FIRST AID
ON FOUR FRONTS IN
WORLD WAR I
308th Medical Detachment
Letters written by,
Sgt. 1st
Class
William D. Conklin
HISTORICAL
SKETCH OF The MEDICAL DETACHMENT, 308th INFANTRY
(Compiled for the Records of the Division Surgeon
77th Division, A.E.F., as of Jan. 1, 1919)
The Medical Detachment of the 308th Infantry, like others
in the77th Division, had its origin in a group of
officers and enlisted men who, after a summer's training
at the Medical Officers' Training Camp (Camp Greenleaf),
Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga., arrived at Camp Upton Sept. 9.,
1917, and shortly afterward were assigned to the
Regiment, With Lt. Noss D. Brant, the Regimental Surgeon,
were associated at first, Lts, Stanioy L. Freeman, Edgar
S. Everhart, and Lawrence D. Floyd, and 17 men.
Assignments from draft increments brought the enlisted
strength up to the required 48, and from time to time new
officers, medical and dental, were received.
In December, after Lt. Brant and Lt. Freeman had become
Captains, the former was called to join a Red Cross
Hospital Unit at Ft. McPherson, Ga. The order of transfer
was finally rescinded from Washington, but his successor
as Regimental Surgeon., Capt. William. J. Condon, had
already been appointed. With Lt. (later Major) Everhart,
Lt. (later Captain) John J. O'Donnell, and Lt. Richard B.
Whittaker all transferred within the Division, and Lt.
Floyd to the 152nd Depot Brigade, the personnel of
officers at the time of leaving for foreign service was
as follows: Medical--Capt. William J. Condon (Surgeon),
Capt. Stanley L. Freeman, Capt. Henry Pleasants, Lt.
Allie D. Morgan, Lt. Walter G. Trow, Lt. Carl F. Koenig,
Lt. Beamon S. Gooley; Dental--- Major Gerald G. Burns.,
Lt. George A. Hewey., Lt. Harold J. Loomis.
Capt. Condon served as Transport Surgeon of t1ie !White
Star liner "Cretic" (Transport #545), which
sailed from New York April 6., 1918, touched at Halifax,
and arrived at Liverpool the evening of April 19th. One
Battalion of the 308th Infantry, the Machine Gun and
Supply Companies, and the Medical Detachment were aboard
the "Cretic," besides the 306t1n Field Hospital
and other units. The Medical Detachment conducted the
Transport Hospital, in which 44 cases were treated.
Beginning April 20th came the night journey to Dover, the
Channel crossing, and a short sojourn in one of the
"Rest" Camps at Calais. On April 25th, near
Zutkerque, the Detachment was divided by Battalions,
Capt. Condon becoming Surgeon of the 1st Battalion at
Zutkerque,(as well as remaining Regimental Surgeon.,
Capt. Freeman being assigned to the 2d Battalion at
Bayenghem, and Capt. Pleasants to the 3d at Hellebroucq.
In the area near the Arras Front, where the Regiment
arrived the middle of May, the three Battalion
Infirmaries were stationed at Sombrin, Warluzel, and La
Bezique Farm (later Mondicourt). Shortly after arrival,
Capt. Freeman was evacuated sick to hospital, from which
he never returned. Lt. Trow succeeded to his post, and
when Capt. (later Major) Pleasants was called to Division
Headquarters to be Sanitary Inspector his place was
filled (May 25th) by Capt. James F. Wagner of the 307th
Field Hospital.
Upon arrival in the Baccarat Sector, June l9th, the 1st
Battalion advanced to the line and took up its position
in and near Badonviller It was here on the morning of
June 24th that the Regiment had its first real baptism of
shell-fire and gas. For his heroism at this time, when he
left his Aid Post and went out to a position of extreme
danger in order to dress the wounded, Capt. Condon was
mentioned in the first list of Divisional citations. In
this area, the units of the Detachment were at various
times stationed in Berrichamps, Neuf Maisons, Ker
Arvor., Pexonne, Three Pines, and Badonviller ; but no
enemy activity over a period of five weeks equaled that
of the initial barrage and raid.
