The Delta of the Triple Elevens : $b the history of Battery D, 311th Field Artillery, United States Army, American Expeditionary ForcesBachman, William Elmer
History
The Delta of the Triple Elevens : $b the history of Battery D, 311th Field Artillery, United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces
Bachman, William Elmer
United States. Army. Field Artillery Battalion, 311th. Battery D; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- United States
Glimpses of the town of Cherbourg which the boys received as they
hiked the four miles from the docks to the rest camp, through narrow
and crooked streets, revealed no buildings of special interest, apart
from the church of La Trinite dating from the 15th century; a statue
of the painter J. F. Millet, born near Cherbourg, stands in the public
gardens and there is an equestrian statue of Napoleon I in the square
named after him. After reaching the rest camp the soldiers were
unable to get down to the town again, although they had been told that
the Hotel de Ville housed a rich collection of paintings.
It was at 10 a. m. when the regiment arrived at the British Rest Camp
at Cherbourg. Halt was made on a large parade ground in front of a
Y. M. C. A. hut. The boys stretched themselves on the ground while
search was instituted for the area the outfit was to occupy at its
second rest camp.
Rest had just been commanded a few minutes when the command to
"fall-in" was sounded. Everybody hustled to their feet, shouldered the
heavy pack and awaited the next order.
"About-Face" was ordered. And the regiment obeyed. "Rest" was next.
This was the first time in the history of the battery that it was
necessary to shoulder packs to execute an about-face.
The camp consisted of dome-shaped, sheet-iron barracks and tented
areas. After an hour's wait Battery D was assigned to the 13th row of
Section C of the tented area. Tents were pyramid in shape. Fourteen
men were crowded into each tent that was originally intended for
eight.
By laying in wheel formation, with fourteen pairs of feet meeting at
the center pole, the boys rested themselves on the board floors of the
tents that night. There was no room for packcarriers and other
paraphanelia in the tents. Most of the soldiers deposited their excess
luggage on the outside. About midnight it started to rain. There was a
scurry to get the equipment in out of the rain, which also disturbed
the sweet slumbers as water trickled in under the canvass or else came
through leaks in the roof.
Reveille sounded at 5:30 the next morning. Orders were given for packs
to be rolled preparatory to moving. A move was made from Section C to
row 19 of D Section of the same tented area. The remainder of the
morning was set apart for Battery D to take a bath. The soldiers' bath
had been a negligible quantity since leaving Camp Meade, with the
exception of some few who attempted to work up a lather with salt
water on the Morvada. To the boys, therefore, the prospect of a good
bath was hailed with delight.
No dressing room was attached to the bathhouse that was situated at
one end of the Cherbourg rest camp. Therefore the boys had to make
ready for the bath in their tents. With slickers and shoes on the
battery lined up and marched to the bathhouse, while the rain came
down and the wind was wont to play with the flaps of the raincoats, as
a battery of bare-legs was exposed to the elements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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