TRANSCRIBED FROM THE NORTH ARKANSAS STAR AND CARROLL PROGRESS FEBRUARY 21, 1919 P. 1
Dear Brother and Sister:
I have received your letters but I guess you think I am not going to answer them but will write one this time to make up for them.
The folks asked me to tell them about my experiences in the war and the places I have been since I left New York. I know you would like to have a letter like that too. I couldn’t tell you anything like this before the Armistice was signed but the censors will let us tell all we have done now.
We left New York May 3, sailed up around Scotland and down the North Sea and landed at Liverpool, May 16th. We went across England to South Hampton, crossed the English Channel and landed at La Harve, France. We went from there to a little village called Grandcourt and drilled a few weeks with the Vickers machine gun. We left there and went to another village called Docelis and there got the Hotchkiss gun and have had it ever since.
From there we went into reserve at Thann Alsace Loviaine front and was in there 47 days. That was a pretty quiet sector, but one night at 12 o’clock the Germans threw an artillery barrage over on us that lasted an hour. As soon as the barrage lifted, Jerry poured into our trenches on us. We had to fight them with pistols, hand grenades, bayonets or anything we could get hold of but we soon got them out after killing six or eight of them. Next morning there were two of them laying in the wire entanglement cut clear into by maching gun fire. They didn’t bother us any more at long as we were there. They thought at first we were English but they soon found out different. We came out of the trenches after 47 days and stopped at Kruth Alsace a day or two, got on trucks and went to a railroad, got on a train and rode till about 6 o’clock. We ate supper and started to hiking. We hiked all night and till ten the next morning when we finally stopped at Chivagne, France. We stayed there about a week and then went on reserve on the St. Mehiel drive. You have read about that drive in the papers. We stayed in reserve there three or four days, then made an eight day hike and stopped in the Argonne Forest. That is where we started our big drive that won the war. You have also read about that drive but I will tell you as near as I can what went on in my sight.
We got our machine guns and 45’s up in first class condition and went into the trenches on the night of the 26th of September. Had to go in under shell fire but made it alright. We dug a place and mounted our guns in the side of the trench and by midnight we were set up for action. There was about 12 machine gun companies with the 35th division and the guns war set along the trench about twenty feet apart. Artillery of all size was setting thick all around. During the night French 75’s moved up into the open field. At 12 o’clock on the night began sending over a few shells. They kept up their light shelling until 5:30 a.m. 5:30 was the zero hour or the starting of the drive. At 5:25 our guns were all set and layed and everyone was at their posts. I was sitting behind the gun with my finger on the trigger waiting for the signal to open fire. In five minutes the signal was given and everything that would shoot opened up fire. The noise was so great a fellow couldn’t hardly stand it for a while, the only way I could tell mine was shooting was its bucking. Artillery shells were passing over our heads so thick and fast there was continuous whizz and whistle. The big guns roared and belched behind and a shell bursted in front of us for each gun shot. The Germans were holding a hill and had been holding it for two or three years. The French had made several attempts to take it from them but the hill was too well fortified and they failed each time and lost a lot of men. They said if we took it at all it would take us three days. But at 12 o’clock the artillery began its light shelling at 5:30 everything began its heavy shelling, and all the machine guns began their cackle. The infantry went over the top and by 6:30 or 7 we had the Germans’ hill. The infantry didn’t stop there though. We took our guns and followed them. The artillery kept raising their range and kept the barrage ahead of us. We drove them a long ways the first day and took a lot of prisoners.
The second day we ran off and left our artillery, it couldn’t keep up with us so from then on we had to shoot our own way and didn’t go so fast, but kept going. Jerry tried to stop us with his artillery. He stopped part of us but he couldn’t stop us all.
