HISTORY
OF THE 305th Infantry Chapter 9 THE HARDEST BATTLE CHAPTER IX "Hey there, don't bunch up!" "Five pace intervals." "Fall out on the right and dig in!" "Put out that light!" A smile shone through the dirty, bearded faces as you sprang all those old wheezes during the night march back through Raucourt to St. Pierremont, where you couldn't sleep even on a nice, soft board now that the guns were silent. You promptly stuffed those corking Kentucky men, who joined us there, full with the stories of how you won the war. Well, you helped.
The Division of which you were a part feels that when
General Pershing addressed to the First, Third and Fifth
Corps his General Order No. 232, he was not unmindful of
the work of the 77th: Tested and strengthened by the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, for more than six weeks you battered against the pivot of the enemy line on the westen front. It was a position of imposing natural strength, stretching on both sides of the Meuse River from the bitterly contested hills of Verdun to the almost impenetrable forest of the Argonne; a position, more-over, fortified by four years of labor designed to render it impregnable; a position held with the fullest resources of the enemy. That position you broke utterly, and thereby hastened the collapse of the enemy's military power. Soldiers of all the divisions engaged under the First, Third and Fifth Corps-the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 26th, 28th, 29th, 32d, 33d, 35th, 37th, 42d, 77th, 78th 79th, 80th, 82d, 89th, 90th and 91st-you will be long remembered for the stubborn persistence of your progress, your storming of obstinately defended machine gun nests, your penetration, yard by yard, of woods and ravines, your heroic resistance in the face of counter attacks supported by powerful artillery fire. For more than a month, from the initial attack of September 26th, you fought your way slowly through the Argonne, through the woods and over hills west of the Meuse; you slowly enlarged your hold on the Cotes de Meuse to the east; and then, on the first of November you cleared the entire left bank of the Meuse south of Sedan, and then stormed the heights on the right bank and drove him into the plain beyond. Your achievement, which is scarcely to be equaled in American history, must remain a source of proud satisfaction to the troops who participated in the last campaign of the war. The American people will remember it as the realization of the hitherto potential strength of the American contribution toward the cause to which they had sworn allegiance. There can be no greater reward for a soldier or for a soldier's memory. This order will be
read to all organizations at the first assembly formation
after its receipt. Of those who went
on leave at that critical juncture, is there one who
doesn't now credit himself with being a wise old owl,
having escaped one of the hardest hikes in history? There
is another order, which carries the memory back over
those nine days of hiking from St. Pierremont to the sea
of mud in the Chaumont area; over the ground so bitterly
contested during the two months just past; over a
dinnerless Thanksgiving and well beyond the rumor which
would have placed you on the water by December 10th; over
the stiff rebukes you sustained for bellowing derisively,
"Who won the war? The M. P.'s!! Who laid down the
barrage? The Y. M. C. A.!!" The 77th Division has taken part in the campaign which has just closed; a campaign which with its successful termination marks the end of the war in which we have been engaged so far as the immediate active operations are concerned; with credit to itself and resulting profit to our country and our cause. The Division in the past three months of its history has nothing whatever for which to apologize. It has carried out the missions intrusted to it and has possessed at all times the aggressive spirit essential to success in war. We are now about to enter upon another phase of our service as soldiers of the United States. That phase involves a continued readiness for such operations as may become necessary in the future. This involves improvement in our knowledge of the finer technique of the military profession so that even should no active operations now ensue, each officer and man of this Division will carry back with him into civil life such knowledge of his service as a soldier as will render him, individually, as trainer and commander, most available to the country in the event of another emergency. With this purpose in view the Division is now to go into a period of training. It must have been evident to all that our success in the operations in which we have been engaged has been due in great measure more to the aggressive spirit of our officers and men than to our knowledge of the finer technique of the military profession. As a consequence of this, while we have been successful, while we have accomplished the results which superior authority has expected of us, we have at the same time probably paid more dearly for that success than should have been the case had our training been further advanced. The