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FourteenVeterans to MarkAnniversaryLanded 25 YearsAgo in FranceFM Z'Thursday, Dec. 10, will mark a silver anniversary for many Butte and Anaconda men, who were members of the 116th Field Signal battalion of the forty-first Division in World War I.For it was just 25 years ago Thursday that the 116th battalion landed at St. Nazaire, France, after a stormy 14-day ocean voyage. The outfit embarked from Hoboken.Included in the list of Butte and Anaconda men in the outfit were Floyd Braun, Carl Case, Horace Casey, Albert Duhaime, Louis Dolce, Arthur Dubie, Horace Garrity, Karl Harvey, Ja*e Hoffman, Archie Levengood, Arlen Morrill, Emmett O’Brien, John Richley, Cecil Sullivan, Waldo Thompson, John Varker, Glen Williams, Frank Gleeson, Fred Doble and Fred Lehn.Immediately after landing in France the outfit was transferred to the second field signal battalion of the first division, an outfit which saw plenty of action in the succeeding year. More than half of the Butte and Anaconda men were wounded in action. Cecil Sullivan did not survive his wounds.Lehn Reviews TripFred Lehn of Butte in reviewing the trip “across the pond’’said Wednesday: -The trip to France was made in the Henry' R. Mallory, a former banana boat, which had been converted into a troop ship. It* complement of crew and mess attendants was» made up of | |i Cubans. The gunnery crew and quartermaster detail was made up j g of Navy men, while the 1,200 sol- \ diers did guard and look-out duty j n on the way over. Other ships in the convoy included the Aeolus, Tenadoris, Calamaris and Henry Luckenbach.“The Aeolus was the largest ship, about 9.000 tons, and was | t also the flagship. Escorting the transports were the cruiser I « Charleston and the torpedo boat Beal. The Charleston was a leftover from the Spanish-American war. Its guns were not mounted in turrets but pointed straight out the sides while the Beal wasso small that the waves kept it , -out of sight most of the time and ]cnsJF\we often thought it had foundered.“Boiled macaroni was the principal food served en route and we got so much of it that we dubbed our ship the ‘Macaroni.’The Mallory had a displacement of 4,500 tons and according to rthe boys on board was the only p'beast that could jump four ways at once.' The lads who had duty Ein the crow's nest swore they tcould reach into the water any ctime they wanted to, ‘if theycaught the can on the right slant.’“Nary a sub was sighted but we rall answered a general alarm Iaround midnight once when the jboat on our starboard got mixed ^up in its course and zigged when it should have sagged and almost rammed us. Sharp work by our quartermaster crew got us out of the way with only a little paint scraped off. Blinker signals flashed back and forth the rest of the night. It all ended with the other ship getting a severe i n reprimand and our crew was ex- nonerated of all blame. nWhenever boys on that trip vget together the first topic of con- ! k versation is the Thanksgiving day «dinner of Nov. 29, 1917. We had !turkey and all the trimmings but jseasickness had overtaken the | landlubbers and only 50 answered ; chow call. Those who made the grade followed hand lines to the serving table, held on while their | mess kits were heaped full and trfen slid out to the eating station, wrapped one leg around a stanch- ; ion and thus ate their dinner.Picked Up by Destroyers“Six U. S. destroyers picked us ' up three days out of St. Nazaire and their presence and maneuvers ' added a lasting thrill to the voy- | age. There was no more wasting time dodging from one course to another after the destroyers j Joined us. We Just set a straight j course for the French coast and cut loose. No pig boats wanted : anything to do with those ba- j bies They escorted us into the harbor, wheeled about, saluted | with guns and flags and went away about more important bust- |( ness.“Yes, it was a trip worth making and those who were on it always considered themselves mighty fortunate to be among the first 100,00 to land in France.M
Newspaper Details
The Montana Standard
Butte, Montana, US
Thu, Dec 10, 1942
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA 13 Feb 2019
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