During a round of visits to the various Aid Posts on the
morning of July 14th, Capt. Condon was severely wounded
by the bursting of a shell near Pexonne, sustaining a
compound fracture of the right leg. Capt. Wagner, the 3d
Battalion Surgeon, was immediately appointed his
successor, Lt. Morgan taking charge of the 1st Battalion
Detachment and Lt. Koenig of the 3d. About this time
Major Burns (later Division Dental Surgeon) was
transferred to the Division Dental Laboratory, and Lt.
Trow, promoted to Captain, left to be Surgeon of the
306th infantry. Acquisitions in Lorraine were Lts. Harry
Feldman and Charles C. Rose, and Capt. John A. Winstead,
who joined during the march to Charmes to entrain.
Arrival on the Vesle Front the middle of August brought
the Regiment face to face with conditions that made the
assignment of two first-aid men to each Company in-the
line imperative. While these men were the first to
suffer, heroic work was done in Aid Posts such as those
at Les Pres Farm and Ville Savoye constantly exposed to
artillery fire. On Aug. 21st, the enemy scored a direct
hit on the Regimental Headquarters at Chery-Chartreuve,
where the Surgeon had his office, and Chartreuve Farm did
not prove much move secure. For more than a week before
it was moved to Chateau du Diable, near Fismes, the P.C.
was at Sergy. During this Period, Lt. Cooley and Pvts.
Weekley, Huttnor, Chester, Mager, DuBois, and Shapiro of
the Detachment were all evacuated, gassed, and Capt.
Winstead sick. Pvt.
Lester A. Umstot was wounded Aug. 18th at Las Pres Farm
while leading a sick man to the Aid Post, and died in the
ambulance. Before the Aisne was reached, Lts. William A.
Lieser, William McIlwain, and Josiah A. Powless joined
the staff of Medical Officers. On Sept. 5th Lt. Koenig,
after rendering heroic assistance to the 3d Battalion
commander in the advance toward the Aisne, Was mortally
wounded near Blanzy-les-Fismes. Pvts. Baker and Fisher
were dropped from the rolls as missing and eventually it
became known that they had been captured. By the time the
Division was relieved, on the night of Sept. 16th, the 3d
Battalion, which had borne the brunt of the fighting in
the Regimental Sector beyond the Vesle, had taken a
position on the heights overlooking the Aisne north of
Revillon.
A quick move by lorries to the neighborhood of Ste.
Menehould, a long hike to Florent., and then the
Detachment was again dispersed just prior to the great
drive through the Argonne, beginning Sept. 26th.
The Regiment pushed its way through La Harazee and the
Depot-des- Machines, in the heart of the Forest, and on
to Binarville and Lancon, The problem of evacuation of
the wounded from the Forest could only be met at first by
long litter carries through winding trenches and the
almost impenetrable tangle of undergrowth, to the
ambulance stand at La Harazee crossroads.
This became necessary some 60 hours after the start of
the drive, and lasted for a period of 36 hours. It took
12 hours to carry a man 5 kilometres over this difficult
terrain. The litter bearers, men of the 308th infantry
Band, who had never before been under such severe strain,
and men from the 305th and 306th Ambulance Companies,
often arrived at the cross-roads faint and exhausted, but
returned at once with empty litters, and carrying medical
supplies.
It is fitting here to pay tribute to the tireless and
fearless work of the S.S.U. ambulance drivers who
evacuated hundreds of men for this Regiment from the
Argonne and also in Lorraine and on the Vesle. At Ville
Savoye one ambulance after another was wrecked in
attempting to carry out the wounded over a road in full
view of the enemy and shattered by shellfire.
When it became possible, the wounded were sent down to La
Harazee on a narrow-gauge railroad, which was also used
to carry upstretcher, blankets, and splints. Soon
afterward, the road from Le Four-de-Paris was opened for
ambulances; but at night the narrow gauge continued to be
used. Before the Regiment had reached Lancon, the
Detachment had lost Lt. Lieser, wounded (died Oct. 4);
Lt. Rose, sick; Pvts. Baxter, Otreba, Hinman, and Gehris,
wounded. Pvts. Sirota and Bragg were taken out of the
famous "Pocket" completely exhausted by the
ordeal, and evacuated, as was Pvt. Walker, wounded. Pvt.