Division Commander therefore expects that a real-ization of our deficiencies in the finer technique of training will suffice to keep our hearts in the work which lies before us. The Division now has an excellent reputation; it is our duty and our privilege to demonstrate, during the period of training upon which we are about to enter, that that reputation is founded not merely upon the evanescent success of battle where we have the excitement of combat to keep us keyed up to the proper pitch, but that we also possess that steadfastness of heart and determination which will cause us to do our best under any conditions which confront us. The Division Commander is convinced that we do possess those qualities of steadfastness and determination and that no criticism can be made against us on that score. Those who will
observe us will pass judgment upon the outward marks of
discipline and instruction. As a matter of fact no other
standard is possible. Those outward indications are:
promptness and smartness in saluting, neatness and
cleanliness in dress and equipment, good condition of
animals, and cleanliness and good order around billets
and cantonments. The Division Commander is convinced that
all will endeavor to set an example in these items and
thus maintain, during the period of training set before
us, the high esteem which the Division has won in combat
so that we may return to our homes, when the proper time
comes for such return, retaining that esteem as the
result of a demonstrated ability to do our full duty not
only in combat but under any and all circumstances. In the little towns of Autreville, Valdelancourt, St. Martin, La Ville-neuve and Montheries, now in command of Colonel Raymond Sheldon, the first and never-ending duty was to clean up, to remove the aforementioned indices to civilian wealth and position as discussed in the Lorraine Chapter; next, to police yourselves and remain policed despite the mud and the shortage of clothes; then, to dodge the Corps and Division inspectors or to satisfy them on all the little points listed in the pamphlet. It was difficult enough to please them. In the words of the Regular Army men: " These Reserve Officers are nice enough boys. They mean well; but they don't know-they just don't know. Yet they are being paid--" Here the Reserve Officer feels like remarking caustically: "Yes, a short while ago we were earning far more than the one-sixty-six, sixty-seven, whereas those who are now getting much more, were then earning the one-sixty-six, sixty-seven." An inspector
approaches a company commander; he says nothing. Having ascertained that the American Army is in good health, the inspector moves off to another part of town. "Show me the nearest kitchen," he says to a member of the neighboring company; the latter, being a man of infinite resource and sagacity, conducts the officer to a kitchen behind the Chateau. " Whose
kitchen is this?" growls the inspector. " It's
the filthiest thing I've ever seen! " "Take me to your company commander!" orders the dignitary; where-upon the aforesaid Intelligent Youth conducts Inspector to the company's best looking billet, excuses himself and hastens to warn the captain, who reports in haste. The first captain interviewed has already tipped off the other as to the proper mode of address; consequently the preliminaries are quickly over. "Where is the sign which should appear on the door of the billet stating how many are quartered here and who is in charge?" "The rain must
have washed it off, sir," hoping that the other
billets will not be inspected. "My boy," begins the inspector, feeling that he approaches the point where he can pull the favorite old Army gag and pass the buck; " don't say it can't be done. That word is not in our dictionary. Now, the real soldier, the real officer, is the one who utilizes every means at his disposal to accom-plish his object. When the proper materials are not forthcoming, he must exercise his ingenuity and initiative. He takes even the old tin can from the- Have your men shower baths? Then take a number of tin cans, punch holes in the bottom and The Company Commander begins to get a little red behind the ears, for he hates to be called down before even the few men who happen to be sick in quarters, and silently follows the rasping voice of the inspector through the building into the yard. "That pit is
full of water. Dig a new one." "Do you
maintain at the kitchen the two barrels of boiling water,
one soapy and the other clear, and another of cold water,
for the men to wash their mess kits in?" "I should say
we haven't, sir. As I said before, all the available
rooms are used for the billeting. There are no books in
town; there are no candles by which to read-if the men
felt like doing anything after a hard day of drill but
rush to the warm saloon. There is a Y. M. C. A. hut with
a dirt floor and no equipment. Sir, I felt a few minutes
ago that you did me a great injustice, calling me down
before my men. I admit I haven't been in the service
quite two years; but I've been in it long enough to know
that I'm sick and tired of this 'passing the buck!"'
