In any history of army life and experiences, there is always the desire to go on from the "very" beginning to the "bitter" end. Not knowing where these happenings might fit into the Section Reviews, your Editors felt that the best place would be here. So with the hope that any men or their families would not feel left out, we will give a necessarily short report of "The Lost Battalion" and the "Balkans Contingent."

From the ambulance trainees at the Concentration Camp at Allentown, a select group of expert drivers were sent to France. These men were to form an ambulance unit to work with the advance guard of United States Engineers. These outfits were the First, Eighth and Ninth Regiments of Engineers who were sent across early to France to build railroads and open communications in parts of the devastated country. The order was received by Colonel Persons at 4 p.m., and by 5 o'clock, 46 men had been picked. After the final mess, they were divided and left camp in two groups, one going to Fort Totten, Long island under command of Sergeant Leonard A. Wood; the second going to Pittsburgh in command of Sergeant C. D. Moon. After three days of instruction, the two separate groups assembled at a certain Atlantic port where they were to embark for somewhere in France. The name of the port, destination, or time of sailing were not divulged.

The men from the Allentown camp were selected for their skill as drivers, and nine in special skilled fields: Sgt. Wood, drillmaster; Sgt. Moon, pharmacist; two male nurses; one medical technician; two first aid men, one in x-ray and electro-therapeutics; one medical orderly; one hospital attendant. The report of this detail was made June 21, 1917, but no further word of their experiences has ever been received.

On November 15, 1918 a select group of ambulance drivers and mechanics from the Italian Contingent were assembled by Sergeant 1/cl. A. W. Henrich, Headquarters Detachment. In command of Lieutenant Bleloch, they were ordered from Mantua in two trucks with supplies, and left at 2 a.m. for Mestre. At that point, the special detail picked up the 2nd Battalion, 332nd U.S. Infantry Regiment and entrained for Venice on the Adriatic. They were to board a ship sailing at 2 p.m., so in the morning they had a chance to have a look at Venice. After a voyage of undetermined length, the contingent arrived at Cattaro, Dalmatia, on the boundary of Montenegro. They were stationed at a point surrounded on three sides by the Bay of Cattaro and the Adriatic Sea. The ambulance men were doing hospital work, and in their spare time had some opportunities to do a little mountain climbing. We assume theft service ended when all U.S. troops were returned to Genoa and homeward bound in April of 1919.

 SSU 68/621

THE sixteen men of S.S.U. Sixty-Eight, who enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 13, 1917, were the nucleus of new Section Six-Twenty-One, which was formed at the Field Service Headquarters and endowed with new Field Service cars toward the last of the month. The newly formed Section was attached to the 74th French Infantry Division, and with it reached the front about the 1st of October, 1917. The Division took over a sector to the east of the Chemin des Dames, while the Section served postes at Pontavert, La Chapelle, Bouffignereux, Guyencourt, and during the winter, one at Gernicourt. The sector was quiet and the Section was quartered at Vaux-Varennes not far in the rear, for the first four months. In February the Section moved to Prouilly, near Jonchery for a ten-day repos. On returning to the lines, the Division took over a sector still farther to the east; between Berry-au-Bac and Reims, with the postes formerly served by old Section Twelve. These were at Cauroy, Cormicy, and Hermonville, with two advanced postes between the French first and second lines and located on Route 44, paralleling the Aisne Canal. These two postes were known as Maison Bleue and Saint-Georges, respectively. The Section went into camp at Châlons-le-Vergeur.

During the stay in this sector only two events stand out prominently. The first was in retaliation for an unexpected bombardment of a section of the Boche trenches and consisted in the dropping of some thousand gas-shells on Hermonville at a time when it was filled with sleeping soldiers. As a result the Section carried nearly five hundred gas cases out of the town in a day. Shortly after this the Boches took to nightly shelling of the Section's cantonment, finally culminating on the fourth night in a grand display of H.E. and gas, mixed. So the camp was moved to Prouilly!

The Section was enjoying a few days' stay in a château near Limé, south of Braisne, when on the evening of the 26th of May came orders to prepare for action --- a great German attack was to be launched at 4.30 A.M. of the 27th. Then followed six days of untiring efforts on the part of Section Six-Twenty-One and of heroic sacrifices and counter-attacks on the part of the Division, which had been thrown into line north of Soissons. Towns and villages, later made famous by the attack of the 26th Division of the U.S. Army, were abandoned only in the face of overwhelming numbers. Berzy-le-Sec, Billy-sur-Aisne, Soissons, Vierzy, Chaudun, and Vertefeuille, Montgobert, Longpont, Villers-Cotterets, Pernant, Cœuvres, Saint-Pierre-Aigle, and Crépy-en-Valois will long be remembered by Section Six-Twenty-One. Many times the ambulances were the last to leave towns, while some cars crossed the Aisne with the infantry. Two drivers, John Sanford and Frank Conly, were wounded by machine-gun bullets in an encounter with a Boche patrol in Soissons, yet managed to turn their cars and escape. Three others, Ralph Ellinwood, Frederic Lockwood, and William Heckert, were taken prisoners while discharging wounded at the hospital of Mont Notre Dame, south of Braisne. Two more, Arthur Hazeldine and Robert Hatch, were wounded by shell-fire. The Boche shelling was terrific. Their aeroplanes were also much in evidence, either bombing or machine-gunning the roads, continually. Then followed a month of repos at Champlatreux, twenty-five kilometres north of Paris. During this time the Section was re-outfitted with cars and clothing, having lost all baggage in the retreat. For this attack the Section was given a divisional citation.

