| Show beneral Ca eueral P e r s h i n qs sto slora tan L 4 12 cj J P the ia A 8 A E B 4 n fis idl countr lt br th elf A I 1 P aultice AUlt nce world by Cler teral raz LA hot LIE tk th lindu lip du to la hol 01 1 la 1 art prohibited service john J pershing J 0 X t L m lord mayor of london welcoming general pershing to british soil CHAPTER IV continued we steamed into liverpool juse june 8 A cordial reception awaited us its with a guard ot of lionor from the royal welsh fu fusi liers this selection had a sentimental significance in that the regiment not only fought against us ns at bunker hill but fought beside us during the boxer rebellion in china As aa we stepped off the gangplank the band played the star spangled bander to welcome us ua this being tile the first time in history that an american army ever wits rec received elveI officially in england A royal coach attached to a special train took our party to london at euston station we were welcomed by lord derby secretary of state for war field marshal sir john french oen gen lord breole Br walter illanes ange the american ambassador admiral williams S sims and many other british and american officials king george not optimistic I 1 was received by king george nt at buckingham palace JL june ne 0 ills majesty was in tile the uniform of a field marshal and lie he talked with me in democratic fashion for a few minutes before the other senior members of my staff were presented the king expressed ills his pleasure that america had come into tile war and dwelt upon the fact that anglo saxon people were united at last in a common cause the anglo saxon race must save civilization he added certainly his majesty did not appear optimistic over the outlook and asked me numerous questions about americas preparation for war or leaving the palace we went to our embassy and during on an informal tall talk mr page remarked liow how happy lie wits was that america was in the war and added now I 1 am able to hold up my head and look people squarely in the eye through gli ills his service as ambassador he be was beloved and honored ho noreil by the british people who admired ills hla virile personality but many americans did not inot approve of his rather apologetic attitude toward his own country prior to our entry into the war dinald of the allies admiral sims not satisfied I 1 had a talk with admiral sling sims who he was not in personal command of our fleet feet serving with the british navy hut but remained ned in london with an office at our embassy and directed the movements of our naval vessels especially from there lie ile was not satisfied with the support up given him front from home and complained that the navy department had not sent nil all the destroyers asked for ile he said the department seemed to fear attacks along our coast and did not realize the danger to the cause in tile the enormous destruction of merchant shipping going on in european waters the admirals report of these losses was nothing 9 short of startling but he thought they might be checked it if he could have a sufficient number of destroyers Bt st without more of this class of vessels sims was not sanguine over the prospects of protecting our transports Ilo however wever lie 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 ingham palace june 11 1917 with the american ambassador walter lilies page and mrs airs page the king the queen and princess mary were present there was an airoff air of charm and simplicity at the palce that permitted a freedom and intimacy in the conversation the plain tare fare wits was quite la in keeping with the food situation throughout england after luncheon the king the ambas sailor and I 1 stood near a window overlooking tile the garden which as his majesty explained instead of growing flowers was prod producing acl ng po potatoes the king told of the kaisers keisers kai sers visit to london a few years before and how he had bad brought his chief of secret service cc along and put him up at one of the hotels to le learn arnall all lie he could while the kaiser himself was a guest at buckingham palace ills majenty saoko bitterly of the inhumanity of the germans dwelling specially especially ou on the night bombing of london pointing to the beautiful statue of queen victoria just outside the window the king suddenly exclaimed tile the kalser kaiser god damn him hits even tried to destroy the statue of ills his own grandmother for a moment I 1 was surprised at his words but I 1 quickly realized that it was a solemn expression of profound indignation and not profanity calls call on chief of staff after leaving the palace I 1 called on gen sir william robertson chief of the imperial general staff ue he 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 tile the grade of private to his then high position As lie he sipped tits his tea I 1 explained our plan for the organization of our armies by using tile the small regular force foice find and the national guard asa as a nucleus As the british themselves had gone through the same experience exper lem e two aft 0 years before I 1 stressed the fait fact that it would