TRANSCRIBED FROM THE SPRINGDALE NEWS FEBRUARY 21, 1919 P. 3
Camp Coetqudan, France
11-24-18
Dear Father:
Just a line to say Hello, and to say that I am all O. K. and have no reason to raise a kick.
We left N. Y. harbor on August 30th on board the Leviathan, you remember the ship captured from Germany at the beginning of the war. It was then called the Vaterland. I’m sure you remember reading about it. I have imagined a lot of times what a large ship would be like but I never thought there was such a floating city in existence. It had fourteen decks and was 954 feet long, the hull is covered with solid steel from bottom to top. They have a crew of about 1500 men. It has 49 boilers and is fired by three thousand furnaces. It has a cold storage, telephone system, electric plant and every modern convenience. There was about fifteen thousand soldiers on board besides a lot of Red Cross nurses and a lot of sailors going over for overseas service that didn’t belong to the crew. You can imagine a little by looking at the picture and maybe better when I tell you that the smoke stacks are thirty feet in diameter. We were about seven days on the way over and could have made it a lot quicker if we hadn’t taken so many turns in and out on our course to dodge the submarines. We landed at Brest, France on the 7th of Sept. stopped there about two days. The camp we are in now is about thirty-five miles southeast of Rheines you can find that on the map I think. I don’t know when we are going to get started home. I hope pretty soon, but it is all a question yet. I know I am a lot more restless since the war is over than I was before it was finished. I received a letter yesterday from you all. Glad everything is going along fine and sure hope it will continue the same. Wish you all a Merry Christmas a happy prosperous New Year.
Yours,
Walter.
NOTES: Walter Davis departed for France from Hoboken NJ on August 31, 1918 onboard the Leviathan. He was a Private in Supply Co, 142nd FA, 3rd Division. He returned to the US from St. Nazaire, France onboard the Amphion on June 3 1919. He was a Wagoner serving in Supply Co., 142nd FA.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA MATTHEWS
Camp Coetqudan, France
11-24-18
Dear Father:
Just a line to say Hello, and to say that I am all O. K. and have no reason to raise a kick.
We left N. Y. harbor on August 30th on board the Leviathan, you remember the ship captured from Germany at the beginning of the war. It was then called the Vaterland. I’m sure you remember reading about it. I have imagined a lot of times what a large ship would be like but I never thought there was such a floating city in existence. It had fourteen decks and was 954 feet long, the hull is covered with solid steel from bottom to top. They have a crew of about 1500 men. It has 49 boilers and is fired by three thousand furnaces. It has a cold storage, telephone system, electric plant and every modern convenience. There was about fifteen thousand soldiers on board besides a lot of Red Cross nurses and a lot of sailors going over for overseas service that didn’t belong to the crew. You can imagine a little by looking at the picture and maybe better when I tell you that the smoke stacks are thirty feet in diameter. We were about seven days on the way over and could have made it a lot quicker if we hadn’t taken so many turns in and out on our course to dodge the submarines. We landed at Brest, France on the 7th of Sept. stopped there about two days. The camp we are in now is about thirty-five miles southeast of Rheines you can find that on the map I think. I don’t know when we are going to get started home. I hope pretty soon, but it is all a question yet. I know I am a lot more restless since the war is over than I was before it was finished. I received a letter yesterday from you all. Glad everything is going along fine and sure hope it will continue the same. Wish you all a Merry Christmas a happy prosperous New Year.
Yours,
Walter.
NOTES: Walter Davis departed for France from Hoboken NJ on August 31, 1918 onboard the Leviathan. He was a Private in Supply Co, 142nd FA, 3rd Division. He returned to the US from St. Nazaire, France onboard the Amphion on June 3 1919. He was a Wagoner serving in Supply Co., 142nd FA.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA MATTHEWS