Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-02-05
STENSON WRITES. ABOUT
THE ARGONNE FOREST

STENSON WRITES ABOUT !
THE ARGONNE FORESTl
Held and Fortified By the Germans
For Four Years.
Prauthoy, Haute-Marne, France.
December rs, 1919.
Mr.. Martin Stene,
Norway Lake, MINI.
Dear Martin:
Presume you will be surprised to
hear from me and at this place but as
this is Xmas day and not a thing to
do nor single place to go thot l
would drop you few lines and let
you know how things are coming. l
want to say that I have been receiv-
ing the Willmar Tribune from time
to time and I liked very much to see
your fathers editorials.
We are at present in a training
area near Langres and Dion. All the
Divisions, except those sent to Ger
many, are almost in this proximity.
We had been expecting to be sent to
Germany for guard duty but we later
learned that the Division would be
slated to go home soon as this Divi-
sion, (the Sind from Camp Gordon,
| Ga.) was the second National Army
Division to sail for France and was
about the fifth of all Divisions to go
across so we expect to sail probably
In the same rotation.
| We have done some stiff fighting
over here and from the above drawing
you will see where we have done it,
St. Mihiel, Moselle River, Argonne
Forest and around Verdun. The two
first places we're not so difficult but
the Argonne was one of the toughest
that has ever taken place over here.
The Argonne forest is the largest in
France and was in the hands of the
Germans four years who had fortified
1t by intricate systems Of trench
works, concrete dugouts, entangle
ments, thousands of machine guns and
many heavy batteries. We have fol
lowed right on the heels of the re-
treating Germans and the bodies were
still practically warm. It looked rather
tough seeing those bodies Of the
Boche and our boys laying along the
roads and in the fields, the ground
shot up by shells holes so that it look
ed like a rolling ocean, the batteries
firing around you everywhere, the
tanks coming in and going out, the
ambulances coming and going and al
so the transports moving one contin
ual stream day in and day out FOL
miles and miles at time. The will
ages around in this sector have beer
leveled to the ground and not one
building is to be seen in Varrenes
We lived in the wine cellar, raw ant
damp and the shells were bursting
over US all around. Even the church
had been completely leveled to thu
prisoners cage for a few hours
The aeroplanes were over us by thu
score all day long, first our planes ant
then the Boche and pretty soon tn
A. A. would open up on the Boche ant
the machine guns would whistle AM
: there would be a terrific noise. Mean
while the old Boche would come owe
in a" swarm, photograph everything
and do all those funny stunts in tn
, air and pretty soon bunch of GU
, planes would-heave in sight and prof
: ably there would be fight and prof
, ably there wouldn't. Usually Their
would be one tho for l have seen
! pile Of them and more than once hav
ducked under cover when the all
men would let loose with their me-
9 chine guns. The Germans used 10
of gas in this area and gas masks ha
. to be carried all the time and for
I number of nights in succession the ga
, alarm was set off and our nights res
r disturbed The Germans built swe
| camp in the Argonne forest, camol
tagged it we'll and it looked fine.
was built Of concrete and huge timt
ers, built Railways in the ground an
in the side of the hills and in summe
even from an aeroplane one wOul
: scarcely be able to see anything. w
lived in these houses and dugOuts 70
n about a week and found carloads G
u stuff that the Germans were force
j to leave in their hasty retreat an
history has 1t that this was the heat
= quarters of one of the German Kais
er's sons. They also had swell Thea
d ire there which they built and yo
: would think it was a regular healt
: resort or something to that effec
i When we were relieved from the line
: we passed through the Argonne Fol
j est completely and there are portion
where the trees are absolutely levele
n to the ground the huge shells con
pletely twisting them to nothing
d Where the shells have been comm
. and going the trees have been trimme
q bare Of their branches and they stan
e out like skeletons for acres and acre
in places. The roads also were badl
O shot up and on pursuing the German
: we had to cross cemeteries and every
thing else to get around as all bridge
. blown out and roads impossible
s should have liked to send you fe7
souvenirs, German gun or helmet O
q something like that but you know a
the time it was practically Impossible
n to get anything so it could be MALE
q and we were continually on the NOV
althO l could have picked up a cal
d load of stuff in half an hour.
Well Martin will see you when
= get back hope and will talk over oil
matters again. Is George still in tn
Army and is he over here somewhere
: Just the other day ran across a Viii
mar boy, the first one 1 have me
= since have been in France am nov
e working in the Office but getting tire
: of it, was promoted to Sergeant som
time ago.
Very truly yours,
Sergeant E. w. Stenson,
! A. P. o. No. 742,
Hdqtrs. 81 Division.