TRANSCRIBED FROM THE PRESCOTT DAILY NEWS FEBRUARY 10, 1919 P. 3
Ervy, France
Dec. 14, 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Wynn,
Hollis, Okla.
Dear Father and Mother:
It is with much pleasure that I try to answer your letters I received yesterday. This leaves me fine and dandy, and I hope it will find you all enjoying the best of health.
Mamma, I don’t uess you folks would hardly know me now; I weigh 185 pounds. Have gained 22 pounds since I have been in France.
As I have not had an opportunity to tell of my trip before the armistice was signed, I will now tell you of some of my experience. My company, the 111th Am. Train, loaded on train at Camp Bowie at 11 o’clock, Wednesday, July 17, went through Dallas and Texarkana and got to Prescott, Arkansas, about daylight Thursday morning.
Mamma, knowing you were in Prescott visiting, I was in hopes the train would stop an hour or two so you could come to the station, but we didn’t stop so I mailed you a card at the next station. We passed through Hot Springs, Arkansas, and when we got to Little Rock we stopped two hours; we also had two hours rest at Memphis, Tennessee, late Thursday evening. We passed through the corner of Alabama and then back into Tennessee, and had stops in Chattanooga and Knoxville. We traveled over 400 miles in Tennessee. We passed through the corner of Georgia, then into Virginia. Next we struck Washington, D.C. and had a two hours rest in the city, then on to Baltimore, then on to Philadelphia; from there went to Jersey City. We got there Sunday morning at ten o’clock, and in the afternoon took a boat and went around New York City and over to Brooklyn and Long Island City. We stayed on the boat all Sunday evening, passed under the Brooklyn bridge and saw the Statue of Liberty, and the highest building in the world, 53 stories high; we saw Washington’s monument; we passed through a tunnel two or three miles in length while we were in Washington City. The first tunnel we came to was just before we got to Chattanooga. We passed by Lookout Mountain. We were in town nearly all the way from Washington to Camp Mills. We stopped at Camp Mills ten days and on the 31st of July boardedten transports and two battleships. We had some very thrilling experiences with subs and sunk two Sunday evening, August 11th, and believe me, it was some sport. I was sea sick the second day out. About the 5th day the sea got very rough for two or three days and I got sick again, but sure would like to try it again.
We landed at Brest, France, August 12th, after 12 days sailing, and you know land looked good to us. Brest is a town of about 90,000 population. We stayed there for ten days, then went to the Bar-Sur-Aube and stayed there for one month. We had been on the Campagne front for three weeks and had some thrilling experience, dodging big shells, but didn’t lose any men. Believe me the old Hindenburg line was well fortified, but it has been shelled from one end to the other. We had gone to Waly on a ten days rest and were going from there to the Verdun front when the armistice was signed. We are stopping here at Ervy, about one hundred miles southeast of Paris, and have good billets and plenty of good blankets, so you see we are fareing fine. We have no idea when we will return to the good old U.S.A.; you know more about that than we do—before very long I hope.
So bye, bye.
Your son,
Pvt. Noble Wynn.
NOTES: Noble Wynn was born on March 14, 1888 in Cisco, Texas and died on July 13, 1968. He is buried in the Reithaven Memorial Park in Lubbock, Texas. He was writing to his parents William C and Mary Wynn.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA MATTHEWS
Ervy, France
Dec. 14, 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Wynn,
Hollis, Okla.
Dear Father and Mother:
It is with much pleasure that I try to answer your letters I received yesterday. This leaves me fine and dandy, and I hope it will find you all enjoying the best of health.
Mamma, I don’t uess you folks would hardly know me now; I weigh 185 pounds. Have gained 22 pounds since I have been in France.
As I have not had an opportunity to tell of my trip before the armistice was signed, I will now tell you of some of my experience. My company, the 111th Am. Train, loaded on train at Camp Bowie at 11 o’clock, Wednesday, July 17, went through Dallas and Texarkana and got to Prescott, Arkansas, about daylight Thursday morning.
Mamma, knowing you were in Prescott visiting, I was in hopes the train would stop an hour or two so you could come to the station, but we didn’t stop so I mailed you a card at the next station. We passed through Hot Springs, Arkansas, and when we got to Little Rock we stopped two hours; we also had two hours rest at Memphis, Tennessee, late Thursday evening. We passed through the corner of Alabama and then back into Tennessee, and had stops in Chattanooga and Knoxville. We traveled over 400 miles in Tennessee. We passed through the corner of Georgia, then into Virginia. Next we struck Washington, D.C. and had a two hours rest in the city, then on to Baltimore, then on to Philadelphia; from there went to Jersey City. We got there Sunday morning at ten o’clock, and in the afternoon took a boat and went around New York City and over to Brooklyn and Long Island City. We stayed on the boat all Sunday evening, passed under the Brooklyn bridge and saw the Statue of Liberty, and the highest building in the world, 53 stories high; we saw Washington’s monument; we passed through a tunnel two or three miles in length while we were in Washington City. The first tunnel we came to was just before we got to Chattanooga. We passed by Lookout Mountain. We were in town nearly all the way from Washington to Camp Mills. We stopped at Camp Mills ten days and on the 31st of July boardedten transports and two battleships. We had some very thrilling experiences with subs and sunk two Sunday evening, August 11th, and believe me, it was some sport. I was sea sick the second day out. About the 5th day the sea got very rough for two or three days and I got sick again, but sure would like to try it again.
We landed at Brest, France, August 12th, after 12 days sailing, and you know land looked good to us. Brest is a town of about 90,000 population. We stayed there for ten days, then went to the Bar-Sur-Aube and stayed there for one month. We had been on the Campagne front for three weeks and had some thrilling experience, dodging big shells, but didn’t lose any men. Believe me the old Hindenburg line was well fortified, but it has been shelled from one end to the other. We had gone to Waly on a ten days rest and were going from there to the Verdun front when the armistice was signed. We are stopping here at Ervy, about one hundred miles southeast of Paris, and have good billets and plenty of good blankets, so you see we are fareing fine. We have no idea when we will return to the good old U.S.A.; you know more about that than we do—before very long I hope.
So bye, bye.
Your son,
Pvt. Noble Wynn.
NOTES: Noble Wynn was born on March 14, 1888 in Cisco, Texas and died on July 13, 1968. He is buried in the Reithaven Memorial Park in Lubbock, Texas. He was writing to his parents William C and Mary Wynn.
TRANSCRIBED BY LINDA MATTHEWS