July 1 found the Section at Le Fayel, a tiny village southwest of Compiègne. On the 4th the Section moved to Jonquières where Section One was found to be en repos. The Division went into line before Antheuil while the Section established two postes in the town of Monchy-Humières and one at the Ferme Beaumanoir, outside of Monchy. This front had been but recently formed in a more or less unsuccessful attempt of the Boches to widen the Aisne salient by a drive between Soissons and Montdidier. The shelling was frequent at this time, and Monchy, lying as it did in a hollow, was often filled with gas. On August 11 the French began an attack in this sector, the Division's objective being Lassigny, which was reached in fifteen days. On the 26th the Division was withdrawn and the Section went en repos at Rémy. During the attack, postes were served at Antheuil, Marqueglise, Margny, Lamotte, Gury, and Plessis-de-Roye. The attack was highly successful, and for its work the Section received another divisional citation. Only one man, Philip L. Bixby, was wounded, although several were gassed.

After a brief rest at Rémy, the Section left in convoy for the Champagne. Passing through Vitry-le-François, Châlons, and Sainte-Ménehould, camp was made at Coulvagny on September 6. From Coulvagny the Section was shifted from pillar to post, finally coming to a brief rest at Courtémont on September 25. On the 26th, the 74th Division attacked in the region of Le Main de Massiges and Hill 202. The Section camp was moved to La Neuville-au-Pont on September 30 so as to be on the direct road used in evacuations. By the 15th of October the Boches had fallen back and camp was moved again, to Ville-sur-Tourbe.

The Division came out of lines on October 16, and after six days of rest, so-called, at Courtémont, went back into action on October 30. During the period of rest, the Section was called upon to furnish five cars to act as a reserve for the sections still in line and also answered the calls for cars to evacuate the hospital at Braux. Fortunately for the Section, this next attack was a short one, as by the 3d of November the Boches were in full flight. On November 4 the Division came out of lines and the Section went into camp at Autry. Neither the Division nor Section ever went into action again, as shortly after the attack the Division began a gradual movement to the east, during which time the Armistice was signed. The victory was celebrated by the Section at Vavray-le-Grand, near Vitry-le-François. By the 24th of December the Division had reached the neighborhood of Ensisheim, in German Alsace, where the Section was quartered outside the town in a brick building with hot and cold running water, showers, tubs, steam heat, and electric lights.

February 3, 1919, the Section convoyed over the Vosges Mountains to Arches, a little town fifteen kilometres from Épinal. Here the Division undertook to train a batch of Polish recruits, and upon the demobilization of the greater part of the old Division, it came to be known as the 5th Polish Division.

Orders came on the 20th of March to convoy the cars to Paris, and early in the morning of the third day the Section rolled into the parc at Longchamps.

 SSU 65/622

Section Sixty-Five came into Paris in September, 1917, with eight old members enlisted in the U.S. Army. Fourteen men from the newly arrived Syracuse Unit were placed in "Sixty-Five," and on the morning of September 22, 1917, with new Ford cars, and Lieutenant Sponagle in command, the Section left for the war zone again. It then took up life en repos, not being attached to any Division, but remaining at Fère-en-Tardenois from September until November, 1917. At about this time the Section was officially renumbered Six-Twenty-Two.

On December 22 we were attached to the 121st Division, .on the Chemin des Dames, and had Œuilly for a cantonment, with postes de secours at Oulches, Paissy, Verneuil, and Vendresse. It left the Aisne sector in April, 1918, with the 121st Division, and convoyed to Poperinghe, Belgium, in the Ypres-Mont Kemmel sector. The work was very hard and dangerous, but the Section finally came out, without any losses, in the last part of May.

Repos for ten days followed at Beauvais. Then the Section was ordered into line near Estrées-Saint-Denis, on the Montdidier-Noyon front. It continued in this Oise sector, near Compiègne, for some time, with its cantonment at Remy. During the attack on Ferme-Porte and Ferme-des-Loges in the first week in August, a big advance was made. Then followed the battle of Lassigny. The headquarters of the Section was at Bayencourt, outside Ressons-sur-Matz. Two men, Raymond Gauger and Leo Smith, were wounded here by éclats. Following the Lassigny battle and the German retreat, steady progress followed toward Saint-Quentin and La Fère. Then the 121st Division was ordered to the Chemin des Dames, and we followed, going into line at Vailly, between Soissons and Braisne, and having a poste at Ostel. It was here that Hugh McNair lost his right leg when he was struck by a large piece of éclat. It was here, too, that we received a section citation.

On October 13, 1918, we crossed the Chemin des Dames, following the German retreat, and had a cantonment at Bruyères, near Laon. We advanced steadily from this time, and the Armistice found us at Auvillers, near Rocroi, on the Belgian frontier. We returned to Samoussy, near Laon, until December 10. Then we started for Germany, the Division marching all the way, via Reims, Châlons, and Nancy, and across the Lorraine frontier at Nomeny to Saargemund. The Division then broke up and we went to Saarburg, and then to Saint-Avold, near Metz. On March 25 the Section was ordered in to Versailles, and the U.S.A. Ambulance Service Base Camp at Ferrières.

 SSU 66/623

On September 9, 1917, S.S.U. Sixty-Six lost its Field Service identity, and became Section Six-Twenty-Three of the U.S.A. Ambulance Service. Many men left the Section, but there remained some fifteen to perpetuate its life as it was in the old days when it took up its work on the Chemin des Dames.

The Section was at this time on active service in the Craonne Sector with the 46th Division of Chasseurs. On September 22 it moved to Tannières en repos, and then to Port-à-Binson, where it left its old "Panhards" at the automobile park and entrained for Paris to take over the new Fords. Within the next three weeks the Section was again at work in its old Craonne sector, with its admirable new equipment.

