TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SPRINGDALE NEWS AUGUST 30, 1918 P. 3
Norfolk, Va., Aug. 18, 1918
To the News and its Readers:
I have just finished reading a bunch of old "News" that my mother sent to me, and among them were numerous letters from the soldier boys in France, and I also noticed that there was absolutely nothing from the Navy. It appears as if the boys of the North West Arkansas are afraid of the Navy, judging from the very few that try it, but personally I think that the Navy is the best branch of the service, for we have more privileges, more pay, better chance for promotion and better all around. I am no exception by any means. I have been promoted five times in four years. When I first enlisted I was an apprentice Seaman, and got the fabulous sum of $76.60 per month, and now I am a first class electrician and get $61.00 but I am not trying to get any recruits, so I will quit boasting.
I am now what is nautically known as a "Short timer" (have only a few days to do) and am at the receiving ship at Norkfolk waiting to be discharged. A receiving ship is a depot or headquarters, like, where they send all recruits after they have finished training, and also short timers and further transfer men. I have been about two weeks now. I do very little work here and can go ashore every night. I am almost counting the hours before I can come back to the "Ozarks". I have made five trips to Europe since last November, and I have had no furlough in that time and and I am sure that a few days in Arkansas do me a world of good. I am coming home soon, but as yet I have told nobody when I am coming. I have been looking forward for quite a while to the pleasure I would get by surprising the people at Mayfield.
Peoule living inland as we do have a very slight knowledge of what the Navy is really doing. The newspapers have been playing up the exploits of our "Sammies" at the expense of the Navy. Though the Bluejackets do not ask for any praise it is no more than fair to give them a little more recognition in this great World War than is generally accorded them. When a soldier or Marine in the trenches is shot or gassed here comes an ambulance and takes him to a Base Hospital and he gets the best medicine and treatment that human ingenuity can devise and on the other hand imagine a ship coming back across, empty. She is convoyed only through the War Zone (about 4 or 5 days out) and she is then left by herself and most Supply Ships are made very fragile. One torpedo would sink her easily and what about the unlucky fellow who did not have time to get to a life boat? He goes down like a rat in a trap, but I don't mean to scare anybody or be a pessimist. I am only giving you a few of the things that confront us Sailors every day. We realize what the war is all right.
I shall attempt to give you an idea of my last trip to France. It was made on the U.S.S. Norlina, a large freighter. On this particular trip we started out from Baltimore, with a cargo of copper, steel, Army Motor trucks and provisions of all kinds.
We got orders to proceed to Hampton Roads and join the Convoy that was being formed there. Through some mistake we arrived there too late to catch the convoy so we were then ordered to Halifax, N.S. to await the completion of a British convoy which was being assembled there.
We lay at anchor in this place for 10 days, and during that time we got to go ashore five times.
Halifax is a quaint little city nestled down in a group of hills in a bend of the coast line. We were treated very nicely by the inhabitants during our stay there and I was deeply grieved to look upon the results of the terrific explosion which occured there last January, when a munition Ship was rammed. There was about one half mile square of the city entirely wiped off the map by the explosion and the fire which followed it.
Leaving there we were in a convoy of 43 ships, only one other of which was an American. The trip over was uneventful and we arrived safely in the port of Plymouth, England. We were between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. From where we were anchored we could see ancient castles way back in the hills and one could almost imagine the knights in amor riding down from the hills.
We were only in Plymouth three days but we all got liberty and had a chance to see some real English people and one of their cities, but we were puzzled over the matter of pounds, shillings, and pence, in purchasing such souvenirs as attracted us.
Our next stop was La Havre, France just across the English Channel, which we found to be living up to its reputation for roughness.
La Havre is an odd little city with odd people and customs. They wear quaint old fashioned dresses and white linen caps trimmed with lace work. Everybody wears wooden shoes, not like the Dutch style, but having leather uppers on thick wooden soles. A group of children passing on the street reminded me of a group of cavalry on asphalt pavement.
But the people were very polite to us. They were only so glad to be of service to their ______”Les Americans.”
War time France shows many odd features, even far from the battle lines. The streets are always crowded with men in uniform, Sammies, Tommies, Pollus, Anzacs, Tureos, American, French and British Sailors and our men of the U S.M.C. which does not stand for "Useless Sons Made Comfortable", as some people seem to believe, but who are the men who live up to their slogan of "First to Fight". The Marines are doing splendid work in the trenches and making the Huns feel that war is really what Sherman said it was.
