Nearing the Front
After we were installed in the barracks at Langres and had our
personal belongings straightened out, we were given the day to
ourselves. This was the first freedom that we had had since our
arrival in France. The boys, of course, all went to the business
section of the city, where many of them were given their first glimpse
of French customs and French methods of merchandising. As I had been
fortunate in getting into the business section of Brest while we were
there, this was not new to me, but to most of the boys it was a novel
experience. They spent their time and much of their money in the
French stores, buying small articles of various kinds. One oddity of
the freedom that we were given here was the fact that the American
soldiers, although forbidden to buy alcoholic liquors in America, were
permitted to buy them without restrictions in France, and it is only
telling the plain truth to say that many of them sampled the French
beers, wines and cognac.
I had an experience in a French barber shop that may be of interest,
as it shows the difference between French and American barbers. The
French barber does his work very rapidly, in fact so rapidly when he
is shaving that the patron wonders whether or not he is going to get
out of the chair uninjured. I ordered a haircut, a shave, a shampoo
and a face massage. I had much difficulty at first in making my wants
understood, particularly as to the manner in which I wanted my hair
cut. This finally made clear, I sat in the chair and the barber went
to work on me with his sharp shears. His hands moved like lightning
and it seemed like no more than two minutes that he had the job done.
It was the fastest hair cutting I ever witnessed and a good job, too.
He then proceeded to shave me, and for speed he exceeded his already
phenomenal record as a hair cutter. He put a thin lather on my face
and then with a thin razor--the thinnest I ever saw--he slashed off a
four days' growth with six strokes--one down the right cheek, one down
the left cheek, one across the entire upper lip, one--a fancy curved
stroke--across the chin, then up one side of the neck and a final
stroke up the other. In less time than it takes to tell, the job was
done, and it was a clean smooth shave too. But while he was slashing
that razor around I was uneasy. It was my first and last experience
with a French barber; thereafter, it was safety first. The massage was
excellent, but what impressed me about the shampoo was the small
amount of water used. Water must be costly in Langres from the way
that barber conserved it, but with no more than a handful of water, he
did his work well. The face waters used by French barbers are all
highly perfumed, in fact, too much so for the rough Westerner. When a
man leaves a barber shop he carries a sickening sweet aroma with him
and his friends know where he has been when he is as much as a hundred
yards away. It may be of interest to note that the shave, hair cut,
shampoo and massage cost me two and a half francs, or a little less
than 50 cents American money. The price of the same service in the
average American shop at the present time (August, 1919) would be
about $1.65.
The following day the men in our detachment were assigned to various
kinds of work at Langres. I was given a motor truck to drive. It was
in very poor condition and my first duty was to get it in working
order. I spent three days overhauling it and had it in fair
serviceable shape. But after putting all this work on it, I had the
pleasure of running it only about three days, for I received orders,
along with 208 others, to pack and get ready for a special course in a
military school. I had only half an hour's time to get ready, but at
the appointed time I was prepared to go, and with the boys chosen for
the schooling, was loaded onto a motor truck and taken to Fort St.
Menge, one of the numerous protecting forts around Langres. This was
an old fort, apparently built many years ago. It was situated on the
summit of a mountain and was surrounded by a moat, which, however, was
dry. It was substantially built and exceedingly interesting. The
barracks were built underground and of stone. They were sealed and
were water-tight. Soil from ten to fifteen feet in depth covered these
stone compartments and they were proof from the bombs of other days,
but would have but feebly resisted the modern high explosives. There
were also several tunnels leading from various parts of the interior
to the outer walls, so that men could be taken to any part of the fort
that might be attacked without being exposed to the enemy's fire.
About a thousand men could be billeted there.
Water for this fort was supplied from two deep wells and raised by a
peculiar lift pump, different from any that I ever saw before. It was
a sort of combination of a lift and pressure pump and was of European
design and manufacture. The wells were deep and the water good, for
France.
On the day after our arrival there we commenced our work. We were
given a stiff drilling for three weeks, with scarcely a minute's rest.
We often worked until two or three o'clock in the morning. Our daily
routine was as follows: Arise at 5 o'clock; breakfast at 6;
calisthenics and manual of arms drill from 6:30 to 7:30; instruction
from 8 to 12; lunch from 12 to 1; instruction from 1 to 5; evening
instruction from 7 to 10, and often until 1, 2 or 3 o'clock the next
morning. It was here that we received advanced learning in
intelligence lines for our work in the war.
We studied with French and American instruments such as were then
being used by the Allied armies on the western front. I cannot
describe these instruments in detail or tell much about our
instruction because I have given my oath never to reveal any of the
details of this work. I am permitted, however, to name some of these
instruments, such as the subterranean microphone, sizorscope,
horoscope, perpendicular and horizontal range finder, elongated
three-power French binocular, instruments for determining the height
of airplanes, etc. We had to acquire a practical knowledge in the use
of all these instruments, as they were to be our future implements of
warfare, and in matters of this kind, accuracy is of vast importance.
We also had to learn the signals of the French, British, Italian and
American aviators; the international Morse code; to send and receive
messages perfectly under all conditions; to have a practical knowledge
of the use of telephone and telegraph instruments; their attention and
repair; and how to keep the lines of communication in working order at
all times and under any and all conditions.
From this brief summary, it can be readily understood that the
Government crowded plenty of work upon us during those three weeks. At
the completion of the courses examinations were given, and only 86 of
us out of a class of 208 succeeded in reaching the required
percentage. Of the others most remained to take the course for
another three weeks, while a few were released from the work as not
qualified for that particular kind of service.
