Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1919-03-06
|BogaIusa Boy Tells
Of Scenes In France

Varennes, France, Dec. %, 1913
Dear Auntie:
/ have a little spare time tonight,
and it is showing to beat the band,
so / will try to tell you a little of
my travels over here.
We landed at Brest, France. It is
a big seaport, but / did not think SO
much of the place. We were at Brest
about week and went from Brest
to st. Florent, France. 1t is a small
place way way down in southern
France and there had been no fight
ing. We moved from there to an
other small town by the name of st.
Agnon, little closer up front. There
were hospitals there and lots Of
wounded and gassed soldiers knew.
We only stopped there few days
and then went to a small town, Chit
ney, France. We were the first sol
diers to stop at that place and the
French people sure treated US fine.
We were there about a month and
then got orders to come TO the front.
You should have heard US yell. We
wanted to go bad, or at least we
thought we did. On the road from
there we came through Blois and
Paris and saw lots Of wonderful
things / would like to tell you of,
but / haven't the paper,
At Chateau Thierry we saw the
first effects of the war. The station
was all full of shell holes and most of
the houses down, and as far as you
could see, nothing but shell holes. All
along the railroad from there on. we
could see graves of Germans, French
and Americans, and the country was
all shot up for long ways. We got
off the train at Souiley, France. It
is about fifteen miles from Verdun.
We went from there to Epicourt,
about halfway between Souiley and
Verdun, and the first night we began
to hear the cannon roaring and see
the airplanes fighting on the Verdun
front. We were put in charge of the
Verdun sector and the armistice was
signed just a few days afterwards,
so / did not get to see so much Of
the fighting, but saw enough to suit
me. The day the shooting stopped !
was at Verdun, and it was the most
wonderful thing / ever expect to see.
The last thirty minutes of fighting
was the fastest shooting / ever saw.
Both sides knew they were going to
stop firing at II o'clock and it sure.
was awful until that hour, and then
everything stopped. There were thou
sands Of dead men all over the woods
believe me, It was awful. verdun is
city under the ground.
could tell you lots more. but my
paper is scarce and / can't tell it Just
like it really is. ! am in charge Of d
telephone station at Varenns, about
half way between Verdun and Grand
pre-, in the Argonne forest on the
Aisne river. | am sending you a
small French map of this sector and
you can tell just where am now. ri
guess your hubby is interested in this
morelthan you are. have been up
in Belgium and to Luxembourg, Ger
many, and saw lots Of interesting
things. There isn't house in fifteen
miles of here that hasn't been shelledl
and the woods and fields are all torn
up. The dugout / am living in was
used by German officer not over
two months ago. It has electric
lights in it. They have an electric
plant under Dead Mans Hill, about
fifty feet under the ground.
{ don't know when we viii start
home, but | sure am ready to 20. |
Give my regards to everybody and
love to all Of the folks.
Your nephew,
CORPORAL A. N. HULL.
Company c, F. S. Blu. American Ex-