1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C. in WWI

The 1st Trench Mortar Battalion was formed in December of 1917 at Jackson Barracks, LA. The 5th (I) Company, Coast Defenses of Mobile, which was first organized in October of 1917, and the 4th (I) Company, C. D. of Mobile, first organized in August of 1917, were combined in December of 1917 at Ft. Morgan, Alabama and re-designated as Battery "B", 1st Trench Mortar Battalion. The newly formed Battery B on March 24th left Fort Morgan aboard several L&N railroad cars traveling along the A&WP Southern Railroad for Washington D.C. with a final destination of Camp Merritt, New Jersey to await sailing orders.

Battery “A” sailed aboard the SS America on January 4, 1918 from Hoboken, New Jersey with 3 Officers and 184 enlisted men. Battery A was under the command of Captain John G. Donovan, with 1st Lt. Malcom W. Force and 2nd Lt. Lawrence Dwight. 1st Sgt. Edward H. Hinson was the senior non-commissioned officer. Also attached to Battery A was a medical detachment consisting of four enlisted men under the command of Sgt. William Salon.

On March 30, 1918 aboard the Cunard Liner SS Kursk the Headquarters Company, Medical Detachment and Batteries B, C and D sailed from Port of Embarkation Hoboken, NJ. They were at sea on the SS Kursk from April 1st to April 13th and on the 14th disembarked at Saint Nazaire, France and arrived at Base Camp No.1, from there they marched 3 kilometers to Base Section No.1 where they had camp duties. From Langres they marched to Fort de la Bonnelle where they had more training.

The Battalion was under the command of Lt. Colonel Lynn Sawyer Edwards. The other officers and non-commissioned officers of the Battalion were:

Headquarters Company: Captain Wood Steele Erskine 1st Lt. Albert Bonds 1st Lt. William Albert Green, Jr. 2nd Lt. Edgar Allen Sowar Sgt. Major Marvin Luther Spruill Supply Sgt. Clarence James Hutson 23 Enlisted men	Medical Detachment: Captain Starr Abner Moulton, M.C. 1st Lt. Charles Bernard Rentz, M. C. Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Joseph Kennedy, M. C. Sgt. William Salon 14 Enlisted men	Battery A: Captain John G. Donovan 1st Lt. Malcom W. Force 2nd Lt. Lawrence Dwight 1st Sgt. Edward H. Hinson 181 Enlisted men
Battery B: Captain Richard C. Beckett, Jr. 2nd Lt. James B. Bell 2nd Lt. Elliott R. Weeks 1st Sgt. Essel James Latham 212 Enlisted men	Battery C: Captain Allen Wright 1st Lt. Eugene Sinclair Tallaferro 2nd Lt. Neil Ethridge Gardner, Jr. 1st Sgt. Grover Wiley Womack 208 Enlisted men	Battery D: Captain Matthew Glenn Smith 1st Lt. Edward William Dennis 2nd Lt. Herman Lion Barnett 1st Sgt. Michael Reilly 211 Enlisted men

The 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C. A. C. was of the first American Trench Mortar Battalion to go into action in France during the war. This is their story.

It came near being a Rainbow Battalion for Battery A came from New York, Battery B from Fort Morgan, Ala., Battery C from New Orleans, and Battery D from Fort Crockett, Galveston, Texas. They did not even sail together. Some of them went over in January 1918, and the rest came in March. But they all got together under the command of Major J. D. Donovan, in the fortified city of Langres in the Department of the Haut-Marne. There they completed the details of the organization and the officers attended the Army Trench Mortar School then established at this place. It was a tedious time; that stage of the game always is.

The order finally came sending the Battalion into billets at Rolampont. Their most vivid memory of that station is that the beds were wonderfully soft, which is indicative of much bunk fatigue during the little time they were there.

In June they were unceremoniously dumped into another small village known as Gernigny l'Eveque, which lies between Paris and the famous Chateau Thierry. And thus, it happens that they were in the big show that was pulled off there shortly after. Here they saw their first German plane. It dropped some bombs that were evidently intended for them, but the aim was poor and they struck in the next village.

The outfit was equipped with the old wooden platform type of 240mm mortar, and the lines were beginning to shift so suddenly and continuously that it was impossible to prepare positions. No one could tell where the next firing would be done. So, they sat and waited.

Then came the attack at Chateau Thierry. And with it came the order to prepare to go forward as infantry. So, the Battalion put its mortars away and fell in, in double rank and squad righted, full pack and all. On the way they picked up a casual detachment of Engineers and went on, finally arriving at Belleau Wood, where they lay all the following day under constant shellfire.

They found themselves acting as reserve infantry, held in case of a counter-attack. But that never developed. So, they followed up the front line and arrived at Fere-en-Tardenois and again waited for a counter-attack to develop. But as luck would have it they were doomed to wait in vain. The Infantry continued to advance victoriously. But the Battalion found it a busy time, for it was employed in taking prisoners back to the pens. After a strenuous period of such work, it was finally ordered to the rest billets for a period of three weeks. The rest turned out to be one of three days instead, and the men donned the full pack again and hiked overland to the St. Mihiel sector, a distance of over a hundred kilometers.

The last three days of the hike were done under cover of darkness, without lights, over roads that were shelled intermittently. It was a tired crowd that pulled into Pont-a-Mousson, and the order to prepare positions for their mortars immediately was not the most pleasant in the world, especially when they found that the positions were to be in advance of the infantry support line. But they got the mortars in, with nothing in front of them but an infantry outpost.

From here they fired under the protection of their own artillery on the village of Norroy and a quarry that had been converted into a stronghold. The targets were demolished, according to the reports of the firing. Because some of the mortars could not be fired, a part of the Battalion was utilized on the French 105's that were brought into position directly in rear. If there had been any cavalry action the chances are that the Battalion would have taken a hand at that too!

