The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-05-03
GAVE HEROIC SERVICE.
Paul Gordon Was Taken Prisoner When
Volunteering to Carry in Wound
ed; Died in Prison

Gity, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Gordon have
received the information that their son,
Paul Gordon, who died in German pris-
on, was captured while removing the
wounded at a hotly contested point on
the Hindenburg line eight miles from
Peronne and due east from Amiens. He
was one of five men of his unit who vol
unteered for the dangerous work and all
five were recommended for citation. 1t
was while they were in advanced terri
tory and unarmed that the Germans
counter attacked and swept in this little
group of volunteer stretcher bearers. The
five were taken prisoners, of course, and
were removed to place called Rock
whether in Germany or France is not
certain, and it was there that the four
survivors of the group of five saw Paul
Gordon for the last time. Private George
Nash of Brooklyn, n. Y, one of the five,
related on his-exehange by the Germans
that Paul died of exposure and from the
neglect of slight wound which he re-
ceiyed on Sept. q, the day of his capture.
The letter which Mr.. Duschmes wrote
to Mr.. Gordon, containing the above in
formation is hereby given so that the
many friends Of Paul Gordon may know
of his fate and of his heroic action:
'20l West l2lst St., New York
"April 80, 1919.
Dear Mr. Gordon-The following Is
as much as ! know about Paul and his
life in France
His outfit (Co. D, l02d engineersl left
Y. S. May II, 1918, on the transport
Pocahontas, the old German Princess
Irene. Landed at st. Nazaire, France,
May 80, and camped outside the city for
four days. Rode on trains for AZ hours
and arrived at Noyelles. There we were
attached to the British for training, and
all our time in France we were with the
British. The regiment was in training
for while at Machy (near Crecy for
est) at Bruttles near the coast of north
ern France, The training consisted of
gas defense, rife practice, bombing and
the newer forms of trench warfare. There
was also little stay near st. Over. At
the end Of June the regiment was build
ing reserve trenches behind the Albert
front at Mariaux woods. There it got
its first taste of fire and was bombed by
airplane Paul came through this all right.
There followed long train ride and
many days of hiking till it reached Bel
gium. The I'd battalion, Paul's was
reviewed by Gen. Pershing while hiking
and he thought very well of the appear
anee of the troops.
July Is the regiment entered Belgium
and took station in what was left of the
town of Abeele, six miles behind the
front line. This area was dominated by
Mount KENNEL just south of Ypres.
The regiment was working on what was
called the East Poperinghe line, as part
of the British second army under Gen.
Plumer. On Aug. 2l the 9th division
tours relieved the British 9th division
and took over the front line. All work
from July is on was done under heavy
shell fire. Paul was on many details
such as building trenches, concrete pill
boxes for machine guns, and all such
things He came through all right and
always took things easy and never wor-
ried. He was one of the coolest fellows
I've known under fire, On Aug. q to
Sept. the battle of Yierstoadt ridge
was fought, in which the 9th division
recaptured Mount KENNEL and regained
ground lost to the German prince March,
1918.
after this the division was relieved
and was sent down to Doullens area for
rest and training After various ma
neuvers the regiment was once more sent
TO the front and on Sept. % Joined Gen.
Rawlinson's fourth British army and
with the Australian corps fought the
battle of Hindenburg line Sept. 20 to
Oct /. The scene of the action was the
town of Ronssoy, eight miles from
Peronne and due east from Amiens.
"Paul's part in the battle is as follows.
On the afternoon Of the 26th detail of
so men was picked from Co. d for wir-
ing party. The l06th infantry were to
advance the morning of the 9th and
the so engineers, including Paul, were
to construct the wire for the captured
trenches, the material being brought up
by supply tanks. The attack came off
and was successful, except that the six
tanks which the engineers were to fol-
low were either blown up by land mines
or destroyed by she'll fire. The detail
then sought shelter in dugouts to await
orders Meanwhile a call came for vol
unteers to help carry wounded, Paul,
v
teered The four are George Nash, 30l
Morgan avenue, Brooklyn, ~ Y; Albert
A. Sorocki, who has florist shop in
Brooklyn, but ! haven't his address;
James Sheehan, ] think from Boston;
and Arthur c. Hellum from Bangor, Me.
The latter two were repacements and
don't know their addresses, but should
learn them III let you know.
These five men worked hard all morn
ing and did great things under heavy fire.
All were recommended for citations.
About midday the Germans counter,
attacked. This group was far advanced
and as they We're lmarmed and surround
ed were taken prisoners. All this we
learned later. From the 2Sth on, the
five men were reported missing. The
division fought in some battles after
that. am sending you booklet print
ed in France which tells of some, and of
course YOU have seen the New York pa
pers, which described them all in detail
"About the end of December the regi-
ment was in the town of Lombron, near
lie Mans, waiting orders to 20 home At
that time Privates Nash and Sheehan
returned to the company and told of
what they knew. A few days later Hell
lum returned, but Sorocki was sick and
was sent home 1t seems after thew
were taken prisoners they were brought
to Germany They were treated pretty
good, but could not get much food. Nash
told me that at Rock the doesn't know
if it was France or Germany they were
in big prison camp. 1t was there that
he saw Paul for the last time He said
that Paul died from exposure and from
the neglect of slight wound he received
on the 9th. He is not certain of this