The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1918-12-25
LOCAL SOLDIER
TELLS OF TRAVELS
SINCE HE ENLISTED
OTHER SOLDIER LETTERS TELL
OF EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED
In LAST DAYS OF WAR.

we nave In previous issues pub
lished numerous letters which were
written by local men in the service
and they have all been interesting.
but on Thursday we received the fol-
lowing letter from our old friend,
Ray Mcconnell, in which he gives an
interesting account of the trip which
took him from the scenes of peaceful
Michigan and placed him in the midst
of the blood soaked battlefields Of
France. The letter is as follows
Charmes La Cote, France,
November 22, 1918
Dear Friend Ed-Just a few lines
to let you know that / am one of the
lucky boys over here to still be one
amongst the living, as good many
OF our comrades are pushing up the
daisies" as they say over here.
Well, / sure have had some great
experiences since | left the states.
We left Camp Custer on July 11th.
went to Long Island and waited there
for our transport. We got up at two
o'clock in the morning of the 21st
and boarded tram that took us to
New York City, where we got aboard
our transport, boat called the An
chesis-an English craft. We pulled
out IN the harbor that day and lay at
anchor until the morning of July 22nd
when we left the good old u. S. A. be-
hind at about o'clock in the MORN
ing with IA other boats in our convoy.
We We're just IA days aboard that
boat and two days before we landed
in England submarine was sighted.
About 70 shots were fired and when
they got through shooting there was
nothing left where the sub was sight
hIIf q Ioy~ - >F ii l. -.
me, Ed that was all we cared to see.
The night before we landed in Eng
land, at Liverpool, we were awakened
by shooting from the rear of our own
boat and when / got on deck one of
the sailors told me that they had just
sunk German sub. We landed in
Liverpool on hte evening of August
3rd and boarded train at IL o'clock
and were started ION our journey
throtgp England, for France. We
detrained atRomesy On the morning
OF August 4th and went into an Amer
lean Rest camp there, which was call
ed Camp Woodley and we remained
there until August 7th, when we left
for Southampton, England, which is
a seaport on the English channel, ar
irving there at about o'clock in the
evening and then boarded a transplant
which left there about s o'clock and
that boat landed US in LeHavre,
French city, about o'clock the next
morning, was put in an English rest
camp there for one day, Aug 8, we
loaded on a French train 32 men in
small box car not enough room for
us to lay down and sleep; had to
sleep standing up; was on board this
train from Aug. 70 Aug. IL when
trro 10 Ial
city of about 10000 people; we were
stationed there until October 3, when
we were moved to a small town called
Pcuilly; we were located here until
Oct. % when we were ordered to
pack up and get ready to move up to
the front; we were all glad to get
the word for we had been waiting
over here nearly three months to get
in action; we left Pouilly the next
morning about 2 O'Clock and were
loaded In box cars again and on Oct.
81 We arrived in Tcul which is in
Lorraine. We lay there until the
morning of Nov l when we were
transported to camp called Bois lie
Vogue. We were quartered here in
barracks until the mornig of Nov. 10
when we packed up and started to
hike for the front where we expected
to do our bit; en- the night of the 10th
we stopped in a town called Charmes
La Cate where we got the news that
the next day an armistice was to be
signed and the war brought to a close.
Well you can believe me we were all
glad but we were little disappointed
to think we could not get right to the
front where we could ge a crack at
the dirty Huns. Well Ncv. 11h at
IL o'clock we saw the last Hun plane
brought down; also heard the last
shots fired and then the church bells
began to ring and you could hear
everyone yell for miles around; it
lasted for about half hour and then
everything was quiet, in fact SO quiet
thought | had lost my hearing. AT
IL o'clock, Nov IL was te first time
the church bells had loosened their
tongues for ever four years. Well we
are looking forward now to the day
we will land in the god cid u. s A.
again back among friends and loved
ones. | will close as it is now bed
time. Hoping to be with you soon,
as ever, your friend, Mack.
Chas. r. Mcconnell,
American Expeditionary Forces,
France.
Another letter is from Rollin Dom
n