Section Six-Twenty-Three was now working with the 61st French Division, and after spending several weeks at Cuiry-les-Chaudardes it moved to Vailly, where it took over the posts of Aizy, Jouy, Allemant, and Montparnasse. Repos at Rozières, in which the hardships and rigors of winter were felt perhaps more keenly than at any other time of the Section's existence, was followed by the comforts of Soissons which will always be remembered as the best of cantonments. From January 7, 1918, until June 3 the Section evacuated the postes of Crouy and Laffaux, and it was during that period that Lieutenant J. G. B. Campbell was placed in command to take the place of our former Chef and Lieutenant, William G. Rice, Jr. On May 27 the great German offensive was launched and for the next five days the Section was put to a most severe test. It worked its postes until Soissons was evacuated, and continued with its Division during the entire retreat. Each day the Section retreated as the Germans advanced and followed a route through the towns of Breuil, Saint-Bandry, Cœuvres, Longavesne, Pierrefonds, Taillefontaine, and Vez. At this last station active duty was resumed when the Division went into action at Villers-Cotterets. In recognition of the work done during these trying days the Section received its first citation to the Corps d'Armée

From Villers-Cotterets the 61st Division was sent to the Lorraine sector. It was a beautiful trip from Vez to Baccarat, the Section passing through Meaux, Coulommiers, Troyes, Chaumont, Jussey, and Epinal, and finally reaching its destination in late June, 1918.

At Baccarat the work was exceedingly light and the Section found some difficulty in adjusting itself to this tedious aftermath of its hard work. The months of July and August were spent in this quiet sector, with the towns of Saint-Clément, Badonvillers, Lunéville, and Nancy as theatres of the Section's activities.

In September, 1918, the Section began its long trip from Baccarat back to the active front. Rumors of a great Allied offensive in the Champagne had convinced us that the Section would soon see service in that sector. On September 21 it arrived at Cuperly, northeast of Châlons. The morning of the attack was announced by the rumble of the Allied artillery, and from that time the Section was involved in one of the greatest Allied offensives of the war. As the Germans retreated the Section advanced with the 61st French Division through the towns of Suippes, Souain, Somme-Py, Pauvres, Vouziers, Attigny, Amangne, Poix-Terron, and entered Mézières with the French on the night of November 10, 1918. An enthusiastic welcome was accorded us; flags of the Allied nations were everywhere in evidence, and triumphal arches welcomed the French back to a city which during four years had experienced the hardships of German occupation.

On the night of November 10, 1918, the hospital of Mézières was bombarded by the enemy, and here the Section received its second citation for evacuating the wounded from the hospital under fire.

On November 11 the welcome news of the signing of the Armistice was received with great enthusiasm and celebration and the Section learned that it was to proceed with its Division to the bridgehead of Mayence, Germany.

During the third week of November, 1918, the Section moved by stages along the route of Flize, Sedan, Sachy, Florenville, Rulles, and Arlon, passing through the southern corner of Belgium and arriving in the fourth week of November at Wiltz, Luxembourg.

But at this point orders were received that the 61st Division was not to proceed to Germany, but was soon to be demobilized . In March, 1919, we were separated from our French comrades-in-arms and it was not without a keen sense of regret and sadness that we said good-bye to those men with whom we had been associated for so many months during quiet and exceedingly strenuous circumstances. Then came our trip back into France and to the Ambulance Base Camp, where we paused before starting for the States.

 SSU 67/624

Section Sixty-Seven was enlisted at Soissons on September 5, 1917, and Robert L. Nourse commissioned as Lieutenant. The Section retained its Headquarters at Soissons until November 9. During this period our work consisted of maintaining three front postes on the crest of the Chemin des Dames plateau, and in addition, in evacuating the H.O.E. at Vauxrot to the entraining hospitals of Vierzy and Buzancy. Our work during the Fort Malmaison attack of October 23 was purely that of H.O.E. evacuation --- much to our sorrow.

On November 9 we moved in the train of our Division, the 154th, to Juvigny, ten miles northwest of Soissons. Our postes in the Coucy-le-Château sector were rather quiet due to a lull in the fighting. One car, however, was wrecked by shell-fire at the Landricourt poste on the Aislette. Clever work on the part of the Section mechanic put this car in rolling order again. There were no parcs then, and the parts for it were unobtainable until the following February. It was towed in all convoys until that date.

On November 19 the Cambrai affair brewing in the north drew our Division up as reserves, and with brief halts at Montgobert and Babœuf, near Noyon, we finally encamped in the valley of the Somme at Vaux, west of Saint-Quentin. The Division did not go into the lines here, and on December 20 withdrew en repos to the region around Ressons-sur-Matz. Three wintry weeks were spent here. January 10, 1918, we went into the lines south of Saint-Quentin, with Headquarters at Flavy-le-Martel. Our postes were at Clastres, Le Sablière, and Benay. The latter two were on the ridge overlooking Saint-Quentin. Lieutenant Nourse was badly burned in the face and eyes by mustard gas during our stay here. The sector was taken over by English troops on January 24

On January 27 the Division came out en repos again with Headquarters at Archen, near Roye. On February 8 we watched with wistful eyes the embarkation of the Division for Alsace, while we remained behind, an orphan section. The ruling at that time was that divisions moving long distances, detached their ambulance sections, taking on new ones in the new sectors. On February 9 we took up our abode at Berneuil-sur-Aisne, between Compiègne and Soissons, being attached to the French auto parc there. No service was done during our stay, and the time was occupied in getting the Ford fleet in good order --- something we all, of course, thoroughly hated and escaped from whenever possible.

