Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1919-02-13
CHESTER RIGGS WRITES TO
FATHER

today and to tell all we know It has T
been so long since L was allowed to I
pen that kind of a letter that I have
almost. forgotten the art.
Well to begin with sailed from
New York the 18th of April, 1918, on
the British steamer Adriatie- There
were twelve ships IN the convoy, some
being only small tankers, SO the big
ones had to go slow and let the little
ones keep up We We're fourteen days
AS we passed between Ireland and
Scotland 1 could see the green fields
in Ireland and at the same time the
big hills of Scotland. We did not en-
counter a single submarine on the
way. But we had some eNcitment one
day when our sub chasers dropped
depth bomb by suspicious looking
object. 1t felt like our ship jumped
right out of the water through the
explosion We landed in Liverpool,
England, rode by rail to Manchester,
and from there we took a slde-Wheel-
er across the channel to France. Now
I could not commence to tell where all
l have have been while here in this
French country But the first excite
naent we had was near town in the
hills where we had been drilling for a
few days One morning before day
light German bombing plane came
buzzing around and dumped one of
his loads on a bunch of tens about
half a mile from our camp. 1t nearly
shook US out of bed; but the joke
rested on the "boche'' as he killed
about thirty-fve German prisoners.
| Our next main stay was in little
| town in the foothills of the Vosges
mountains. For several weeks we
drilled hard here. Then we went right
to the front and held the line for
thirty days. We only lost one man
| at this place, which I thought was
getting off lucky considering the close
calls we had. While at this front we
could look across the Rhine valley
and see the big mountains in Switzer-
land. I would like to say here that I
| have not much use for the noun
| tains, that is, if they are all like this
| place. They may be fine to look at,
but they are a fright to live in.
The next front we held was at Metz
during the drive on that little salient
We were not in the very front line
but in reserve back in the woods,
| where we stayed about two weeks
| and lived in our little pup tents. Then
one morning we liked early about
uV0 In1l0S Co where CnSIS WAS d Ing
of trucks about three miles long lin
ed up one behind the others. They
loaded US twenty into each truck and
we rode all afternoon and all night.
| The next morning we walked for sew
| eral miles to a camp. After resting
up a few days we were told to roll
! up our packs and turn them in. All
| we were permitted to keep was our
personal stuff and hard rations (Which
| were three hard tacks and can of
corn Willie or in other words bully
beef.)
The morning of September 25th
| found US under the shelter of hill
waiting for a streak of dawn. The
big guns were barking on all sides
| preparing the way for us. Then had
come the time when everybody felt
he had better have his fortune told.
1t is surprising how many of the
boys thought of that little piece
which says I am so glad my mother
does not know where am at. The
| 1873 infantry started the attack and
we were in support. We lost a few
men and had some gassed during the
day but it was pleasure to see the
German prisoners coming in by the
hundreds. Along towards evening we
| had advanced several miles but the
/ fighting had gotten almost to a stand
still The machine guns only were
| still singing like many crickets in
a haystack. AS soon as it got dark
we withdrew behind hill 1t was
quiet all night but early in the morn
ing we went up to relieve the 138th
Inf, and as it turned out I was one
of those assigned to the first wave
When we had the word to go over the
top we had barely shown up until the
machine guns put a regular shower
of bullets all around The word
was sent back for the tanks and it
was nearly dark before they came and
cleaned the machine gun nests out
At six o'clock we started over and
made an advance of about three
=oor,ad 70 ma had