Francis Grant Gives Account of Ten Days' Stay at the Front
World War I
Utica Saturday Globe, about 1918
Sergeant Francis Grant
Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]: Francis Grant, a sergeant in the American forces in France, writes to his mother, Mrs. Lillian Grant, of a visit he paid to the trenches:
"I have just returned from the front. The intelligence section were up there for about 10 days. It certainly was a wonderful experience. It is something you really have to go through to realize. I have been through and seen it all with my own eyes. All the way from the artillery right up to seeing them go 'over the top.' They wouldn't let us go, and I guess it probably didn't require any force to keep us back. Still, I was surprised. I thought we would be scared at first, but we weren't. I would have liked to have gone over just so I could say that I had been there. It was exciting enough as it was. We were under shell fire over eight days. Nights we went up to the front line and the rifle and machine gun bullets were pretty thick in places. It is surprising how fast a man can get on the ground when he hears a M.G. open up, or a shell coming towards him.
"The Sunday morning before we came back they brought down a Fritz airplane, right near us, and Sergt. Christenson and I went and saw it. It came down in flames, so there wasn't much left of it except the iron parts. I got a little strip of the wings, and I will send you a piece."
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