The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1919-01-01
BROTHERS meet
IN AMERICAN HOS
P|TAL IN FRANCE
EARL COWLES, LEARNING THAT
HlS BROTHER is IN NEARBY
HOSPITAL, HURRIES TO HIM.

UlolL III lut Ol Ildil OONiNo We'S
when he reached the hospital where
MS brother Charles, lay, over in
rance, and the best sight that Chas.
Cowles ever saw, was when he saw his
little brother, Earl, by his bedside.
Tie Joy that these two local boys, sons
of Mr.. and Mrs. Spencer Cowles eX-
.perienced at thatAtime could net have
been more complete.
Charles tells about it, together with
the details of his war life IN the Unit
ed States service in the following let
ter:
Dion, France, Base Hospital No. II,
ASP. O. 721-Nov. "a, 1918.
Dear Father:
Today we are writing fathers
Christmas letters and as the ban has
been lifted on the censorship ! will
tell little about my army life over
here. | am feeling fairly well today
olly my lungs are some sore. But
the doctor tells me that / am liable
to be afflicted that way all winter,
andI am not saying one word as
consider myself pretty lucky to be
still here after going through with
what / have. 1t was truly no Joke
tb be at the front some of the time but
/ wouldn't have missed seeing what
I have for a great deal | am not
With my battery, the 10th field, any
more as my service record has been
cansferred to this hospital. The di-
ision / was in is now moving up on
he Rhine and / shall always deeply
regret getting disabled for l wanted
% see the game to the finish. don't
} know what they will do with me or
where they will send me but | don't
expect to do any heavy duty before
I spring.
We have a nice hospital here and
plenty of food, lots of American nurse
girls from the good old u. S. A. and
plenty of wood to burn. Well, l will
tell you about some of the places /
have seen over here. We landed at
Bordeaux the second week in April in
southern France. We were there 21
days in a quarantine camp then we
were sent to a place called Guereat
camp. There we drew our guns and
caissons We were only on the
range three days before we qualified
for the front. We stayed there a
month to get used to the French 75s
and then we had to get out and make
room for a. new division, and from
then on the 18th of June the woods
has been cur barracks and the ground
L.
Gdere and were,on the road two nights
and two days going to the front. We
unloaeed at place, the name jof which
4 nave IorgoCIen but were still 2S
kilos from the frcnt. We camou-
flaged in the woods during the day
and hiked at night; it took two days TO
reach a big wood, five miles behind
the front lines and got my first smell
of Boche powder there. AS the woods
were shelled that night we were oblig-
ed to move and showed up two miles
farther into another wood and the
next night We placed our guns in po-
sition. On the 8th of July we were
situated on the brink Of hill three
miles east of Chateau Thierry at a
little place called Corborn. That be-
ing quiet front at that time but
did not remain quiet long after the
Third division went into position. Well
we worked all that night getting our
guns placed and carrying ammunition
and digging ammunition pits and fill
Ing sand bags. The next day we had
to stay hid in the woods that were
back of us and the next right we
established communication with an O.
p station for our observing officer
and bettered our positions.
The next morning on the 10th of
July our No. ] gun fired its first
shot onto German positions. We
registered on a few targets and the
next three days We were blowing up
ammunition dumps and couple of
German batteries of IT'S. The Boches
remained silent until the night of the
14th and that night at Midnight the
German defenses started and we
thought for about hours that every
+ gun they had was trained on us; they
sure did put dcwn a barrage. They
killed 65 of our best horses and
wounded II men that night. We fired
1000 rounds of ammunition and got
one gun SO hot that the breech block
set. That was a pretty warm place
until the 18th. Then we started our
drive and during the next 28 days we
backed the Boches up as many miles
and took up new position. Then we
were relieved by the 120th + A. From
there we hiked to Dainvell. There
we drew new horses and out of 1873
men we had 153 left, killed in action
and az wounded and gassed So they
filed the battery up to 1913 again with
W. A. men and from there we hiked
% the st. Mihiel sector and took part
! that drive. We went into position
ear a place called Beaumont, fired
1000 rounds during the barrage on
The town of Chesy and few more
roLnds of Mt. Seek. We advanced up
within % miles of Metz, but didn't
get to fire another shot there. We
received orders to turn back, hiked
! rom there to Verdun and went into
sition about miles north of Verdun
(nd took part in the Argonne drive.
k<zadvanced then into the Argonne
kfro1t and there the Germans made a
rect hit on two of cur guns and blew
<lem up, killed one man and wounded
trnc more. l was filling the recoil
tamber on one of the guns with oil
hen mustard and chlorine gas shell
truck underneath the gun. 1t turn
me a couple of times around and
en- I sat down about 10 or Is feet
E.om there. / was standing when
lie shell hit and got into my gas mask
Nlt + had taken a couple of good