In La Havre, as in nearly every place in France where our fighters are stationed, there is an American Red Cross unit and also a Y.M.C.A. The Red Cross is doing wonders, even back of the trenches, to provide our men with the comforts which they could not otherwise obtain. Though it is my policy to use tthe hammer as little as possible and to boost all I can I cannot help criticising the Y.M.C.A. methods "Over There". To the average Sailor or Soldier when he is through with a visit to a Y.M.C.A. the letters on the sign seem to mean "Your Money Cheerfully Accepted". It is true in very nearly every place you go that the sign tells you "You must come across" before you can get any thing of material value to you. It doesn't look right when, for the same amount of money you can get almost twice as much food and much beter service in a French restaurant than you can get at the Y.
We remained in Le Havre for 15 days and in that time we had ample oppotunity to explore the city.
There are some beautiful parks in the city, one especially fine one being around the L'Hotel de Ville which is the Frenchmans name for City Hall
It being summer while I was there (June 14th t 29th) the City was beautiful, with the trees in full foliage and the flower beds a riot of colors. France was famous for her wonderful horticultural gardens before the necessity of war oblidged her to turn to more practical pursuits.
There is a bathing beach in the city where people even in these distressing times go for a little recreation and try to forget the hardships under which they are living.
The harbor is large and has wonderful docking facilities and can accammodate our largest transports The small fishing schooners still go in and out as though it were in peace time and coming at sundown, the sun light striking on their reddish brown sails adds a picturesque touch of color to the scene.
The Frenchman is a great lover of art. The Government buildings and grounds are all laid out in such an artistic manner that it can not fail to attract favorable attentin from any American.
The churches are exquisitely beautiful and when one thinks of what the horrible Hun is doing to them it makes one want to get into the fight to destroy the monster who so wantonly demolishes such magnificent edifices, along with their "Kulture" policy of killing women and children and blowing up hospitals.
At last the cargo was all unloaded and preparations were made for returning to the States.
Though a man is always glad when the prow of his ship is headed towards home he must be a rare one indeed not to experience a pang of regret at leaving that wonderful country, France.
At last we were underway-headed out though the English Channel and towards the Setting Sun.
We encountered a slight storm on our way back but no damage was sustained and in due time we arrived once more back in Baltimore.
For fear of taking up too much of space I must close. If this misses the waste basket I will try it again at some time in the future. Wishing The News and its many readers the best of success
I remain
Ward B Cannon, electrician first class Receiving Ship, Norfolk, Va.
NOTES: Ward B. Cannon was born in Mayfield, Arkansas on May 8, 1894 and died on January 19, 1965 in Goshen, Arkansas. He is buried in the Goshen Cemetery in Goshen.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
Norfolk, Va., Aug. 18, 1918
To the News and its Readers:
I have just finished reading a bunch of old "News" that my mother sent to me, and among them were numerous letters from the soldier boys in France, and I also noticed that there was absolutely nothing from the Navy. It appears as if the boys of the North West Arkansas are afraid of the Navy, judging from the very few that try it, but personally I think that the Navy is the best branch of the service, for we have more privileges, more pay, better chance for promotion and better all around. I am no exception by any means. I have been promoted five times in four years. When I first enlisted I was an apprentice Seaman, and got the fabulous sum of $76.60 per month, and now I am a first class electrician and get $61.00 but I am not trying to get any recruits, so I will quit boasting.
I am now what is nautically known as a "Short timer" (have only a few days to do) and am at the receiving ship at Norkfolk waiting to be discharged. A receiving ship is a depot or headquarters, like, where they send all recruits after they have finished training, and also short timers and further transfer men. I have been about two weeks now. I do very little work here and can go ashore every night. I am almost counting the hours before I can come back to the "Ozarks". I have made five trips to Europe since last November, and I have had no furlough in that time and and I am sure that a few days in Arkansas do me a world of good. I am coming home soon, but as yet I have told nobody when I am coming. I have been looking forward for quite a while to the pleasure I would get by surprising the people at Mayfield.
Peoule living inland as we do have a very slight knowledge of what the Navy is really doing. The newspapers have been playing up the exploits of our "Sammies" at the expense of the Navy. Though the Bluejackets do not ask for any praise it is no more than fair to give them a little more recognition in this great World War than is generally accorded them. When a soldier or Marine in the trenches is shot or gassed here comes an ambulance and takes him to a Base Hospital and he gets the best medicine and treatment that human ingenuity can devise and on the other hand imagine a ship coming back across, empty. She is convoyed only through the War Zone (about 4 or 5 days out) and she is then left by herself and most Supply Ships are made very fragile. One torpedo would sink her easily and what about the unlucky fellow who did not have time to get to a life boat? He goes down like a rat in a trap, but I don't mean to scare anybody or be a pessimist. I am only giving you a few of the things that confront us Sailors every day. We realize what the war is all right.
I shall attempt to give you an idea of my last trip to France. It was made on the U.S.S. Norlina, a large freighter. On this particular trip we started out from Baltimore, with a cargo of copper, steel, Army Motor trucks and provisions of all kinds.
