Norwich bulletin., 1919-04-23
PUTNAM

Thrice wounded during hard cam paigning on the western front he has returned here in good health and in splendid spirits, one of small num- Der of men to come back of all that went overseas with him in the orig l inal battalion to which he was attach | ed. Sapper Gag'ne also saw service in Egypt, but he put in the greater part
 of his time campaigning in France and | Belgium and the record of the number
 of engagements he participated in l reads like a list of the great battles of the war.
 l Gagne was working in Canada, as an l electrician installing motors. back in 1 1915, when the inspiration to enlist | came to him.
 Hundreds of boys were going over," l he said in discussing his volunteering on Tuesday. "so I thought would just l dip in for the show
 l T am an American and I am proud 1 to say that 1 showed them up there ]
 in Canada that we were not afraid to fight. l am proud. too, of the fact that | of the 175 men who were mustered out | a few days ago in the group I was in | at Montreal after arriving from over 1 seas there were 90 American citizens" Gagne enlisted first as a bandsman
 and was assigned to the 10th battalion. l
 Later, as the Canadian forces were
 rapidly cut to pieces as they made I6COTu as llSHleTS dSdlnSI
 overwhelming German hordeS, he was
 transferred to the 18th infantry. As
 he passed through the fortunes of war he served in the 52nd Infantry battal-
 ion and ultimately came back to the 10th battalion, doing engineering work. He received in the hard campaigning , ir which he took part on the western
 ftont wounds in the leg. shoulder and
 side, getting these at Passchendaale ridge the second battle at Ypres and at Cambrai, which latter fight he describes as one of the most desperate in which the Canadians had a part. AS a member of the engineers, he was shifted from one active sector of . the front to the other. so he was in 2 for most of the big shows, sometimes, in the front lines sometimes in re-
 serve. He was in the reserve with a
 Canadian outfit when the Americans ? cleaned up the Germans in the Chateau 1 Thierry fight.
 | His stay in Egypt was brief-only three months. The engineers could
 work there only at night, he says, on ,. account of the terrific heat, and they Q were finally withdrawn and returned to e France, where they got back into the milling with a vengeance.
 Gagne helped doing the sapping = work at Vimy ridge, where the British {. planted 100000 pounds of explosives q :. ly blew them to pieces in the greatest y mining accomplishment of the war. II There were times' he said on '' Tuesday, when we sappers were
 working just a few feet under the l. heels of the Germans who were keep = ing virgil with their eyes glued on g our trench systems in front of them. s We had to work in absolute silence, Il at times in water up to our waists. but n we kept carving our way through the $ chalky soil until we got to our ob- Il jectiye. and we had our reward later e when the mines were set off. 1 saw I, an explosion of mines that we laid the s saps for that blew 5000 Germans into h Kingdom Come"
 l. There was such a pressing call for 1T troops back in 1915 that the first out
 fit to which Gagne was attached was = thrown into the lines on the western Ii front after the men had received only 1T two months of training. There was d bitter fighting back in these days. and ,r the Canadians fought like demons, al- m ways against great odds, to stop the n German drives. Gagne told on Tues Id day of operating a machine gun against le advancing hordes of Germans and
 moving them down until he siclzened le and asked another gunner to take his IS place. He had stepped aside only a k, few minutes when one of the German to flyers dropped a bomb that wrecked r. the gun position and killed the mar l. that had replaced Gagne.
 Gagne says that Putnam looks good at to him. He comes back with many to souvenirs, including Q religious meda l. that he picked out of the ruins neal lg the famous Cloth Hall at Ypres. re Funeral services for Mrs. Rita Q It, McDuffee, wife of John, B. McDuffee le were held Tuesday at their home or CT Eden street. Rev. George c. s. Mckay l. of the Baptist church officiating. Buria ne was in Grove Street cemetery. rd The body of Arthur D. Chandler, 65 1 -i who died at East Orange, N. J., wa. oe brought to this city and later wal ie taken to Woodstock Hiil where tuner. 1- al services were held and burial tool
 place Tuesday afternoon. MT. Chand as Ter was former resident of Wood al stock, a son of Amasa Chandler. H. m had been school teacher for man. oo years.
 n nl The announcement of the sudde, .N a.N death at Hazardville of Rev. Arthu 70 Fl. Withee who was formerly engage, ,oas, in Salvation Army work in this city to came as great surprise and shock t ,.o friends here. Rev. MT. Withee lief a,, .ie the Salvation Army at the close o all his work in this city to unite with tn ~ Southern New England conference 0 I i. the Methodist church. While statione no 1 at Moosup and at Eastford and Mysti w he was an occasional visitor in Put ho nam and always was warmly welcom 'ie ed.
 Il III Wilfred Chapdelaine who recently he 1s esisoieiiou t,s a suppiE oo.npa nere' id i, was announced on Tuesday. NJ
 Chapdelaine retains his position at tn
 Putnam post office, where he has bee ne employed for a number of years. 'e. Rev. George c. s. MacKay of tn ooi Baptist church is to speak at a ser -ge vice at the Baptist church in Daniel eo son this evening.
 lte Mrs. Mabel E. Ryan. who formerl
 a was employed in the office of the lat III Richard German, has returned her me from New London and has opened a ity office. MT. Ryan win make his bea6 me quarters here.
 Lieutenant John A. C. Warne cal writes that it is possible that he ma le- get away from France for home :
 is early as June, but he has no defini1 sde assurance of that as yet
 he The annual ball of cargilI eounc uts K. of C., was a decided financial suc 'nd cess, it was stated Tuesday, and tt pc attendance the largest ever at a ba
 or given by the council.
 ses The worn places and holes in u ioh surface of Grove street were beir
 patched up Tuesday, making trav 7ho much easier through the thoroughfar -sl- There was speeding up of the Vi, vas torv loauu drive in aJ, of tbe +our,
 or hereabouts Tuesday. with many sul
 or scriptions reported. Fraternal organ CIV Zations are coming into line and W lie buy bonds.
 and ,nd Next week Tuesday Putnam peep IT will have q chance to see the famo,