Daily Kennebec journal., 1918-05-20

The following letter has been re-
ceived by Mrs. William fea'ey ol
Oakland from her husband, sergeant
William Peavey:
Somewhere in France,
April 9, 1918.
My dear Wife:-Just 1eW hhes
today. | am well and feeling flne.
I've been trying to write you for days,
but couldn't seem to get a cnance 70
for we have been moving SO much
lately. We have been having some
bad weather of late. 1t has ralned
for quite few days and the mud
is something awful now believe me.
Well we are back in the third line
Of trenches again. We were out in
the trenches for 40 days. The Bible
says it ra,ned 40 days and nights but
UP where we are it raIned fire and
steel 40 days and 40 nights and then
we went back to rest in billetS for
a while but was only there few
days when we were ordered to pack
up and go to the trenches again, so
here we are. When we came back
from the front the first time we had
to hike about so miles and then when
we went back we hiked about 20
miles in one day. 1t seems like old
times to hear the guns roar and moan
away. | am getting quite used to
them now. Sometimes we will go to
bed at night: say to bed, sometimes
that bed is on a good soft floor with
one or two blankets under us and
one or Two over us, and few rats
and mice to keep US company, that is
soldiers bed at the front, then
there is the roar of the big guns to
sing us 20 sleep. We will go to sleep
after awhile and wake up in the
morning with those same old guns
booming. Oh. it's great life if
you don't weaken as the boys say.
Sometimes we are awakened at .
o'clock n the morning with an order
to get up and get ready to move at
once. Well now | tell YOU the boys
will swear then, believe me. They
will say. 80 He'll with Germany" but
orders are orders, and a soldier has
got to obey them. YOU know. Well,
we have some good times even at the
front. Where | am writing this let
ter is in a Y. NJ. G. A. building and
one fellow has been playing the
piano, sorle set at tables reading and
writing. Oh, we have our good times
If we didn't we would die sure, even
when the boys were at the front be-
fore and the shells were bursting all
around we would hear the boys sing
ling now and then. The farmers are
doing their planting and some things
are already up. You asked me in your
, last letter if | knew Spaulding. the
boy that was killed in Co H. Yes.
knew him very we'll for | was with
him every day, poor fellow. re-
member The last words | ever heard
him speak There is a big drive on
at the front and we will have to get
into it | guess, but the old 103rd can
do it now, take it from Bill We have
been un lcr shell fire and machine
gun fire. i was under machine gun
fire one night, not long ago. | guess
| told YOU about it. | tell YOU it is
some experience TO he under fire.
Most every day we see a fight in the
air. | tell YOU these battlcfields over
here in France are sight This
war is the largest war that ever was.
have been on some of the battle
fields where they had a large battle
last fall, and have seen parts of dead
French soldiers lying on the ground
now. There are places around here
where dead German soldiers are ~
ing in dug outs just as they were
when they were killed 1t takes a,
brave and a strong man to be a SOL
dier. Brave to see the awful sights
and strong to stand the hardships.
Well will close for this time. Give