On March 23 the long-rumored German offensive drew us to Noyon in the service of the army corps. We left Noyon hurriedly under orders at 3 A.M. on the 25th, one jump ahead of the Boches, and moved to Pont l'Evêcque, a few kilometres away. The Boches gave us no rest, however, and we moved out of the town that evening just as the German cavalry was entering it. No cars were on service at that time, as our corps was not yet moved up. Camp was made near Ribécourt that night and was abruptly moved again at daylight. The Germans were not so near that time, but it was orders. Permanent camp was made at Bienville, north of Compiègne, and the Section began army corps work again, this time for the 33d Corps d'Armée. The work consisted of evacuating the relay dressing-station of Chiry-Ourscamp to the rear railhead hospitals. This station was later removed to Ribécourt.

On May 9 we moved up to Chevincourt, five kilometres to the northward, and were assigned to the 53d Division. The postes were at Orval, Carrière-Chaufour, and l'Écouvillon. The Section remained quiet until June 9, when the German offensive between Montdidier and Noyon took place. Four days of highly exciting work followed, during which we had two men wounded and one badly gassed. Two days of the attack were spent in a region constantly deluged with gas, and the shelling during the whole period was quite intense. Excellent leadership on the part of Lieutenant Nourse was responsible for saving the Section many casualties and losses in prisoners.

The attack was over on the 14th, and the 53d Division was withdrawn for rest and reinforcements, and was entrained for an Alsatian sector. The Section followed overland, making one-night stops at Pont Sainte-Maxence, Saint-Germain-les-Couilly, near Meaux, Chaumont, Luxeuil-les-Bains, Rupt-sur-Moselle, to Montreux-le-Château, between Belfort and Altkirch. The 26th of June saw the Section snugly quartered at La Chapelle-sous-Rougemont. The 32d American Division was in a sector here, and our French troops rested behind the lines, three companies only being on duty. Work was light, and the Section had time to lay out a seven-hole golf course for the golf bugs and to organize a baseball team which competed with varying success against the various outfits of the 32d.

The fighting on the Marne in the middle of July demanded additional ambulance sections, and Section Sixty-Seven was ordered from La Chapelle to Lure as a first stage of the journey. The 53d Division remained in its sector. At Lure the travelling orders were cancelled and the Section came to rest at Faucogney, between Luxeuil and Rupt-sur-Moselle. Here we remained, enjoying the picturesque surroundings and the leisure, but impatient to be back at the front, until August 6, when the Section moved to Baccarat in Lorraine, being attached to the 37th American Division. Postes were at Montigny, Peronne, Merviller, Neufmaisons, Saint-Pôle and Trois Sapins. The sector was very quiet save for air raids. The Section was detached September 4 and moved to Nancy. Here it was attached to the Échelon américain of Townsend. Quarters were in the Caserne Dronot. Another period of inaction followed. The Saint-Mihiel attack occurred during this time, but we had to sit idly by and watch it, never turning a wheel for over a month.

October 10 found us on the road to Meaux, via Nancy, Toul, Saint-Dizier, and Sézanne. From there orders took us to Vosges, near Laon, and in country just evacuated the day before. Corps d'Armée work was our lot here until the Armistice. After that stays of various length were made at Mont Cornet, Soissons, Fourmies, near the Belgian frontier, Mont Cornet again, and Clermont, north of Paris. Some relief work was done after the Armistice, and the latter half of the period the Section was attached to a battalion of chasseurs ---a long-cherished ambition, realized only after the Armistice. We left for Paris on March 10, en route for home.

 SSU 1/625

It was with a glorious past that Section One of the American Field Service was taken over by the United States Army as Section 625 on September 30, 1917, at Aillanville in the Vosges, not far from the home of Jeanne d'Arc. The Section was serving with the famous 69th Division, two of whose regiments had seen service in the First Battle of the Marne at La Fère Champenoise. The next three months were spent en repos.

Then in January 1918 the Section moved with its Division to the Toul sector and had its cantonment in Andilly. It accompanied the United States First Division that took its place in the trenches here to the left of Flirey and Seicheprey. This was the first occasion when American troops took over their own sector of trenches. The Section spent the next five months here, and as the trenches had been more or less fixed for over three years, the shelling of the roads and cross roads was extremely accurate and the evacuation of the wounded was often conducted tinder heavy fire.

On April 19, the Boche made a heavy attack against the 102nd Regiment of the 26th U.S. Division at Seicheprey. The attack came at dawn and was carried out by over a thousand picked Prussian Sturmtruppen. The village was entered from the side and rear. Although the losses were about equal, it was considered a Boche success because the raiders took about 150 prisoners.

On June 4, the Section moved to Pagney-derrière-Barine near Toul. June 6, found the Section en convoy. Orders awaiting at various cities kept the Section en route, until three o'clock the following morning found them bivouacked in the market-place of Meaux, three hundred kilometers from the starting point, and every car was in good shape.

The Section was awakened at dawn on June 9, by a tremendous barrage between Montdidier and Noyon, and the Section was in the center of the attack. Here the lines moved back and forth for about ten days in the region of La Ferme de Monchy, the Sucrerie d'Apremont and Venette, on the edge of Compiègne. It was pitiful to sec the poor French civilians fleeing in face of the on-coming German troops. The cantonment was behind the church in Remy, and then was moved to Jonquières for some twenty-four days. The Division had helped stop the last Boche drive that had made any advance.

On July 15, the Section moved to the center of the great Compiègne Forest to await a call for a rapid move to take place in the great attack that came on July 18. The bureau, all extra equipment, and the atelier were placed in an abandoned faïencerie at the foot of the beautiful castle in Pierrefonds, and the cars moved up to the rear of the troops. The dawn of July 18, will be forever glorious as that is the hour when the forces of liberty began their drive that never halted until the signing of the Armistice. The next fifty-one days of terrible struggle were difficult for the Division and the Section. The Division fought its way cast from Mortefontaine and finally pivoted and moved north from Soissons to Crouy on the heights above the city.