When our Infantry had advanced beyond the positions, the Battalion was moved to the Argonne, where it did its best firing. Major Donovan was made Lt. Colonel and relieved by Major Tucker Pendleton. The task assigned here was demolition fire on the forest; the reports showed that it was excellently managed and very destructive. And there they were on the morning of November 11. 1918.

The entire Battalion (HQ Co., Medical Detachment, Batteries A, B, C and D) sailed on the battleship USS Virginia. Below are the names of the officers and numbers of men in each battalion. This list comes from a dinner menu that was held on the USS Virginia. There were also other units the Virginia that are listed on the menu, they were the 305th Trench Mortar Battery, 488th Aero Squadron and Casual Officers. This menu was from the personal effects of Pvt. Lynn Fred Simmons of Battery D.

On the trip back there was a dinner held on President Washington's Birthday February 22, 1919. This is a menu from the papers of Pvt. Lynn F. Simmons of Battery D and he has written a note on the front. It reads: "On the boat 17 days with scarlet fever in Newport News, Virginia, till discharged in Battle Creek" (Michigan). The USS Virginia was a Battleship and at the time was being used to carry troops back home from France as shipping was scarce at the time. This was the Virginia's second trip. Brest, France to Newport News, Virginia February 12-27, 1919. After getting off the good old Virginia the Battalion went to Camp Upton, NY where they were demobilized during the month of March 1919.

FIELD AND STAFF
Major Randolph T. Pendelton, C. A. C.
1st Lt. Guy B. Irby, C. A. C.
1st Lt. James M. Rumple, C. A. C.
2nd Lt. Paul B. Dunkle, C. A. C.

Medical Detachment
Capt. Henry C. Osborne, M. C.
1st Lt. Charles B. Rentz, M. C.
13 Enlisted Men

BATTERY A
Capt. Malcolm W. Force, C. A. C.
1st Lt. Richard. J. McLaughlin, CAC
2nd Lt. George B. Geib, F. A.
2nd Lt. Charles K. Graeber, F. A.
2nd Lt. Allen A. Donnel, F. A.
160 Enlisted Men

BATTERY B
Capt. William B. Blocher, F. A.
1st Lt. James B. Bell, C. A. C.
2nd Lt. Elliott R. Weeks, C. A. C.
2nd Lt. Arthur L. Goodman, F. A.
2nd Lt. Van D. Sarles, C. A. C.
169 Enlisted Men

BATTERY C
Capt. Allen Wright, C. A. C.
1st Lt. Douglas J. McLachlan, C. A. C.
2nd Lt. Niel E. Gardner, Jr., F. A.
2nd Lt. Harry W. Sibley, F. A.
168 Enlisted Men

BATTERY D
Capt. Frank C. Tenney, C. A. C.
1st Lt. Walter G. Grooms, F. A.
2nd Lt. George F. Hanney, F. A.
2nd Lt. Charles H. Boughton, F. A.
165 Enlisted Men

Headquarter Detachment
19 Enlisted Men

305th TRENCH MORTAR BATTERY
Capt. Harold Scott, C. A. C.
1st Lt. James Guaragulia, F. A.
2nd Lt. Donald Munsick, F. A.
2nd Lt. James Adams, F. A.
166 Enlisted Men

488th AERO SQUADRON
2nd Lt. Eugene Cotter, A. S.
2nd Lt. Charles L. Hubbard, A. S.
140 Enlisted Men

CASUAL OFFICERS
2nd Lt. Theodore A. Mooring, Q.M.C.
Capt. James L. Collins, INF.
2nd Lt. H. C. Gilbert, A. S.
2nd Lt. Ed. P. McCuistian, A. S.
2nd Lt. John W. McMurphy, A. S.
1st Lt. Hurbert M. Holton, C. A. C.
1st Lt. Samuel Mustain, A. S.
1st Lt. Jerome Wrenn, Engineers
2nd Lt. John E. Clarke, A. S.
Sec'y Raymond D. Havens, YMCA

The following list are the movements of Battery C, 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, CAC

Mar 24, 1918: Leave New Orleans, LA
Mar 27, 1918: Arrive Camp Merritt, NJ
Mar 29, 1918: Leave Hoboken, NJ (H.M.T. Kursk)
Apr 13, l918: Arrive St. Nazaire, France
Apr 18, 1918: Leave St. Nazaire,
Apr 21, 1918: Arrive St. Langres (Marched to Ft. Bonnelle, and here received training at Army Trench Artillery School)
Jun 16, 1918: Leave Ft. Bonnelle
Jun 16, 1918: Arrive Rolampont.
Jul 8, 1918: Leave Rolampont.
Jul 9, 1918: Arrive Trilport. (Arrived by march to Germigny, same date)
Jul 16, 1918: Leave Detachment of 80 men left Germigny on DS to hospital at Coulmiers.
Jul 19, 1918: Detachment returned to Gemigny. Joined Battery at Paris Farms Jul 21,1918.
Jul 18, 1918: Battery left Germigny.
Jul 19, 1918: Arrive Montreul. (2nd Battle of the Marne) (First time under shell fire)
Jul 20, 1918: Leave Montreul.
Jul 20, 1918: Arrive Paris Farms. (2nd Battle of the Marne)
Jul 23, 1918: Leave Paris Farms.
Jul 24, 1918: Arrive Barre Woods (North of Belleau Woods). (2nd Battle of Marne) (Participated in 2nd Battle of the Marne Jul 19 to Aug 4, 1918, as Infantry)
Aug 2, 1918: Leave Barre Woods
Aug 2, 1918: Arrive Halloudray Farm.
Aug 6, 1918: Leave Halloudray Farm.
Aug 6, 1918: Arrive Rocourt. (Coincy Aviation Field -Big Bertha emplacement near here)
Aug 11, 1918: Leave Rocourt.
Aug 12, 1918: Arrive Germigny (2nd Time).
Aug 16, 1918: Leave Germigny (Passed General Liggett, who stopped 1st Sgt. and inquired condition of men, saying they were a fine looking bunch.)(Started first big hike, lasting four days.)
Aug 16, 1918: Arrive La Ferte.
Aug 16, 1918: Leave La Ferte.
Aug 18, 1918: Arrive Charley.
Aug 19, 1918: Leave Charley.
Aug 19, 1918: Arrive Essomes.
Aug 20, 1918: Leave Essomas.
Aug 20, 1918: Arrive Chateau Thierry and entrained
Aug 20, 1918: Arrive Vignory.
Aug 21, 1918: Arrive Arancourt. (Marched from Vignory a distance of 40 kilometres)
Aug 26, 1918: Leave Arancourt. (Here started 2nd hike of three days and three nights duration)
Aug 26, 1918: Arrive Joinville.
Aug 27, 1918: Leave Joinville.
Aug 27, 1918: Arrive Houdelain Court.
Aug 29, 1918: Leave Houdelain Court.
Aug 28, 1918: Arrive Pagny sur Meuse.
Aug 31, 1918: Leave Pagny sur Meuse.

