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| Corporal Glenn Burkett, Fremont, Ohio |
On July 18, 1918, the Second Battle of the Marne
marked the turning of the tide in WWI. It began with the last German offensive
of the conflict and was quickly followed by the first allied offensive victory
of 1918. It took place in a triangular area bounded by Chateau-Thierry.
Soissons and Riems. The American Expeditionary Forces with more than 250,000
men fighting under overall French command played key roles in the initial
defense and the later advances. More than 30,000 were killed and wounded. The
United States began suffering casualties on an enormous scale that was
indicative of the losses that marked the Great War.
One who took
part in the Marne was Glenn Burkett of Fremont, Ohio. Burkett worked as a night dispatcher for the Lake Shore
Electric Railway. In December 1917, Burkett enlisted in the United States Army.
He was assigned to the First Trench Mortar Battalion (First Army Corps) and
trained at Fort Crockett, Texas. Burkett was shipped overseas on the H. M. T. Kursk as part of Battery "D." He
received training in grenade throwing, bayonet practice, and trench mortar
drill at Fort de la Bonnelle.
Two months later, Battery "D" took part
in the reduction of the salient at St. Mihiel and then marched to the Argonne.
He also served as an ammunition carrier for machine gunners of the 305th and 306th Infantries of the 77th Division. The battery also saw action
at the Battle of the Meuse. On the 10th of November, Burkett’s battery
received news of the armistice. On January 29, 1919, Burkett left France aboard
the U.S.S. Virginia to return to America, arriving at
Newport News two and one-half weeks later. Corporal Burkett was discharged from
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, on March 13, 1919.
Burkett wrote the following in his
diary, which is part of his two-volume record of his WWI service in the Hayes
Library’s Manuscripts Division. Names of French locations are spelled just as
Corporal Burkett wrote them in his diary. To learn more about his service in WWI, follow the link to a description of his collection that is part of the Local History collection. Burkett included pictures and biographical sketches of those who served with him; daily diary entries; overall explanation of the battles in which he particpated; and photographs of French locations.
I suppose there are many other things to be proud
of, but being where we were on July 19th and the following days is
just about the best thing that ever happened to us. The fun all started here
and stayed with us for four months or more. Like all the Army we had our
regular crabs and growls, but it’s got Vitry beat ten ways going and coming. Three
enemy machine guns were taken over here, and although nobody knew beans about
‘em, we fired them at every boche plane that we even heard, much to the Majors
and Captains disgust. A la the Major we remember “Ger-ry-mon-ey”, What is that?
“Whizz-bang, Sir? and the fun that followed. But Lt. Dennis was in for blazing
away, and blaze away the machine guns did.
When the order was issued to dig-in, the sand was
gently brushed to one side, making a hole about an inch in depth. Fine Dug-out.
If it were up to the Americans to have dug-outs, there wouldn’t be such a
thing. Digging dug-outs is all a waste of time, to the American notion, but
when they are already dug, well that’s a different thing.
The 26th.Division, the 32nd,
the 42nd, and a few other stray outfits were mixed up in the counter
attack around that neck of the woods, all of them being parts of the First Army
Corps, the largest unit of the American Army then organized. Near our last
location on that front, was a Big Bertha enplacement, close to the Coincy
Aviation field, just outside of Fere-en-Tardenois. Along the roads from that
town to Soissons and the Chateau-Thierry, in the heat and dust of summer roads,
came the non-forgetable picture of emmence traffic that is caused when an Army
Advances. Traffic had all been going south, you might say, for months, and the
sudden change was like letting loose a long restrained dam of trucks. Wagons,
people and soldiers, for that is the way the American Army went after the
astounded Dutchmen when the tide turned. That time in the summer, how long ago
it seems.
Looking back now, it seems like a paradise, compared
to sitting around a cold barracks in the winter, Waiting. August 12th
1918 we with-drew to the hang-out at Germigny, for a few days recuperation,
then, on the 18th day of August we hiked it to the
La-Ferte-Sous-Jouarre then headquarters for the First Army Corps, and entrained
Monday August 19th 1918, for other ports.
Thru Reims, Chalons and
Epernay, all night travel we arrived at Wassy, detrained and marched to the
quiet unsuspecting little dried up village of Arranacourt, all on the day of
August 20th. 1918. In six days rest at this peaceful little place,
we found the only startling thing was to much blackberry short cake. This haven
for bums was deserted August 27th. And on the hob-nailed specials
came into their own in three days one-two-three-four thru Joinville,
Houdelaincourt and Vancouleurs, to Pagny-sur-Meuse, stubble and freshly plowed
fields being the bed for aching feet and bodies at night. Pagny-sur-Meuse
proved to be another pup-tented area, on the banks of the Meuse. The moving
tractors at night, and propaganda from enemy planes by day were the chief
amusement here. August 31st. we packed the roll once more, marched
thru Teul in the hour that made September Morn famous, and arrived at the
Jallion woods on dawning Sunday morning, General Ligget inspected the picket
line and bits of equipment. Two days here and the Army was again on the move,
this time under fire, into the Foret de Peuvenelle the original home of rain as
it appears when looking at the ocean. The square heads bombed us every time
they smoked a cigarette, and the balloon outfit down the road had the windlass
hot all the time. September 7th. 1918 the Battery footed it out of
that place for Montauville (Thru Pont-a-Musson) and into the positions in the
Bois le Pretre, on the extreme right of the Saint Mihiel salient , for eight
nights and days without rest, only grabbing an occasional hunk of beef, bread
and cup of java, the men beavered away on the positions where we were to first
use the “Helluve gun to get the Hun”
This particular spot was known as Dead Mans Hill,
for the French had lost so many lives holding it as the final point of
resistance against the enemy in 1916. Across the ravine (for that is all it is)
were the German trenches in full view of our peering eyes, and the
machine-gunners who were waiting for our peering eyes to pop out far enough to
warrant a shot. The path from “P.C” to No.3, enplacement was a walk that openly
envited a shot, and if Heinie wasn’t asleep he didn’t pass you by without a
greeting. The kitchen here was right out in the open, so were all the
emplacements, and also the ammunition pile and the emplacements used were old
ones of the French which would have been fine dope for Fritzies intelligence
department had he known it.
