On the afternoon of March 26 the officers of the division were hastily assembled and given another straightforward talk by General Bell, who laid the utmost stress upon the necessity of subordinating all other matters to that of getting the troops into fighting condition.  The existing defects, he declared, lay within the power of the officers to rectify, and the necessity for the strictest discipline was again emphasized.  This meeting was supplemented by General Order No. 48, issued the next day, subjecting officers and men to identical restrictions in respect to leaving the camp at night.  All soldiers were required to remain in camp on the nights of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, for the  purpose of study.  In order to overcome the existing deficiencies, night schools were established and the hours of drill increased from seven to eight a day, divided equally between morning and afternoon.

 

Apart from the “speeding up” of the work of the officers and men of the division, the last ten days of March, 1918 were notable chiefly for the visits of Major Thenier of the French Military Mission, Major Ragnald Hvoslef, the first military attaché from Norway to the United States, and the notification that the 108^th Engineers and the 108^th Engineer Train would be sent to France as soon as they were in readiness and the necessary vessels were available.

 

(From the History of the Thirty Third Division, Volume I, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois, 1921. 

By this date in 1918, the Division was getting beyond the confusion of organizing and training, coping with the dearth of weapons and supplies and conflicting orders from Washington.  But there was still work to be done.  The passage below is from “The History of the Thirty-Third Division, Volume I”

Published by the Illinois Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois, 1921. (TLT)

 

March 19 was notable for the visit of Brigadier General W. A. White, Royal Army, who was in charge of recruiting for the British in the United States and Canada, who delivered an address in Houston.  A Division School of Operations was established, with sessions on the evenings of Tuesday and Thursday of each week, for the purpose of familiarizing principal officers of the command with the fundamentals of organization, staff work, billeting and supply.  By far the most important event of that day was the receipt of a telegram from Major General Thomas H. Barry, commanding the 86^th Division at Camp Grant, Rockford, Illinois announcing that 2,700 men be transferred to the 33^rd division within the next eight days, and asking whether they can be received.  An affirmative response was immediately telegraphed and preparations were begun for the care of this increment which had been expected for more than three months.

 

It finally dawned on me why there was such a gap in the letters.  Theo was home on furlough prior to being shipped  to France. (TLT)

 

Let’s pause for a moment and remember Corporal Howard Ramsey who died on February 22, 2008. Corporal Ramsey was the last know surviving combat veteran of World War I.  He was 110.

 

 

More filler between letters from  “Illinois in the World War” published in 1921 by the States Publication Society, Chicago.  Following is an excerpt:

 

“Apart from the intensive training of the troops – which was somewhat handicapped by the necessity of sending a considerable force to guard the regions from which the Navy derived its principal supply of oil – November, 1917, was notable for several important occurrences.  Four British and five French officers, accompanied by a number of noncommissioned officers arrived as instructor and promptly began work.”…The impetus to the training given by the energetic and able supervision of these officers and the schooling in the latest European method was soon manifest and proved of incalculable benefit to the entire division.

 

 

 

 

Camp Logan, the training site for the 33^rd Division, was described as being on Washington Street about four miles from the center of Houston.  Houston was not the metropolis it is now.  The photo is a general view of the Camp.  (From “Illinois in the World War, States Publishing company, Chicago 1921).

 

We are still filling in details from other accounts of the history of Theo's outfit until his next letter on April 13.

A major reorganization of the division was ordered on October 9, 1917.  This interfered with training as noted in this excerpt from “Illinois in the World War” published in 1921 by the States Publication Society, Chicago: 

"Taken in conjunction with the dearth of materiel, equipment and supplies which then existed, so drastic a reorganization naturally hampered the systematic training of the troops, but before the end of October the temporary confusion had been almost wholly overcome, schools of musketry, field fortification and gas had been established, and the construction of trenches and training in the use of the bayonet and machine gun had been begun.  The three weeks from October 25 to November 14 were notable for the arrival of successive contingents of drafted men… Some of these recruits were unable to speak English, more than 500 proved to be alien enemies, and so many were found to be unfit for military duty…"

Note: Former citizens  of the Central Powers that were not yet naturalized were precluded from combat for fear they would be shot, if captured.

 

(From ‘Illinois in the World War: An Illustrated History of the Thirty-Third Division, Volume 1.  States Publishing Company, Chicago, 1921)