front sixty-two days opposite X, an important town the Germans held. Our two ouitposts w'ere just behind the third line French trenches, not over one hundred steps and in plain view of the whole outlay of both German and French trenches, only hidden by a small cluftnip of fruit trees and a little raise in the ground. By taking a dozen steps to the edge of the orchard, if a person cares to take the chance, the whole battle front of that sector lay right below you, regiment after regiment and army after army, both French and German, opposite each other all entrenched.

Well, we green Americans, ali ways where we shouldn t be, and I felt bad if anything escaped our eye (or camera) payed no attention to the- old French warriors, crept out of the “cave abri’’ and sneaked to the edge of the orchard to review the performances, the most interesting and thrilling time of our life, laying low and watching the trenches working thick with aiming, shooting at the Germans as they stuck their heads above the trenches to get their shot in. At this point the two sets of trenches are less than' 1-8 of a mile apart. We watched the big shells bursting over the trenches. Big clouds of smoke and dirt would rise high into the air where the shell struck. These are fired from behind all the lines. After snapping our cameras a few times we hide them back in our clothes and crawled back to the cave, where we were greeted with

a good “bawling ou»t“ and ordered to stay in the cave or under cover, as that was a very Important military post and used >for observation also, being right at tfhe trenches. So long as the Germans did not locate it 4 we were alright, but about three weeks later it was discovered by the “Boche’’ aviators, I suppose, and they immediately proceeded to wake us up by putting 400 big 320 centimeter shells in there. The earth was torn and plowed up all around the cave. Two lit and exploded on top of the cave, making two. nice big craters six feet deep and ten feet across the top. Gave things an awful shaking up inside. Now I can see why thej' make those “cave abris” so solid, thirty feet deep, covered With steel rails, logs, sand bags and hidden by brush, dead grass, etc. One of our ambulances was hit by shrapnel during thfe shelling. Only one car is stationed at these extreme outposts at a time. When his car is loaded with wounded which are brought there from the trenches by way of the communication trenches on stretchers swung between a two-wheeled cart, he goes back to the hospital and another car goes out to take his plac>>. Also two artillerymen were killed then, as the cave is surrounded by all size batteries. One of these men was the one w r ho allowed me to shoot the cannon twenty times into a certain town held by the • Boche.’’ I did not go back to the battery any more. We 'were just getting a good taste of gunpowder.

These road to these out posts was almost continually bombarded and torn up. Sometimes the road was so full of holes one driver was obliged to walk ahead and pilot the car around the holes while the shells were popping all around us. Then is when one thinks of the good „ times he used to have at Rensselaer. After a bombardment is over we get together and joke about how lucky we were, and warn each other “not to let a shell catch up with you.” Before the sixty-two days were up we all admitted it was beginning to be poor sport. During the whole time at the front we had four cars hit but none of the drivers were touched. One week after we left the old section we got word that a shell lit by another car and demolished it. The driver had just left it and too* to the cave, and along came the fatal one—more good luck for the drivers.

We finally got word we would be relieved by an Allentown, Pennsylvania, section just forming. Time rolled on and one day a new section of twenty-five new “Ford” ambulances drove up to our park, drivers in nifty U. S. regulation uniforms, topped off with the cowboy hat. They looked mighty fine beside us with our uniforms rang-

ing from knee-length corduroys to aviators’ uniforms, all kinds of cape, hats, and no two persons dressed alike. We have one person in this section who is so long he can’t get military trousers and leggings to come together. The government has issued us nothing yet, but we are expecting the quartermaster to visit us very soon. Our clothes are about worn out and we have no more. Anyhow at 6 o'clock we took part of this new section out to show them the way. None of them had ever been anywhere near the front. We showed thetn where the roads were frequntly bombarded and how tfr time the shells. A few shells were coming in then but not very thick. It was comical to see the expressions on their faces. They were scared to death but did not want to let on. We finished the route and turned it over to them. Next day we packed up, drove our cars to a repair park twenty kilometres back, and took the train to Paris. Arrived there late, went to hotels and slept in “honest to God” beds once more. After sleeping on floors and stretchers for over three months it almost made us sick. We got twenty-four hours in Paris and after another good sleep we got orders to report at 21 Rue Raynouard -for final orders. This section was notified that it had ten men too many for a little “Ford" section, therefore I was among the ten who went to fill in section No. 9, which was on repos about thirty miles behind the lines and much further south. The old section’s number was changed to 27 and sent to a different front. They are on duty and are having it pretty tough at present. We are on repos, No. 9 resting up for something. We are expecting an order to move back to the front at any time, we think before the 25th. We have no idea what front we will go to next. The only work we do while on repos is to evacuate hospitals, etc, if the aviators start dropping bombs. A certain town is bombarded on a.n average of twice a week. This section evacuated a hospital under heavy bombardment a few days ago. Tried to find our French lieutenant and he was down in the deepest cellar in town,' afraid to look out. After it was all over he came out and received the thanks from the mayor of the town, while the section did all the work. There are a number of American troops and camps close here. The U. S. soldiers are holding 1% miles of trenches backed up by the French. When or before you read this we will be on duty at the front again. I must close. Your loving son, VERN C. DAVISSON, S. S. U. 9, Convois Autos, Par, B. M. C., Paris. L p. s.—We have very good eats and plenty of it. Answer soon.