WWI Diary

Thomas Edward Shirley

June 29th 1917

This is a diary entry from a young man who was recruited to join the French Ambulance Corps.

We got up at 8:30 and was supposed to work around camp but I sneaked off with Roy and Adnoids and took my laundry down town. At dinner time we were told that we were going to be taken to some trenches the Germans occupied last April. Well were got started in two trucks about an hour after we were supposed to. We went thru Soissons and had a chance to see for the 1st time how badly the city was hit. The north end of town sure is a mess- all the house blown down, a couple of big factories all to pieces, and all the bridges down. The bridges are being replaced by negro soldiers as fast as they can. Out side of Soissons we met a great many horse convoys the largest I have seen yet. It sure was a sight mules, donkey, and horses and men of every description. We went through a town completely distroyed and populated only with troops. Finally we got to the top of the hill after winding our way up pass German dugout after dugout now occupied by french soldiers. These were very comfortable looking dugouts probably old officers dugouts. The top of the hill was just one mess of trench, barbwire entanglements, shell holes, and here and there a grave. We went over to the other side of the hill where we could look down into a village completely destroyed. Not a house was left. It impressed me more of what all the destruction meant was when I saw an old man driving by what was evidently his home with the tears streaming down his cheeks. After collecting some some souveniers from a German graveyard we started home. Coming home the water boiled so in our car that we had to be towed home. After supper and writing a letter I went to bed and slept the best I have yet. Although they bombarded Soissons during the night for the 1st time in a long while and we were there at six last night.

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