The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-12-26
SOLDIERS LETTER.
Connected Story Of Roy FOreman'S Ex.
perienceS with the American Fx.
psdiliOnary FO. ces.

by Roy Foreman to his father
Geo. w. Foreman in Wells Val
ley, gives a connected account Of
Roy's experiences since leaving
Camp Mills. N. Y.
DEAR FATHER: l am well,
with the exception of a little cold
contracted during 28.hours ride
on a troop train from Querrien to
this place (Balton).
On the 7th of last May, mother
and Elizabeth left me at Camp
Mills and went home, and | re-
turned to camp Just in time for
reyeille, and began at once to
pack up for our trip overseas"
May 10th we left Camp Mills
at 7:45 a. m. on a l.. |. troop
train and arrived in Brooklyn at
II, where we were transferred to
ferry boats that took us down the
bay until we came up alongside
the transport Canada, which we
boarded and were given quarters
in the saloon, which was the Sec
ond deck from the top. This
spacious apartment had been fur.
nished with dining tables, and
with hammocks in which we were
to sleep. This was new expert
ence for me. We at first felt like
a cat in a strange garret, but we
soon became accustomed to our
new surroundings and felt quite
much at home. We were on a
British ship, and we were fed
and cared for by them. Natur-
ally, we did not get as good at
tention as Yanks do on American
ships. We were fed on goat
meat, tea, and oatmeal. These
were our main articles of diet.
The meat was probably two or
three years old, as it was storage
meat and we did not have any
means of determining its exact
age.
May 11th at II O'Clock a. m.
we cast anchor, and our big boat
began to move out on its long
journey across the pond" In
our convoy were 8 transports, l
battleship, l freight ship, a sub
marine chasers, 2 submarine de-
stroyers and 2 seaplanes. On ac-
count of engine trouble, one ship
had to return to Halifax, N. S.,
and two others joined US when
several hundred miles out at sea.
On the 18th of May a storm broke
upon US and continued to grow
in intensity until 18th, when it
passed and we had nice weather
the rest of our journey across.
May 14th we saw seven whales
right alongside our ship; also,
some jumping. fish. During the
storm, at least 80 per cent. of our
men were sick. Outside of a
terrible headache, stood it first.
rate. Sometimes the waves would
leap entirely over the vessel, and
the vessel would sometimes swing
entirely over on its side upset
ting tables chairs and everything
that was not made fast. All this
was calculated to give boys that
had not had much experience
with waters greater than Ander-
sons Dam, a slight palpitation of
the heart. Our ship carried $500
men, and 10000 tons of cargo, a
four-inch gun, and full lifeboat
equipment.
May 22nd, as we were plough
ing along, near land on the other
side one of our convoy ships was
torpedoed. The U-boafwas rot
seen, but depth charges were let
loose, which shook every boat for
miles around. We thought sure
our boat was torpedoed. The
torpedoed ship went to the bot
tom; but as the fleet was near
the coast, most of the crew was
picked up, or succeeded in swim
ming to the shore.
When we awoke on the morn
ing of the 23rd, we were happy
to find our boat anch ored in the
middle of the harbor at Liver
pool, Eng. At 2 o'clock that aft
ernoon the gangplank was thrown
out and we were permitted to
leave the boat. My it seemed
good to set foot on land again.