Show Cae merai 1616 ver shiners of the A E F Woy tight 1931 to all 11 II countries countr ln bi b th tb 0 notta I 1 alliance AU lince wort world a bi rights reserved ter ved inc including ludina the scandinavian IM la in whole or la in pr part prohibited john J service pershing inq N 4 fal M tp W az 7 7 if I 1 N AAM 11 4 X lord mayor of london welcoming general pershing to british soil CHAPTER IV continued we into liverpool june 8 A cordial reception awaited us its with a guard of lionor bonor fruin from the etoyal welsh fu fusi liers this selection had a sentimental signi significance fleance in chrt tile the regiment not only fuglio against us at bunker banker hill but fought beside us during the boxer rebellion ln in chinat As we stepped off the gangplank the blind band played the star spangled banner to welcome us this being the first time in history that an american army anny ever was received officially in england A royal coach attached to a special train took our party to london at euston easton station we were welcomed by lord derby secretary of state for war field Al marshal arshal sir john french gen lord bloof e walter nines hines page the american ambassador admiral williams S sims and many other british and american Americ nn king george not optimistic I 1 was received by king george at buckingham palace june 9 ills majesty was iq hi the uniform of a field marshal and he talked with me in democratic fashion for a few minutes before the other senior members of my staff were presented the king expressed his pleasure that america had come into the war and dwelt upon the fact that anglo saxon people wore were united at last in a common cause the ne anglo saxon race must save civilization he added certainly tits his majesty did not appear optimistic over the outlook and asked me numerous questions about americas preparation for war leaving the palace we went to our embassy and during an informal talk mr bir page remarked how happy lie was that america amelca was at last in the war and added now I 1 am able to hold up my head and look people squarely in the eye through hla his service as ambassador lie wan beloved and honored by the british people who admired ills his virile personality but many americans did not approve of his rather apologetic attitude toward his own country prior to our entry into the war in aid of the allies admiral sims not satisfied I 1 had a talk with admiral sims who w was as not in personal command of our fleet serving with the british navy but remained in london with an office at our embassy and directed the movements of our naval vessels especially destroyers from there lie he was not satisfied with tile the support given him from home and complained that the navy department had not bojt sent all the destroyers asked for 11 he e said the department seemed to fear attacks along our coast and did not realize aize the danger to the cause in the enormous destruction of merchant shipping going on in european waters the admirals report of these losses was nothing short of startling but lie he thought they might be checked if he could have a sufficient number of 0 destroyers st without more of tills this class of vessels sims was not sanguine over the prospects of protecting our transports however he be made it clear that every possible effort would be made to that end CHAPTER V I 1 was a guest at luncheon at buckingham palace june 11 1917 with the american ambassador walter nines hines page and urs mrs page the ling king the queen and princess mary were present there was an air of charm and simplicity at the palace that permitted a freedom and intimacy in the conversation the plain fare was quite in keeping with the food situation throughout england after luncheon the king the ambassador and I 1 stood near a window overlooking the garden which na as his majesty explained instead of growing flowers was producing potatoes the ling king told of the laisers kaisers kai kal sers visit to lon don a few years before and how he had brought his bis chief of secret service along and put him up at one of the we hot hotels Is to learn all be could while the kalser kaiser himself was a guest at buckingham palace ills his majesty spoke bitterly of the inhumanity ot of the germans dwelling especially on the U ight bombing of london pointing to the beautiful statue of queen victoria just outside tile the window the king suddenly ex claimed the kaiser god danin him has even tried to destroy the statue of his own grandmother for a moment I 1 was surprised at ills his words but I 1 quickly realized that it was a solemn expression of profound indignation and not profanity calls calla on chief of staff after leaving the palace I 1 called on gen sir william robertson chief of the imperial general staff ile he wits was a rugged heavyset heavy set blunt soldier of scotch descent whose record in the army had been exceptional in that lie he had risen from the grade of private to his then high position As lie he sipped his tea I 1 explained our plan for the organization of our armies by using the small regular force and the national guard as a nucleus As the british themselves had find gone through the same experience two years before I 1 stressed the fact that it would take considerable time like all the british officials he was much