THE night before we were to leave we gave a dinner to the officers of
the Ambulance. There were not many speeches, but we were reminded that
we were in charge of one of the best-equipped Sections which had as yet
taken the field, and that we were going to the front in an auxiliary
capacity to take the place of Frenchmen needed for the sterner work of
the trenches. We might be sent immediately to the front or kept for a
while in the rear; but in any event there were sick and wounded to be
carried and our job was to help by obeying orders.
Early the next morning we ran through the Bois-de-Boulogne and over an
historic route to Versailles, where, at the headquarters of the Army
Automobile Service, our cars were numbered with a military serial and
the driver of each was given a _Livret Matricule_, which is an open
sesame to every motor park in France. Those details were completed
about ten o'clock, and we felt at last as if we were French soldiers
driving French automobiles on the way to our place at the front.
About thirty kilometres outside of Paris the staff car and the
_camionnette_ with the cook on board dashed by us, and upon our arrival
at a quaint little village we found a café requisitioned for our
use and its stock of meat, bread, and red wine in profusion at our
disposal. In the evening we reached the town of Esternay and there
again found all prepared for our reception. Rooms were requisitioned
and the good people took us in with open arms and the warmest of
hospitality, but one or two of us spread our blankets over the
stretchers in the back of our cars, because there were not enough rooms
and beds for all.
The next morning was much colder; there was some snow and later a heavy
fog. Our _convoi_ got under way shortly after breakfast and ran in
record-breaking time, for we wanted to finish our trip that evening.
We stopped for lunch and for an inspection which consumed two hours,
and starting about ten o'clock on the last stretch of our journey,
drove all afternoon through sleet, cold, and snow. At seven o'clock
that night we reached Vaucouleurs, had our supper, secured sleeping
accommodations, and retired. Our running orders had been completed; we
had reached our ordered destination in perfect form.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF SECTION IV]
Several days passed. We were inspected by generals and other officers,
all of whom seemed pleased with the completeness of our Section. Yet
improvements they said were still possible and should be made while we
were at the park. We were to take care of a service of evacuation of
sick in that district and at the same time try out a "heating system."
The Medical Inspector issued orders to equip two ambulances and report
the results. Our Section Director designed a system which uses the
exhaust of the motor through two metal boxes, which arrangement
warmed the air within the car and also forced the circulation of fresh
air. This was installed in two cars and found to be very satisfactory,
for in all kinds of weather and temperatures the temperature of the
ambulances could be kept between 65° and 70° Fahrenheit.
We were at this place in all six weeks, including Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year's. Our work consisted of evacuating _malades_,
and at first it offered a fine opportunity of teaching the "green ones"
how to care for their cars. But we were all soon put on our mettle.
The outlying country was full of lowlands and streams which in many
places during the hard rains covered the roads to such a depth that the
usual type of French cars could not operate. Our car suspension was
high, and we were able to perform a service the other cars had not been
able to do. We established, too, a standard for prompt service, and
during the weeks we were there it never became necessary that we delay
a call for service on account of "high water." We left this district
for other work with a record of never having missed a call, and the
promptness of service, day or night, was often a matter of comment by
the French officials connected with this work. During the high water,
certain posts accustomed to telephone for an ambulance would ask for an
American Ambulance Boat, and the story was soon about that we had water
lines painted on the cars as gauges for depths through which we could
pass. I was once in the middle of a swirling rapid with the nearest
"land" one hundred yards away. But I had to get through, because I knew
I had a pneumonia patient with a high fever. I opened the throttle
and charged. When I got to the other side I was only hitting on two
cylinders, but as mine was the only car that day to get through at all
I boasted long afterwards of my ambulance's fording ability.
We were always looking forward to being moved and attached to some
Division within the First Army, and, as promised, the order came. Our
service in this district was completed, and on the morning of January
5 our _convoi_ passed on its way to a new location. Our work here
included _postes de secours_ that were intermittently under fire, and
several of the places could only be reached at night, being in daylight
within plain view of the German gunners.
Here again we remained only a short time. Without any warning we
received an order one evening to proceed the next day to Toul. This we
knew meant 7 A.M., for the French military day begins early, and so all
night we were busy filling our gasoline tanks, cleaning spark-plugs,
and getting a dismantled car in shape to "roll."
[Illustration: APPROACHING THE HIGH-WATER MARK]
[Illustration: "POILUS" AND AMERICANS SHARING THEIR LUNCH]
The trip to Toul was without incident, and when we drew up at the
_caserne_, which proved to be our future home, we reported as ready for
immediate work. The next day five cars were sent to a secondary _poste
de secours_ about ten kilometres from the lines and two cars farther
forward to a first-line _poste de secours_. The rest of the ambulances
formed a reserve at our base to relieve daily those cars and take care
of such emergency calls as might come in day or night. Then as soon as
we proved our worth, we were given other similar points on the lines,
and gradually took over the work of the French Section working with the
next Army Division.
To-day we have our full measure of shell adventures, night driving,
and long hours at the wheel. But these are, of course, only the
usual incidents of life at the front. We, too, the whole Section
feels, will have our Second Battle of the Yser, or our attack on
Hartmannsweilerkopf, and we are as eager as any soldier to prove what
our men and cars can do in the face of such emergencies.[9]