The history of Company B, 311th Infantry in the World War
History
The history of Company B, 311th Infantry in the World War
United States. Army. Infantry. 311th regiment, 1917-1919. Co. B; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- United States
Our joy at moving was heartfelt and unbounded. Those who had been south
to schools or on other duties told us what a “bon secteur” it was.
And the prospect of drawing American rations and being with American
troops and transport again was welcomed with acclaim. To tell the
truth, we were rather fed up with being under the wing of our British
Allies. Their ways were not our ways; we would feel better when with
our own kind. Theoretically, we were brothers in the great cause.
Practically, in the mud and sweat and thousand petty aggravations and
misunderstandings, we had undoubtedly gotten upon each other’s nerves.
The average Tommy looked upon us as a bunch of greenhorn Yankees, who
had all made fortunes during the first three years of the war and were
now over in France three years late spending them and raising the
price of vin rouge and “oofs.” We looked upon the average Tommy as a
degenerate, tea drinking, saluting bellyacher. The Australians and
Canadians were our sworn buddies, however, and we liked the Scotties.
Maybe this was because the only British combat troops we had been in
touch with were these organizations. To me, the few English combat
troops that I encountered seemed a fairly decent bunch.
[Illustration: 2d Platoon, Flavigny, France, 1919.]
It was with light hearts, then, that we pulled out of Lattre St.
Quentin on a beautiful summer morning, at 10 o’clock, August 20th. It
was only an 8 mile hike to Tinques, a rail head on the Arras road. We
turned into a big held and I halted the battalion while I went to find
the R. T. O. in charge of entraining.
All was bustle and hurry. Things were being rushed through in the
American fashion. Nobody knew where the R. T. O. was; everybody was too
busy to know anything. At last I saw Lt. Gibbs on top of a flat car
loading wagons. He shouted that our train was across the platform and
was due to leave in 20 minutes. I dashed back to the battalion, hurried
it across the tracks, entrained them and sure enough the train pulled
out just as I got the outfit aboard. As I was finishing, a dapper U. S.
Major of the Division Inspector’s Dept. toddled up and said it was the
worst entraining he had ever seen, and why weren’t the men marched up
to the cars in column of squads? I saluted the boob wearily and swung
aboard just as the train pulled out.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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