All the time that we were studying we were drilled just as though we
were actually at war. We were compelled to dig in, to find the range
on certain objects and to direct imaginary artillery fire upon them.
We had to find the range of airplanes that passed over us, just as
though they were enemy planes. This drilling was as near like actual
warfare as it was possible to make it and because of this, we grasped
the meaning of our work and the details very quickly.
We were also drilled thoroughly in the art of camouflage. To be
successful in camouflage, one must learn to imitate nature and that is
what we had to study, and one's tracks must always be covered. A
successful bit of camouflage not only deceives the eyes of the enemy
aerial observers, but it also deceives the lens of the enemy camera.
To make this perfectly clear, it should be said that the lens of
cameras used in warfare are exceedingly delicate and frequently when
the plate of an aerial photograph is developed, it reveals a spot that
means some extraordinary work on the part of the enemy, which the eyes
of the aviator did not detect. It can be readily understood,
therefore, that unless the camera is also deceived, the camouflage has
not been well done, for enemy planes, having located the spot by means
of their photograph, could plan to bomb it, but if the plate did not
show anything, then the camouflage is successful.
While we were at Fort St. Menge we received our gas masks and we were
compelled to go through many gas mask drills. This was done so we
would become efficient in putting them on when we got to the front
line. With a little practice we got so we could adjust them in a
remarkably short time. We were also given our steel helmets while
here, and we realized fully that we were getting nearer and nearer to
the scene of action, and that our sham warfare would soon give way to
actual fighting. We were also drilled in rifle shooting and by the
time we were ready to leave, we were in every way fit to participate
in the great struggle in which we were soon to take part.
As soon as our schooling was completed, we were told to get ready to
leave for Langres, so we packed up and we were compelled to "hike"
back to that city. At Langres we spent two days in getting ready for
the front. We were ordered to leave fully equipped with the best of
those things that we had to have. This meant that new articles were
issued to many of us. For instance, if a man had a pair of shoes that
was partly worn, he was given a new pair, and some of our old clothes
were turned in for new garments. These were two busy days and our time
was entirely occupied in getting ready. We were limited as to the
things we could take with us. We were given our barrack bags and told
to put in these bags all the things that we had to leave and that
those of us who returned would receive their bags when they got back.
My bag contained a number of toilet articles, clothes and other
articles that I took with me from the United States. I never saw that
bag again, as I was gassed and wounded and never went back to Langres,
but I suppose that it has long since become the property of some one
else.
When we were ready to leave Langres we marched with full equipment to
a station three miles from the barracks we were leaving, where we were
billeted in wooden billets. Here we spent the night. We had to get up
at 4 o'clock in the morning to take an early train. It was a bitter
cold morning, but we did not notice this much, as we were on our way
to the scene of action and our thoughts were on the future. A cup of
coffee, a couple of doughnuts and a bun was the only breakfast that we
had, but it was all we wished. We carried traveling rations, of which
we made good use later on. We boarded the train at 4:30 o'clock and
rode on a fast passenger train until 11 o'clock, when we arrived at
Toul. We traveled in second and third class passenger coaches. At Toul
we were well received by the Red Cross, which furnished us with some
food, and this, together with our traveling rations, provided us with
a hearty meal.
We left Toul at 1 o'clock and marched toward the front. We were soon
within the sound of the heavy guns. We continued on the road for
several hours, and then, as we were getting into the zone where shells
fell occasionally, we were told to thin out our ranks so that if a
shell fell among us our casualties would be light. From then on, we
marched about eight or ten feet apart in single file on each side of
the road. We were ordered to wear our steel helmets as a protection
against shrapnel. Some did not see the need of doing this, but most of
us were glad to take the precaution. We crossed several narrow gauge
tracks on our march, and saw trains carrying supplies of all kinds to
the battle front. They were pulled by gasoline engines. We also saw
our first barbed wire entanglements. These were built back of the
lines as a protection to the French in case the Germans should break
through on that front. They were about twenty-five feet in width and
extended north and south as far as the eye could see. Later on we saw
barbed wire entanglements as much as 250 feet in width, put up as a
barrier to the Boche, should they break through.
Airplanes were now very numerous. They were darting back and forth at
various heights. We were anxious to see an airplane battle, but none
took place on that front on that day. We could see observation
balloons in the distance. Those in the very far distance we knew to be
enemy observers.
We marched until 7 o'clock, when we reached a woods, where we were
permitted to stop. We were given our evening meal, which consisted of
bully beef and hard tack. The woods was our sheltering place for the
night. Some of the boys said they slept well that night, but I will be
absolutely truthful and say that I did not. The knowledge that we were
under shell fire and the unforeseen events that the immediate future
held in store for me so weighed upon my mind that I could scarcely
close my eyes. I really do not understand how any of the boys slept.
We could hear the screech of the shells as they whizzed by, but,
fortunately, none of them hit near us. Only a few days before several
hundred American boys were gassed in this same woods, and our gas
guard kept a close watch for gas shells.
The next day we proceeded on toward the Verdun front. We marched all
day long, with only occasional stops. We were not in the open,
however, going from one woods to another; when we marched in the open,
only small bodies of men would move at a time. At 11 p.m. we stopped
marching and made our camp for the night. Most of the boys were so
weary from their long "hike" that they wrapped up in their overcoats,
lay down on the ground and went right to sleep. We remained three days
here waiting for orders. We were near the front, could hear the guns
all the time and the occasional rattle of a machine gun. When our
orders did finally come, we were told to march back over part of the
same route we had come and we finally stopped close to Novient. It was
here that we saw our first action and it was here that we finished our
education in the work that we were to do under the supervision of the
French, who held this front before it was taken over by the
Americans.