Part 2 of WW I Co F

On April 25th the Company embarked at New York on a British transport and arrived in Liverpool on May 6. This trip was made with several other ships under convoy of a British man-of-war. The customary submarine guards were on duty and during the latter part of the voyage several American sub chasers who had come to meet the convoy conducted the fleet thru the Irish Sea and surrounding waters. Arriving at Liverpool the company entrained for Winchester and from that city they went to South Hampton; sailing from there they landed in Havre, France on May 10.

At Havre each soldier was divested of all his equipment which he had so carefully brought across, except one uniform, two suits of underwear, three pairs of socks, one hat, two pairs of hob-nailed shoes and light pack. He saw his Springfield Rifle, which he had been taught to believe the very best gun with which any soldier could be equipped, thrown into the discard, and in its place he was given a British rifle with which he was not familiar, and in most cases they were rifles that had been condemned or should have been condemned by the British Army. His russet shoes were discarded and it was no unfamiliar sight to see British Tommies carrying away from the salvage piles the very shoes which the Yankee preferred, and had brought across but which he had been denied the privilege of wearing.

From Havre the trail of Company F leads into the Somme River sector where about three weeks were spent in training with the Scotch Highlanders and later with the English. In early June they were ordered to leave their British guns behind and proceed in heavy marching order toward the south. After a three days' march they entrained and after another three days landed in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace. Here they were again given guns, this time the American Enfield rifle. After three weeks more of training they went on the line relieving the French in the Hilsenferst sub-sector of the Vosges Sector.

This had been a quiet sector but the Yanks did not believe in fighting a quiet war, and they had not been there long until the enemy awoke to the realization that the folks in the other trenches were looking for a scrap. Grenades were exchanged much in the manner of calling cards; raids were not infrequent; and heavy bombardments soon became the nightly sports. After several weeks of this, during which time many became casualties, the 35th Division was relieved by the 6th Division and the 35th moved east to take part in the St. Mihiel drive. About this time Corporal Clyde Holloway died in a hospital.

After the St. Mihiel offensive came the Argonne and found Company F in the drive that made the 35th Division famous. It was here that Sergeants Guy Holloway and John Vollmar and Private Samuel Floyd were killed in action. Here also Sergeant Hearl Smith commanded his platoon in the face of terrific machine gun fire even after he had been mortally wounded in the head. He could not be induced to go to the rear for treatment until he felt the position which his platoon held was safe. Then it was too late. He died a few hours later. He was awarded the distinguished service cross posthumously. Wallace Rogers lost one leg and was badly wounded in one arm. Ben Collins was wounded so that he is permanently disabled. Almost every man in the company was wounded or gassed more or less seriously during those days of living Hell following the opening of the drive. Thus the history of Company F in the Argonne is written in letters of good Ozark American blood.

After having been relieved by the 1st Division the 35th moved to Verdun and held that part of the line until came November 11 and with it came the Armistice.

After the Armistice the 35th Division took up headquarters at Commercy, and Co. F. was stationed nearby at Bon Court. Here they spent the winter. With the coming of spring, orders were received to move to the coast. About the middle of April they sailed from St. Nazzaire for New Port News after having spent almost twelve months on foreign soil. Before the middle of May practically all the company had been mustered out of service and had returned to their homes and to their civil pursuits.

Such is a brief sketch of the part the boys from Northern Howell and Southern Texas Counties played in winning the war.

See Part 3 for the Roster of the company after entering Federal service.

Continued in Part 3 - Roster

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This page was last updated January 18, 2001.