Encoded for for the Veterans History Project, November 12, 2020.
All letters in the Forbes Allan collection were digitized.
The following letters were transcribed from the handwritten originals by Veterans History Project staff. No alterations to this transcription has been made, although spelling errors are indicated with [sic]. Any special emphasis (i.e. underlining) is presented *between asterisks*.
A.P.O # 731
April 13, 1919
Dear Father:
Sunday has rolled around again and still we have no view of going home. Things looked much better three months ago, then they do now, and I think it is safe to say that we will be in France for at least three or four months. It is not very pleasant to think of being over here for such a length or time, but there is no use in worrying as that will not help to get us home any earlier.
We have a ball team and had figured on having a little excitement as we have
a league of eight teams. We had a game schedules for yesterday and one for the day, but both were postponed on account of the weather. We have had but a few good days within the last two months and one of them was last Sunday; the day that we made our trip to the front.
We left here before seven o’clock in the morning and after riding three hours we reached the city of St. Mehiel where the Americans started this great offensive last September. This city was practicly blown
of the map and looks as though it was swept by a great fire. The bridges over the river were blown down by the heavy fire from the German guns, but other bridges were thrown up enabling our men to cross this span of water. Just outside of St. Mehiel is a great hill called [Trt Sec?]. The french tried to take this hill early in the war, but only held it fifteen minutes and lost thirty thousand in their attempt. They were afraid to risk another try at this formistable position, so it was left to the Americans, who
after seeing how the french had made their mistake, flanked this great height and captured this strategic point. After looking over the city for some time and taking a few pictures ive got aboard our auto and spend on through all the devastated territory that marks the battle ground where the most bitter fights of the war took place.
We went thirty kilometers beyond Verdun and visited gill “304” and all the other notable places where the fighting had gone on. There are plenty of dead horses still on the
fields and one of the boys found a body of a dog which much have been used by the medics; as he had a collar around his neck with a identification tag on which the word red cross and a serial number was dinked. There is enough barb wire on these fields to hem in all of the New England states, and it is going to be some task to clean up these fields of the mess that they are now in.
We were on the go all day long and it was after ten o’clock before we reached camp. In all we had covered about
two hundred miles and was well paid as this trip was worth a raft of money, as people will soon be coming from all parts of the earth to see these battle grounds.
I suppose this news won’t be very interesting as Andrew will be home before this letter reaches you and this news will be very old. From what we read in the paper they are going to parade on the twenty-fifth. No doubt it will be a great day at home and I sure would like to be there to share the fun. This isn’t possible however, so just imagine that I am
at home and go the limit. Well this is about all the news that I know of now, so I will close with love to all.
Your loving son
Forbes
Cpt Forbes Allan
Hospital Center APO 731
Group 2. M
Bazuilles sur Meuse
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