6th   BATTALION,   20th  ENGINEERS (Forestry) CAMP  AMERICAN  UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON  D.C.  JANUARY 1918
Photo Courtesy of the American University Archives, Washington, DC.

"The Sixth Battalion was ordered organized December 7th, 1917. The formation began at Fort Meyer, Virginia, about December 15, 1917. Some two hundred recruits composed the Sixth at this time. Some were hospital cases left over from other battalions, some were trained men left purposely to whip the new outfit into shape, and others were raw recruits from all parts of the country. On December 27, 1917 the skeleton Battalion moved to Camp American University, Washington D.C.  On January 1st, 1918, with the arrival of several hundreds of men from the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region, the Sixth reached war strength. From that time on, the days were filled with indescribable hurry and bustle, attendant upon preparations for sailing. On January 22, 1918 came final orders for moving. At 9:30 P.M. under full pack, the Sixth Battalion moved out of Camp American University on a hike of five and a half miles through the snow to Fort Meyer, where we entrained at midnight for New York, reaching that port about noon the following day.

On January 23, 1918, late in the afternoon the 6th Battalion 20th Engineers together with several Aerial Squadrons and a few miscellaneous troops, 2,300 men in all, went on board the Anchor Line troopship "Tuscania."  The following morning we shipped anchor and steamed for Halifax to join the rest of the convoy and reached that port on the morning of the 26th. We dropped anchor in the roadstead directly offshore from the beached "Belgian Relief" and that part of the town devastated by the great fire of 1916. On Sunday, the 27th of January 1918, we left the harbor in company with three other troopships and eight freighters, all led by American Cruiser "Seattle." The Tuscania was the second troopship in the convoy formation, the Baltic preceding her" (1). 

Corrections: The writer made an error stating that the American Cruiser "Seattle" led this convoy. This was a British escorted convoy, and was led by the HMS Cochrane. The Convoy operation was British Classified as HX-20. The USS Seattle had no connection with this convoy or its operations.

Secondly, the writer talks about the great fire caused by the Halifax explosion, he made an error when he stated "1916,"  the Halifax explosion, that cause the great fire, was in the winter of 1917. They were in the harbor just about a month after the Halifax explosion, where the damage was quite visible for them to see..

"On February 4th, 1918, twelve days out, while West of Ireland, we were met by eight British Destroyers whose presence did much to ease the minds of those who feared a brush with the Germans. On the afternoon of the fifth we had rounded the North of Ireland and were proceeding Southward. On either side we could dimly discern the cliffs of Scotland and those of the rocky Irish coast from which we judged we were in mid-channel and about thirty miles from land. Dusk came early and at five thirty the night was quite dark. Shortly before six - most accounts say thirteen minutes to six - the thirteenth day out of New York, the first troopship carrying American soldiers was torpedoed" (1).

"While the works of abandoning ship was in progress our rescuers were added to by a number of trawlers and smaller fishing boats which helped in gathering in the survivors. These vessels together with the destroyers combed the vicinity picking up men in lifeboats and rafts. Each bit of wreckage was closely scanned on the possibility of there being someone clinging to it. In this way the majority of the living were rescued. A few swimming alone and helpless were left. Darkness and the wide area over which the rafts and boats were scattered made it impossible to find them all. Three lifeboats, each more than filled with its complement of men, were overlooked. Among the first away from the big ship, they had drifted quite a distance before the rescue work had fairly commenced. With no guidance and at the mercy of the wind and waves they drifted aimlessly for several hours and then were dashed upon the cliffs of the Isle of Islay, Scotland. Out of more than sixty men in one of these boats, there were but eight saved. It was here that the greater part of our loss was sustained."

A combined search for the submarine and survivors was kept up until early morning by the torpedo boat destroyer and trawlers. When it seemed as though further search was useless, they entered various ports of the north of Ireland. The men were landed chiefly at Londonderry, Larne, and Buncranna. A few were scattered at various other places in along the coast and also in Scotland. In a weeks time we had located our different groups of saved and again resumed

 some sort of organization. At this time we left for Winchester, England, where we were stationed five weeks. This time was used in getting us supplies of equiptment and clothes, of which we had none to spare. Many of the men were dressed in British sailor uniforms, British soldiers uniforms and even civilian clothes. Finally we were made presentable enough and were permitted to sail for France and take our place so long waiting for us.

