Interesting Soldier
Letter
The following letter from France, written by Alex Willson to
an uncle in Pittsburg, will be of interest to many people in Henderson County,
not only from a personal standpoint but from the fact that the letter is in
itself a vivid description of some of the things the boys have faced in driving
the Hun before them. Young Willson, who is a son of J.R. Willson of
Hendersonville, volunteered early in the game, enlisting at Pittsburg in May
1917 and being assigned to the 15th Engineers, 28 Division. He
sailed from New York for Liverpool in July of the same year, thus being one of
the first 30,000 that were the advance guard of the big army that Uncle Sam
finally put into France and Belgium (and Germany). The letter follows:
December 8th,
1918
Dear Uncle Frank:
I returned last night from a two weeks furlough and found
your letter written from Cumberland. Your letter was rather late in reaching
the company owing to the fact that you omitted the “company B” part of the address
and as much of the regiment has been scattered all over France it went to
Regimental Headquarters first.
I spent eight days at Aix-les-Bains in Savo among the French
Alps, one of the most famous resorts in the world, I believe. It was rather
quiet at this season but the scenery of course was even more beautiful owing to
the fact that the mountains were snowcapped which certainly gave a colorful
effect in the sun-light. I spent seven days traveling during which time I
visited Lyons, Barleduc, Verdun and Paris. Paris was in gala dress on account
of the King and Queen of Belgium being there at the time. They are planning to give
President Wilson a celebration, the likes of which the world has never seen.
Verdun was quite a contrast from Paris. I gave been in Verdun before but I
never had much time to go over the city. Everything in the city, of course, is
wrecked. The cathedral is not damaged as bad as it might be—in fact I think
most of the sculpture is saved. The citadel is the most wonderful thing I have
seen. It is said that at one time in and around Verdun there were 500,000 men
underground.
I won’t attempt to go into details of all my wanderings since
leaving the State as that would make a regular book. I have it all written down
however and if you should ever care to read it, I will be glad to show it to
you.
Briefly:--We left New York on board the R.N.S. Baltic on the
9th day of July, 1917. Eleven days later after an uneventful voyage
we landed in Liverpool, England, and entrained for Borden near Aldershot in the
Salisbury Plains and spent several days in that country. England was beautiful at
that time of year. Her famous rose gardens were in bloom.
We sailed from Southhampton to LeHavre and from there to
Vierzon (ches) where we stayed a month. At Vierzon the regiment was split up
and my company was sent up into the Meuse near Bar-le-duc a short distance
behind the French lines where we built barracks for the men who were to come
after us. From there we come back after short stops in several other places around
Neuf chateau to Jonchey near Chaumont. Haut Marne where we started a large
railroad yards and Ordnance station. We stayed in that mud hole 10 months and
it was anything but pleasant. The work was hard and the winter cold. While
there I was sent to the hospital with pneumonia and while there contracted an
abscess in the ear that looked for a while like as mastoid. All together I
stayed in the hospital three months. On August 6th, we left for the
front where we have been ever since. After we reached the front we lived just
like “doughboys”—all we had with us was what we could carry on our backs every
where we went we hiked—on few occasions we road in trucks. We put in the tracks
for the big railroad guns at Ansanville where the barrage was fired from on the
start of the drive on Mount Sec. It rained all the time we were there which was
unpleasant to work in but very lucky for our skins—because the last afternoon
we were there the sun came out for an hour or so and as we were working in full
view of Fritz’s observers it wasn’t long before he was dumping some nine inch
H.E. shells on the job. There was a high wind tho and his aim was bad because
he didn’t harm a man. We hiked out of town that night at midnight with the
American barrage banging away right over our heads. We arrived in Commercy the
next day, and the next morning started repairing the railroad into St. Mihiel.
The Germans were still holding the hills outside of the city and one day we worked
on the track where we could see the mounted guard when he came round the hill.
I guess they were too busy figuring how to get away to bother us. From St.
Mihiel we hiked to Clermont where we laid in the Argonne woods waiting for the battle
to open. The barrage that opened that “drive up” the valley of the Aire was the
greatest in the history of the war. As soon as the Germans commenced their
famous retreat, why we started our railroad behind the infantry. Our surveying
detail was working in advance of us and I think they spent as much time in
dugouts as any place else as Fritz made it pretty warm for them. We didn’t have
any trouble until we got to Varennes. At Variennes we were climbing the road
around the hill when one of Fritz balloons evidently saw us. I never had as
much pig iron flying over my head before. We went around behind the hill and
dug places in it for our pup tents. Fritz shelled the road just beyond the foot
of the hill for two or three days and there were eight American 155s (6 inch)
firing right over our kitchen so taking it altogether had a rather noisy time
for a while. After the guns moved up why it was fairly quiet until the moon
reached its full phase and then “Jerry” as the German bombers are called
started paying us nocturnal visits and of all uncomfortable feeling—why the
worst I think is to be in a peep tent in the dark waiting for a dozen or so
Boche planes to drop their end gates and unload a few tons of bombs.
We had a night engine crew working at Varennes one night and
they didn’t notice the anti-craft search lights until the planes were right
over them popping away with their machine guns. The crew dived under the coal
car—but left a lantern hanging on one of the cars. One of the planes dropped a
bomb which struck the coal car on the curved part of the water tank in such a
manner as to bend the firing pin and instead of exploding and making a hole in
the ground big enough to swim in it passed right thru the bottom of the car and
into the ground about 6 feet from where our men were lying.
After Fritz started his wild scramble to get back to his
dear old “Faterland” we moved to the railroad connecting ‘Verdun and Metz, on
the day the armistice was signed. We camped for a while just between the famous
forts of Verdun near what is called “dead man’s valley.” That section is a
perfect picture of utter destruction. Not a tree or wall is standing. The
ground is strewn with miles and miles of barbed wire and in lots of places with
piles of bones of the unburied dead. It is said the Kron Prince lost 600,000
men in the one drive there and the goodness knows how many Frenchmen died
there. We worked up to Etain, living in German dugouts. At Etain I went on my
leave, I had intended to come back through Metz when I returned but at
Bar-leDuc I learned that the company had moved so I came by trucks to Verdun
and from there to Stenay where I’m writing from. The regiment is mobilized here
and we are moving probably tomorrow up nearer to Luxemburg. They have sent back
for our luggage that we left behind when we came to the front. Whether that
means we are getting ready to come home or to go on into Germany with the Army
of Occupation is the burning question of the hour.
This is quite a book I have written but in your last letter
you asked me to tell you about my work which I was not at liberty to tell you
at that time.
I will write you again later on a different subject on which
I want your advice. I am feeling well.
This kind of life naturally makes a man tough. I have on
occasions laid my blankets down in the mud and rain and slept as soundly as I
ever did in 1901 Shady Avenue. Hope you are all well and your new business
prosperous. Marie sent me a picture of the reunion.
I have two letters from her which I answered.
Affectionately yours,
Alex
Co. B. 15th
U.S. Eng., American E.F.
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