Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother- October 10, 1918
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P.S. Disregard the return adress on envelope & use the same as you have been using in writing to me. France [October 10, 1918] Dear Mother, I see you sure have the right idea in sending me stationary in your letters. That is a very good place & a sure way to get a quick reply. I gave away a box of stationary just before I started for the front saving only a few sheets & envelopes because I had no way of carrying it. It is almost impossible to carry anything in this line because of the continual rain which keeps your clothes wet. I can hardly keep a note book with a roll call. Then at the front mail is often not accepted for sending out for there is no way of
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[page 2] taking care of it. So our only chance of writing, unless it is by good luck, is to wait until we go back for a rest. We are now stationed in a little French village and it seems that they show very good judgement when they pick out the camps for a rest. You cant do any thing here but rest - excepting not that they have started a drill schedule which keeps us busy. The boys take this drill schedule pretty hard. You cant give them anything that they haven't had boucoup of before. However they seem to be turning
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[page 3] it into a material school & that is a great deal better than foot drill & setting up exercises. We are all very interested naturally in the peace & armistice talk. It is not settled one way of the other yet but I believe we will fight on a while yet. The dutch are pretty clever & we must leave them no way of escaping a complete defeat. We are expecting to go back to
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[page 4] the front again in 10 days but I don't see how we are going to go without getting outfitted again. I had everything but what I had on & a few extra articles stolen. They told us to make a roll of all our stuff & leave it behind then they brought it up to the front & said nothing about it. In a few hours the bundles had been broken into & everything stolen. I lost two blankets, a shirt, a big bath towel, a lot of soap & a small towel, a pair of shoes & a cap, & 3 pairs of sox. I believe I was lucky at that for some lost everything they had. I've got one blanket left & can
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[page 5] make out with overcoats. I am writing in a cell of the jail in a big town near our rest camp. I have got myself into a dickens of a mess by going to town without pass. So I will probably be a private shortly. However, I was a private once & it won't hurt me to be one again I suppose. Of course we did not know they were so strict here on the pass rules. Usually you are warned & get a chance to leave town before they get to "taking these up." It is a big
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[page 6] temptation to visit the big towns if there are any near where you are in a dead rest camp such as ours. At that we took a good hot bath & got a good dinner before we got pinched. I did not think this was going to amount to any thing but here they have had me locked in the town dungeon for 24 hours & no sign of relief. If I had known this they would never have got me here but I did not want to take any chances of having a serious charge added to a petty offense. Can you imagine this - back
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[page 7] for three days from two months stay at the front - come back, try to get a little amusement & yet punished in two hours. That's gratitude. An excellent way to make rank soldiers. Punished by a little toy soldier who never seen the front & would break his neck hitting it for a dugout his first time out. You certainly run across some brainless tools here disguised as soldiers that are recieving pay & eating three squares a day & pull this kind of thing on the men who really do the fighting! They have got
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the best gunner in our battery in here. Well, I have found out that you can't even stay in a French jail without having some fun. They have two meals a day here. Last night we had a good meal but they have so many in here now that they are having a hard time feeding all. So this a.m., all we got was two slices of bread & jelly. Well when the turn key opened the door & brought in that scant feed we had a fall of countenance. About noon I began to get real hungry so when the turn key turned us out for our airing I slepped off to the kitchen with two others & we began to explore. I first grabbed half a loaf of bread & some old roast beef. I then spied a jar of jaim so spread jam on half the bread. In the meantime the other two
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[page 9] had grabbed a loaf of bread & a can of corn beef & beat it. I did not want to go back to eating so stayed in an alcove. In a few minutes the gunner I spoke of "smelled a rat" & came in. I got him to wait until I finished then we both went in & let me tell you we certainly did eat. There are a bunch of Frenchies here & they stood around & watched us & smiled. They knew we were getting away with something but felt it was none of their business. Finally another turn key came in & we kept right on. We did not know he was a turn key at first & paid no attention to him. He was a pretty good fellow & said nothing. Finally he flashed his keys as a hint. I saw that it could not last much longer so I cut a slice of bread about an inch & a half thick & covered it with jelly. The other lad did the same & you should have
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[page 10] heard the Frenchies laugh. we beat it into the alcove & just then the fellow who seemed to be the boss of the turn keys came down. He passed us & we went on up to our cell & could hear him telling the other turn key something. I suppose they have got the eats under lock & key now, but we got enough to eat & since we are leaving this afternoon we do not have to worry about it. There is some adventure to be had even in jail. By the way - this is the first black mark (that I can remember) on my service record. Too bad, isn't it? Well, they finally decided to let
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[page 11] us out & I am back at camp again. Stood Reveille & nothing said so far. They sent a truck for us & took us to Divisional Hdg. I believe they intended to hold us overnight & turn us in to the Provost Marshall. However it was discovered that our organizations were leaving this a.m. so they told us to make all speed & report back to our organizations. We caught a truck & made the 15 kiloo in a hurry. This teaches Willie a lesson. We are going to make a short hike to a nearby town which is handier to the S. O. S. about a Christmas package - if
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[page 12] you folks are thinking of sending anything I have written to Grace & told her that I would be glad to recieve the pair of sox she knitted for me & could not send because of the regulations - as a Christmas present in this box. Folks - the things I need most are a good heavy [ms illegible: 1 wd] or a warm sweater with sleeves. I understand that the box is to be limited to very small dimensions so of course I understand your limitations. Well, I will have to close now as we are leaving shortly. Love to all & here's hoping the Dutch realize they are licked & surrender shortly - Yours for the 4th Liberty Loan - Glen P.S. Please call up Grace about sox. Ran out of paper - and in Rush.
Details
Title | Owen "Glen" Tudor letter to his mother- October 10, 1918 |
Creator | Tudor, Owen Glen |
Source | Tudor, Owen Glen. Letter to his mother. 10 October 1918. Westover, John G., Collection, 1910-1946. C3733. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
Description | In this October 10, 1918, letter, Owen "Glen" Tudor recounted the tale that landed him in a French jail. Tudor, a Maplewood, Missouri, native, served in the 128th Field Artillery in the 35th Division during World War I. |
Subject LCSH | United States. Army. Division, 35th; World War, 1914-1918 |
Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
Site Accession Number | C3733 |
Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
Date Original | October 10, 1918 |
Language | English |