James E. Henschel letter to Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel - November 17, 1918
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2nd Lt. J.E. Henschel M.T.C. - M.T.C. School #1- A.P.O. 722 - A - Decize (Nievre) France - Amer. Ex. Forces - November 17th/1918 - Dearest Mother - A lad came down here - on business - from the Reserve - and made me quite homesick, if one can be "home-sick" for such a thing. They are moving right along, carrying only food these days. Running convoys into Belgium! and our far dist hopes used to be Laon - or rashly, Cambrai. I'd give a lot to be back again - even though at one time it seemed as though we did not see such a great deal. After
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being here, and listening to people complain of hardships - and so on - and most of them have only been here five or six months - and have never heard a gun or a Boche plane - why, now I entertain quite an exalted opinion of the Reserve. It was, and still is, a rather queer animal - no organization - and less "discipline" of the sort usually imagined - (we had one roll-call a month, usually, at part time) - but it certainly "got the work done". The call it "Captain Mallet's private army", and it certainly was, for the only
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other persons to tell us what's what were French General Headquarters. In spite of all that - I never saw an order "to roll" arrive, without being executed at once. I never saw an order of any sort disobeyed - and that is more than I can be said of most organizations. Gee - I wish I were back again! Now that it's all over - want to know my two "closest shaves"? One was at Soissons - while they - the Germans were shelling the place. (Wrote a little about this once before). Our camp was near a bridge they were after - and as a miss or short
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shot of a hundred years was not unlikely - an order came in to move the trucks some five hundred feet farther away. My job was to take a detail of five or six and move the gasoline, which was too close to the bridge. We were still several yards from the "gas parc" when a 210 high explosive burst in a tree about 15 feet directly overhead. I heard the thing coming - but one of my boys was new and instead of falling flat as I did, merely hunched his shoulders. As a result, a piece of celat the size of a fist went
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through his thigh. Cut a piece of rope from a truck for a turniquette (with the knife Aunt Kate sent me, by the way) - piled him in a Ford to a hospital - and finished moving the parc. My ear rang for a week, and I was "jumpy" for a number of days after. The other time - we were due to load munition at the depot at Breteuil - a brilliant moon lit night - after leaving "empty cases" near by. We never loaded those shells. I was in the Ford with the lieutenant, merrily singing "on the road to Mandalay" - when "whish - boom" - about a hundred
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years ahead dropped a flare and the first bomb. Never stopped a car and left it quicker before! There were more planes overhead then I had heard before - perhaps fifty would be conservative. That train of munition kept exploding for two days. We went on again shortly for the trucks were some where ahead. Went through the town, with bombs and shells exploding everywhere - and found that all the trucks had gotten home but one. I have told you in another letter about that
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truck. That was the wildest night of my gay young life. Planes bombed that place from ten at night until four in the morning - a steady stream of them - and shells and railroad iron were flying around for a couple of days. Might as well finish. The queerest sensation. (That about winds up the list of tales - don't it?) While camped outside of Soissons at Vauxbuin - we had day and night work steadily for about three week. One day I managed to get off - and walked into Soissons to take a badly needed
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bath. There I was in the tub - when the bombardment recommenced - one big one and a little one every three minutes. The flopped all around the bath-house - and I can't say that I really enjoyed the bath. Kept figuring what an unromantically position to be "done in" - in a tub! Things go on much the same as always. Not much news unless I jump back a few months. My love you and Dad. Ned.
Details
| Title | James E. Henschel letter to Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel - November 17, 1918 |
| Creator | Henschel, James E. |
| Source | Henschel, James E. Letter to Mrs. Leopold H. Henschel. 17 November 1918. James Edward Henschel Collection, 1917-1919. 1996.51. The National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri. |
| Description | In this letter dated November 17, 1918, Henschel wrote his mother discussing the convoy's movement and how he wished to be part of it again. Henschel noted an explosion near a gas parc that came very close to him. |
| Subject LCSH | American Field Service; Missouri. National Guard; United States. Army. Motor Transport Corps |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; Motor Transport Corps School |
| Site Accession Number | 1996.51 |
| Contributing Institution | National World War I Museum and Memorial |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the National World War I Museum and Memorial: (816) 888-8100. |
| 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 | November 17, 1918 |
| Language | English |