Marshallcowitz had been wounded and taken prisoner.
Capt. James M. McKibbin and Capt. August G. Hinrichs,
both M.C., joined the Regiment while in the forest; Lt.
Loomis, D.C., was transferred to the 304th Machine Gun
Battalion, and Lt. Prank P. McCarthy arrived in his
place, On Oct. 14th, on the advance toward Grandpre, near
Chevieres, Capt. McKibbin and Lt. Powless were both
wounded severely, the former in going to the aid of a
line officer, and the latter in exposing himself in order
to dress Capt. McKibbin's wounds.
Both died in Base Hospitals. Other changes in personnel
occurred before the end of October. Capt. William A.
Morgan had come, and had gone to be Surgeon of the 306th
Machine Gun Battalion; Lts. Charles, Sellers, Clanton R.
Athey, Arthur H. Hauber, and William P. Sammons had
joined the Detachment; and Capt. Hinrichs and Lt. Feldman
were evacuated, sick. Early in November Capt. Hewey was
transferred to the Sanitary Train, and Lt. Athey was
incapacitated through an accidental injury,
When the Division was relieved by the 78th on Oct. 16th,
the 308th Infantry returned through Lancon to Abri du
Crochet in the Argonne, later moving to Le Chene Tondu,
and finally to Pylone, from which they advanced in the
last great drive on Nov, 2d, In the Regiment's farthest
point of advance, at Angecourt, Capt. Wagner received
word of his promotion to Major; and after the Armistice
had been signed, on the hike toward Chateau-Villa-in, Lt.
Morgan donned his Captain's bars. Lt. Alexander W.
Fordyce joined the organization during this march.
Upon arrival in the 9th Training Area, Dee, 4th, the
Detachment, like the Regiment, was scattered through 7
towns: Orges, Pont-la-Ville, Essey-les-Ponts,
Cirfontaines, Braux, Vaudremont, and Aizanville. Capt.
Robert R. Cutler, M.C., and Lt. (later Capt.) Joseph J.
Millard, D.C., were assigned during this period. Major
Wagner, who had been Regimental Surgeon for more than 6
months and had been identified with the Regiment for 8
months, was lost temporarily by transfer to the 302d
Sanitary Train, for duty with Camp Hospital #9. Capt.
Allie D. Morgan was appointed Surgeon in his place. Capt.
Morgan is the only officer with the Medical Detachment
who came to France with it, and he had not, to date of
writing, been absent from duty one day.
Although there have been altogether fully 40 officers
identified with the organization, there have bean only a
few non-commissioned officers. Sgt. Boynton, who came
from Ft. Oglethorpe with the original group of
volunteers, was evacuated sick to hospital just before
the regiment left Camp Upton. Sgts. Matelusch, Fournier.,
and Conklin (also of the original group) were still with
the Detachment at the close of 1918, as was Sgt. Meyer,
who received his warrant at Baccarat.
One enlisted man of the Detachment attained a commission.
Pvt. William F. Lindorff attended the 0,T.S. at Camp
Upton, but, like other successful candidates, did not
receive his commission as 2d Lt., Field Artillery, until
after arrival in Europe. His commission dated from July
12, 1918, and he left Sept. 23d to attend Saumur
Artillery School, having-meanwhile had lively experience
in Lorraine and on the Vesle as first-aid man (though
officially an artillery sergeant) with Co. A, of this
Regiment.
At times during hostilities it appeared as if the
Detachment were made up largely of replacements, but many
of the old members have come back from hospitals, so that
28 of the original 48 who crossed on the
"Cretic" are together again.
Battle casualties of the 308th Infantry (including a few
not evacuated to hospital) include: slightly wounded,
544; severely wounded, 548; slightly gassed, 617;
severely gassed 19; wounded (degree undetermined), 139;
gassed (degree undetermined), 45, The total number killed
in action was 317, and 24 died of wounds