He hopes the inspector has a spark of human sympathy
left, after the rigors of the Philippines. "It isn't
raining now. Why aren't the blankets out airing?" C ' Er, about the shoes. They have on now their only pair. There is no dubbin. The shoes cannot possibly be kept neat and clean, for the mud they drill in reaches almost to the shoe-tops. I'll take you to the shacks where two other platoons are gradually sinking out of sight in the mud. Ha! It's raining now," "Well, I'll
see what I can do," and he's off to inspect someone
else. But there were those who missed their Christmas dinner. It was said benignly in the newspapers that President Wilson spent the day with his soldiers. Would he have done it, had he realized that in order to manufacture that riot of a review at Humes, two hundred and fifty picked soldiers from each regiment had to drill all Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the rain, board motor trucks at four o'clock in the morning and spend nearly all of Christmas day on the road? Yet, those who were chosen were flattered, got new equipment out of it and the envied Liberty Insignia which looked as if Goldberg had designed it. Already, it is January. A few leaves are granted; but-oh, if we could only be sent home! The 27th Division is going to sail. The 77th hangs on, though it preceded the other division to France. It cannot go, of course, until the threatened epidemic of typhoid is suppressed. "I gave orders two weeks ago," thunders the General, "that this typhoid fever should stop. It has not stopped!" A doughboy found
himself on leave in Aix les Bains. It was in the year
1930. There was Uncle Sam coming down the street. Rumor has it that early in February we are to move down to the celestial Le Mans area to be cleaned up, prior to the sailing for home. The town crier passes through the streets, beating his drum and shouting to all good citizens that the Americans are leaving shortly-and that all claims, justified and imaginary, should be put in at once. The citizens bestir themselves, take inventory of every scrap of refuse that has been hanging around for years, and file their claims with the Mayor. Madam Haschette has been feeding her pigs on the leavings from the Supply Company kitchen, the Mess Sergeant being only too glad to have her take the stuff away. For some days, she has been casting a loving eye in the direction of a kettle full of beef drippings, which the cooks suddenly use for a batch of steaming doughnuts. Gesticulating
wildly, almost tearing her hair out by the roots, the
good woman descends in voluble wrath upon the Company
Commander with a claim for fifty francs! Those beef
drippings rightly belonged to her. (This is about the
only claim which the Americans succeed in side-stepping.) But ah! Here is a deep one! The Town Commandant writes to Captain Siebert: " One of your neighbors reports that one rooster and five hens disappeared from a shed near your Signal Platoon. This is nothing less than plain stealing and cannot be glossed over. Investigate." The Captain goes over to one of his neighbors and says in fluent French, "Avvy voo lost cinq chickens?" The neighbor says, "No." The Captain reports the findings to the Town Commandant, who 'lows as how that ain't the right neighbor, and proceeds to investigate, for himself. Here is the shed 1; foot-prints, gore, feathers. Unmistakable signs of a terrible carnage. Five hens are still cowering wild-eyed in a corner, suffering from nervous prostra-tion. If Monsieur Legrand formerly had ten and a rooster it is certain that the others must be A. W. 0. L. Oh, no! He couldn't have sold them'. The Supply Company
advertises a big chicken dinner for the coming Sunday;
but such evidence is purely circumstantial. H Company is
billeted in the next street over; looks bad for H. E
Company had a couple of recal-citrants picked up in the
street that fatal night; but that is nothing out of the
way. The finger of suspicion undoubtedly points to the
Headquarters Company, though the First Sergeant swears
the blood on the Orderly Room door-sill resulted from the
company mechanic having cut a finger. Therefore ', all
four companies are finally ordered to chip in, purchasing
out of their coin-pany funds an ephemeral portion of
vanished chicken for every man in town. Here is a different sort of country; rather picturesque but muddy and all cut up by foolish little ditches and hedges. But real people live in the neighborhood, many of the nobility, with spacious grounds and large chateaux. The bulk of the Third Battalion captures the prize, when it draws the town of St. Denis d'Anjou. Bou&re, where Regimental Headquarters and most of both the First and Fourth Battalions are quartered, is so promising that Major Metcalf--now a Lieutenant-Colonel-has all the houses numbered, and gives perfectly grand names to all the streets: " Rue Marechal Foch ... .. Place Wilson," and all the rest. For a couple of weeks the Second Battalion shifts disconsolately 'round and 'round Biern6, like a dog trying to make up his mind just where to sit down, and finally locates enough outlying farm buildings for its needs. " All subordinate commanders will immediately take steps to improve the condition in and around billets of the organizations." An order beginning in this wise overtakes one of the company commanders while high-stepping through the miles of mud which separate the five farms in which his two hundred and fifty babies are billeted. They are in disconsolate hay lofts, stepping about gingerly lest they fall through the cracks, debating whether to stuff the borrowed straw into the ch;nks against the wintry blast, or burrow into it for warmth. Stoves, if they had 'em, would doubtless set fire to the barns-and so, stoves and fires are forbidden. Grub time; they clamber down a ladder into the darkness of the cow-stable, where comrades not so fortunate make their home. "If I am going to sleep here," wails a voice in the darkness, "steps must be taken to clean that cow." The order continues: "Kitchens: Particular attention will be given to kitchens. (1) Walks will be laid and suitable steps will be taken to keep the ground well drained in and about the kitchens. (2) Bins, etc., for the storing of rations will be constructed from the boxes in which the