Sep 1, 1918: Arrive Jaillon. (Passing thru Toul)
Sep 3, 1918: Leave Jaillon.
Sep 4, 1918: Arrive Black Woods.
Sep 5, 1918: Leave Black Woods.
Sep 5, 1918: Arrive Monteville. (Established eschelon) (Passing th111 Pont de Musson) (Here started to emplace Mortars, but ordered to Bois de Puvenelle to man French 120 MM Guns, participating in reduction of St. Mihiel Salient) (Drive started l A.M. Sep 13, 1918)
Sep 17, 1918: Leave Bois de Puvenelle.
Sep 17, 1918: Arrive Villa en Hayes.
Sep 18, 1918: Leave Villa en Hayes. (Started 3rd hike lasting 6 nights}
Sep 18, 1918: Arrive Boucq.
Sep 19, 1918: Leave Boucq.
Sep 20, 1918: Arrive Pont sur Meuse.
Sep 20, 1918: Leave Pont sur Meuse.
Sep 21, 1918: Arrive Chaump.
Sep 21, 1918: Leave Chaump.
Sep 22, 1918: Arrive Fleury.
Sep 22, 1918: Leave Fleury.
Sep 23, 1918: Arrive Forest de Argonne. (Emplaced Mortars participating in Battle of the Argonne. Barrage starting 11 P.M. Sep 26, 1918. Under heavy Gas attack. After barrage 100 men went over as small arms ammunition carriers.)
Oct 2, 1918: Leave Forest de Argonne.
Oct 2, 1918: Arrive Futeau.
Oct 18, 1918: Leave Futeau.
Oct 18, 1918: Arrive Neuvilly (Cote de Foremont)
Nov 7, 1918: Leave Neuvilly.
Nov 7, 1918: Arrive Cornay. (Participating in Battle of Meuse) (Passed thru Varrennes and Chatel Chehery)
Nov 8, 1918: Leave Cornay.
Nov 8, 1918: Arrive Harricourt. (Passing thru Buzancy)
Nov 10, 1918: Leave Harricourt.
Nov 10, 1918: Arrive Balney Nov 10, 1918. (Notice of Armistice received here)
Nov 13, 1918: Leave Balney.
Nov 13, 1918: Arrive Neuvilly (2nd Time).
Dec 2, 1918: Leave Neuvilly. (Starting on 9 days hike to Vitrey, averaging 25 Kilometres a day, stopped at following places for nights rest:
                        Fleury Dec 2, 1918.
                        Vavaincourt Dec 3, 1918.
                        Girauville Dee. 4, 1918.
                        Bure Dec 5, 1918.
                        Brechainville Dec 6, 1918.
                        Goncourt Dec 7, 1918.
                        Rozieres Dec 8, 1918
                        Isches Dec 9, 1918.
                        Vitrey Dec 10, 1918.
Jan 29, 1919: Leave Vitrey.
Feb 2, 1919: Arrive Brest.
Feb 11, 1919: Leave Brest (Boarded U.S.S. Virginia and sailed Feb. 12, 1919)
Feb 27, 1919: Arrive Newport News, Va.

This photo was taken on May 7, 1918 as part of the 1st TM Bn is marching to Bonvillers, France. They are on their way to the new American Army Trench Mortar School located at Fort de la Bonnelle, an old stone fortification near the city of Langres, Haute Marne, France

Bugler Edward Britton Carroll, Battery B

Peggy Carroll Young contacted me about her father who was a bugler in Battery B, 1st TM Bn. His name was Edward Britton Carroll from Perry County, Mississippi.

Edward Carroll was 16 when he enlisted in the Army. His first duty was in the Garrison at Fort Morgan, Alabama from March 1st-23rd, 1918. The 5th (I) Company, C. D. of Mobile, which was first organized in October of 1917, and the 4th (I) Company, C. D. of Mobile, first organized in August of 1917, were combined in December of 1917 and re-designated as Battery "B", 1st Trench Mortar Battalion. On March 24th Battery B left Fort Morgan on the L&N railroad traveling on the A&WP Southern Railroad for Washington D.C. and a final destanation of Camp Merritt, New Jersey to await sailing orders.

On March 29th, 1918 the orders came and the following day 16 officers and 671 enlisted men of Batteries B, C and D of the 1st TM Bn went aboard the SS Kurskat the Port of Embarkation Hoboken, NJ. They were at sea on the SS Kursk from April 1st to April 13th and on the 14th disembarked at Saint Nazaire, France and arrived at Base Camp No.1, from there they marched 3 kilometers to Base Section No.1 where they had camp duties. From Longres they marched to Fort de la Bonnelle where they had more training. During April Bugler Carroll celebrated his 17th birthday in France.

Peggy Carroll Young grew up hearing all about WWI, the Germans, the French, the Artillery and the 240 mm Trench Mortar, etc. from her father. She loved to hear these war stories and memories of his encounters with the Germans and how the French families saved him a number of times by hiding him in their basement, etc. And about how her dad slept in the trees rather than in a pup tent and how bad the weather was at times and how wet they were, the rations they had to eat, etc.

