The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-05-03
AN INTERESTING
~-.er LETTER FROM FRANCE


Lieut.. J. M. Strong, who is in France
with the American Expeditionary
Forces. Lieut.. Strong formerly was
Asst. Cashier of the Miners and Mer-
chants Bank at Flat River and has
a wide acquaintance in the Lead Belt
The letter is very interestingly writ
ten about the experiences in the war
zone. 1t is as follows:
France, April /, 1918.
Supt. W. L. Johns, Pennington, Mo-:
Dear Mr.. Johns:-I'm sure you
would read with interest some of the
experiences of the boys on the West
ern front. Will tell you of few of
the things | have seen.
1t was a cold winter day in Janu-
airy when we left port of embarka-
ton on our journey across the deep
and broad Atlantic, a good portion of
which was filled with the steel sea-
serpent, the submarine. Little did
we realize the great danger that was
before US. II was only a short time
until we were out of sight of land,
winding our way through the rolling
waves Of the mighty ocean.
After a few days sailing many of
us became very sick from the un-
steadiness of the ship. However, it
was not long until we had our sea
legs and were feeling fine. We sailed
several days before land came in
sight. Never before did old mother
earth look so good. We were all full
of joy because we knew we were
through the danger zone.
We were received with great en-
thusiasm by the French men, women
and children, who were waiting at
port to rcceiv us. In short time we
had our baggage all unloaded and
weer prepared to make our journey to
parts unknown. The transportation
was not so fast as back in the States
and the result was we travelled very
slow. The journey was very inter
esting; the landscape was very beau
tiful. We noticed the fields were en-
closed by hedges and not fencing, as
we were used to seeing in America.
Many of the country homes were
built back in hillsides or mountains,
as a means of protection. Many
houses built out in the open were
camouflaged to protect them from the
German aeroplanes, which visited that
part of the country very often. After
a day or two we reached our destina-
ton and were soon at work.
Our training has been difficult to
that received in the States. You real
ize trench warfare requires different
training to that of open warfare.
l was here but a short time until
| was attached to the British Expedi-
tionary Forces where l received in
struction from men who have had ac-
tual experience in the war. l was
assigned to an Australian division
and sent to the front where l could
get some practical experience.
I shall never forget my trip TO the
front. When l got within few miles
of the front line noticed the German
and Australian artillery both very ac-
tive. Shells were bursting on all
sides Of me. / was given guide to
direct me to my destination. 1t
would not be necessary for me to
say-I was at all times getting on his
heels.
Upon reaching the first line I was
directed to dugout several feet IN
der the ground, and a place which
seemed to me to be much safer than
the ground / had just gone over.
However, I almost changed my mind
when large shell hit on top of the
dugout and knocked us all down. The
other fellows did not .seem to notice
this very much. So upon inquiry l
was informed that such things were
very common.
My first duty was to visit all out
posts in the front line. | was accom-
panied by the Colonel and our run
ners. The sector was very active and
the most important thing for usSto
do was to keep our head down. l
was very anxious to take a look over
mo mans land", so l took a look.
The night was very dark and | could
see nothing only few flashes from
the Boche machine gun. The Colonel
told me he would send me the next
night with the patrol over "no mans
land" Just the thought of getting
out of the trench made my knees
shake
The next night we started On our
patrol. The Boches were much quiet
err, so we moved along very slow.
The patrol leader was an offer and
knew his job well. We were obliged
to take a shell hole once or twice to
protect us from the Boche machine
gun fire. They have a habit of sweep
ing "no mans land" with their ma
chine guns three or four times each
night. We received a signal from
our front line to return, SO our patrol
for the night was soon over.
Each night our artillery put over
gas, which seemed to quiet the. Boche.
We received no gas in return Because
the wind was in the wrong direction.
The Australians put on two raids
while i was with them. Both raids
were very successful. Many of the
Boche were killed and wounded and
sveral prisoners taken, while our
losses were very small. I came away
feeling that / had had a wonderful
experience.
! came to Paris for day or two
and while there the German aero
planes made raid on the city. I
was in one of the buildings hit by one
of the bombs. The end of the build
ing was blown out. You can imagine
the shock we received from the ex-