rations are received. (3) Stringers will be laid on the ground to prevent all foodstuffs from touching the ground in any way." A kitchen presupposes a range of some sort with fire under it. For a week there is one small field range to the company, suitable for feeding perhaps a hundred and fifty - but the government has utterly forgotten the question of fuel. Those who still have a little money in the company fund buy some wet rotten roots at an exorbitant price from the neighbors, and the few small boxes which come with the rations provide the only scraps of dry kindling with which to start the fires. Particular attention is given to the kitchen without command; the men take steps toward it three times a da , assembling from the more distant parts of France; but they see no bins until the government takes another half-step and provides a bit of fuel-a species of pressed coal dust which sifts through the grates without burning. Stone is poured into the yard which serves as kitchen, but it sinks out of sight in the mud. Attempt is made to drain the area, but still each foot print fills at once with water. Stringers are not provided. If they were, who could resist the temptation to steal the first real piece of inflammable wood to enter the area? But to continue
reading the order: " (4) All steps necessary for a
most sanitary condition about the kitchen will be
taken." "Assembly Rooms: (1) Each organization will set apart a particular room or rooms where the men can assemble." If there be an empty room anywhere about the area suitable for assembling, why, in Heaven's name not take a few unfortunates out of the cow stable and billet them properly? Besides, orders have been given for the men not to assemble, lest epidemics spread among them. " (2) These rooms will be used for writing rooms, and be provided with such equipment as will enable the men to amuse themselves in their spare time." Warmth-stoves and wood-paper, ink, pens; tables, benches or the wood to make 'em out of; checkers, cards, reading matter; candles or lamps. Here is a great chance for the company commander to use his proverbial ingenuity and his far-famed, well-known initiative, fabricating these things out of nothing. Ali, stoves arrive! But the issue of fuel is so microscopic that none can be di-verted for any use but that of the kitchen stove. " (3) The
cooperation of the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., K. of C. and
other similar organizations will be sought in securing
the necessary equipment for these rooms." In the
course of four weeks, a few full steps are successfully
taken. Six games of checkers arrive - a table has been
borrowed, a room found and a meager issue of candles
pieced out with what the men can buy. Initiative and ingenuity! How the buck is passed! Invariably the Regular Army Officer in higher command passes off the lack of proper supplies and equipment by saying: " I've been a company commander and I know these things can be done." Yes, we say-to ourselves-you had three officers, sergeants with years of service, and about eighty men in your company; there was no real war; no French town to billet in; and no homesick mob on your hands. But the steps must go on. One supposes that if on some fine, cold night the steps should be taken from the porch of the Mairie, immediate steps would have to be taken to replace the steps which had been taken. The Machine Gunners are off by themselves in miserable billets; but they have a good ball-field; and presently a good ball team is evolved to play in the Division League. But even without a ball-field, G Company in Bierne considers itself in luck. On that first cold night of their arrival, February 11th, seven officers of the Second Battalion were not at all happy over the prospect of walking a kilo out into the country, to dine with the Mayor. But when they entered the lovely Chateau de la Barre, and were there given the keys to the city by the genial Baron de Chivre and his attractive family, things were looking up. In fact, a great many officers of the Regiment promptly came over to look up those who were on the inside-until within a very short time, almost any bright afternoon might disclose a group of en-thusiasts playing "bazz-boll" in the courtyard. Many an indoor baseball fell into the moat. And many a cup of tea was stirred after four-at any day of the week one chose to sneak away from the irksome military routine. Major Bozeman Bulger, who came over to guide the Second Battalion through the perils of March and April, after Major "Bill" Mack had made a terrible mistake and elected to attend a French University, at one time made the following report to the Division Publicity Officer: " The officers and enlisted men of Company G are engaged in solving a problem so absorbing in detail that for the present it has made them forget the anxiety over heading for Amerique-that interesting country across the seas. "Naming a horse, especially a petite femme cheval, is not as easy as one might think, especially after studying the specifications laid down by the three young daughters of the Baron de Chivre. Any soldier having any doubt on the subject may report to the commanding officer of Co. G and get a try out. "This petite femme cheval, as the Baroness calls it, came into existence in the stall next to that occupied by a corporal and squad of Company G. This company, by the way, is entirely billeted in the stables of the Chateau de la Barre, where the Baron de Chivr6, a former Major in the French Dragoons, breeds race horses. This thoroughbred atmosphere has given a lot of morale to Company G; and Lieutenant Murphy, commanding, has had little difficulty of late in making the men keep their heads up. They also like the Baron very much; and any soldier comes to present arms by intuition when one of the Baron's young daughters passes the P. C. But that is all aside from the problem. That petite cheval has got to be named. Mlle. Catherine de Chivre says it must also have an American name, on account of it coming into life among American soldiers; also that the name must begin with a 'T' on ac-count of the ancestry of the tiny little animal. You may not know it, but this petite cheval has a grandfather who won the Grand Prix de Paris and an uncle who won the Derby.
