Show WM Cae beneral POr gorshing shing IS fi s il i l i A T T astorg 0 of ane the A E af F F v right 1931 in all 11 II countries 1 amk he nona amer alliance arld U q Cie beneral the th haaf ed la in whole or la in put past john J service RO N p W A lord mayor of london welcoming general pershing to british sol soil CHAPTER IV continued we steamed into liverpool june junea 8 A cordial reception awaited us with a guard of honor bonor from the royal welsh fu fusi liers this selection had bad a sentimental significance in that the reg regiment not only fought against IA us at bunker hill but bui fought beside us during the boxer rebellion in chinat As we stepped off the 04 jang gangplank plank the band played the star spangled banner to we welcome lc us this being the first time ln in history that an american army ever was received officially in england A royal coach attached attach edio to a special train took our party to london at elision station we were welcomed bof by lord derby secretary of state for warf war field marshal sir john french gen lord brooki brool e walter nines lines page the american ambassador admiral williams S aln and ninny many other british and american officials king george not optimistic I 1 was received by king george at buckingham palace june 9 his majesty was in the uniform of a field mar marshal and he talked with me in democratic fashion tor for a few minutes before the other senior members of my staff were ware presented thi the king expressed his f pleasure that america had ame come into the war and dwelt upon the fact that anglo saxon people were united butted at last insa in a common cause the anglo saxon race must saye civilization he added Ceita certainly his majesty did not appear optimistic over the outlook and asked me numerous quest questions lons about americas preparation for war leaving the palace we went to our oui embassy and during an informal talk mr page remarked how happy he was that america was at last in the war and ind added now I 1 am able to hold up my head and look p people squarely in the eye through his service lea as 8 ambassador he wan beloved and honored by the british people who admired his virile personality but many americans did not approve of hla his rather apology apologetic ale 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 was not in personal command olour of our fleet beet serving with the british navy but remained in london with an office at our embassy and directed the movements of our naval vessels especially des destroyers broyers tr from the there re he was not satisfied with the support given him from home and complained that the 06 navy bavy department had not sent till all the deit destroyers asked for ile he said the department seemed to fear ott attacks cbs along our coast and did not dot re allethe danger to the cau cause e in the enormous destruction of merchant shipping going on in european waters i the ad admirals report ot of these lesseg es was waa nothing short of startling but he thought they might be checked it if he be could have a sufficient number oade Bt st without more of this class of vessels sims was not sanguine over the prospects of protect protecting ing our transports Is however ke he 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 1017 with the american ambassador walter hines page and mrs page the king the queen and princess mary were present there was an air of charm and simplicity simplicia at tle the palace that permitted a freedom and intimacy in the conversation the plain fare are wai was qulie quite in 16 k keeping with the food situation throughout england after efte luncheon the king the ambassador and I 1 stood near overlooking the garden garde n which as hisman his majesty explained instead of growing eroding 31 1 was producing potatoes the king told of the kalser kai sers s visit to I london on a few years before und and ho how W he fie had brought his chief of secret service ice along and put him up uli at one of the hotels to le learn arnall all he could while the kaiser himself was a guest at buckingham palace H his Is majesty spoke bittell bitterly y of bf the inhumanity of the germans dwelling especially on the alett of t 5 i aw london pointing to the beautiful statue of queen victoria just outside the window the ling king suddenly exclaimed the kaiser god damn him has even tried to destroy the statue of disown ilia own grandmother for a moment I 1 was was surprised at his words but I 1 quickly realized that it was a solemn expression of pro found indignation and not profanity calls calli on chief of staff after leaving the palace pala ceI I 1 cal called callejon ledon on gen sir william robertson bertson Bo chief of the imperial generali general staff taff he was a rugged heavyset heavy set blunt soldier of scotch scotchy 1 descent whose record in the army had bad been exceptional in that he had bad risen from the grade of private to bis libi then Alien high position As he sipped fistea his tea Il I 1 explained our plou plau forthe fur the organization of our armies by using the small reg regular filar force and the national guardas Gu guard guardao ardas as a nucleus As the british