Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-04-16
HOME FROM OVERSEAS.
Victor Hoeg and Number of
Winneshiek Boys Home From
the Battlefields of France

| NC"Cl w lhuSoHiSh COuHIy DOyS WIZ
arrived the same day were Albert
Kern, of Hesper Twp; John Kjer-
land of Quandahl; Hans Engen and
Gilbert Christen, of Madison Twp;
Geo. Brunsvold, of near Highland
Vile.
All of these boys were members of
"Old Hickory ca" 3Oth Division,
and they saw lot of service on the
st. Quentin front and at BelIicourt.
! They sailed from St. Nazire,
France, on March &c on the ship
Poncahontas, a formec German ship.
Princess Irene. They had nearly 1000
men and landed at Charleston,
South Carolina, March 81.
! In a conversation with Victor Hoeg
he tells us that ne left DEBORAH Feb.
%, 1918, going to Camp Dodge.
From there to Camp Severe, S. c.,
then to Camp Mills and across the
pond. landing at Liverpool, May %,
1918, and it was only a snort time
before they went into action. They
took q train for Dover, then crossed
the channel to Calais the next day,
remaining 8 or 4 days, when they
went into camp in a little nearby
town about % miles behind the
lines, and drilled for a month. On
July 2 they started on three days
hike, and crossed the line into
Belgium on July 4. They were at
tached to the British first army un-
der Gen. Plummer.
The goth Division was distinct
i've American Division, more than
So per cent of it's personnel being of
American born parents. The Division
constituted National GuarG troops
of North and South Carolina and
Tennessee, augmented by many
thousand of selective draft troops
from Iowa, Indiana and Illinois,
Minnesota and North Dakota
The Old Hickory Division assault
ed the Hindenburg line on Sept. 90,
and this was the drive where Victor
was wounded by an airplane bomb.
Three cOmrads right near him were
killed and one of the boys was only
two feet back of him. One boy lost
his right leg and others were badly
wounded. Victor got hit in the wrist,
shoulder and leg. The bomb breaks
into little pieces when it hits the
ground and these small pieces fly
in all directions. One piece went
through Victor's helmet, and an
other struck him above the eye.
| At this place the St. Quentin
canal was occupied by the Germans.
1t was a big underground room,
with numerous compartments, just
like a palace, bomb and shell proof.
But the British and Americans got
in and routed the Germans. In one
room in the place the Germans
chopped up their dead and put the
bodies in big kettles and boiled them
to get the fats to make high explos-
ives.
After Victor was wounded he was
sent back to the hospital and the
road was strewn with dead and also
prisoners. He was taken past two
first aid stations, that were filled,
before he found a place Of shelter.
A big shell came over, killing two
horses near the first aid station, 100
yards from him. The wounded were
hauled four in an ambulance over
very rough roads. and many of the
boys were suffering terribly. He was
taken to a hospital in London and
remained there two months and was
there when the armistice was sign
ed. He tells us that he saw the King
and Queen of England and Princess
Mary several times.
After he recovered he was sent
back to his company in France. They
were reviewed by Gen. Pershing,
went to lie Mans, stayed three weeks.
and from there to St. Nazsire and
then homo.
Victor says that up in the Fland-
ers front at Ypres there were over a
million men buried. One river they
crossed was filed with dead soldiers,
never buried. The men tried to swim
the river and we're shot and left
there. In one trench he was In he
saw the feet Of a dead man sticking
out. His company only had So men
left out of $50 when they came out
on Oct. 20.
The tunnel at st. Quentin, ment
toned above, was electrically lighted
and of sufficient capacity to shelter
a division. 1t was filled with barges
Connecting it with the Hindenburf
trench system were numerous tun
nels. In one case a direct tunnel rar
from the main tunnel to the base
ment of lapge store building. whicf
the enemy used as headquarters
1t was a complete subterranear
system with hidden exits and enter