Three men were wounded with bomb fragments, one with shrapnel, and others were gassed and had to be hospitalized. The work and strain of evacuations under the hazards of shelling, bombing, and gas, plus long hours were almost beyond human endurance. The French Army recognized the bravery and stamina of the men by citing the Section à l'Ordre de l'Armée which carried the privilege of wearing the Fourragère Aux Couleurs Croix de Guerre.

From September 22 until the Armistice the Section and the Division served on fronts opposite Ponte-à-Mousson. Then on November the 11th, the Section moved up through Lorraine, the Saar Gebiet and up to the Rhine, where it was when orders came to proceed to the United States Army Ambulance Service Base Camp en route to the United States.

Hidden snipers tried to shoot two of their men while transporting sick through Forbach late in November. As a Section, SSU 1/625 dated its service from January 1915 and had its origins from almost the first hours of the war. It claims the distinction of being the oldest American Organization in World War I. It evacuated more than 56,000 men during its more than four years with the French Army.

 SSU 2/626

Section Two, now Six-Twenty-Six, was attached to the 48th Division, made up of zouaves and Algerians on August 17, 1917, and stayed with the same Division right up to the time of going home. From the above date we worked for three months on the left bank of the Meuse above Verdun, and then changed over to the right bank, with postes at Vacherauville, Bras, and two postes nearer the lines which were only abris. While we worked on the left bank, our cantonment was a barn near Sivry-la-Perche. On December 1, it was changed to a school building at Glorieux. We stayed on the right bank for a month, and then the Division went en repos near Wassy, which town was the cantonment for the Section. After three weeks the Division was ordered south, and eventually reached a point south of the Toul sector and was placed in reserve. We were cantoned in the village of Bettoncourt from January 26 to February 8. Then we moved to Nancy, where we were cantoned in the hospital barracks at Essey from February 8 until March 15

After making a number of moves in a general northerly direction, we finally reached the front at Soissons, and took over the lines in front of Coucy-le-Château on April 11, 1918. We were cantoned in abris on the hillside above the village of Fontenoy. Postes were established in Pont Saint-Mard, Mont Givry, Trosly, and the Ferme Bonne Maison. The Division was drawn from the lines on May 8, as Algerian fever was spreading so rapidly that there were scarcely enough officers to carry on the work. The Section was cantoned at Pernant, near Soissons, from May 8 to 15, and then moved north, as the Division was ordered into reserve back of Arras. We were cantoned at Saint-Pol, where the nights were made unpleasant by the many air raids. After the one which took place on the night of May 29, in which the Section was in the centre of the bombarded zone, we moved into a near-by wood.

On June 3 the Division was ordered en réserve north of Meaux, at Acy-en-Multien, where the Section was cantoned until the 11th. The Division then took part in the counteroffensive which started on the morning of June 11 in the Montdidier sector. The cantonment for the Section during the attack was Grandvillers, and postes, as the line advanced, were established at Wacquemoulin, Neufvy, and the evacuations were to Saint-Remy and the château at Ravenel. During the attack the top was blown off one car, and two men, Newcomb and MacKenzie, were wounded. MacKenzie died two days later at the hospital in Beauvais. The Section went en repos on June 13, spending its time in the woods near Crépy-en-Valois.

On July 10, the Division took over the line in the woods, relieving old Section Four's Division. We worked the line just in front of Longpont. We took part in the Foch counter-attack of July 18. The Division stayed in until the morning of July 20, but the Section worked several days after that, helping old Section Four, and doing some evacuation work to Crépy-en-Valois. The Division was en repos until August 18, the Section being cantoned during that time in Chavres, Vivières, Chavres again, Grand Champ, Eméville, Chelles, and Pont Chevalier. The Division attacked again on the morning of August 20 in the Aisne and Oise offensive, being in line at Moulin-sous-Touvent. It stayed in line until September 1, when the lines were established in front of Coucy-le-Château. As the lines advanced, we had postes in Nampcel, Blérancourdelle, Blérancourt, Saint-Paul-aux-Bois, Trosly, and numerous abris in the hillsides between these two places. Shaw, Kendall, and McCreedy were wounded during this attack, and Iselin, Bender, and Russell.

On September 2, the Division went en repos near Coulommiers, the Section being cantoned at Chauffry. We left September 21 for a sector in the Champagne. We followed the attack of the 26th, and went into line on the 29th, where we stayed until October 16. As the line advanced, postes were established at Perthes, Tahure, Aure, Mars-sous-Bourcq, Semide, Contreuve, Grivy, and Loisy. The Section was cantoned along the road until October 12, when it took a cantonment near Semide, where it stayed until October 18. All evacuations were made to Bussy-le-Château. The division was en repos from October 16 until November 1, near Châlons-sur-Marne. We were cantoned at Saint-Germain la Ville. In November the Division went en réserve back of the lines near Vouziers. We were cantoned at Semide until the 7th, and then moved up. staying at Le Chesne, Grandes Armoises, and Chémery. It was while we were in Le Chesne that the Armistice was signed. The Division was just about to take over the line north of Chémery.

After the Armistice we followed the Germans through Belgium and Luxembourg, stopping at Pouru-Saint-Remy, Florenville, Étalle, Belgium; Hermiskiel, Boppard, and Nassau, Germany. We crossed the Rhine during the afternoon of December 14 and were cantoned in Bad Nassau, where the Section appropriated a hotel. We stayed here until ordered in to Base Camp on March 5, 1919. We took our cars to a town near Mainz and turned them over to a new Section. Stayed here until ordered in to Base Camp on March 5, 1919. We took our cars to a town near Mainz and turned them over to a new Section.

