While at Fontaine Brilliante, on the Verdun front, orders were received for a detail to proceed to Marseilles for the purpose of getting the ambulances we had been longing for since our arrival in France. Aside from eight G. M. C. cars of Ambulance Co. 138, and four broken down Fords, the 110th Sanitary Train had had no ambulances since leaving Doniphan. We had long since given up the idea of ever having a transportation section again, in fact someone had even gone the length of voicing the following lament:
"They sent us down to Doniphan to get an ambulance
To go abroad and let 'er go and drive for sunny France,
And then it took us seven months to get a pair of pants.
Oh, there's something rotten somewhere in this blooming ambulance.
Of course to drive an ambulance you've got to learn to drill,
So every morning, afternoon, they put us through the mill.
And when this war is over you will find us at it still;
For we never saw an ambulance, and never, never will."
The wagoners and ambulance orderlies were hastily recalled from their work as litter bearers in the advanced posts, and on October 26th, Lt. Speck started for Marseilles for twenty-nine G. M. C. ambulances, with a detail of thirty-two men from Ambulance Co. 139, sixteen from Ambulance Co. 138, and twelve from Ambulance Co. 137. There was a mad scramble to get on this detail, which meant a trip across France, away from the monotony of the trenches.
We arrived at the railroad about an hour early, but in the course of time the train arrived and then started the scramble for the best compartments that the train afforded. Most of us found second-class compartments, which, after more cushions had been obtained, were very comfortable, although a little breezy. Of course no lights could be shown, but they were much better than the customary box cars. Seven-thirty A. M., October 27th, found us at St. Dizier. We were escorted to Camp Tambourine by an M. P., where we spent the morning partaking of our rations. At about noon the M. P. returned, notifying us that the train was ready, so we were checked out of the camp, marched to the train and packed into box cars (40 hommes or 8 chevaux). They were better than some we had drawn formerly, as there was straw on the floor.
The train traveled along a beautiful tree-lined canal for a long distance. Barges on the canal were for the most part drawn by horses, but occasionally we would see very small burros pulling them. Each barge appeared to be a home, for family washings were hanging out on a great many of them.
We arrived at Dijon about 1 A. M. October 28th, and marched across the city wheeling rations on two-wheeled baggage trucks which were "borrowed" at the railroad station. We stayed the balance of the night at a French Permissionares Barrack, and spent the following day looking around the numerous parks and squares. While in the Permissionares barracks, one of our boys inquired of another, "Who are those 'birds' in French uniforms wearing those four-cornered caps?" Before the question could be answered, the French-uniformed person replied, in English, "We are of the Polish Legion. My home is in Chicago."
That evening we entrained again, and after an uneventful ride, arrived at Lyons at 7 A. M. the next morning. After a wait at the station of about two hours, we marched to some barracks which were surrounded by a high board fence. The city being quarantined on account of the influenza, we were not allowed outside of the enclosure except to go to the wash-house, about a hundred yards distant. Between the gate of the enclosure and the wash-house was a "boozerie," consequently there were a great many men who wanted to wash.
Just before leaving Lyons that evening, a doughboy "promoted" a large crate of grapes from a shipment on the station platform. At daylight the following morning we were traveling through a rather sandy country, with vineyards on both sides of the track. Then for a long distance there were Larch trees planted along the track, so close together that it was impossible to see beyond them. Later in the day we traveled along the shore of Etyde Berre Sea, with its many rice plantations, and multitude of wild ducks, then through a tunnel about two kilos long, through large groves of fig trees, finally arriving at Marseilles about noon.
Our packs were hauled in trucks to the Motor Reception Park while the men marched, giving us an opportunity to see the many fruit peddlers, the numerous fountains and squares, and the dirty, narrow streets of the city. Upon our arrival at the Motor Reception Park we were assigned to billets in French buildings. We spent the afternoon cleaning up, eating fruit purchased from peddlers, and selling all kinds of little trinkets to the S. O. S. men as German souvenirs, and explaining to them who "won the war." In the evening we were given passes into Marseilles, good until midnight. Some went to the theatre staging a burlesque show, which was very similar to an American show. Others went around the town, to the water front, and sampled all of the fruits available, none of which are as good as the fruits which can be procured in American cities. However, we found Marseilles a cosmopolitan city, both in regard to civilians and soldiers. The main streets were very much like the streets of an American city.
Early in the afternoon of October 31st we were marched to the ambulances, and busied ourselves looking over the machines preparing for the start. During the evening we looked around the immediate vicinity of the Motor Park and sampled the vintage of southern France.