themselves had bad gone through the same experience two years before I 1 stressed the fact that thai it would take considerable time jake like all the british officials helas he was much in favoron favor favo of having our forces ser serve v e with tor or near th their air own he pointed out that bat we ive were both anglo saxons spoke the sande same langu language aget and gave other reasons to support his bis views it seemed necessary to explain in detail that us as the american navy was working with the british navy i f we should probably plan to place placa our army beside the french it if there w was as to be any preference it appen appeared red logical that we should do this as we were to operate on french soil and we use french ports railways and material the main thing I 1 wenton went on to say was to form our own army as soon as pos possible for use wherever it seemed best no british aid in shipping 1 4 I 1 emphasized our lack of tonnage and told him that wo we must have ad dit ional shipping if we were to bring over an army arm worth while bill his reaction aati a n to this was waa not encouraging he said he thought that it was entirely out of the question tor worthem them wpm to provide us with any british shipping as they were already in sore straits to find vessels for their own national necessities I 1 cal called callejon ledon on mr david lloyd george the he went right to the point and asked when n troops would be organized and trained and t the he numbers we expected to send over ue he was cord cordial lal enough and exar expressed essed a desire to 16 assist us in every possible manner but when I 1 stressed our need tot of assistance to bring over our troops he did not seem to bei be particularly interested te and gave little hope that the british would be ba able to furnish us any shipping ship pink whatever under the circumstances the apparent unconcern unconcern of the british as to our need of shipping is not difficult i to understand they were gerlous seriously ly alarmed regarding their own food situation it seemed to me however that they had allowed their pessimism to carry them too tar far in the direction ot bf hopelessness at the moment they could sie see no relief for the future and no DO prospect of aiding us in to tonnage great ovation in france after leave taking calls and numer aumer ous oua informal visits conferring with various leaders and making one trip to a training frat ning camp our party left june 13 for folk folkestone estone and france at boulogne we again received an all impress welcome and a few hours later w we were in paris the officials who met us at the station included M paul minister of war marshal joseph joffre rene vivian major general gheral foch then chief of and united states ambassador william G sharp there were many others the station was packed and the atmosphere seemed electrical elec with pent up enthuse enthusiasm a sm outside dense masses lined the boulevards and squares along the route to ours our hotel the cryllon crillon Crl Cr llon illon cheers and tears mingled as men and women shouted shoil led acclaim women climbed into our carriages car caff inges screaming ilive V Amerl qui and threw f flowers I 1 owe r a until we were burled it was said that never before bito re in S the history of 0 paris carls had there been such an outpouring of people I 1 was to see its parallel when the armistice was and on two other occasions once when president allson Wil sonar ar rived and later when the victory parade took place july 14 1019 1910 at napoleons tomb although I 1 was very anxious to get to work it was necessary necessary for me n ae to matte make certain official al calls and a attend a few I 1 lam ants that had been planned forus the french suggested that we should fir first go to visit napoleons po leons gomban corob in les In we were taken down io to the crypt where I 1 was handed the great key and was asked to unlock tbt th heavy wrought iron ent entrance rahce door we were shown uniforms and the baton that belonged to napoleon and then his sword our veteran escort reverently removed the sword from the case find and off offered ered it to me as if to transmit some of the genius of the great captain so much of french sentiment and tradition are associated with tills this tomb and its treasures that every one who visits there with frenchmen roust must share their feeling of profound emotion this incident more than any other connected with ty my reception impressed pressed me with the martial spirit of the french people finds poincare reser reserved ve d I 1 called next to pay my respects to president Pol and to present greetings from president wilson the french people are very happy he said that america Is in the war your coming Is a tion alon to vs us 0 he inquired generally about our plans seeking as they all did some assurance that we should soon be in the trenches his attitude was rather tot formal nini and reserved but he be a at t once impressed me as a man of ability and force petain most agreeable A visit to french general headquarters at was made primarily to meet general retain and the oell cers of his staff retain Is above medium height