in favor of having our forces serve with or near thell shelb own ile he pointed out that we were both anglo saxons spoke the same language and gave other reasons to support his views it seemed necessary to explain in detail that us as the american navy was working with the british navy we should probably plan to place our army beside the french if there was to be tiny any preference it appeared logic logical iiI that we should do this as aa we were to operate on french sol soil and use french ports railways and material tile the main thing I 1 went on to say was to form our own army is as soon its as possible for use wherever it seemed best no british aid in shipping I 1 emphasized our lack of tonnage and told him film that we must have additional dit ional shipping it if we were to bring over an army worth while but his reaction to tills this was not encouraging ile he said lie he thought that it was entirely out of the question for them to provide us with any british shipping as they were already in sore straits to find vessels for their own national necessities I 1 called on mr david lloyd george the prime minister he went right to the point and asked when troops would be organized and trained and the numbers we expected to send over ile he was cordial enough and expressed a desire to assist us ug in every possible manner but when I 1 stressed our need of assistance to bring over our troops he did not seem to be particularly interested te and gave little hope that the british would be able to furnish us any shipping whatever under the circumstances th the e apparent unconcern of the british as aa to our need of shipping Is not difficult to understand they were seriously alarmed regarding their own food situation it seemed to me however that they had allowed their pessimism to carry them too far in the direction of hopelessness at the moment they could see no relief for the future and no prospect of aiding us in tonnage great ovation in france after leave taking calls and durner ous informal visits conferring with various leaders and making one trip to a training camp our party left june 13 for folkestone Folk estone and france at boulogne we again received an impressive welcome and a few hours later we were in parts paris the officials who met us at the station included M paul PaIn leve m minister in of war blar marshal joseph joffre rene vivian major general foch then chief of stair staff and united states ambassador william G sharp there were many others the station was packed and the atmosphere seemed electrical with pent up enthusiasm outside dense masses lined the boulevards an and d filled failed the squares along the route to our hotel the cryllon crillon Crl Cr llon illon cheers and tears mingled as men and women shouted acclaim women climbed into our carriages scream screaming ing live lamerique and threw flowers until we were burled i it was said that never before in 1 the history of paris lind there been such till mi outpouring of people I 1 was to sen see its parallel when tile the armistice was signed anti on two other occasions once when president wilson arrived and later inter when the victory ratio 0 took place july 11 14 1019 at napoleons Nap oleona tomb although I 1 was very anxious to get to work it was necessary for me to ninke make certain official calls and attend a few entertainments that hit been pIn planned tined for us its the french suggested that we should first ars go to 0 o visit napoleons po leo leons its tomb lu in les wo we were taken down to tile the crypt whore where I 1 was liander the great key and was asked to unlock tile the heavy wrought wro light iron entrance door we were shown uniforms and the lie baton that flint belonged to napoleon and then ills sword our veteran escort reverently removed the sword from the case anti and offered it to tile me as if to transmit some of the genius of the great captain so go much of french sentiment abid I 1 d tradition aro are associated with tills tomb botill and its treasures tr ensures that every one walo visits there with frenchmen must share shard their feeling of profound emotion tills this incident more than any other connected with my reception impressed imme tile me with the martial spirit of tho the french people finds reserved I 1 called next to pay my respects to president Vol neRre and to present greetings from president wilson allson irhe the french people are very happy lie he said that america to Is in tile the war your coming la Is a great satisfaction to us ue he inquired generally about abou t our plans seeking as they all did some assurance that we should soon be in the trenches his attitude was rather formal and reserved but he at once impressed tile me us its a man of ability anti and force petain most agreeable A visit to french general headquarters at was made primarily to meet general retain and the cers cera of ills hla stair staff retain petain Is above medium height and weight ue he wore a full mustache slightly gray and was then about sixty he has a kindly and Is most agreeable but not especially talkative ills keen sense of humor became apparent from the jokes lie he told tit at the expense of some bottle of tits his staff our conversation after luncheon was almost entirely on military affairs including americas probable part