 SSU 4/627

Section Four lost its identity as a Field Service Section during September of 1917. It was then that the remnant of its old personnel officially enlisted, and became new Section 627. The Section was en repos at the time in a little village by the name of Villers-le-Sec which is situated about forty kilometres to the northwest of Bar-le-Duc. Along about the middle of October we moved back to the front in the Verdun sector. We had our quarters in the small village of Sommedieu, where we were destined to spend the winter of 1917-18. We did not leave this sector, which was remarkably quiet during our stay, until about the 1st of March. During all this time we were serving the famous 20th Division of French Infantry which hailed from the coast of Normandy. In this sector we had only two front postes which, in reality, were not front postes at all.

The 1st of March, 1918, saw us en repos at Pierrefitte, a sizable village in the valley of the Meuse. After a few days we were detached from our Division, which was to be broken up and sent in to strengthen various parts of the line in preparation for the coming Boche spring offensive. We moved to Ravigny, which is only the name of a patch of woods to the east of Souilly. The Section had been with the 20th Division for over a year, and so it was hard for us to part with these old friends of ours. Also we lost our wonderful French Lieutenant, the Baron de Turckheim. While we were at Ravigny the first Boche attack broke out which almost resulted in the taking of Amiens. Suddenly we got orders to move. Then began our tour of France. We made the voyage all the way from the valley of the Meuse to the sea, then back again to Doullens. There we stayed for a short time, doing the drudgery of evacuation work for the Tenth Army. The Boche again attacked, this time on the Chemin des Dames, and we were ordered south to replace a French Section which had been badly handled during the retreat. We were with the 1st French Division of Infantry, at whose head was General Grégoire aided by General Duvais. We went into action in the Forest of Villers-Cotterets, just to the northwest of that famous town.

That sector was what one would call "hot." We had two main front postes working back through a G.B.D. poste and then to the Hôpitaux d'Évacuation, which were situated in almost every little village behind us. Our first attack was that made upon the. Ferme de Chavigny. During a period of about a month and a half, half the Section worked one day and the other half worked the next. The work was very difficult, for the traffic was terrible, and to add to the amusement, the Boches made out rather well with their shelling. After the coup de main on the Ferme de Chavigny, we were ordered en repos again, where we stayed the long time of one day and a half. Then we were ordered back for the ever-famous attack of July 18. Our Division went over in the first line of assault, helped out by tanks. We advanced steadily, and as our front progressed, we passed with it up through Longpont to our old stamping-grounds at Villers-Hélon, Blancy, Saint-Remy, and le Plessier-Huleu. The hottest spot was le Plessier-Huleu. There many of the men had to drive through almost a barrage to get to the poste, which was supposed to exist in the above-mentioned village. Our poor old division was finally pulled out of the line and we went en repos in a little village to the west of that famous old pile, Pierrefonds. There we stayed for a few weeks, and then we began our second trip across France, going this time in the opposite direction, and finally finishing up in the valley of Thann --- to be specific, the village of Ranspach in Alsace Reconquise.

It was here we had to report the deaths of three of the finest men in the Section. Sergeant Buckler, Phil Winsor, and the French mechanic who really had no right to be in the war at all. They died of influenza and were buried in the Vosges Mountains; Sergeant Buckler and the French mechanic in the military cemetery at Urbès, and Philip Winsor in the cemetery of Bussang, with all the honors, such as they are, of war.

We were all glad when about the 1st of November we started on another trip which saw our Division first in Belfort, then near Nancy. At Darney we first began to hear rumors of an armistice, and the 11th of November saw us just south of Nancy, ready to go in when General Mangin was to begin his great attack in Lorraine. At Darney the Section received its citation for the work it did during the attack at Villers-Cotterets.

Then began our march to the Rhine, one of the hardest trips we ever had. We crossed the old line near Château Salins; then went up through the valley of the Sarre, stopping at Saarbrücken, Kircheim Bolendon, and so on to Mayence where we saw Generals Fayolle and Mangin enter the city in triumph. We then went on to Grosse Gerau, where we stayed for the winter. Our work in Germany could not be called hard or difficult. We did quite a good deal of evacuation work from the old prison camp of Darmstadt --- the name of the camp itself being Barackenlager.

At Grosse Gerau we stayed until we were ordered to report to Paris en route for the United States in February, 1919.

 SSU 8/628

After it was enlisted in the United States Army, Section Eight, now 628, remained in the Argonne, with front-line postes at La Harazée, Saint-Thomas, and Le Four de Paris until February 28, 1918, having during this time very little work.

From February 28 until March 28, it was en repos at Saint-Ouen, Corbeil, and Herpont, small towns in the vicinity of Vitry-le-François. From April 2 until June 9, it was in the Oise and Somme sectors in Picardy. It was cantoned at Coivrel, a small town south of Montdidier, and had postes at Dompierre, Domfront, Godenvillers, and Le Ployron. It sustained a gas attack April 17 and 18, for which the Section was cited to the order of the Division. The work was very heavy. Jack Keogh was wounded by a shell at Coivrel, and was in a hospital for two months.

From June 9 until August 19 it remained in the Oise sector, being cantoned at Ravenel, south of Montdidier. The French offensive here began on the 9th of August. The 169th Division, to which the Section was attached, advanced from Le Ployron to Fescamps, approximately twenty kilometres. The front postes during the attack were at Domfront, Rubescourt, Le Ployron, Assainvillers, Fescamps, and Bus. The Section's French Lieutenant, Lieutenant Bollaërt, was killed, and Henri Werlemman, his French driver, was very gravely wounded in the leg at the poste at Rubescourt. The Section was cited for its work here.