and weight he wor wore e a full mustache slightly gr gray ny and was then about sixty he has a kindly and Is most agreeable but not inot especially talkative tive his keen heen sense of humor became ep apparent parent from the jokes lie told at the expense of some of his hisT staff our conversation after luncheon was almost entirely on military affairs including americas probable part in the war which ft alch as matters stood pave little littie pro promise nilse of becoming effective until the following spring I 1 my impression of petain was nas favorable and it remained unchanged throughout the war our friendship which I 1 highly treasure had bad its beginning at this meeting at al the luncheon there were several general officers among whom was madgen MaJ gen Fr franchet auchet dRs dEs perey then in coin command rland of a g group of armies under petain he was considered dered one of ohp ablest and most aggressive in the i french army and was very popular with hla his men As we wished to get a glimpse of the actual front he took us by motor as near as possible without drawing thie the fire of the artillery although at that time there was little activity on that part ot of the front the point of observation that we reached was opposite st quentin quentan ln which was then within the lines and which was later near the center of t the he great german drive of 1918 against the british british 1 on the return trip the chauffeur chaulT eur niter after being cautioned se several veral times continued to drive at a somewhat dan tu tutelage was contemplated which abill made it objectionable in my opinion it would be more r expeditious to utilize the french officers on duty at my headquarters and develop a workable system through experience I 1 explained my views to 11 Pain leve and readily arranged for the officers of our supply department to confer directly with the chiefs of the co responding bureaus of af the french organization but this was only the beginning and abd we soon found that we h had i nd much to learn of the difficulties of dealing with french bureaus either directly or indirectly there was no question that under the great e enthusiasm i n thu the afternoon of at our arrive there existed serious despondency 9 spon dency among all classes the terrible r 1 file strain of the previous y years ea ra of continuous fighting with heavy losses was telling against both the brench french and the british temporary success in different theaters of war tied had brought small comforts followed a aa 3 they had been nil all too frequently by disastrous reverses with willi actual conditions in mind mand one could coid fully understand why the allies had been so insistent insisted i nt that a contingent of 0 f american troops be immediately sent to france to td bolster their morale while n not ot yet prepared to do any fighting we could and did furnish men for service behind the lines we at also so provided raw material and certain manufactured supplies as rapidly its ai possible and financial aid without stint U 8 inaction sho show wt effect the more the situation in F france rane e the more deplorable the loss of time by our inaction at home ap peered it Is estrue true that a committee at the war college chege in february had presented a brief outline report on the organization of a limited force yet no comprehensive general plan had been considered for the form formation aaion orem t such a force much less for a larger one it was finally decided we should use the ports parts of bordeaux and st nazaire Naz alre it was likewise estimated that the ral rail I 1 lines leading to the lorraine Lorr alne sector with collateral collater nl 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 effect lie 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 we the lorraine Lorr alne front would prove the most beneficial in conference with general who had reached the same conclusion the deolson was made accordingly y it was ans necessary to have a pa sector in mind to plan definitely and construct requisite rail and distributing facilities it was tentatively understood between generald petain and myself that the american sector should include the st alphiel salient I 1 suggested that the first american offensive would naturally be its reduction ile he fully agreed place of red cross decided maj grayson M P murphy head of the red cross in prance france and tits his assistant james H perkins ns called at my headquarters june 17 to discuss operation cooperation co with ft ath the army it ans decided the red cross could best handle handie its word work if 1 given ghen a semiofficial status so major murphy was attached ato to my headquarters it was the french situation that gave me the gravest concern pacifist sentiment was prevalent in france and in many quarters there was talk of a pence peace parley this pessimistic and despondent mood of the people fui further aber depressed the morale of their ailles as men at the front contemplated an ad n cl A 4 ri 4 general greeted on landing at boulogne berous speed which ad so exasperated the jeneral general that he finally threatened the chauffeurs with violence whereupon the speed was |