Battery B Thru the Fires of France; Being a Very Human and Intimate Sketch of a Few Men Who Served Stem a Tiny Eddy in One of the Greatest of Cataclysms--The World War (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER 3 Journey Overland Our route carried us over the Salt Lake Line, through the Mojave desert, across the border and into Nevada. For the purpose of concealing troop movements we traveled over branch roads, skirted large cities and stopped at odd places. Our first stop was Las Vegas, Nevada, and at this small village we quit the train to take our first exercise. The Battalion traveled in two sections; 3 companies in one, 2 in the other, including the medical staff, numbering 520 enlisted men and 15 officers in all. Each section trailed an extra baggage car which was used for a kitchen. Our mess was carried out along efficient lines, to the sorrow of our porter. We received two cooked meals and one lunch per day. Breakfast consisted of rice, usually, or a cereal, bread, butter and coffee; and on one occasion, biscuits. We were always ready at meal time. Those who happened to be asleep or interested otherwise soon were awakened from their reveries for there would descend upon their heads a noise such as one hears on New Year's Eve; clanking of mess-tins, shouting and a general up-roar. The K. P.s (kitchen police) would juggle an infant tub, filled with "chow" down the aisle of the moving train and in dishing out to the waiting mess-pans would not always find the mark. Our colored porter had his sweet time, you bet, though he was good-natured and Iflfpr the boys fully paid him for his labors. His gratitude grew and grew and his affection was good to see. After performing a few acrobatic feats with our mess-tins placed upon our knees or on the window- sills, or on the red-floor, we retirpd to the vestibule to wash our "dishes." The refuse can was a poor excuse, for many times the garbage would be scattered upon the platform. The buckets containing hot wa...