Norwich bulletin., 1919-02-18
LOUIS [. KENNEDY
 DANlELSoN Undertaken and Enlbalnner Special Attertion to Every cstaII.
PLAINFIELD

PLATNFIELD
 Mrs David Derosier of this village recently received letter from her son who is in France and who wrote: Dearest Mother:
 Sunday being Fathers day most of the boys are w1ting to their fathers, the same as they did on Mothers day. Only we can write more about events at the front now than we could on Mothers day.
 No doubt you have wondered what battles our organization took part in
 As you know, | left the U. s. with the 56th artillery, c. A. C.. March 26, and landed in Brest about April Sd. We did not sight any U-boats and the trip on the vessel did not affect me any more than riding in a box car.
 From the time we left New I Gork until we reached Brest we wore our life preservers continuously and we had fire drills each day, so that if any thing should happen we would know just what to do.
 I came over on the Olympic and any of the boys who went over on that boat can tell you that it is a small sized city, and for the first couple of days it was difficult to get around without getting lost.
 We were on water Easter Sunday, and there were three masses said on that morning.
 We arrived at Brest in the evening aout o'clock just as the sun was sinking and it threw it's golden rays on the water making the most pie | tureSque scene 1 ever witnessed. We 1 stayed on board ship until the next morning, when we went ashore and marched to the PonaliZan barracks, l which we were told were built about 1 the time Queen Anne ruled.
 1 On our way to camp, about three miles from Brest, we were cheered 1 again and again by the civilian popu- 1 lation. Austrian prisoners who were at work stopped working long enough | to gaze at us with amaZement. This was about the time when the kaiser claimed that there were only about a | handful of Americans in France. ] We stayed at this camp about two | days, but on Sunday we marched again 1 through the streets of Brest to the railroad station, where we halted iii front of the freight cars, which read l "40 Hommes, s cheveaux.'
 We left Brest about noon and all l along the route we were Cneered by 1 large crowds at the stations. We went l l 1 St. Germaine de Forest and along the way the Red Cross served us with coffee. We arrived at Clernont de Ferrand and detrained. Clermont de Ferrand is quite large sized city and our barracks were almost in the cen ter of the city.
 Knowing that the knowledge s of French was essential. I used to >ffsten attentiyely to the French peoples talk and soon learned to talk fluently. After staying at ClermOnt few weeks 1 was transferred with Corporal Gladnes and many others to the 57th brigade
 Gu" trip took us all the way back to Eennes and from there to Guer From Guer we marched to CamT Coetquidan, where on account of being ne Warrivals we were putu nder quar- antine. After our examinations were passed we were assiAled to Battery r 18th Field artillery.
 As it was a branch of the cavalry we were put through some stiff drill ing. Then came target practice. saw a shell from the Soisson Cans eX- plode and 1 thought it must have made an awful large hole, but it is nothing | compared to some of the shell holes and bomb holes have seen since.
 One afternoon we loaded our equip
 
 sector. Our eschelon was at TrondeS and Noviant and places around there quite lively towns as the Huns usej to shell them every once in g while I was on a camoufiage detail at this sector, camoufaging gun positions.
 From the Toule sector we went tc the AlsaCe front and took our position in Balisdorf; tbe front line trenche: were between Baisdorf and Altkinch We were fired upon and had a chance to realize just how effective our firing had been. They retreated to another position and threw shells into towr they thought we had to pass through but the Americans were too wise anC made a detour to the left, where or the next morning we surprised then and drove them toward Berlin with the boys after them. We pushed them tC Vesle and there at Death Valley, as the boys nicknamed it, we were relieved by another division and marched to the Siosson sector, where we captured Juivigny, fighting with the French sol diers of the Foreign legion. Relieved | at JuiVigny, we marched back tC Nellers Cotheret, where we entrained Here on the city square near the R. c church were many German guns that had been captured in the drive.
 We left this place about 10 p. m. and passed by Paris in the early hours o1 the morning, arriving at JoinVilie neal St. Dizier a few days later, where after marching until about midnight we arrived at Vaux Sur Blaise, Haute Marne. We were billeteG here and eX- l pected to stay for two weeks or more
 The people here were very kind tc us and were always anxious to be ot ! some service to us.
 | We had been there about a week when one afternoon we received word | that we were to leave that night and we departed about 10 o'clock an6 marched to the northwest Verdun sec tor, so were in the beginning of the drive
 Being under a French commander, was kept quite busy as an interpreter and went to the, front lines nearly every day for the purpose of observing our own firing with the French officers