The Butler weekly times and the Bates County record. (Butler, Mo.) 1918-1950, 1919-05-08
rendered valuable services to the
state in organizing its forces for the
selective draft.

l
selective draft.
While at Doniphan the regiment was
broken up and the companies trans
4 formed into machine gun battalions.
Co. y being merged with the Ne
vada company and forming Co. B,
Of the 1a8th machine gun battalion.
As soon as the division was or
ganized intensive training COM
menced and the fall and winter Of
1o17-18 was filled with long, heart
rending drills and hikes, with Ok
lahoma sandstorms as an added at
traction. But the men stood the
hard work without complaint, hop
ing that early in the spring they
would be sent across to take a crack
at the Hun. But it was not until
April that they were finally pro-
nounced fit to represent Missouri
and Kansas in the front line trenches
in France. The units Of the division
were entrained and by different
routes arrived in due time at Camp
Mills, Long Island, where final
preparations for overseas service
were made.
April "a and Is the division left
Camp Mills for New York and Ho-
boken, where the different units EN-
barked for France. This was anoth-
er new experience for the boy from
Missouri and Kansas. A large ma
jority of them had never seen the
ocean before arriving at Camp
II Mills and very few of them had ever
set foot on an ocean going vessel.
However, they were adaptable to
circumstances, as all good soldiers
must be, and soon made themselves
at home on shipboard. During the
trip over. schools were held daily
and all the exercise possible given,
so that the men were kept i'll the
best possible health. The medical
corps had very little to do except
treat cases of sea sickness and see
that all sanitary regulations were
strictly carried out. When the
transports left New York they
swung far to the north of the regu-
lar travelled route.
They kept the northern route un-
til north of Scotland, when the
course was changed and the trans
ports and their convoy sailed down
through the Irish sea and on May 7
landed at Liverpool. Their stop
here was brief and little opportuni-
ties were given for sightseeing.
They took trains for WINCHESTER,
where they remained until May 10,
when they again took. trains, this
time for Southampton, where they
embarked on the last leg OF their
journey. The next day, May II, all
of the units of the division were
landed at lie Harve, France. From
lie Harve they marched to Eu,
where they went through a few days
of intensive training in new methods
of warfare. lit seemed that as soon
as they had learned one system it at
once became obsolete and another
had to be taken up.) Much of the
first few days was spent in famil-
iarizing the men with the English
rifle, with which they had been
equipped. The Germans were max
ing determined efforts to break
through the lines and General Foch
did not know just where the big
blow would fall. Whether it would
be supreme attempt to break
through the British lines to>gain the
channel ports or whether the thin
French line that was standing be-
tween the Germans and Paris would
have to bear the brunt OF the at
tack. Both the French and the Brit
ish had about reached their limit i'll
man power and General Pershing
offered all his troops in the training
area to General Foch. The 35th was
used as a support for the British
lines and it is probable that the
great and important work that they
did at this place will never be en-
tirely realized, especially by people
in this country. While they did not
actually get into the fight, by their
acting as reserve they made it pos
sible for the British general to place
several divisions of his veteran
troops that had been held in re-
serve in the trenches so that when
on the night of May 26-27 the Ger
mans attacked in force on a forty |
mile front between Rheims and
Scissors they we're beaten back and
the offensive that had promised so
much for them was broken. Many |
military men are of the opinion that
this defeat was the beginning of the |
end for the enemy. Along this Sec
tor the men of the 3sth gained their |
first experience as soldiers and the
experience was to prove of value to
them later.
The attack of the west end of the
line having failed it wasN thought
likely that the enemy wQuld perhaps
make his next attack somewhere on
the east end of the line and on May
2, the 3Sth started on trip across
France. This was the mems first ex-
perience with the little four-wheeled
French box cars into which they
were crowded. Their destination
was Arches, a pretty little town in
the Vosges mountains. 1t was while
the division was stationed at this
point that General Wright, who had
command of the division since its
organization at Camp Doniphan, was
promoted to the command of corps
and General Mcclure took command
which he held until July 10, 1913.
when he was relieved BY Maj. Gen.
Trahb. June II the division received |