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

Page 33

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CHAPTER III.

THE TRAINING PERIOD AT CAMP COETQUIDAN

 

AFTER the tedious ride of thirty hours in the French "Pullmans" (8 chevaux—40 hommes), our train finally came to a stop at midnight September 26 when everyone was roused from slumber and told to get out. The name of this place was of no interest at all to us just then, but, as we learned later, it was Guer. Our first experience in French troop trains had been a very exhausting one so that sleep was the primary consideration. After lining up and calling roll, the command "at rest" was given; whereupon the Battery sank to the ground in its tracks and went sound asleep without even removing equipment.

In about an hour the order came to start for camp. About 200 yards from the station large trucks were waiting. "Standing room only" applied here; fortunately the ride was not very long. The trucks, however, did not land us at our barracks: there was what seemed several miles of marching, although actually about half a mile, to reach our first "home" in France. In spite of cement floors, everyone again fell asleep at once. The next morning we were al­lowed to sleep until eight o'clock, a very unusual occurrence in the army. We were also given the day off to recuperate from the trip.

The camp where we were to get our training was named Coetquidan. It was situated in the department Ile-et-Vilaine in Brittany, about forty kilo­

 

 

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