Omaha daily bee., 1919-05-04

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Cling to get the men equipped ane
shipping authorities were strug
Cling to get ships to take them tc
France. Time was flying The wal
was going on. The German:
seemed to be not weakening, blu
growing stronger.
Sailed October IS.
Toward the middle of Octobe,
the, dances and garden partie.
ceased. 1t became more and NOR,
difficult for the automobile tourist.
and special train travellers to ge
into Camp Mills. And finally, OF
the morning of October Is, tn,
Rainbowsdivision was gone.
At 2 o'clock that morning, with nc
lights and no sound, the frs
column, consisting Of the One Hun
dred and Seventeenth Trench Nor
tar Battery, from Maryland; the
Second battalion of the One Hun.
dred and Sixty-sixth infantry, from
Ohio. and the Sixteenth ambulance
company moved to the train al
Garden City, Long Island, then to
the ferry at Long Island City and
then to the docks at Hoboken. The
other elements followed rapidly. By
6 p. m. the whole convoy Of ships
the Covington, the President Lin
coin, President Grant, Tenadores
Pastores and Mallory-had an
chored down the Hudson.
Next morning land had disap-
peared; the open sea was all around
them; the ships were bound for
France.
Submarines were still rampant at
that time. The strictest caution was
necessary. Officers and men with
fresh memories of house parties and
the stirring music of bands on
parade, still ringing in their ears,
began to know the hardships of war.
In later days many, many thousands
of American soldiers lived over
again the life the Rainbow lived on
the ocean, but in those days no.
bobby knew what it was until they
had tried it. Crowded like horses
into narrow hunks, with the plainest
of food, in total darkness at night,
denied even the solace of cigaret,
except by daylight, always having
boat drills-it was the Rainbow di-
visions first test in stern discipline.
Had Usual Alarms.
About three days out the Presi-
dent Grant disappeared. The rumor
spread from ship to ship that she
had been torpedoed. She was car
rying whole infantry regiment, the
l68th, from Iowa. But she had
simply developed engine trouble and
had gone back to port.
The rest of the voyage was with
out incident, except that at day
break on the last day of October
a wireless message reported wait
ing fleet of submarines at the en-
trance to the port of St. Nazaire,
near Belle Isle. The course was
changed and the danger avoided.
And about dusk October 81. with
the Tenadores behind, the Rainbow
division entered the port of St.
Nazaire.
Rain and a dreary looking mud
hole for a town-that was the di-
visions first impression of France.
Some of the townspeop1e were there
around the wharf to greet the Amer
lean soldiers. The debarkation OF
convoy of American troops was not
a common occurance then. Nor had
the S. O. S. of that day achieved
the dashing efficiency it boosted
later. The first convoy of the Rain
bow division was just seven days
getting off the boats. 1t was as
sembled at Camp No. |, about two
miles outside of St. Nazaire.
Things Look Hopeless.
The unfavorable impression of
France grew during the first few
days rather than diminished. 1t
rained steadily. The mud was ankle
deep. Stores and cafes charged ex-
tortionate prices. The collapse in
Russia and the Italian reverses were
announced. And America was thou-
sands of miles away and the war
babe fair to last for years. Then
and there most of the Rainbow
division renowned expectations of
ever going home again. l hey looked
at the future grimly with set teeth.
Gradually the division left for
training areas. The artillery brigade,
made up of Illinois Indians and
troops, went to Coet-
luidan, in Brittany. with the am
train, an all-Kansas outfit.
The trench mortar battery went to
Langres; division headquarters and
the infantry went to the Vancou-
eurs area.
Z Vaucouleurs is in Lorraine, near
Toul 1t was from that village Joan
Of Arc started on her crusade for
France. The Rainbows landed there
in box cars after long ride across
The country and were less impressed
with the historical significance OF
their new billets than with the
manure piles in all the front yards,
by the height, breadth and odor sof
which French village citizens pro-
claim their worldly worth. French
money was a costly puzzle. French,
verbs eluded them and they had ter
rible times buying eggs. The people
we're always kind, but politely I'm
certain Of the ability of our untrain-
ed troops to stand against the Ger
mans. But gradually the division
adapted itself, novelties of the Old
World became commonplace affairs
and the Rainbow got down to bust
ness.
Hard Training Begins.
The training schedule began in
earnest, 1t was the result of the
experience of all the allies, brought
up to the minute. Officers and
specialists in one branch or another
Of the new warfare attended schools,
and the daily drill under the eyes of
French and American, inctructore IN