WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 10, 2018 29
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
to the trenches; a few days later, the
154th Infantry Brigade left by train
and joined them at Arras as reserves
for the British 2nd and 42nd Divisions.
The 152nd Artillery Brigade left
Camp Upton on April 21 and made
the voyage to Europe on board the
Leviathan, a giant liner that was a
German war prize. It left New York
Harbor with 15,000 passengers —
10,000 of whom were soldiers — on
April 24. Six days out, it was met by
fi ve destroyers that escorted it to the
French port of Brest on May 2. The
troops, along with others who arrived
from Camp Upton in the days that followed,
were taken to Camp de Souge
for further training.
In mid-July, the 152nd Artillery
Brigade left Camp de Souge on the
narrow French trains to join the 77th
Division at Arras. Now fully assembled,
the division took over a sector
in Lorraine.
Before joining their division, one
of the brigade’s units, the 306th, was
equipped with 155mm Howitzers,
and the others were equipped with
French 75s that had a highly-secret
recoil system.
The 77th Division was assigned
to the Baccarat Sector, which was
relatively quiet, relieving a British
division on June 19, 1918. Less than
two months later, on Aug. 11, 1918, the
77th Division moved to Vesle near
Chateau Theirry, where a few weeks
earlier, a terrible battle had been
fought, leading to heavy losses on
both sides. It was the division’s fi rst
real test with heavy shell fi re.
The division spent their fi rst night
greeted by a shell barrage of mustard
and phosgene gas shells. They quickly
found out that getting your mask on
quickly is not as important as not taking
it off too soon. Many World War I
soldiers found out the hard way that it
takes quite a bit of time for the poison
gas to dissipate.
On Sept. 4, 1918, the 77th Division
was ordered to Aisne, where they
were opposed on the line by four
German divisions.
Read more about the 77th Division’s
World War I experience in the Ridgewood
Times next week.
* * *
Among the local heroes of the war
was a Marine Corps member, Sergeant
Major Daniel Joseph Daly. He
was born on Nov. 11, 1873, in Glen Cove,
but later became a longtime resident
of Glendale. Daly is one of the few soldiers
in American history to receive
not one, but two Medals of Honor.
Prior to World War I, he received
the high honor for his defense of the
American embassy in Peking (Beijing)
China during the Boxer Rebellion in
1900. In 1915, he received his second
Medal of Honor for protecting
Americans amid an anti-government
uprising in Haiti, where he had been
deployed.
At the age of 45, Daly continued his
proud service to the Marine Corps in
France during The Great War. The
French government awarded him the
Croix de Guerre with Palm in 1918 for
his bravery.
Daly died on April 27, 1937; fi ve years
later, the Navy named a destroyer, the
USS Daly, in his honor. At the height
of World War II, she was launched in
1942 from the Bethlehem Steel plant in
Staten Island and commissioned into
service the following March.
The USS Daly went on to play pivotal
roles in the Pacifi c Theatre, with her
crew helping the Allied forces in their
island-hopping campaign against Japan.
Source: The Feb. 7, 1985 issue
of the Ridgewood Times
* * *
Share your history with us by emailing
editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com (subject:
Our Neighborhood: The Way it Was)
or write to The Old Timer, ℅ Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
Any mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly
Though Camp Upton ran relatively smoothly, it was not without tragedy. Three were killed and several others
were injured when a Long Island Rail Road train loaded with troops heading for Manhattan crashed near Central
Islip in April 1918. (Courtesy of the Queens Borough Public Library, Archives, William J. Rugen Collection)
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