"'Aussi,'
chimes in the seventeen-year Mlle. Jacqueline de Chivre.
'Il est necessaire a remem-ber que it iss une petite
femme.' " The first
name suggested was 'Toot-sweet, a private having an idea
of speed, especially toward home. Objections were raised
on the ground that it was not 'Americaine.' Then came 'T.
N. V (heavy stuff) from a buck who lives down near
Sheepshead Bay. "And there it
stands. Nothing has been decided. None of them are
sufficiently 'jolie' or suggestive of all the
specifications according to the Mademoiselles; and the
soldiers have gone back to their stalls to think it over. "The Baron says that, if necessary, the official christening can be put off until word comes from America. This petite femme cheval is not in the army and the dam and sire do not require a report submitted 'not later than 6 P. M. today.' The Regimental Show begins to take on a professional air, the Jewish Welfare Board opens up a tent in Biern6 and invites the Episcopalian Chaplain to conduct a Catholic Mass therein; the entertainment officers and the athletic officers find plenty to do. Life wouldn't be quite so bad if it weren't for the constant reviews, hiking at four in the morning with the unexpended portion of the day's rations in order to go over into the next county to show the General that the shoes are still muddy. Many a company commander has often wondered what would happen if he should yield to temptation and bring his company upon the field with packs full of straw instead of the ordinary weighty contents-what would happen if he were then unexpectedly given the command to lay out full equipment! He might be seen leaping over the distant horizon like a gazelle, headed straight for the nearest base port. As an alternative, he might burst into tears and say " Do your worst, Gen." Miss Turner and
Miss Weeks, who operate the Y. M. C. A. canteen in B
ouere, swear that they never did say, sweetly,
"Bring your cups to Mother, Buddy."
Nevertheless, the chocolate they pour out and which they
indefatigably cart to all points wherever troops gather,
threatens to put some of the cafes out of business. The
madame who runs the estaminet across the street can't
understand why the authorities should close up her shop
at an early hour, while the " Cafe Christian"
runs full tilt. The General Court convenes in Bouere at ten-thirty, to ladle out justice. By eleven o'clock, all but two of the members have arrived. No doubt the feather-beds and wash-stand detract somewhat from the dignity of the court-room. But no matter! "Hullo, Bob!
How are you? Billets comfortable? That so? Yeah, same old
story, isn't it." "I declare,
it's warmer with the window open than with it closed. No,
I guess it's warmer with it closed. Close the window,
will you, Bob? Some-ne see if they can't steal a few bits
of fire-wood from the old lady. These tile floors are
brutally cold-particularly for a bedroom. How th~ devil
do you work this fireplace?-Oh, ah, oui, oui, Madame,
beaucoup! " Counsel enters with the accused. The judges are sworn. The court is sworn. The reporter is sworn. Everybody swears to everything, so help them God. The accused-is he the accused? He 'lows as how he is. Does the accused object to being tried by any member of the court as constituted? Passing up the opportunity of telling what he really thinks of the third officer from the left, be steals a furtive glance at the members who glower dignifiedly from their uncomfortable bench and rest their august elbows upon the plank- and-saw-horse table. The trial proceeds. Court is closed. Court is opened, but justice is delayed until the prisoner, who has just stepped over to the caf6, can be found. Ah, here he is. The cigarettes are hastily subdued beneath the table. Court closes again. It opens again. It quivers. A little more of this setting-up exercise, and the court will be able to open and close at will. Accused elects to make a statement, setting forth the mitigating circumstances: " When I was very young I couldn't talk. In fact, for a long time I couldn't talk at all. But when I got a little older, 1 finally learned to talk a little better. Then I went to school. I went to school and was verv nervous. All this time, I was learning to talk-" "The accused
is reminded," suggests the President of the Court,
breaking all precedents, "to confine-" "Objection
sustained," from the judge Advocate. " Come to the facts," risks the President. (Short and snappy-like, ere the counsel can leap to his feet and object.) Bobby Morgan's Siberian mouse-hound thinks he heard a command of execution, emerges from beneath the table, yawns, and sniffs the prisoner. Captain McKay's wandering pencil decorates another square foot of board. The members begin to fidget, hoping the court will soon be closed again, and feel of their coat pockets to see if the cigarettes are handy. "-the piano. Then I got a job in a feed place, in Brooklyn. Hay and straw and feed. One day I fell out of the loft, and I couldn't talk for two days. Then a bale of hay fell on me out of the second story. I decided that this work was too hard for me, and so I got another job, in New York this time, 28 Vesey Street, I think. No, it was 38. No, I'm pretty sure it was 28." Twenty-eight minutes later the defense rests. So does everybody else. Six-and-six. " justice is done. What point have we got to now, in this story? Isn't it almost time to shut up shop and call it a war? Aren't the troops of the Three Hundred and Fifth about to leave for the United States? Not just yet, for there is still to be a merry, mad whirl of inspections-inspections for this, inspections for that -all equipment, no equipment; inspections for, er-cooties, too. "You will
report by such and such a date," the order reads,
"that -your regiment is free from louse-infestation.