From August 19 until September 7, the Section was en repos at Froissy, near Beauvais. It went back to the front again on September 7, and from this time until October 16 had some of its hardest work. It went into line just behind Ham at a town called Vilette. Its Division attacked and advanced from Ham to Saint-Quentin, and beyond to Mont Origny --- a distance of over thirty-five kilometres. In this advance the Division broke the Hindenburg line just in front of Saint-Quentin. The Section was here again cited for its work. During the advance from Ham to Mont Origny, it worked postes at Ham, Ollezy, Saint-Simon, Avesne, Clastres, Lizerolles, Essigny-le-Grand, Urvillers, Itancourt, Mesnil-Saint-Laurent, and Regny.

From October 16 until November 1, it was en repos at Crèvecœur-le-Grand, near Beauvais. On November 11, at the signing of the Armistice, the Section was at Guise. After the Armistice it proceeded with the French Army of Occupation into Belgium, passing through Le Nouvion, La Capelle, Trelon, Chimay, as far as Mariembourg. The Division was demobilized at La Nouvion January 22, 1919, and the Section went to Crépy-en-Valois, outside of Paris until it was ordered to Base Camp in February.

 SSU 9/629

It was at Ménil-la-Tour, in the Woevre sector, that the recruiting officers first came to Section Nine. Chef Cogswell, John Machado, Alexander Greene, and Harvey Evans enlisted on September 29, 1917, the others deciding to enter other services. The first contingent of army ambulance men as replacements came late in October, followed a few days later by ten members of old Section Seventy-Two, which had been broken up.

The Section entered the Lorraine front, north of Lunéville, January 1, 1918 and moved out on April 20, after having won a second divisional citation for its part in a raid on Washington's birthday. The Section carried 2428 évacués there.

From Toul, the Section embarked on trains and went up behind the Amiens front in Picardy and then up to Belgium, where it entered the lines in front of Mont Kemmel on May 5, 1918. There seventeen nights without much sleep or rest from continuous work were spent, and 3367 wounded were carried in that time.

After a short repos, we entered the lines again, in Belgium this time, for twelve days' easy work, leaving on July 9, bound south in convoy, after handling only ninety-eight blessés. The Delage repair car was lost on this trip, the White and kitchen trailer having been lost coming up.

Following a speedy convoy of two days, the Section pulled into Betz, near Villers-Cotterets to assist Section 585, which was in dire need of assistance, and then entered the lines on the night of July 17, 1918, at Faverolles. The Section continued steadily forward for twenty-one days without relief, and made very long evacuations. We had passed through Chouy, Oulchy-le-Château, Arcy, and up to Jouaignes before relief came. The Section did exceptionally good work in this sector and was awarded an army citation.

Repos, beginning August 8, followed. August 23, the Section entered the lines left of Soissons, remaining until September 6, and then went to the Chemin des Dames, on the other side of Soissons, from September 9 until the 15th; then once again the convoy was headed north, after carrying a total of 1221 wounded.

This was "some" convoy to Bergues, Flanders, and meant second-line duty back of Ypres, at Woesten, for us, before going into the swamps of Flanders at Langemarck. On October 2 We pushed ahead with the Division until firm ground was reached at Roulers, and repos was declared on October 17. The final attack of the war in Belgium began on October 30, and the Section was heavily at work at Spriete, Desselghem, and Audenarde on the Scheldt River until the Armistice was signed. Then came the fun, the triumphal march to the Rhine through Belgium, up through Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, and then to the Rhine at Grevenbroich, arriving there on December 12.

The happy day came on January 29, 1919, when orders came to move south. This was the best of all --- down the Rhine to Belfort, France, and up to Remiremont, where relief came the middle of February. After that, Brest --- and home.

 SSU 12/630

In September, 1917, and in October, 1917, the enlisting officers of the American Army visited the Section at Vaux Varennes (north of Reims). About the 15th of October, the Section moved en repos to Ablois Saint-Martin, near Épernay, where Chef R. Coan was commissioned a First Lieutenant. November 13 found us for the second time at Vaux Varennes with no more war for our delight than had formerly been the case. In early December, Chef Coan was called to Paris to be replaced by Lieutenant Fisher, who previously had had charge of the training school at May-en-Multien. My diary depicts great disgust of the Section at the introduction of American Army rules and regulations. The banishment of trunks, the adoption of the ill-fitting American uniform, combined with the cold winter of suffering, did not permit us to remain long in a good frame of mind. There was very little work in the sector.

On February 4, Lieutenant Fisher was replaced by Lieutenant Rogers. In the latter part of February, we moved to Prouilly for repos again, but on March 7, we left to return to Saint-Martin for the ultimate purpose of changing our division and receiving a new allotment of cars. On March 13 and 14 the change of cars was completed.

On March 27, we received orders to leave Saint-Martin immediately and go to Meaux. The 5th Army divisions were being rushed north to aid in repulsing the big German drive on the Somme. We left Saint-Martin at six in the evening, ran an all-night convoy through Montmirail and La Ferté. Our first stop was early the next morning in Saint-Jean-les-deux-Jumeaux, outside Meaux by a few kilometres. At seven that night we received orders to proceed to Pont Sainte-Maxence, departing at once. During this convoy through Meaux, Senlis, and on to Pont Sainte-Maxence we began to get a glimpse of conditions in a big retreat. On Easter evening we left Pont Sainte-Maxence for an eighty-kilometre drive to Crèvecœur-le-Grand, north of Beauvais.

While waiting for further orders we cantoned in Marseille-le-Petit, and on April 4 orders came to go to Essertaux, about midway between Amiens and Breteuil. In the sector we had rather difficult work, all of us being kept busy continually. The Médecin Divisionnaire of the 127th rewarded us by "Une Citation à l'Ordre du Jour." On April 11, we came again to Marseille-le-Petit for an indefinite stay, not being attached to one particular division, but serving with any which needed our aid. On April 23, orders came to move to Rumigny to aid in the defensive in the Bois de Hangard. Upon arrival in Rumigny, we were posted to Dury, thence to the Asile d'Aliénés, outside Amiens. Nothing can better describe the affair of Amiens than what I wrote on the spot.