There was fifteen tanks with us when we ran into a strong machine gun-nest, the tanks would run up and blow them out and then we would go ahead. The third day we had to go over a bare hill, it was entangled with barbed wire and in plain sight of the artillery observers, so we had to grit our teeth and go on over thru their shells. The squads and platoons stayed together in spite of the shells but a lot were wounded and had to go back when we got over the hill; there were just four left in the squad I was in, but I was still there. I got knocked down several times by the explosion of shells but never got scratched by shrapnel. The 4th and 5th day Jerry made a counter attack on our right flank. The attack was made by the Prussian guards, Germany’s best picked troops. The infantry and also the machine gun companies was getting so badly shot and disorganized they had to drop back, the machine guns dropped back about three hundred yards and mounted our guns in an old fence row and held off the attack till the infantry dropped back of us and dug in. We all held them ‘till support came from Ware. My gun was set, and I was in view of one of the Prussian guard machine guns; I guessed at the range and turned my Hotchkiss loose on him, at the same time he or some other gun was peppering me but he was shooting high and he didn’t touch me. I put my bullets right into him and soon put him out of commission when the infantry got themselves dug in; we dismounted our guns and dropped back behind the infantry and dug ourselves in. All the men was so exhausted and disorganized we didn’t try to drive any farther; we held the line and were relieved the next morning. The artillery caught up by that time so the division that relieved us started them back again. We went back out of range of shell fire when we were relieved and stayed all night. We found plenty of old German blankets in the dug outs, so we put in a good night’s sleep for the first time since we started on drive. We then went to a little village and stayed there about a week, we started to hiking from there and two or three days (or nights as we done our moving at night,) hiking brought us to Verdun sector. We stayed in reserve there ten days, slept in our pup tents in range of shell fire. German airplanes discovered us there so we got a few shells; we went from reserve into the trenches there eleven days; there was not much going on there then; it was about like the Alsace front, only very much more gas. We were relieved from there November 7th and started right away to make another drive on or near Metz. We hiked the 8th and 9th and stopped in a little village called Lahymex on the night of the 9th we got orders that evening to stop all movements of troops ‘till father orders. We also got news that the Armistic was to be signed on the 11th so that made us feel good, we were still in hearing of the guns on the front and they was keeping up a steady fire. The next morning was the 10th and the guns was still roaring; they kept us up all day and night and next morning the 11th they were still roaring. We were all anxious and waiting for 11 oclock to come; a good many of the boys diden’t believe the guns would stop then but most of them did. I looked at my watch at 10:30 and told the ones around me that the war would be over in 30 minutes. The guns were roaring as big as ever; they had not slacked abit. We watched our watches, half doubting; At exactly 11 o’clock the guns stopped firing; we began to celebrate then. The signing of the armistice just saved us from making another big drive near Metz. A few days after I went to Aex les Baims on a furlough; I was gone from the company about fifteen days. The Battalion stayed at Lahyomex until a few days ago when we moved here.
This is a big railroad center so when we leave here we will either go home or to Germany. I hope it will be home. I am going to send you a few souvenirs before long. I sent some home that I carried from Chivagny to the Verdun front with me. You can look back and see what I went through between those two places. I have a keen souvenir that I will have to keep till I come myself as I can’t send it by mail.
Well I think I have wrote about enough so hoping to see you before always, I remain,
You brother,
Percy I. Estes.
NOTES: Percy Isaac Estes was writing to his sister and brother-in-law, Charlie and Lura Sawyer of Berryville, Arkansas. He went to Berryville after the war and was living with his sister in 1920. He served in Co. B. 130th M.G. BN. He was born on August 10, 1894, McKinley, Missouri and died on April 13, 1982 in Lees Summit, Missouri. He is buried in Lees Summit Historic Cemetery. His military headstone identifies him as PFC US Army serving in World War I. He was described as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair. He departed St. Nazaire, France onboard the Antigone on April 14, 1919 and arrived in Newport News, Virginia on April 27, 1919, He was serving as a Private in Co. B, 130th Machine Gun Battalion.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT
Dear Brother and Sister:
I have received your letters but I guess you think I am not going to answer them but will write one this time to make up for them.
The folks asked me to tell them about my experiences in the war and the places I have been since I left New York. I know you would like to have a letter like that too. I couldn’t tell you anything like this before the Armistice was signed but the censors will let us tell all we have done now.
We left New York May 3, sailed up around Scotland and down the North Sea and landed at Liverpool, May 16th. We went across England to South Hampton, crossed the English Channel and landed at La Harve, France. We went from there to a little village called Grandcourt and drilled a few weeks with the Vickers machine gun. We left there and went to another village called Docelis and there got the Hotchkiss gun and have had it ever since.
From there we went into reserve at Thann Alsace Loviaine front and was in there 47 days. That was a pretty quiet sector, but one night at 12 o’clock the Germans threw an artillery barrage over on us that lasted an hour. As soon as the barrage lifted, Jerry poured into our trenches on us. We had to fight them with pistols, hand grenades, bayonets or anything we could get hold of but we soon got them out after killing six or eight of them. Next morning there were two of them laying in the wire entanglement cut clear into by maching gun fire. They didn’t bother us any more at long as we were there. They thought at first we were English but they soon found out different. We came out of the trenches after 47 days and stopped at Kruth Alsace a day or two, got on trucks and went to a railroad, got on a train and rode till about 6 o’clock. We ate supper and started to hiking. We hiked all night and till ten the next morning when we finally stopped at Chivagne, France. We stayed there about a week and then went on reserve on the St. Mehiel drive. You have read about that drive in the papers. We stayed in reserve there three or four days, then made an eight day hike and stopped in the Argonne Forest. That is where we started our big drive that won the war. You have also read about that drive but I will tell you as near as I can what went on in my sight.