Bugler Edward Britton Carroll probably taken at Fort Morgan, Alabama where Battery B was formed.

Pvt. Clarence J. Radloff, Service No. 724994 Battery B

During the First World War many American brothers served together on the battlefields, and most came home to live the life they had fought to preserve. But there were many sets of brothers who had to pay the high cost of the preservation of our Freedom. One such pair of brothers were Clarence and Louis Radloff.

Pvt. Clarence Radloff, who is the subject of this profile, served with Battery B, 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C. and his older brother Louis Radlof was a Private serving in K Company, 316th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division. (Louis during his life on documents spelled his last name with only one “f” but the rest of the family used two “ff” in Radloff.)

At 11:00 am on November 11th, 1918 Pvt. Clarence J. Radloff found that when the guns fell silent he had made it through the terrible nightmare with his life. But about 30-kilometers away was K Company of the 316th Infantry on the line against the German Army and Pvt. Louis Radlof at about 10:50 that morning had to pay for his brother’s Freedom, a bill he paid with his life and was killed on the battlefield in the last 10-minutes of the war.

Pvt. Clarence Radloff likely at the time was beginning to celebrate the fact that he had made it through the war, and he likely had thoughts of his brother Louis at that time. It is not known how long it would have taken for word of his brother’s death, it may have been days or even weeks. When the battleship USS Virginia steamed out of Brest, France on February 12, 1919, Clarence was aboard heading for home and there is little doubt that Clarence fixed his eyes on the French coast line as long as he could. For this was the soil his brother’s blood was spilled upon and the same soil his brother’s body was resting in peace in and Clarence would never return to this soil ever again.

The story of Clarence J. Radloff begins when he was born on May 1, 1899 in Calmar, Iowa. His father Frederick (aka Fred or Fritz) Radloff likely immigrated from Prussia sometime between 1867 and 1870 and settled in Calmar, Iowa, which was a small growing railroad town. Frederick Radloff began to earn his living by setting up a shop as a saloon and billiard hall owner in the early 1870s in a building that still stands today in Calmar, Iowa. Other records indicate Frederick was a laborer, carpenter and bartender over the course of his life in Calmar.

Frederick Radloff was ‘married’ twice. Married is in quotes because there does not seem to be a marriage record for his second wife. His two wives were sisters, Josephina Meirick (b. 1851, d. 1882) and Emilie Meirick (b. 1860, d. 1901). It is possible that Emilie came to help Fred raise the children after Josephina died in 1882. Fred had 11 children, 4 with Josephina and 7 with Emilie.

Clarence Radloff was born in Calmar to Emilie. Upon her death in 1901 Clarence continued to live with Fred, and his older siblings, until August 1904 when Fred placed Clarence and his two older brothers, Louis and Charles, in the St. Francis Catholic Orphanage in Dubuque, Iowa. All three are recorded in at least two different locations in the Iowa 1905 Census – in Calmar, Iowa with Fred and several of their siblings and at the St. Francis Catholic Orphanage. All three by the time they turned 13 were placed in foster homes to work the fields of the expanding farms in the Dubuque area.

At age 12, Clarence had been dismissed from the orphanage in Dubuque to Mr. Joseph Huber of Filmore, Iowa. Here he joined his older brother Charles, who had been dismissed to Mr. Huber two-years earlier about November of 1909. By 1915 Clarence had disappeared from the Huber residence and finally reappears again in 1917.

In the spring of 1917 America had entered into the war in Europe and likely Clarence had thoughts of getting away from the Huber farm and life in Fillmore, Iowa. Clarence saw the Army as the path he would take out of Iowa and so, in late November, Clarence travelled south 350-miles along the Mississippi River to the Jefferson Barracks just south of St. Louis, Missouri where on November 24, 1917, Clarence Radloff enlisted into the Regular Army. (Form No. 724-11/2, A.G.O., Record of Service)

Private Clarence J. Radloff was then assigned to either the 5th (I) Company, Coast Defenses of Mobile, which was first organized in October of 1917, or the 4th (I) Company, C. D. of Mobile, which first organized in August of 1917. In December of 1917 at the Jackson Barracks, located in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana, the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, CAC (Coast Artillery Corps). was formed. Both the 4th and 5th Companies of Mobile were combined and were re-designated into Battery B of the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, CAC. The newly formed Battery B on March 24th left Fort Morgan aboard several L&N railroad cars traveling along the A&WP Southern Railroad for Washington D.C. with a final destination of Camp Merritt, New Jersey to await sailing orders.

When the war broke out the U.S. Army was woefully unprepared. It lacked the heavy artillery in the field divisions to support infantry units. The only big gun capability existed in the Coast Artillery Corps, and so, it was to the men of the CAC that the Army looked to in order to form new artillery units to man large caliber guns. But the only problem with the solution was that in the American Army, although they had a force of men, they did not have one single piece of large caliber mobile artillery to take to France. All Coast Artillery units that went to France went over with only a rifle, they would get hand-me-down artillery pieces from our French and British friends. What a way to start a war was the likely thought of many of the men.

As ship transportation could be found the 1st TM Bn awaited their turn to go “over there” at Camp Merritt. The time came and on March 30th 1918, the 1st TM Bn boarded the British steamer SS Kursk and steamed out for Europe. The Kursk was a 450-foot twin-screw steel steamer built in 1910 by the Barclay, Curlet & Co. Ltd., in Glasgow for the Russian East Asiatic Steam Ship Co. Libau. But in December of 1917 she had been chartered by the Cunard Steam Ship Co. Ltd., Liverpool, to be used during the war to transport men and materials for the war effort.