Leaving South Hampton March 23, 1918 we proceeded a cattle ship to La Havre, France, staying one day. Next we entrained for Angers, the Engineer replacement headquarters. The following three weeks were spent in accumulating equipment and otherwise reorganizing our outfit. Due to the loss of all our records this work took up much time but was finally completed. During these weeks, too, we spent long hours in mastering the intricacies of trench digging, pontoon bridge building, and other war-like occupations. On April 12th we started for the maritime pine districts of the Landes.

On the 13th we arrived at Castets which proved to be the scene of our operations till a month before the Armistice. Here our battalion was attached to the British Forestry Service. We started operations with three mills. "Company D" (16th Company) operated a 20,000 ft. capacity Canadian mill and "Company E" (17th Company) and "Company F" (18th Company) each operated a 10,000 ft. capacity Clarke mill. The 16th and 17th Cos. mills were right in the outskirts of the town and the 18th Cos. mill was about five kilometers outside.

Those months spent on the Spanish Front were replete with the usual events of Army ~ or Twentieth Engineers ~ life. Occasionally some Major General would drop around and give us the "so this is Paris" but for the most part we were left alone in our isolation. It was here our outfit received the nickname of "The Fighting Sixth" - this because of the constant lack of harmony and cooperation evidenced by our commissioned heads. Despite this handicap, the men under the able generalship of Major F. S. Kellog, were able to assist materially in putting a spoke in Wilhelm's wheel. The Sixth was composed of the best men of the country - any of the outfit would admit it - and the spirit of the enlisted personnel was truly remarkable. Their experience on the "Tuscania" had drawn them together such as no other influence could have done, and the spirit of unity and cooperation was dominant till the last days in France - dominated even in those unforgettable days of the post Armistice injustice imposed on us in the Burnt Area, when nothing short of a miracle would induce the boys to put their whole heart in their work.

When the cut was almost completed in October, the Sixth turned overall mill equipment to the British who continued the work with the aid of several hundred German prisoners of war. The Battalion moved to a new locality some fifty kilometers North, the 18th Company to Captieux, and the 16th and 17th Company to Labrit, near by. Here we operated three small mills of 10,000 ft. capacity and one bolter mill. In about a month of cleaning up the whole Battalion concentrated at Captieux in the Burnt Area.

The Armistice had been signed a month, but still the work went on - ten hour shifts. Not only did our work go on, but he weeks and months, with little prospects for moving. It was during these days that there were so many fantastic rumors abroad regarding our sailing. One of the most widely known was that the Twentieth Regiment was to build its own transport to return in. Finally we received orders to proceed to Bordeaux and the embarkation camp at Genicourt. We arrived at that receiving camp on the 11th of May 1919 and embarked on the "Santa Paula" on the 14th, following which we promptly observed that quaint custom of depositing our emergency rations in the Gironde River, a rite grown almost sacred with the departing from the Bassens dock.

May the 28th, 1919 was the welcome day - the day that so many of us were to see the Statue of Liberty's face for the last time, for as one lumberjack remarked "She'll have to turn around if she ever sees me again."

That same day, the 28th of May 1918, we proceeded to Camp Merrit, when the last sad adieus were made and the Battalion broken up into detachments bound for far corners of the country - but not so far, but what the comradeship of the service, the comradeship of "The Fighting Sixth" will always exist as one of pleasant remembrances of "Over There" (1)."

2005 INFORMATION SOURCE:

1) Askew, Henry J.
        Rennie, Ray O.  TWENTIETH ENGINEERS.  Oregon: 20th Engineers Publishing ASSN, 1920.

2) 6th Battalion, 20th Engineer Photo Courtesy of "The American University Archives, Washington D.C."

3) Lifeboats away photo, from Saturday Evening Post, March 1918.