En route to the east,
St Nazaire to the Vosges Mountains |
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Map showing main French
railroad lines during WWI,
with probable route of 6th MGB
from
St Nazaire to Damblain marked in yellow. |
December 31
All troops of the 6th MGB disembark and march to the railroad entraining station. They loaded onto boxcars at 6 p.m. and proceeded westward.
AR Appenheimer notes in his diary: "Left St. Nazaire Dec 31st".
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5th Regt of Marines embarking on journey from St Nazaire
to training area around Gondrecourt during the summer
of 1917. Among their number were two companies, the
77th & 81st, who would later join the 6th MGB. When
Appenheimer & the 6th MGB made this journey at the end
of the year, conditions were far harsher. |
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Marines in boxcar in France during WWI.
Unit & date unknown. By this time they
have exchanged campaign hats for overseas
caps. The French boxcars were designed to
hold either 8 horses/mules, or 40 men.
However, as American soldiers tended to be
taller than their French counterparts,
40 Americans could be crammed into a
car only with considerable
difficulty & discomfort. |
January 1~2
AR Appenheimer en route with 6th Machine Gun Battalion in "boxcar pullmans"
from St. Nazaire on the west coast
of France eastward to Damblain in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains.
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