The Division Surgeon reports 'that the degree of
infestation in your command is one per cent." But that doesn't seem to purify the command. A machine is brought to town, which looks like a cross between an incinerator and a farm tractor. It is most efficient-it burns not only the cooties, but the clothes. A couple of privates in the Sanitary Corps chose at random out of a thousand men in their Battalion a certain number to be purged. But liaison is lacking, the companies are not informed, and again, the company commanders "reply by endorsement hereon" why the men are not free from "louse-infestation." The matter is
becoming serious. A "louse" officer is
designated in each company, whose delectable task it is
to go right down the line scrutinizing in the broad light
of day the inner surfaces of man's most intimate apparel.
Segregation, new clothes, sunshine, the water cure,
kerosene, gasoline-every known means of purifying the
command is attempted. But the process does not end with
that. Now for a round of gaiety, to make us think that the A. E. F. is a great institution! The General gives a royal party at his castle in Sable. All officers are ordered to a lecture in that same town, to hear what tremendous things the A. E. F. accomplished. Major Harris gives a dance and Promotion Party for the Chaplain at the Hotel St. Denis. A formal luncheon is staged at one of our numerous chateaux in honor of the nobility of the region who have been so kind to us; two of them ap-pear. Dear old Poire, demobilized, comes down to gloat over his old compatriots still in the Army, and is wined and dined for three days straight, the following tribute being paid to him by Captain Kenderdine-as soon as "Phil" Gray would stop talking: " Two or three pictures of Lieutenant Poire stand out vividly in my mind. "One of these
is at Camp Madelon, where we were in reserve position
before the jump-off of September 26th. It was here that
Lieutenant Poire perpetrated the greatest fraud ever
perpetrated by a Frenchman on the American Government. He
convinced us that the one way to solve our transportation
problem was by the use of twelve French asses
Furthermore, Lieutenant Poire in-sisted upon our calling
these little animals asses when they were nothing but
mules. Their title and presence around Regimental
Headquarters cause much amusement and gave the cue for
many jests. " I had
convinced him that he might have his wish, however, and
bawled out 'Runner! take this man to the French asses,'
and dismissed the matter from my mind. In fifteen minutes
the runner returned, saluted and reported: 'Sir,
Lieutenant Poir6 is asleep."' Yet, at a spread where the old Camp Upton veterans of one company -tried to blow in at one fell swoop the unexpended portion of their Ration Savings, there was something akin to sentiment displayed. Speeches were demanded. The noisiest, loudest non-coms. and privates in the world were suddenly stricken dumb. "I'll say to you men just what you said to me when I was once sent off to school," said the Top Sergeant, in response to a toast, the mixture being the juices of canned pineapple, canned peaches, canned apricots, oranges and grape-juice. "Good luck and good riddance." "There are
still too many oranges and bananas left to be thrown, so
I'll close without beginning," was the Mess
Sergeant's contribution. Then cries rent the air, demanding a word from him who had originated- during the Rout of Watten-the phrase, "No eat-no fight." A swarthy little fellow was boosted to the table-top, where he launched into a burst of Italian which will probably never appear in print, but ended in broken English: "All-a right.
We through-a da war. Now we be all-a time like-a we be in
da Arm'-good-a solge', good-a boy, good-a luck!" |