take considerable time like all the british officials lie he was nas much in favor of having our forces serve sene fill or near their own on HP he pointed out oui that we wele eie both anglo saxons spoke the same language find gave other reasons to support his views it seemed necessary to explain in de tall that as the american nay navy was working with the british ray navy we be should probably plan to place our army beside the french it if there was to be any preference it 11 appeared a logical that we should 10 lo do this as we were to operate on french soil and use french ports railways and mo material the main thing I 1 went on to say was as to form our own on army as soon ns as possible for use wherever it seemed best no british aid in shipping I 1 emphasized our lack of tonnage and told him that velmust we must have hae ad dIt Ional shipping it if we were to bring over oer an army worth while but his re action to this was not encouraging lie ile said lie he thought that it was entirely out of the question for or them to pro vide us with any british shipping as they were already in sore straits to find vessels for their own national ne I 1 called on mr air david lloyd lloid george the prime minister lie ile went right to the point find asked when troops would be organized organ led and trained and the numbers we expected to send over he was va cordial enough and expressed a 0 desire to assist us in every possible manner but when nhen I 1 stressed our need of assistance to bring over oer our troops lie he did not seem to ile be particularly interested te and gave little hope that tile the british would he be able to furnish us any shipping whatever under the circumstances the apparent unconcern of the british as an to our need of shipping Is not difficult to understand they were seriously alarmed regarding their own food situ altu atlon 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 tor for the future and no prospect of aiding us as in tonnage great ovation in france after leave taking calls and nuttier numer ous informal visits conferring wl with th various leaders and making one wit trip to a training camp amp our party left june 13 for folkestone Folk estone ant and france at boulogne we again received an impressive pressie welcome and a few hours later we were in carls the llie officials who met fuel us at the sta tion included bl M paul Pain leve min ister of war Al marshal arshal joseph joffre rene vivian major general roch foch then chief of staff kind and united states ambassador Wil william linot 0 sharp there were many others the station was packed and the atmosphere seemed electrical with pent up enthusiasm outside dense masses lined the boulevards and filled the squares along the route to our hotel the Cr brillon crillon illon cheers and tears mingled as men and women shouted acclaim women climbed into our par carriages i ilive iame alque and threw flowers until we were burled buried I 1 it wax was said eald that never before in the history ot of paris had there been such un an outpouring of people I 1 was M I 1 to 0 see its parn parallel liel when ft hen the armistice was signed and on two ot other ter occa alons once wi when en president wilson nr rived a and d later when the victory pa rade tonk took place july 14 1010 1919 at napoleons napoleon tomb although I 1 wits was very anxious to get te tc work it was necessary for tile nie to make certain official calls and attend a few entertainments that had been planned for us the french suggest ed that we should first go to visit na po leons tomb in les ies In we were ft ere taken down to the crypt where I 1 was handed the great key and was asked ached to unlock the heavy wrought iron entrance door we were shown n uniforms n if forms ant and tile the baton that belonged to napoleon and then his sword our veteran escort reverently removed the sword from the case and offered it to me as it if to transmit some of the genius of the great captain so much of french se sentiment and tradition are associated with this tomb and its treasures that every one who visits there with frenchmen must share their feeling of profound enio lion hon this incident more than any other connected with my reception impressed pres se d me with the he martial spirit of the french people finds find poincare reserved I 1 called self ext to pay my respects to president poincare and to present greetings from president wilson 1 the I he french people are very hap p py y he said that america Is in the war your coming Is a great satis fac tion alon to us ile he inquired generally about our plans seeking as they all did some assurance that we should soon lie be in the trenches ills ells attitude was rather formal and reserved rescued but he at onre once impressed me as it a man of ability an and d force retain most agreeable A visit to french general head fit at was made prin aaril y to meet general retain petain and the oali cers of his staff petain Is above medium height and weight U ue e wore akore a full mustache slightly gray and was then about sixty ile he has a kind ly and Is most agreeable but not especially talkative 