Gunnison news-champion., 1919-01-03
SERG. WALTER WILSON TELLS
OF THRILLING EXPERIENCES
Continued From Fir,t Page

hard. We had several hard freezes
I the last few days before the arrnis-
tice. Il looks odd to see green grass
and vegetables IN the gardens this
time Of the year. II you look at a map
Of France, and see where Paris is, then
( follow up the Seine river, you will
I find Troyes, pronounced Twa, then
between Troyes and Rheims, or to-
wards Verdun, you will find the name
of Arcis sur Aube, and a short dis
tanee from that you will find Vinets.
II is on the Aube.t pronounced Eobe,D
river. We are about rs miles from
/ Paris.
will write you brief description
of my travels since Jan. 18th We
left Garden City, Mo-, at a. m. and
went by train to Brooklyn. Went
down East river in ferry boat, and
under the suspension bridge, to pier
So Of the Cunard line. New York City.
There We got on the Carpathia- The
Carpathia was the first ship to the
rescue OF the Titanic. Ii was sunk
last July off the north coast of Ire
land by a submarine. We went to
Halifax and waited several days for
all ships in the convoy to be made up.
We left Halifax Jan. 20. The cruiser
San Diego was an escort. The San
Diego has since been sunk. When we
got TO the submarine zone, we were
met by fleet of British torpedo boat
destroyers- We arrived at Grenock,
Scotland, Jan. 30th. The last night
before We arrived, We We're chased
by a submarine, and every one had
their life belts on and were ready to
get in the life boats. On Jan. 3ist,
We went UP the river Clyde, and got
of in Glasgow, and went from there
10 Winchester by train. About ~
miles FROM Southampton. we were
given se%0tal days to rest at Morn
Hill camp. three miles out of the city.
While there we were taken thru the
Winchester Cathedral. one of the old
est and largest in England. Then our
Squadron was split in three groups.
One went to Dover and got bombarded
by a submarine. Another went to
Hanslow. a suburb of London, and the
other went to Northolt, another su-
burb of London. | was at Northolt,
and was in thru several Air Raids on
London. On May lst. We were as
sembled at Dover, England, where we
finished our training. On Aug. 7th
we went TO Flowerdown Camp, at
the l07th and then to the l69th. Aug.
81 we embarked at Southampton for
Havre, France, went thru Reuen,
Chartres, by train, about 40 miles
west of Paris, and arrived at ST. Max
lent, near Bordeaux, where we were
further equipped with helmets and
gas masks, and got some drilling and
instructions, in their use.
.ahnr TDa.- 1af, apI ut,
Arcis sur Aube, Sept. 5th. Since then
we have been at this camp most of
the time. have been thru several
thrilling incidents, but will take
my hat OF to the artillerymen and in
fantrymen, who were in the thick of
the fighting. / hope to go to Paris
when President Wilson comes over.
am in good health. Yesterday !
received notice about the allotment
being automatically cancelled June
30th, as ! will receive four months
pay, and the December payday that
was held out for the allotment. My
pay as sergeant, LIST class, is sixty
dollars per month. Then / get four
dollars and eighty cents extra, being
on my fourth year, in the service. My
ten thousand dollars insurance costs
me six dollars and seventy cents per
month. Later ! intend to turn it into
twenty year endowment policy.
Now that the war is over, most of
the boys are anxious to get back, how
ever, | feel that now is a good chance
to see more of the historic scenes
here. We are only a few miles from
where General Joffre stopped the Cen
mans in the battle of the Marne, in
Sept, 1914.
could write thousands of pages
about different things but will close
for this time, hoping to hear from
you soon.
Your ever loving son,
SERG. WALTER r. WILSON,
9TH Air Depot, Vinets, France.
buy w. 8. s.
Montrose Enterprise:-The war de-
partment is wondering what to do
with 100, 900 900 pounds of ''T. N. t."
which being interpreted is high explo-
sives manufactured for war purposes.
Might bring it out to Colorado and
blow off the top of Marshall pass and
Cerro Summit, and thereby make it
easier for Western Colorado folks to
the way, this might help the d. & r.
G. trains and their schedules to get
acquainted with each other ocassion-
ally.
buy ". :. S.
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