We got our machine guns and 45’s up in first class condition and went into the trenches on the night of the 26th of September. Had to go in under shell fire but made it alright. We dug a place and mounted our guns in the side of the trench and by midnight we were set up for action. There was about 12 machine gun companies with the 35th division and the guns war set along the trench about twenty feet apart. Artillery of all size was setting thick all around. During the night French 75’s moved up into the open field. At 12 o’clock on the night began sending over a few shells. They kept up their light shelling until 5:30 a.m. 5:30 was the zero hour or the starting of the drive. At 5:25 our guns were all set and layed and everyone was at their posts. I was sitting behind the gun with my finger on the trigger waiting for the signal to open fire. In five minutes the signal was given and everything that would shoot opened up fire. The noise was so great a fellow couldn’t hardly stand it for a while, the only way I could tell mine was shooting was its bucking. Artillery shells were passing over our heads so thick and fast there was continuous whizz and whistle. The big guns roared and belched behind and a shell bursted in front of us for each gun shot. The Germans were holding a hill and had been holding it for two or three years. The French had made several attempts to take it from them but the hill was too well fortified and they failed each time and lost a lot of men. They said if we took it at all it would take us three days. But at 12 o’clock the artillery began its light shelling at 5:30 everything began its heavy shelling, and all the machine guns began their cackle. The infantry went over the top and by 6:30 or 7 we had the Germans’ hill. The infantry didn’t stop there though. We took our guns and followed them. The artillery kept raising their range and kept the barrage ahead of us. We drove them a long ways the first day and took a lot of prisoners.
The second day we ran off and left our artillery, it couldn’t keep up with us so from then on we had to shoot our own way and didn’t go so fast, but kept going. Jerry tried to stop us with his artillery. He stopped part of us but he couldn’t stop us all.
There was fifteen tanks with us when we ran into a strong machine gun-nest, the tanks would run up and blow them out and then we would go ahead. The third day we had to go over a bare hill, it was entangled with barbed wire and in plain sight of the artillery observers, so we had to grit our teeth and go on over thru their shells. The squads and platoons stayed together in spite of the shells but a lot were wounded and had to go back when we got over the hill; there were just four left in the squad I was in, but I was still there. I got knocked down several times by the explosion of shells but never got scratched by shrapnel. The 4th and 5th day Jerry made a counter attack on our right flank. The attack was made by the Prussian guards, Germany’s best picked troops. The infantry and also the machine gun companies was getting so badly shot and disorganized they had to drop back, the machine guns dropped back about three hundred yards and mounted our guns in an old fence row and held off the attack till the infantry dropped back of us and dug in. We all held them ‘till support came from Ware. My gun was set, and I was in view of one of the Prussian guard machine guns; I guessed at the range and turned my Hotchkiss loose on him, at the same time he or some other gun was peppering me but he was shooting high and he didn’t touch me. I put my bullets right into him and soon put him out of commission when the infantry got themselves dug in; we dismounted our guns and dropped back behind the infantry and dug ourselves in. All the men was so exhausted and disorganized we didn’t try to drive any farther; we held the line and were relieved the next morning. The artillery caught up by that time so the division that relieved us started them back again. We went back out of range of shell fire when we were relieved and stayed all night. We found plenty of old German blankets in the dug outs, so we put in a good night’s sleep for the first time since we started on drive. We then went to a little village and stayed there about a week, we started to hiking from there and two or three days (or nights as we done our moving at night,) hiking brought us to Verdun sector. We stayed in reserve there ten days, slept in our pup tents in range of shell fire. German airplanes discovered us there so we got a few shells; we went from reserve into the trenches there eleven days; there was not much going on there then; it was about like the Alsace front, only very much more gas. We were relieved from there November 7th and started right away to make another drive on or near Metz. We hiked the 8th and 9th and stopped in a little village called Lahymex on the night of the 9th we got orders that evening to stop all movements of troops ‘till father orders. We also got news that the Armistic was to be signed on the 11th so that made us feel good, we were still in hearing of the guns on the front and they was keeping up a steady fire. The next morning was the 10th and the guns was still roaring; they kept us up all day and night and next morning the 11th they were still roaring. We were all anxious and waiting for 11 oclock to come; a good many of the boys diden’t believe the guns would stop then but most of them did. I looked at my watch at 10:30 and told the ones around me that the war would be over in 30 minutes. The guns were roaring as big as ever; they had not slacked abit. We watched our watches, half doubting; At exactly 11 o’clock the guns stopped firing; we began to celebrate then. The signing of the armistice just saved us from making another big drive near Metz. A few days after I went to Aex les Baims on a furlough; I was gone from the company about fifteen days. The Battalion stayed at Lahyomex until a few days ago when we moved here.
This is a big railroad center so when we leave here we will either go home or to Germany. I hope it will be home. I am going to send you a few souvenirs before long. I sent some home that I carried from Chivagny to the Verdun front with me. You can look back and see what I went through between those two places. I have a keen souvenir that I will have to keep till I come myself as I can’t send it by mail.
Well I think I have wrote about enough so hoping to see you before always, I remain,
You brother,
Percy I. Estes.
NOTES: Percy Isaac Estes was writing to his sister and brother-in-law, Charlie and Lura Sawyer of Berryville, Arkansas. He went to Berryville after the war and was living with his sister in 1920. He served in Co. B. 130th M.G. BN. He was born on August 10, 1894, McKinley, Missouri and died on April 13, 1982 in Lees Summit, Missouri. He is buried in Lees Summit Historic Cemetery. His military headstone identifies him as PFC US Army serving in World War I. He was described as being of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair. He departed St. Nazaire, France onboard the Antigone on April 14, 1919 and arrived in Newport News, Virginia on April 27, 1919, He was serving as a Private in Co. B, 130th Machine Gun Battalion.
TRANSCRIBED BY CAROLYN YANCEY KENT