Because of the German Spring 1918 offensive the British and French governments urgently wanted the American Army to get to the battlefields as expediently as possible, and so many of these ships used for transportation of the Americans increased their passenger loads by as much as 50-percent. They achieved this by ‘hot bunking’ which meant the men shared a bunk, when one was sleeping the other bunk-mate was awake and out of the bunk. The Kursk arrived in the crowded harbor of St. Nazaire, France on April 14, 1918 and the men of the 1st TM Bn left their ‘hot-bunks’ behind and began a march to Fort de La Bonnelle. This was the area that the American Army had set up a Trench Artillery School for training before the units went up to the front lines. The 1st TM Bn would be assigned to the French 240mm heavy trench mortars.

The distance from St. Nazaire to Fort de La Bonnelle was about 689-kilometers due east and the men hiked, took trains and rode in trucks to get there. Fort de La Bonnelle is a stone fortification that had been built by the French Army in 1869-1875 in order to guard the road to Dijon and control of the Langres plateau.

By July 19, 1918 the 1st TM Bn had fired their first rounds and remained engaged until November 11, 1918, participating in the battles of Aisne-Marne, St Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. While at Gern’gny l’Eveque they saw their first German airplane and during the battle at Belleau Wood they served as back up infantry in case of a counter-attack, which never occurred. Between battles they ‘hiked’ with full packs to their next locations, in one case over a hundred kilometers – sometimes at night without lights. A diary from a member of Battery “C” traced their movements around France and given the Battalion appeared to stay together, Clarence may have only been about 30 km from his brother Louis Radlof on the morning of November 11, 1918. (Louis Radlof was Killed in Action about 10:45 to 10:55 on the morning of November 11, 1918 while serving with Company K, 316th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division.)

But back home in Iowa in many local newspapers, casualty listings of those who were killed, wounded or missing in action were being printed almost daily. The Decorah Republican of Decorah, Iowa on Thursday November 14, 1918, just three-days after the war ended, published this small paragraph which would have a big impact on the friends and family of Pvt. Clarence Radloff. This was that paragraph:

“Sad news was received Friday morning the death of Walter, Dyrland, Clarence Radloff and John Genval, who are in France. It is understood that they died of wounds received in action.”

In an obvious mix-up of the Radloff brothers’ word is passed around the community that Clarence had been killed. For several months no one back home knew the real truth to the story.

Meanwhile back in France, Pvt. Clarence Radloff and the entire 1st TM Bn was aboard the battleship USS Virginia departing from Brest, France for New York and home on February 12, 1919. On the passenger manifest of the USS Virginia Clarence listed his brother Charles Radloff of Cascade, Iowa as the person to contact in case of an emergency. The Virginia arrived in New York on February 28, 1919. The 1st TM Bn then went to Camp Upton, New York and during the month of March they were demobilized, where Pvt. Clarence J. Radloff was Honorably Discharged from the army on March 17.

Clarence made his way back home after being discharged from the army and when he got home he gave his local community and family and friends quite a surprise when he showed up. On Page 4, Friday March 21, 1919 edtion of the Calmar Courier newspaper this was printed:

“Clarence Radloff who has been overseas in service returned one day the first of the week, a well and strong soldier, and gave his many friends here a very agreeable surprise. He was reported as having been killed in action last fall. His friends are surely pleased to see him return to Calmar a real live soldier.”

No doubt Clarence was likely just as surprised as his friends were when he made it back home. But within Clarence likely there was a bit of sadness as he was missing his brother who would never get the homecoming Clarence was receiving, a bittersweet day for sure.

After being discharged from the Army, Clarence found his way to Sanborn, Iowa to live with his older brother Gustav. Given that on the 1920 Federal Census Gustav lists his occupation as a railroad conductor and Clarence is listed as a switchman it would appear Gustav may have been able to help Clarence find a post war job.

By 1930 Clarence is listed as a patient at the Veterans Hospital at Fort Lyons, Colorado. This hospital was opened in 1906 by the U.S. Navy for treating sailors and marines suffering from tuberculosis. In 1922 the Veterans Bureau took over the operations and veterans from all services were authorized to be treated here. In the early 1930’s the hospital became a neuropsychiatry facility. It’s unknown why Clarence was admitted at the Fort Lyons hospital but it shows him as age 32 and single. Clarence J. Radloff would pass away on April 18, 1932 and was buried in the Roseland Cemetery in Sanborn, Iowa. Today he lies buried next to his brother Gustav who passed away in 1948.

Louis Radlof the brother who had paid with his life on the battlefield in France on November 11, 1918 should not be forgotten. And so, to tell the history of Clarence Radloff his brother Louis story should not be left off. At the age of 22-years on June 5, 1917 during the first call-up for the draft, Louis Radlof registers in Dubuque, Iowa. He at the time was single and was living on Route No. 1 in Dubuque and was farming for Frank Avenarius who was a truck farmer. Louis was a medium built man with brown eyes and dark brown hair.

By the summer of 1918 Louis was serving in the army. He was a Private serving in an infantry unit at Camp Gordon, Georgia located just outside of Augusta, Georgia. During the summer of 1918 many of the training camps throughout the States each month would be required to form what was called Automatic Replacement Drafts, or a detail of men pulled from that camp and were to be sent to France to be used as replacements. During August of 1918 Camp Gordon had the monthly draft formed and was sent to the east coast to await transportation to France. Pvt. Louis Radlof Service No. 4005514 was among the Camp Gordon August Automatic Replacement Draft No. 27. On September 1, 1918 they were aboard the SS Belgic and steamed out of New York Harbor. One will never know what his thoughts were the last time he saw Lady Liberty standing so tall in the harbor that day, but one thing was for certain, there would be a costly bill to pay for the Freedom she stood so tall for in New York Harbor, this would be the last time he would look upon the Country of his birth. Pvt. Louis Radlof would be asked to pay the bill that day on November 11.

Today in Romagne, France in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Plot E, Row 33, Grave 14, lies the honored spot where Pvt. Louis Radlof rests in peace, standing eternal guard duty for Freedom.


