Chapter I: Front Matter

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Small caps in the text is denoted by UPPERCASE.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.

AMBULANCING ON THE
FRENCH FRONT

A picture of the author, one of the first Americans to serve as an ambulance man on the French front.]

AMBULANCING ON
THE FRENCH FRONT

BY

EDWARD R. COYLE

_Illustrated_

NEW YORK
BRITTON PUBLISHING COMPANY

Copyright, 1918
BRITTON PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.

Made in U. S. A. All rights reserved.

TO MY MOTHER

Whose parting gift was a miniature photograph of her own dear self upon which she had inscribed these words:

My only child who is given to the Cause of Liberty and Freedom. May God guide him safely so that he may help those who are unfortunate.

HIS MOTHER’S PRAYER.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

When I went to France there was no thought in my mind that I should ever write a book on the subject of my experiences over there. On my return, however, many friends besieged me for details of the great war, which had come under my observation while serving in the Ambulance Corps on the French front. It was easy to infer from the eagerness of all that real news was in demand, none seeming to tire of asking questions and listening to what I had to say in reply. From these impromptu conversations occurring day after day, I began to realize how much I had really experienced during my stay abroad. Consequently, when urged to write a book for the benefit of the general public, I consented on the theory that the more we Americans know about true conditions in the War Zone the surer we are to win victory from the most ruthless enemy ever known to mankind. I make no pretense of being a writer, but I know what I saw and I hope to make myself understood on the subject of war as it is to-day on the firing line. Much in the way of rumor has passed for fact in America. Propaganda has confused the public mind. The more fact that leaks through, not calculated to send aid and comfort to the foe, the better for all of us. In this, my first attempt at writing, and possibly my last, I intend to give facts. Matters that should not be disclosed for military reasons will, of course, be reserved for historians of another day.

EDWARD R. COYLE.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I HOW I CAME TO GO 15

II AMBULANCE WORK 24

III SANDRICOURT 31

IV MEDICAL CARE 43

V A LESSON I LEARNED 49

VI A VISIT TO PARIS 54

VII “THE FRONT” 61

VIII MASSING BEFORE VERDUN 67

IX THE SIEGE OF VERDUN 77

X A VISIT TO BACCARAT 104

XI HOMELESS CHILDREN 109

XII AFTERNOON TEA 115

XIII “PETIT POST” 122

XIV BADONVILLER THE MARTYR 126

XV “SNIPERS” AT WORK 135

XVI “KAMERAD!” 141

XVII THE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 151

XVIII SPIES AND THEIR WORK 159

XIX LETTERS FROM THE FRONT 174

XX EYES OF THE ARMY 190

XXI ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERIES 199

XXII HAND GRENADE WORK 205

XXIII THE AMERICAN Y. M. C. A. 215

XXIV REAR-LINE DIVERSIONS 225

XXV “FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR” 229

XXVI HOMEWARD BOUND 235

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Picture of Author—_Frontispiece_
The Wagon of Mercy Loading Up
A Camouflage Road Made to Order
A Natural Camouflage Road
A “Load-Up and Getaway”—Wounded for the Hospital
The Bivouac of the Dead
Where the Souls of Men Are Calling
A French Gun Much Respected by Fritz
German Sacrilege—Christ’s Figure Decapitated
Ruins of the Church Containing the Figures
Sacked and Burned
Badonviller Destroyed by the Germans
Sixty Feet from a German Front-Line Trench
Trying on the Gas Masks
Badonviller Barricaded for Street Fighting
Awaiting Orders Behind the Front
Bombing the Hun
French Infantry En Route to the Trenches
A Small “Persuader” at Verdun
Field Telephone Station Controlling the Shell Fire
Ruins Along the Lorraine Front
A Quick Lunch at the Front
First Aid Dug-Out—Waiting for a Call

AMBULANCING ON THE
FRENCH FRONT

Ambulancing on the French Front