"April 24. Berteaucourt and Domart. called out on service in the early morning and reported at the G.B.D. of the 131e D.I. to assist S.S.U. 575 in their work. Little idea could we have had of the tremendous work we were going to do. Eight cars were wrecked in the attack. At Domart yesterday morning, Charles Livermore was instantly killed, while going from the abri to prepare for a trip. The 140e D.I. called on us for aid to-day, necessitating five cars on service near Villers-Bretonneux."

On May 4, we are back again in Marseille-le-Petit, sobered by the tragedy through which we have just come. We leave tomorrow for the front, and henceforth we are to be attached to the 60e D.I.

On May 9, we relieved English Section 10 at Gannes, a little village directly in front of Montdidier. Here we had excellent accommodations, but work was continuous. The First Division (American) was on our immediate left.

In July, Lieutenant Rogers was replaced by Lieutenant H. G. Ford. In early August, a consciousness that something important was about to happen in our sector came over us, causing us all to prepare for any eventualities.

On August 10, we were the first American military organization to enter the city of Montdidier after the German occupation. August 11 found us in Faverolles, on the eastern side of Montdidier, with our outposts at Laboissière, Fescamps, and stone quarries indiscriminately scattered about the countryside. Our stay in this locality was featured by heavy, consistent work, and by annoyance from the retreating enemy, who tried to make the way as difficult as possible for the advancing Allies. On August 30, we were in Fignières for a day, and then moved back to the city of Montdidier for a repos. However, we did not stay there long, for on September 7, we arrived in Laboissière once again. Later, we moved to Avricourt, thus keeping up as rapidly as possible with the advance. Avricourt was situated midway on the Grand Route between Roye-sur-Avre and Noyon. While here, we worked outposts at Beaulieu-les-Fontaines and the Canal du Nord. Early on the morning of the 8th of September, we entered Frétoy-le-Château, on the eastern side of the Canal du Nord, having to cross the field and cross the canal almost in its bed. Postes were changing continually, and to a man the Section was busy working irrespective of time, food, or weather.

Soon after arriving in Avricourt, we moved our cantonment to Frétoy-le-Château, to stay one night or so, then moving on to Villeselve. While at these places, our regiments captured Nesle, Ham, and Guiscard. From Villeselve we quickly moved to Cugny, not far from the Canal Crozart, whence we could see Saint-Quentin. Here we discovered one of the emplacements of the "Gros Berthas" which did the long-distance firing.

Cugny remained our cantonment for a much longer time than we really had expected. Outposts were advancing rapidly by demi-kilometres until we were well up to the Hindenburg line. Following Cugny the Section had a rapid succession of cantonments, at Montescourt, Essigny-le-Grand, and Marcy, beyond Saint-Quentin on the main road to Guise. Here, after our gallant 60e D.I. had crossed the Oise and had maintained their positions there, we were relieved to be sent to the Vosges for a rest.

Not long after our arrival in Saint-Dié came news of the Armistice. Orders were immediately forthcoming for us to move into Alsace, which we did about the 15th and 17th of November. Though this convoy was of not a long distance, it took us several days to accomplish it, due to the technicalities of the German withdrawal from Alsatian soil. Passing through Provenchères and Saales, we made our first stop at Ville (Veiler). From there we went to Barr the next day, and two days following our arrival in Barr, on to Erstein-Schaeffersheim, twenty kilometres south of Strasbourg.

December, January and February passed for us in the rural community of Schaeffersheim. February brought vague rumors of going home, and finally we began our last trip. Early one morning, the 28th of February, we left Strasbourg for Paris.

 SSU 13/631

It was while we were attached to the 60th Division of French Infantry that we were taken over, on September 17, 1917, by the U.S. Army. This took place at Billy-le-Grand, in Champagne. The last of September, we moved to Jalons-les-Vignes, in Champagne, and then to Belrupt, in the Verdun region, with work at the Carrière d'Haudromont in October. We were shortly detached from the 60th Division, and moved to Issoncourt. This took place in the first part of November.

On November 18 we moved to Condé-en-Barrois, where we were attached to the 63d Division, and on December 4, moved to the Verdun sector, near Côte 344 and Côte du Poivre. Our postes were at Vacherauville, Carrière des Anglais, Bras, and La Fourche. On January 20 we moved back to Condé-en-Barrois, and in the last days of January to Pierrefitte, near Saint-Mihiel. During the first week in February we moved to Triaucourt, and on the 25th of that month to the Argonne, in the sector of La Harazée and the Four de Paris. We were cantoned in Sainte-Ménehould for a few days, and later in Florent. In March, we took a sector to our right, with postes called "La Chalade" and "Chardon."

On June 18 we moved to the Commercy sector, near Saint-Mihiel, with the 34th Division. We relieved a French ambulance section, which went to our old 63d Division. On August 1, we went to Sorcy, near Commercy. It was during the middle of August that we took a four-day convoy up to Amiens, and, with the 34th Division took over the lines at Lihons and Rosières-en-Santerre during the Somme-Aisne offensive. We followed the advance as far as Saint-Quentin. Then came repos for a week near Amiens. We worked at the H.O.E. at Hattencourt this week. A week later, in the first part of October, we moved up to Saint-Quentin for the continuation of the Somme-Oise offensive. We followed this as far as Guise, where we were when the Armistice was declared. The Division left the lines, and went under orders to Paris, and we followed the march, via Mont d'Origny, Breteuil, Beauvais, Dieudonné, Montlignon, and Clichy. On February 11 we were given orders to go to Base Camp, en route for home.