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BEING THE NARRATIVE OF BATTERY A OF THE 101st FIELD ARTILLERY

Page 24

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when we learned that at sea a lighted match can be seen three miles away at night. Nothing could be thrown overboard which might float and so give away the path of the ship. These points were strongly impressed on us before we sailed and, as an added safeguard, we were ordered below decks when the "Adriatic" finally left the harbor on September 9. Only those who had seen us embark would have known that our ship carried troops.

We arrived at Halifax where we were to join our convoy for the run through the submarine zone on Tuesday morning, September 11. Its harbor was crowded with ships besides those which were to cross with us: several Belgian Relief boats and a queer Dutch steamer with an unpronounceable name in big letters on her sides. Before anchoring we had passed the city itself and it was not in sight from where we lay. This was just as well for we had noticed a pier marked "Boston" which gave us homesick qualms. Our stay was short. We wrote home letters to be for­ warded to Washington and released on notice of our safe arrival on the other side, and just before sunset on Wednesday, when we were beginning to tire of the scenery, the convoy slipped slowly down the harbor. As we passed a British training ship the crew lined the rail and her band played the "Star Spangled Banner". Before dark we were out of sight of land.

Our convoy comprised seven ships and an auxiliary gunboat which was immediately christened the "Plattsburg Cruiser." One of the convoy was the "Manchuria" also carrying troops although we were the only representatives of the 26th Division. There

 

 

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