Pvt. Louis Radlof, KIA Nov. 11, 1918 K Company, 316th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France.	Clarence J. Radloff undated photo.

PFC William Edward Rogers, Buglar, Battery C, Service No. 726450

John Rogers contacted me about his grandfather, William E. Rogers who was in Battery C, 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C.

The book on the left belonged to PFC Rogers and was entitled "A New Course of French." Pvt. Rogers made some notations on the inside cover and it states: " W.E. Rogers Battery C, 1st Bn T.A. American E.F., France." Dated 18 May 1918.

The notation on the left states: " Left Fort de la Bonnelle on June 9, 1918. Bonnelle is near the old historic city of Langres (France)"

Private First Class Rogers is listed on the passenger manifest aboard the SS Kursk on the March 30, 1918 sailing to France and also on the manifest for the USS Virginia's sailing from Brest, France on February 12, 1919. On this manifest he is listed as Buglar. On the manifest PFC Rogers listed his father Joseph Rogers of Keyser, West Virginia as the person to contact in case of an emergency.

The panoramic photo of the entire 1st Trench Mortar Battalion above was provided John Rogers.

Pvt. Lynn Fred Simmons, Battery D

Jerry & Dottie Simmons Piechocki contacted me about Dottie's grandfather Lynn Fred Simmons who was a member of the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion during World War One. I had ask her if she would share with me the story of her grandfather and she was so kind to do so. This is Lynn's story.

Lynn Fred Simmons was born 11 October 1898 in Belding, Ionia Co., MI, to Ai M. Simmons and Lettie McElroy Simmons. He was their fourth surviving child. Eldest brother McElroy (Roy) Simmons served with the YMCA at Camp Kearny during the War, as he had very bad eyesight. Brother Lyle was in France with the Army, also. I do not yet know what unit he was with.

When Lynn returned to Belding, he went back to work in his father's broom factory. He was also a painter and an auto mechanic. Later, he served many years as custodian in the Belding elementary schools. He married Thelma Nostrandt of Honor, MI, in 1920, and became the father of Donald Lynn Simmons, my Dad. Lynn and Thelma divorced in 1928. Lynn later married Anna Hull, but they had no more children. Other than his time in France, Lynn lived his entire life in Belding, passing away in April of 1982. He is buried in River Ridge Cemetery, Belding, Michigan.

Lynn came from a long line of patriots. His grandfather Benjamin Wheeler Simmons was with the 146th New York and saw action in several of the severest battles of the Civil War. Benjamin was shot through the wrist during the siege of Petersburg and died of his wounds in Washington, D.C., in 1864. Benjamin's grandfathers had both served in the Revolution. Lynn's son, my father Donald, was in the Army Air Corps during WWII, serving on Okinawa. Now my son, Nathan, is in the Army Intelligence Division, currently learning Arabic at the Language Institute.

Pvt. Simmons 635609, enlisted into the Regular Army at the Columbus Barracks, Ohio on January 30, 1918 at the tender young age of 19. His occupation prior to enlistment was as a mechanic and his home was at 121 Isabelle Street in Belding, Michigan. Pvt. Simmons first unit was with the 2nd Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C. (2nd TM Bn). This was known as it states this on his discharge papers that he was with the 2nd TM Bn and sailed to France on May 28, 1918. On a list of ship sailing listed by date that I have it states that the 2nd TM Bn sailed from Port of Embarkation Hoboken, New Jersey on May 29, 1918 with 20 Officers and 886 enlisted men aboard the Shire Line Steamer HMS CARDIGANSHIRE. Also on the same ship were 32 officers and 726 enlisted men of HQ CO, Supply CO, Batteries E and F of the 309th Field Artillery, 78th Division. The CARDIGANSHIRE arrived overseas on 12 June 1918. While with the 2nd TM Bn Pvt. Simmons was in Battery D.

At some point Pvt. Simmons was transferred to the 1st TM Bn, Battery D. It is known that he was with Battery D, 1st TM Bn on 26th September 1918 as on his discharge papers it does state that he participated in the Opening of the Muese-Argonne Offensive actions on 26-30 September (This probably refers to the Thiaucourt sector, France: Batteries C and D, 17 Septembcr-20 October 1918). And participated with Battery D, 1st TM Bn in actions around the Meuse River on 31 October-7 November 1918. Pvt. Simmons returned to the States with Battery D, 1st TM Bn. The Battalion Left France on 12 February aboard the US Battleship USS VIRGINIA and arrived back to the States at Newport News, VA on February 28th, 1919 and were being demobilized during March of 1919 at Camp Upton, NY. It was noted by Dottie Piechocki that her grandfather Pvt. Simmons along with several others were quarantined with scarlet fever for 2 weeks and couldn't leave the ship after they had reached port at Newport News. Pvt. Simmons was discharged on 16 April 1919. On the left is

Pvt. Simmons WWI Victory Medal with two bars. Top bar is for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the bottom bar is for the Defensive Sector.

Pvt. Lynn F. Simmons

By F. C. Tenney, formerly 1st Lt., 103rd Trench Mortar Battery and Captain C. A., 1st Trench Mortar Battalion.

The ____ T. M. B. was in echelon eight kilometers behind the line, hoping for another chance to give "Jerry" a taste of the 6-inch bomb. Rumors had filtered back that the ___ Infantry had reached the top of a commanding ridge but had there been hindered in their progress by concentrated machine gun nests in the woods below. An attempt had been made on the two previous days to advance behind a smoke and thermite screen laid down by a gas and flame company of Engineers, but without success.

At ten thirty a runner brought a message to the P. C. directing that the C.O. and two lieutenants report at once to the Division Headquarters, which was located in a secluded little village three kilometers behind the point of contact. It looked as though the chance so keenly awaited had come, so no time was lost in starting for the Division P.C. in the light Dodge truck used by the C.O., in lieu of other transportation.