We got orders to proceed to Hampton Roads and join the Convoy that was being formed there. Through some mistake we arrived there too late to catch the convoy so we were then ordered to Halifax, N.S. to await the completion of a British convoy which was being assembled there.
We lay at anchor in this place for 10 days, and during that time we got to go ashore five times.
Halifax is a quaint little city nestled down in a group of hills in a bend of the coast line. We were treated very nicely by the inhabitants during our stay there and I was deeply grieved to look upon the results of the terrific explosion which occured there last January, when a munition Ship was rammed. There was about one half mile square of the city entirely wiped off the map by the explosion and the fire which followed it.
Leaving there we were in a convoy of 43 ships, only one other of which was an American. The trip over was uneventful and we arrived safely in the port of Plymouth, England. We were between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. From where we were anchored we could see ancient castles way back in the hills and one could almost imagine the knights in amor riding down from the hills.
We were only in Plymouth three days but we all got liberty and had a chance to see some real English people and one of their cities, but we were puzzled over the matter of pounds, shillings, and pence, in purchasing such souvenirs as attracted us.
Our next stop was La Havre, France just across the English Channel, which we found to be living up to its reputation for roughness.
La Havre is an odd little city with odd people and customs. They wear quaint old fashioned dresses and white linen caps trimmed with lace work. Everybody wears wooden shoes, not like the Dutch style, but having leather uppers on thick wooden soles. A group of children passing on the street reminded me of a group of cavalry on asphalt pavement.
But the people were very polite to us. They were only so glad to be of service to their ______”Les Americans.”
War time France shows many odd features, even far from the battle lines. The streets are always crowded with men in uniform, Sammies, Tommies, Pollus, Anzacs, Tureos, American, French and British Sailors and our men of the U S.M.C. which does not stand for "Useless Sons Made Comfortable", as some people seem to believe, but who are the men who live up to their slogan of "First to Fight". The Marines are doing splendid work in the trenches and making the Huns feel that war is really what Sherman said it was.
In La Havre, as in nearly every place in France where our fighters are stationed, there is an American Red Cross unit and also a Y.M.C.A. The Red Cross is doing wonders, even back of the trenches, to provide our men with the comforts which they could not otherwise obtain. Though it is my policy to use tthe hammer as little as possible and to boost all I can I cannot help criticising the Y.M.C.A. methods "Over There". To the average Sailor or Soldier when he is through with a visit to a Y.M.C.A. the letters on the sign seem to mean "Your Money Cheerfully Accepted". It is true in very nearly every place you go that the sign tells you "You must come across" before you can get any thing of material value to you. It doesn't look right when, for the same amount of money you can get almost twice as much food and much beter service in a French restaurant than you can get at the Y.
We remained in Le Havre for 15 days and in that time we had ample oppotunity to explore the city.
There are some beautiful parks in the city, one especially fine one being around the L'Hotel de Ville which is the Frenchmans name for City Hall
It being summer while I was there (June 14th t 29th) the City was beautiful, with the trees in full foliage and the flower beds a riot of colors. France was famous for her wonderful horticultural gardens before the necessity of war oblidged her to turn to more practical pursuits.
There is a bathing beach in the city where people even in these distressing times go for a little recreation and try to forget the hardships under which they are living.
The harbor is large and has wonderful docking facilities and can accammodate our largest transports The small fishing schooners still go in and out as though it were in peace time and coming at sundown, the sun light striking on their reddish brown sails adds a picturesque touch of color to the scene.
The Frenchman is a great lover of art. The Government buildings and grounds are all laid out in such an artistic manner that it can not fail to attract favorable attentin from any American.
The churches are exquisitely beautiful and when one thinks of what the horrible Hun is doing to them it makes one want to get into the fight to destroy the monster who so wantonly demolishes such magnificent edifices, along with their "Kulture" policy of killing women and children and blowing up hospitals.
At last the cargo was all unloaded and preparations were made for returning to the States.
Though a man is always glad when the prow of his ship is headed towards home he must be a rare one indeed not to experience a pang of regret at leaving that wonderful country, France.
At last we were underway-headed out though the English Channel and towards the Setting Sun.
We encountered a slight storm on our way back but no damage was sustained and in due time we arrived once more back in Baltimore.
For fear of taking up too much of space I must close. If this misses the waste basket I will try it again at some time in the future. Wishing The News and its many readers the best of success
I remain
Ward B Cannon, electrician first class Receiving Ship, Norfolk, Va.
NOTES: Ward B. Cannon was born in Mayfield, Arkansas on May 8, 1894 and died on January 19, 1965 in Goshen, Arkansas. He is buried in the Goshen Cemetery in Goshen.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD