The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-12-20

RODefL H. otHSSi 1OIItiC1iy VI Dttd
vile but now of St. Johnsbury, has
received the following interesting Lett
ter from his son, George w. Vance,
member of the Q. NJ. c. in the
A. E. F.:
Sorcy sur Meuse. +
Now %, 1918.
Dear Dad:
viii write and tell you of my trip
across and to my present station.
may forget some of the story but will
do my best TO remember it all.
As you already know we left Camp
Bartlett Oct 2, 1917, and went. to
New York by train. We arrived at
New York early the morning of the
third and took the ferry to Hoboken,
At II a. m. we went aboard the
Arinia, which was to be our home
for some time. At 4.30 we steamed
out of the harbor bound for France
as we all supposed. We all had to
go below deck and stay till we were
out of sight Of land After we were
$50 far out at sea we were allowed to
stay on deck all of the time if we SO
desired. After shutdown no lights
could be lit on deck and all portfolios
had to be closed. The bunk was
assigned to sleep in was on J dect
about eight feet below water line
! We did not get half as much air down
there and it was very warm was
not seasick at any time of the trip
From Hoboken we went to Halifax.
! where we stayed for "a hours till tho
remainder of the convoy arrived.
Here we had boat drill and some
of the fellows got spilled into the
ocean. When we left Halifax there
were ii ships in the convoy. The
ship that led US across was a big SIX
| teen gun boat. We never ono
sighted submarine but had plenty
to occupy our time The sea was
rough all the way across and the ole
boat looked as if she was going clear
out of sight at times. One day a
bunch of US were sitting on a boom
about thirty feet above deck when
big wave came along and for time
it looked as if we were in for a good
wetting but nothing happened. W.
and Ireland and through the Irish
sea. This. sea at the calmest time
lis very rough but when we went
through It was rougher yet and then
some Three days from port VIC
were met by II destroyers and they
sure did look good They were with
us till we reached the Liverpool har-
Dor and then left to meet the next
convoy. We had to wait a shor,
; time for high tide before ooing in
; can tell you it did look mighty good
to see land once more.
From the boat we went aboard
train and travelled for three days and
nights. I began to think we nevel
would get off | have learned since
, then that it was just joy ride com
pared to some trips. We finally
, reached our destination, which was
Southampton, England. We went
from the train to a rest camp in the
heart of the city. Here we stayed
for three days. got an invitation
guess the people thought that | hac
never had a square meal in my life
At last we got word to move on anc
took the boat across the English
: channel. We thought that we hao
seen rough seas but they were calm
beside the trip across the channel
again, At La Havre we spTAOl
We landed at La Havre, France, anc
none of US ever wanted to see water
again. At La Havre we spent the
night and resumed the journey in tht
morning. We travelled for three
days and nights and finally reached
our destination. This town is Gere
name. We got aboard trucks and
rode about a mile and a half to
Camp Coetquidanl, which was to be
S our home for an indefinite period
After staying at this camp five hun
dred Of US were sent on detached ser
vice. We rode by train for two days
and nights to Chatnois Here we
built barracks for the boys who were
: to follow behind u.s. 1t was cold
i. work but we managed to keep warn,
fsomehow- After three weeks we
finished work and all but one hundred
land fifty of us went to their respec-
tive companies The remainder oil
us went to Toul to handle supplies fo1
the first American soldiers to go into
the Toul sector, did guard duty
for few weeks and then went to the
Railhead Office to work Here | die
Ftypewriting and department records
When the 26th Division came to the
Toui sector all but five of US went
back to their companies. Smith and
| hired room with French family
and had a fine home. The lady OF
the house treated us just as our owl
mothers would. When the division
moved from the area expected te
move with it but was left behind
The morning Of the 18th of July ]
went to work as usual but when
got to the office the fellows began II
laugh and asked me what outfit
belonged to. told them | didn'
know as | had been away for so long
They all laughed and then told mi
L