The road led past the munitions dump, where it was found that no bombs were available, so word was sent back to the echelon to send trucks back to the previous position to bring up the bombs left behind. With good luck one trip could be made by midnight.

From the munitions dump only one road led forward, a road badly congested by traffic of all sorts, a road made almost impassable by the perversity of French camion drivers whose ambition in life seemed to be to jam traffic. M. P.'s were everywhere, darting in and out among the trucks and wagons, and notwithstanding the aid of over-zealous officers a passage was finally opened up.

The miniature chateau used by the General as Headquarters was readied a little after twelve, but the Staff was lunching. An hour later the three officers entered the operations room where they were greeted by:

"Trench Mortar Battery? Have you completed your reconnaissance?" from the General.

"No, Sir," replied the Captain, "we were directed to report to you, Sir."

The General pointed to a map upon the table.

"The Infantry are there on that ridge; machine guns below are holding them up. Go up, make your reconnaissance so as to put in twelve guns with two hundred bombs each, and be ready to fire at daylight. That road is under direct observation and machine gun fire, so find a good way to get in."

"That is impossible, General," spoke up a Lieutenant, a man of marked incentive and energy.

"I don’t like that word impossible," flared the General. "Where is Captain ___"

"Here, Sir," meekly replied the Captain, who had remained in the background.

"Well, hurry up, now, don’t waste any more time, make your reconnaissance so as to put in six guns, at least, if you can’t get twelve in and report when you are ready; that’s all."

It meant three to four days’ work to be done within ten hours of darkness, with the only access to the position by a road, enfiladed for two kilometers by hostile machine guns and artillery.

The officers went as far as the trucks were allowed by daylight, where the truck was left by the side of the road, camouflaged by branches, and the officers proceeded on foot, directed by a series of runners, who bobbed out of their little holes in the ground like field rats, to Brigade P. C.

The path led by some shacks on the side of a hill, where a machinegun company was in reserve. That company had received a direct hit the night before, resulting in heavy casualties, and was down in the mouth. When they heard that a Trench Mortar Battery was to come in, the C. O. remarked:

"You'll draw their fire, and we will get Hell, now."

The Infantry Commander sat at his desk in an abandoned German recreation hut, on a densely wooded knoll. With his chin on his chest, his arms stretched out before him, calling on lhs reserve strength to keep awake after three days and nights of effort, he was giving instructions to his company commanders for another effort to be made that afternoon, again assisted by a smoke screen. He explained the situation to the T. M. B. officers, but made it plain that they were not wanted, as they would only draw fire on his own men, who had already suffered severely, and, anyway, they would "get those damned machine guns down in the cemetery," in the pocket below the hill, that afternoon.

The hour for that attack arrived, but, unfortunately, the smoke bombs did not, so there was still work for the un-welcomed trench mortars, if it would be physically possible to locate the right position and get the guns and bombs in before daylight.

Unfortunately, the Infantry C. O. could give very little information as to just the point he wanted cleaned out, so the three officers started out to find a spot that could be readied with as little carrying of the heavy platforms as possible, and yet be within range of the place where the Boche were holding up the Infantry. Daylight was gone by the time the position was chosen on the side of the ridge where there would be defilade from direct machine gun fire, but not from indirect and "Minnie" fire, as was evident when the data was being secured.

Before returning to the echelon the officers hunted up the commander of the adjoining brigade so that liaison might be secured. His men were resting in a shallow, sandy gully, through which a bit of narrow gauge led to an abandoned German engineer dump. A low hedge of bushes topped the slope, but offered no over-head protection. The men had dug nests in the ground, which they covered over with strips of corrugated iron provided by the Boche. A few minutes before the T. M. officers arrived a German shell got five of them, their mangled bodies still lying about the shell hole. The C.O. was found at the end of a tunnel dugout, lately occupied by the Germans. The blue light from a Hun acetylene lamp exposed his haggard face and troubled eyes, which seemed on the verge of tears as he told how his men had suffered. He pointed to a rip in his blouse sleeve, where a splinter of the last shell grazed him as he had made his rounds.

The return to the echelon was even slower, as every movable object, including whippets, seemed to be going forward, against which the little truck had to buffet its way. It was midnight when they arrived at their destination, only to find a message stating that "H" hour would be at three hours following.

A hurried trip on foot, it now being impossible to move a car against the tide of trucks, was made to the Artillery Brigade Headquarters, located in a vaulted wine cellar of a house mowed down by shell fire in the town of V____, where the conditions were explained to the General. He had a fair knowledge of trench mortar equipment, its possibilities and limitations as he was ably advised by a French Lieutenant; and realizing that the T. M. Lieutenant's "impossible sir," given earlier in the day to the Division Commander was the truth, sent the three officers off to bed, after telling them that a battery of 75's had been moved up on the flank, and would clean out the machine guns.

The three officers were awakened at daylight by the barrage being laid down, and judged by its intensity that their chance was being swept away with it. They had almost believed the General, when he had told them, a few hours earlier, that the Field Artillery could do the work that the trench mortars should have done.

Before noon word arrived that the Infantry had not advanced, the machine guns still holding them up, and that the trench mortars were to go in that night to prepare the way for another attempt the following morning.

Three hundred and twenty bombs had, in the meantime, been brought up from the old dump. These were started forward up the road, while in other trucks the equipment for four mortars, with their personnel, followed to the point where motor transportation stopped until dark. From there they had to proceed under cover of darkness up the exposed road, and finally to turn off at the foot of the ridge, so as to go as near as possible to the positions picked. Lieutenant "Impossible Sir" was in command of the platoon. It seemed like an impossible proposition as the steel trucks went jolting over the shell-ridden road with a rattling and banging which the Boche must have heard, unless they were deaf. Fortunately the Boche shells were falling on both sides of the road, first to the right and then to the left.

Not a truck was hit. At last they all arrived, were unloaded and started back. Then the real task commenced: that of assembling the platforms in the darkness of an inky black night, and light could not be used.

