Norwich bulletin., 1918-12-24
DANIELSON


 country from overseas on November | 21 He sailed from Bres. on Armis- l tice night, one of a group Of wounded l men being invalided hone He was | wounded / action at Seimes, about 20 l miles north If Chateau Thie!ry on the evening of August 2S. q piece of shell entering through his steel helmet and embedded itself in his skull. He has the jagged giece of metal as a souv- enii. MT. Tessier, who entered the service as a volunteer, was acting as a switchboard operator in the field sig nal service cn the night he was wounded battery had been putting over 8 barrage far back Of the Ger man lines and when this Was edsed off the Germans opened in return Their aeroplanes were circ}ing oyer- head, directing the fire of their gun ners and 1t was not long before the shells they were sending over began to drop around the guns of battery and members of tse outfit began to go down, wounded. The officers or dered their men into the dugouts. Wagoner Tessier picked up bis switch board and entered a dugout, where he l continued to operate it. 4 shell fell outside the dugout, smashing in the planl1ing and other protective equip ment of his place of shelter and al fragment of the shell found a resting place in his skull. He was remov- cd to the rear and underwent an op- eration at 4.30 the next morning. Wagoner Tessier was a personal l friend of RegiInenta1 Supply Sergeant Robert o. Fletcher. of Norwich, and Monday spoke feelingly of the man Her in which that brave soldier met 1 his death. T think he was the most l popular ma1 in the regiment" said 1 Wagoner Tessier, everybody knfw l him and liked him and he always had 1 a cheery word for everybody The l night he was killed was the most ter l rible one that I put in in tie war zone. 1 The entire regiment and some regf ments of of field artillery were nov l ing up to the front and some ipfan 1 try regiments were coming down. It was pitch dark. At crossroads we | got into congestion of traffic and could move neither forward nor back fWard. There we were--stalled, and 1 German shells falling all about us. A German in an American officers uni form was arrested there that night and two civilians, caught signalling 1 with lantern from an abandoned house, were also taken as spies. The Germans must have known that the road was jammed with traffic. for they fairly poured shells down upon us and there was nothing for us to do but stay and take our medicine Ser gent Fletcher was ridinS\or a truck that was about 800 feet back of the one was in. A shell burst close to the truck and l heard someone call that he had been wounded. He was struck
 high up on the hip and his leg prac-
 tically torn off. A surgeon was at his side within d minute, but all the sr- teries had been cut of ard there in
 the darkness where no lights could be
 shown it was impossible to operate
 upon him and he died within five
 minutes-practically bled to death
 Boys that were beside him when he was nit say that he grasped at the . place where he was wounded anG said: "Oh, my leg!'' and almost irnme-
 diately afterwards he became uncon- ; cious. The boys felt terrible over il F and the surgeon said to me that there : had been no happening in tho war zone that had distressed him so greatly an( ' he was openly sorrowful because ht $ could not save Bob's life. We hat many mon hurt in that heli that night P the most terrible I ever experienced.
 Wagoner Tossier says he saw noth ing of D battery after the regimen
 took up its positions at the front H,
 
 S includes. nearly 100 boys from the olt ' Danielson company was stationed onl,
 three miles away and engaged dail7 z in making life miserable for the Ger . mans. All of the batteries of tn q regiment were made up Of 1858,
 gun of a trlfie over inch caIibre I They were wonderful weapons. Wag n oner Tesier says and could hurl shell :. 1 from 28 to 30 kilometcrs. They wer /. in action all Of the time. hurIing ton
 of steel far back of the enemy lines oh ammunition dumps, bridges, rail I roads and eanap sites At other time : 1 they engaged in barrages to smash u : to the enemy front lines. The guns , fully ready for action, weigh IS ton |, each and are hauled about by hug :. tractors.
 {, Wagoner Tessier is here on leave i He will return to Fort Ontario il 2 a few days and expects his discharg - soon. His nerves are shattered an
 there are periods when he has to re
 main in bed for days at a time r Young people of the WestfieId Con 7 gregational church will gather at tn h church this evening and engage i r carol singing, custom that has en . dured for hundreds of years. Tn s+ church will be illuminated, Rev. Wal Il ter B. Williams announced Monda @ afternoon.
 Baskets containing Christmas dir g ners that will go into the homes of 2 e needy families in Danielson will b IS distributed today. In this town ( 2: plenty for most people there are som y that would face the holiday withor
 cheer were it not for the thoughtful 'r ness and effort of the committee the
 has this work in charge and the gel y 1 erous souls who make it possibl l. Nevertheless, the contributions are nc
 as heavy this year as they have bee
 in other years, an investigation at tl It receptacles in stores about town wi
 show. a This seems strange indeed at Q Christmas season when people al " filled with the spirit of peace and goo -e will and have had unusual prosperft > throughout the year. A final call 70 being made to good people to giy sr something today-not to pass the rt
 ceptacles in the stores without dror - ping something in.
 The postoffice force had it's hanc
 full Monday caring for the rush
 Christmas business. Conditions prol
 ably will be more rushed today TT
 postofice will be kept open this ever
 ing as long as may be necessary
 handle the business and get outgoir
 mails on to the last mail train-tf
 boat train southbound
 Mill operatives in worsted and woo
 en concerns-in towns hereabouts-a
 ready are beginning to feel the effec
 of the readjustment that must folio
 the end of fighting over there. Pract
 cally all of the woolen and worstt
 plants in towns hereabouts have be-
 engaged chiefly on government orde
 and theSe haVn haap7 affbay ooDoa1I