Keokuk High School - Comment Yearbook (Keokuk, IA)

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THE COMMENT 13 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM THE FRONT H13ADQUARTi3Rs AERO SQUADRON, October 7, 1918. I have just come back from a trip which it will take me some time to forget. I left the airdrome Saturday morning in a side car to go on a laison mission up with the divisional artillery. My ultimate ob- tive was a certain battalion of seventy-lives, with which I was to ar- range a schedule of work, as well as to talk over the whole artillery- air service situation with the General in command of the brigade and the Colonel in charge of operations. Things could not be livelier than they had been on this Verdun front since the drive started. Our work with the artillery has been fairly satisfactory, but at times there seems to be difliculty in co-operation, naturally enough. You may imagine things must work pretty smoothly when we can get the shells falling on a retreating ammunition train before it gets out of range or dropping into the midst of a battery coming up before they can get into action, or onto any of the numerous fugitive targets before the opportunity is gone. The C. O. of the group said personal contact was necessary at times to keep things going right, hence my trip. On the way up I went through and over some very famous places, including Dead Man's Hill and some of the forts to the northwest of Verdun, from which the French broke the flower of the German army in days .gone by. The roads were line for the first ten kilo- meters, but after that they got steadily worse, reconstruction going on as fast as possible with the traflic streaming by all the time. One won- ders how they keep the supplies going up over such roads, but they do somehow. Our progress was slow and painful. At that, We man- aged to go faster than most of the trailic, as We could get through smaller holes, the driver knew his business and picked the Way with good judgment. A I found Division Headquarters in a series of dug-outs recently abandoned by the Boche. The General was very glad to talk with me and we got together on several points concerning the work of the Ar- tillery Brigade and the 90th Squadron. I asked him to designate a certain battalion of seventy-fives for some special work, and he sent me to his operations officer, Colonel Welch, who had his headquar- ters in another dug-out about three miles farther to the front. As it was getting late, I saw I would never get up and back the same eve-

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12 THE COMMENT Well, people, I will say goodby for the present, and will proba- bly see you during the next month. Remember me to my friends and know that I am certainly anxious to get home, finish with this military game and settle down. I am, always, allectionately your son, JAMES R. NICHOLS, Captain, 320th A., U. S. A. effllfbifi at F1957 awp, . xlxg If f 33,1

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I4 THE COMMENT ning, so decided to stay at Division Headquarters and start early in the morning. Slept in a dug-out with my clothes on in a wire bunk and had a pretty good mess with one of the staff groups. The next morning, after quite a search, I found Colonel Welch in a dug-out on the wrong side of a hill. They had telephoned him from Division Headquarters that I was coming, so he was expecting me. He was still rolled in his blanketsg guess he had been up most of the night. He said, UYoung man, last night is the first time I have had my clothes off for more than ten days. That's why I am sleeping a little late this morning. I told him I had no such claim to distinction, but that last night was the first time I hard not had mine off for a longer time than that. He treated me hne and gave me just the dope I wanted. I still had that battalion to see. Got directions and stafrted on again. Our bat- teries were barking all around and they made some din to the unaccus- tomed ears of my driver and myself. As We went ahead the roads kept getting better. We were get- ting away from the belt where more than half a dozen shells had fal- len for every square foot of ground. After going as far as the road would take us, we drew off to one side while I consulted the map. I finally got things straightened around and had .just aboutxdecided where to walk when a German shrapnel burst directly over a shallow trench occupied by machine gunners, support for the numerous seventy- fives in the neighborhood. It exploded directly over a traverse about fifty yards from where we were and wiped out a whole squad, killing four and wounding three. The rest of the men took the best care of them they could, and sent for the ambulance. I started across the field on foot, leaving the driver in a hole in the ground to wait till I came back. After many questionings I found the place, another dug-out formerly occupied by the Huns, 'and was glad to get under ground again. The shells had been getting on my nerves. I had lunch with the outfit. They were glad to see me, as they had been shooting blind and were tickled to death to have more aeroplane control. There was one table in the place and the major and I sat at that and talked shop while we ate. The rest ofthe staff sat on the ground and ate from between their knees. Have things pretty well lined up with that battalion now and we expect to do some work with them as soon as the rain lets up enough. The corner of the woods in which the lVIajor's dug-out was situ-