in tile the war which as matters stood gave tittle little promise of becoming effective until the following spring sly my of petain was favorable and it remained unchanged throughout the war our friendship which I 1 highly treasure kind bad its beginning at this meeting at the luncheon there were several general officers among whom was waa maj gen Franc franchet liet dEs perey then in command of a group of armies under tinder retain lie he was considered one of tho the ablest and most aggressive officers in the french army and was very popular with ills his men As we wished to get a glimpse of the actual front ho he took us by motor as near as possible without drawing th the tire of the eremya air artillery tillery although at that time aime there was little activity on that part of the front the point of observation that we reached was opposite st quentin Quent ln which was then within the lines and which was later near the center of the great german drive of 1018 1918 against the british on the return trip the chauffeur after being cautioned several times continued to drive at a somewhat dan 5 4 x 7 1 21 general pershing greeted on landing at boulogne berous speed which so exasperated the general that he finally threatened the chauffeur with violence e whereupon the speed was greatly reduced CHAPTER VI As soon as the formalities incident to our arrival in parts were over and I 1 made them brief as possible we got down to work as it was urgent that we should begin at once to lay the foundation for the development md employment of the american army to expedite handling the many ques dons that must arise especially in our relations with the french war office which controlled practically all industrial facilities and transportation it was waa war AlIn minister fister paul PaIn leves idea that there should be a group of french freach officers placed at our disposal bl marshal arshal joffre was designated as head of this group mie instructions received by marshal satire from the minister of war were transmitted to me in a polite note naturally it was pleasing pleading to think of being associated with marshal joffre but I 1 thought the adoption of the plan at this time would only add an extra channel through which requests must pass and that this would complicate rather thun than simplify matters tuu bu scheme indicated that a sort of tutelage was contemplated which alsa it objectionable in my opinion it would be in more ore expeditious to utilize tile french cers on duty at my headquarters anti dov develop eloi a workable system through exper experience lence I 1 explained my views lewa to XI 11 Palti parnlee leve and readily arranged for the olli cers of our supply department to confer directly with tile tho chiefs of the co responding bureaus of tile lie french organization hut but tills wan wag only lie he beginning and we soon found that we had much to learn of tile the dilli ulyles of dealing with french bu bit beaus either directly or indirectly there wits was no question that under tile the great enthusiasm the afternoon of if 0 our ur arrival there existed serious despondency 1 spon dency among all classes the terrible strain of the previous years of continuous fighting with heavy losses was telling against both tile the french aud and tile the british temporary buccos in dlf II lerent Terent th theaters enters of war lind find brought small comforts followed ns as they hit ltd been all too frequently by disastrous reverses with actual conditions in mind one could fully understand why the allies had bud be been en so I 1 insistent that it a contingent of american troops be immediately sent to france to bolster their morale while not yot prepared to do any fighting we could and did furnish men for service behind the lines we also provided raw material and certain manufactured supplies as rapidly an aa possible and financial aid without stint U 8 inaction shows show effect the more serious tile situation in france the more deplorable the loss loas of time by our inaction nt at home appeared it Is true that A committee nt at tile the war college in february had find presented a brief outline report on tits the organization of a limited force yet no comprehensive general plan had been considered for the formation or employment of such a force much less for a larger one it was finally decided we should uso use the ports of bordeaux and st alre it was waa likewise estimated that the rail lines lending leading to the lorraine Lorr alne sector with collateral routes available could be improved to meet our needs then it became necessary to determine the sector where our forces fighting as a unit would be most effective after lengthy study and consultation with allied leaders it was logical to conclude that from the purely military standpoint the employment of the american armies on tile the lorraine front would prove prove the most in conference with general petit retain I 1 n who had reached the same conclusion tile the deeldon was made accordingly it was necessary to have a aar sector in mind to plan definitely and construct requisite rail and distributing facilities it was tentatively understood between general petain and myself that tile the american sector should include the st alphiel salient I 1 suggested that the first american |