The members of Battery D adopted little four-year-old Denise Ferron during the month of February, 1919, as their mascot, and, by additional contributions a ward was selected in memory of First Sergeant James J. Farrell. The second ward was three-year-old Georges Lemoine, who was much in need of assistance.
Denise Ferron, with brown eyes and brown hair, was born April 25, 1914, the daughter of Madame Vve Ferron, of Fericy, Seine et Marne, France.
Mr. and Mrs. Ferron had just established a butcher shop when war came on. The father was then mobilized at the first call. He went to the front where he was wounded. In 1916 at Verdun, he held the Croix de Guerre and was mortally wounded in April, 1918.
When he joined his regiment his wife was left with no resources, having given all of their earnings for the purchase of the butcher shop. The difficulty to find meat and some one to help her, forced her to give up her business.
She had another child, Simonne, who was born July 8, 1917. This blonde, grey eyed brother of Denise was cared for by another A. E. F. unit. As her children were too small, Mme. Ferron was not able to take any work and her only means of support was a military allocation amounting to 105 francs monthly.
Although his body rests in the American military cemetery at La Courtine, France, the memory of James J. Farrell is revered in unison by all who knew him and the family of Vve Memoine, Ville Billy, St. Lunaire, Ille et Vilaine, France, who have come to know him in spirit since the youngest son, Georges, was adopted. Georges Lemoine was born February 1, 1915. He had five other brothers and sisters, viz; Pierre, Louis, Marie, Marcelle and Anna, the oldest 15 and the youngest 6 years.
These children were in a truly lamentable plight. Their father was a farmer but on such a small scale that what he got from his small piece of land was insufficient for the needs of his family. He was conscripted but sent back because he was the father of six children. He had never been strong, and during the prolonged stay at the front tuberculosis developed, from which he died on May 18, 1917.
Unfortunately his wife contracted this terrible illness. But before she realized her plight she had taken over a neighboring farm, for she was anxious to shoulder her burden as well as possible. This overtaxed her strength and hastened her decline.
These are passing incidents of the period the battery spent in Benoite Vaux. Other incidents of import to the battery were the erection of stables and the conduct of horse shows.
When the outfit arrived at Benoite Vaux there were stable accommodations for some of the batteries encamped out in the woods but Battery D, stationed in the village, was without accommodation for the horses. For the first few weeks of the stay the horses were kept out in the open on picket lines. The weather and the mud became very severe and temporary stables were secured in a wooded section near where Battery C was stationed. These stables were about two kilometers from the battery billets. While the horses were stabled there the soldiers had to hike the two kilometers three times a day and drive the horses to the watering troughs in the center of the village.