While at Fontaine Brilliante, on the Verdun front, orders were received
for a detail to proceed to Marseilles for the purpose of getting the
ambulances we had been longing for since our arrival in France. Aside
from eight G. M. C. cars of Ambulance Co. 138, and four broken down
Fords, the 110th Sanitary Train had had no ambulances since leaving
Doniphan. We had long since given up the idea of ever having a
transportation section again, in fact someone had even gone the length
of voicing the following lament:
"They sent us down to Doniphan to get an ambulance
To go abroad and let 'er go and drive for sunny France,
And then it took us seven months to get a pair of pants.
Oh, there's something rotten somewhere in this blooming ambulance.
Of course to drive an ambulance you've got to learn to drill,
So every morning, afternoon, they put us through the mill.
And when this war is over you will find us at it still;
For we never saw an ambulance, and never, never will."
The wagoners and ambulance orderlies were hastily recalled from their
work as litter bearers in the advanced posts, and on October 26th, Lt.
Speck started for Marseilles for twenty-nine G. M. C. ambulances, with a
detail of thirty-two men from Ambulance Co. 139, sixteen from Ambulance
Co. 138, and twelve from Ambulance Co. 137. There was a mad scramble to
get on this detail, which meant a trip across France, away from the
monotony of the trenches.
We arrived at the railroad about an hour early, but in the course of
time the train arrived and then started the scramble for the best
compartments that the train afforded. Most of us found second-class
compartments, which, after more cushions had been obtained, were very
comfortable, although a little breezy. Of course no lights could be
shown, but they were much better than the customary box cars.
Seven-thirty A. M., October 27th, found us at St. Dizier. We were
escorted to Camp Tambourine by an M. P., where we spent the morning
partaking of our rations. At about noon the M. P. returned, notifying us
that the train was ready, so we were checked out of the camp, marched to
the train and packed into box cars (40 hommes or 8 chevaux). They were
better than some we had drawn formerly, as there was straw on the floor.
The train traveled along a beautiful tree-lined canal for a long
distance. Barges on the canal were for the most part drawn by horses,
but occasionally we would see very small burros pulling them. Each barge
appeared to be a home, for family washings were hanging out on a great
many of them.
We arrived at Dijon about 1 A. M. October 28th, and marched across the
city wheeling rations on two-wheeled baggage trucks which were
"borrowed" at the railroad station. We stayed the balance of the night
at a French Permissionares Barrack, and spent the following day looking
around the numerous parks and squares. While in the Permissionares
barracks, one of our boys inquired of another, "Who are those 'birds' in
French uniforms wearing those four-cornered caps?" Before the question
could be answered, the French-uniformed person replied, in English, "We
are of the Polish Legion. My home is in Chicago."
That evening we entrained again, and after an uneventful ride, arrived
at Lyons at 7 A. M. the next morning. After a wait at the station of
about two hours, we marched to some barracks which were surrounded by a
high board fence. The city being quarantined on account of the
influenza, we were not allowed outside of the enclosure except to go to
the wash-house, about a hundred yards distant. Between the gate of the
enclosure and the wash-house was a "boozerie," consequently there were a
great many men who wanted to wash.
Just before leaving Lyons that evening, a doughboy "promoted" a large
crate of grapes from a shipment on the station platform. At daylight the
following morning we were traveling through a rather sandy country, with
vineyards on both sides of the track. Then for a long distance there
were Larch trees planted along the track, so close together that it was
impossible to see beyond them. Later in the day we traveled along the
shore of Etyde Berre Sea, with its many rice plantations, and multitude
of wild ducks, then through a tunnel about two kilos long, through large
groves of fig trees, finally arriving at Marseilles about noon.
Our packs were hauled in trucks to the Motor Reception Park while the
men marched, giving us an opportunity to see the many fruit peddlers,
the numerous fountains and squares, and the dirty, narrow streets of the
city. Upon our arrival at the Motor Reception Park we were assigned to
billets in French buildings. We spent the afternoon cleaning up, eating
fruit purchased from peddlers, and selling all kinds of little trinkets
to the S. O. S. men as German souvenirs, and explaining to them who "won
the war." In the evening we were given passes into Marseilles, good
until midnight. Some went to the theatre staging a burlesque show, which
was very similar to an American show. Others went around the town, to
the water front, and sampled all of the fruits available, none of which
are as good as the fruits which can be procured in American cities.
However, we found Marseilles a cosmopolitan city, both in regard to
civilians and soldiers. The main streets were very much like the streets
of an American city.
Early in the afternoon of October 31st we were marched to the
ambulances, and busied ourselves looking over the machines preparing for
the start. During the evening we looked around the immediate vicinity of
the Motor Park and sampled the vintage of southern France.
At 8:00 A. M., on November 1st, the convoy of 29 ambulances left the
park in a gentle shower, but before traveling very far it became a
regular cloudburst, with a strong wind. The first day's drive was over
very good roads, in a narrow valley, with high, rocky hills and peaks in
the distance and an occasional village at the foot of the hills. We
stopped the first night just outside of St. Aminol, a very small
village, and being the first American soldiers who had stopped near
there, we were enthusiastically received by the mademoiselles, and
invited to visit the town.
During the next day we passed through Avignon, where we were given
flowers by French children. We crossed several suspension bridges over
streams flowing into the Rhone River, and drove for miles through
vineyards, with their beautiful red and yellow leaves. We saw many wine
presses, most of which were operated by women, in fact a greater part of
the manual labor was done by the women. We stopped for the night near
Valence, a city of many narrow crooked streets, beautiful squares and
fountains. We saw there many patterns of Val lace.
Leaving Valence at 7 A. M. November 3rd, we passed through St. Symphone
on a market day. The farm products and animals were lined up along the
street; vegetables piled on the sidewalk, while the pigs, geese and
calves were in excelsior-lined crates and baskets. We arrived at Lyons
in the afternoon and drove down one of the main streets--and it was
agreed by all that they had never seen so many beautiful ladies in a
similar length of time, not even in America. We stopped for the night at
a French Barracks, another prison, the city still being under
quarantine. Lyons is built at the junction of the Rhone and Prome
rivers, the different parts of the city being connected by many bridges,
one the Pont du President Wilson, which was dedicated July 14th, 1918.
It was raining when we left Lyons the next morning, and the roads were
very rough. As it was necessary to have the curtains of the ambulances
up all day, we could see very little of the country until we got to
Dijon, where we stopped for the night. From Dijon, we traveled over
fairly good roads through a rolling country similar to Kansas, stopping
on the night of November 5th at Chaumont, at which place is located
Headquarters, A. E. F.
We left Chaumont at 7:30 A. M. on November 6th, passing through Langres
with its fort. By afternoon we had arrived back to the part of the
country which was strewn with barbed wire entanglements, trenches and
other preparations for combat, and late in the evening arrived at
Fontaine Brilliante.
Had we never seen any of France but the northern devastated part, we
would have always wondered why the French fought so hard, but now we can
easily see the reason.