WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 13, 2021 25
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
on March 27, 1918, via the Long Island Rail Road;
they were followed by other units in the weeks
that followed.
After arriving in Manhattan, the troops
boarded ships bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, that
arrived in the Canadian port city within two days.
From there, they boarded a convoy of nine ships
— led by a U.S. cruiser — bound for Europe. As
they passed down the lane of ships in the harbor,
one of them, a British battleship, had their band
strike up, playing “The Star-Spangled Banner”
and “Over There.”
The 12-day voyage from Halifax to Liverpool,
England, proved uneventful. Upon arriving in
England, the troops boarded trains that took them
to the eastern coast of the island, then took a small,
yet fast ferry across the English Channel to Calais,
France.
When the Americans arrived in Europe, they
were greeted by soldiers in uniform from armies
across the globe: French, Scottish, Belgium, English,
Moroccan, Canadian, Algerian, Australian,
Italian, Serbian and New Zealand.
After disembarking in Calais, the 77th Division
marched 8 kilometers to a camp where they unpacked,
then marched back to Calais to exchange
their Springfield rifles with British Enfields.
They were also provided with gas masks and helmets.
They were then assigned to Pas-de-Calais
for 30 days of training with the British Army’s
39th Division.
In mid-May, the 153rd Infantry Brigade left for
the front and marched 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 five 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 first real test with heavy shell
fire.
The division spent their first 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
Communities across Queens listed the names of soldiers serving in World War I through “honor
rolls” displayed across the borough. This one was posted outside of St. Jacobus Church in
Woodside. Courtesy of the Queens Borough Public Library, Archives, St. Jacobus Church Collection
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
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old photographs
of “Our Neighborhood: The Way It Was” that you
would like to share with our readers, please write to
the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs mailed
to us will be carefully returned to you upon request.
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