The platforms had been made hurriedly at an Engineer dump, the bolts holes were not true, so the bolts had to be driven with sledgehammers. Each blow of the sledge was answered by the "put-put-put" of a machinegun, or the bark of a "Minnie" searching them. That couldn't continue, or the position would be discovered, so the men stood with poised sledges, waiting for the crash of a gun to muffle their blows. Had these men known of the push cart modification, with reinforced steel bases, used at the "Center," they would have envied the batteries in training.

At two o'clock the Captain and the other Lieutenant started up the road with the B. C. detail. On reaching the exposed road they strung out in a single column, at safe intervals. A sound like swarming bees was ever in their ears, but they knew too well the sound of passing machine gun bullets to linger there. Had that not been enough in itself to hurry their steps, the "whiz-crump" of seventy-sevens would certainly have done so. At each whiz they dropped in their tracks; after the crump, the Lieutenant in the lead called to the man in the rear, and on receiving the answering "ok" resumed the double-time. When they reached the positions they found that the impossible had been accomplished: the mortars were in place and ammunition ready.

Shortly before "H" hour, a Lieutenant with a runner reported to the Infantry P. C. to which a phone line connecting the P. C. and the battery had been stretched. This P. C. was a tunnel dugout leading into the side of the hill, with a room opening off of it that had been fitted up as a dressing station, and abandoned, with a complete outfit of German surgical instruments. The passage was crowded with sleeping men, but at the further end candle light exposed iron cots for the officers, a telephone switchboard and a curtain, beyond which the Major sat at a table studying a map showing the German positions and the objective for the coming shoot.

The firing data had been figured from the map, but, as it was known that the maps were inaccurate, the Battery Commander desired to secure direct observation, if possible. The Infantry C. O. directed one of his runners to take the Lieutenant, with his runner, to their most advanced machine gun position. This position was on the extreme edge of the ridge, overlooking the German positions below, which was then obscured by mist and fog. While the Lieutenant was talking to the machine gunner a shell from our lines fell short of the German lines. On questioning the runner, he said that shells had been falling short since daybreak and that it was probably those damned trench mortars.

Because of the heavy fog, the Lieutenant could not pick up the burst of the trench mortar bombs; so he lay flat on his back hoping to catch their trajectory and thus check the direction. No sooner had he done so than a tree nearby was cut off as clean as though cut by a razor. From the fall of the leaves it was evident that the shell, probably a 75, was from our own lines. A moment later another shell burst on impact ten feet away. These shorts so demoralized the machine gunners that they took cover.

The Lieutenant sent his runner back to their position to check their data, and he himself returned to the Infantry P. C. to report that some battery was shooting short.

The Field Artillery liaison officer called up all his batteries to check data, but could find no errors. The trench mortars were then blamed for the shorts, notwithstanding the emphatic denials of the T. M. Lieutenant. In order to vindicate his battery he gave them "Cease Firing" for five minutes. During these five minutes shells continued to fall short.

Shortly afterwards a French battery was located on the ridge in the rear, who had assigned to them the top of the Chin Tondo ridge as their target. They were told of the error, and ceased fire. The T. M. Battery resumed fire, continuing for a half hour, when word was received that the Germans were pulling out, and that the Infantry would go over. The gunners stood by the mortars until word came back that the Germans were on the run and out of range.

The vision of "beaucoup" souvenirs caused the men to follow after. They not only found the souvenirs: belt buckles, pistols, etc., but also the demolition caused by the bombs.

They finally came back a happy lot, for the "impossible" had been accomplished-not with twelve mortars and twenty-four hundred bombs, but with two mortars and two hundred and sixty bombs.

Special Note about Captain F. C. Tenney. Captain Frank C. Tenney was the commanding officer of Battery D of the 1st TM Bn at the end of the war. Captain Tenney is listed on the passenger manifest aboard the USS Virginia for the return trip home on February 12, 1919.

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A dashing young 19 year old Lynn Fred Simmons	Pvt. Lynn F. Simmons

The picture captioned "Lynn Simmons Trio" is of my Grandpa on the left, with his buddies Harmon W. Palmatier (middle) and Earl C. Cowles (right). Grandpa mentions in one of his letters that he and Harmon are "still together" but that Earl is about 20 miles from them (in France). The photo studio on the back of this picture says Delaware City, Delaware.	This photo is my grandpa Lynn Simmons with the motorcyle he bought after he came home. He has my grandma Thelma Nostrandt, in the sidecar. She was from Honor, in Benzie County Michigan. He used to drive her (and my infant father) up there in this motorcyle to visit her family. I do not know whether it was exactly like the ones he said he drove in France, but it must have been enough like them that he wanted it.

The History
of the
1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C.
During WWI

The following list are the movements of Battery C, 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, CAC

Muster of the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion

Private 1st Class Robert W. Weidgenant, Battery B

Bugler Edward Britton Carroll, Battery B

Pvt. Clarence J. Radloff, Service No. 724994 Battery B

PFC William Edward Rogers, Buglar, Battery C, Service No. 726450

Pvt. Lynn Fred Simmons, Battery D

Captain Horace Baker, Battery D

"Impossible, Sir"

A Censored Report of an Operation in the Argonne by one who was there.

The History of the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C. During WWI

The following list are the movements of Battery C, 1st Trench Mortar Battalion, CAC

Muster of the 1st Trench Mortar Battalion

Private 1st Class Robert W. Weidgenant, Battery B

Bugler Edward Britton Carroll, Battery B

Pvt. Clarence J. Radloff, Service No. 724994 Battery B

PFC William Edward Rogers, Buglar, Battery C, Service No. 726450

Pvt. Lynn Fred Simmons, Battery D

Captain Horace Baker, Battery D

"Impossible, Sir"

A Censored Report of an Operation in the Argonne by one who was there.

The History
of the
1st Trench Mortar Battalion, C.A.C.
During WWI