1 its his keen aten sense of humor became apparent from the jokes johes lie he told at the expense of some of his staff our conversation after luncheon was at al most entirely on military affairs in eluding americas Ame ilias probable part in tile the war which as matters stood gave lit tle tie promise of becoming effective un til HI the following spring my aly impression of was favor able and it remained unchanged ancl ingco throughout the war our friends lilli which I 1 highly treasure tren suie had bad its he be ginning at this meeting at the luncheon there were several general of officers liceri among whom was BUS maj alaj gen franchet anchet rr d emerey Ep erey then in command of a group of annles under petain lie he was considered one of ohp ablest and most aggressive officers in the french army and was very lar far with ills men As we wished to got get a glimpse of the actual front he took us by motor as near as possible without drawing the fire of the artillery al though nt at that time there was tittle little activity on that part of the front the point of observation that we reached was opposite st quentin Quent ln which wits was then than within the efiem s lines lilies and which was later near the renter center of the greit great german geiman drive of 1918 1018 against the british on the return trip the chauffeur after being cautioned several times continued to drive at a somewhat don dan berous speed which so exasperated the general that lie he finally threatened the chauffeur with violence whereupon the speed was greatly reduced CHAPTER VI As soon as the formalities incident to our arrival in paris 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 tile the foundation for the development and employment of the american army to expedite handling liand ling the many ques lion eions that must arise especially la in our relations with tho the french war office which controlled practically all industrial facilities and transportation it was war minister paul PaIn leves idea that there should be a group of french officers placed ed at our disposal marshal joffre was designated as head of this group the instructions received by marshal joffre front from thy the minister of war were transmitted to tile me in a polite note naturally it wits pleasing to think of being associated with Af arshal joffre but I 1 thought the adoption of the plan at this time would only add nn an extra channel through which requests must poss pass and that this would complicate rather than simplify matters the scheme indicated tant a sort of tutelage was contemplated contemplate ol also made it objectionable in my opinion it would be mort more expeditious to utilize the french om cers on duty nt at my headquarters and develop a workable 8 system stein through experience I 1 explained my views to if Pain leve and readily arranged for the officers of our supply department to confer directly with the chiefs of the co responding bureaus of the french organization but this was waa only the beginning and we soon BOOD found foun d that we had much to learn of the difficulties or of dealing with french bureaus either directly or indirectly there was no question that under tile great enthusiasm the afternoon of our arrival there existed serious despondency spon dency among nil all classes the terrible strain of the previous years icara of continuous lighting fighting with heavy losses was telling against both the french and the british temporary in different theaters of war had brought small comforts followed as aa they had been all too frequently by disastrous reverses re erses with actual conditions in mind one could fully understand why the allies had been so BO insistent that a contingent of american troops be immediately sent to france to bolster their morale while not yet prepared to do any fighting we could anddie and did furnish men for service sen ice behind the lines we also p provided raw rant material erial and certain manufactured supplies as rapidly as ai possible a and n d 8 financial aid without stint U 8 inaction shows effect the more serious the situation in france fiance tile the more deplorable the loss of time by our inaction at home allred appeared an red it Is true that it a committee at the war college in february had presented a brief outline report on the organization of a limited force yet no comprehensive plan had been considered tor for the formation or employment yf if such a force much less lesi for a larger one it was finally decided we should use the alie ports of bordeaux and st nazaire Naz alre 1 it t was likewise estimated that the rail lines ines leading to the lorraine sector with colin collateral terni routes available could coald 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 tile the employment of tile the american armies on the lorraine Lorr alne front would prove proe tile the roost most beneficial in conference with general petain Iet aln who lind reached the same conclusion the deolson was made accordingly it wits was necessary to have a aar sector in mind to plan definitely and construct requisite rail and distributing facilities it |
