The American Red Cross and the Otranto Rescue

December 27, 2012 at 3:09 pm (HMS Otranto, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

HOW THE RED CROSS MET THE VICTIMS OF THE HMS OTRANTO DISASTER

When the ill-fated WWI troopship H.M.S. Otranto departed New York on September 24, 1918  little could her passengers have imagined how they would be met by the American Red Cross upon their tragic arrival in Europe.  Among the hundreds of soldiers aboard The Otranto was a contingent of Berrien County men, including  Ralph Knight and Shellie Webb, of Ray City, GA; James Marvin DeLoach,  with many Ray City connections; James Grady Wright of Adel, GA; and Early Steward of Nashville, GA. Other Berrien victims were honored in the Georgia WWI Memorial Book.

Shellie Webb and Ralph Knight, along with some two dozen other Berrien men, perished that stormy Sunday morning off the island of Islay, Scotland. Early Steward, of Nashville, GA was one of the very few who went into the sea and made it to the shore of Islay still alive. James M. Deloach and James Grady  Wright were among some 600 who managed to leap from the rails of the Otranto to the deck of the rescue ship Mounsey.

In October,1920, just two years after the sinking of the Otranto, George Buchanan Fife, a writer for Harpers Magazine and, later, biographer of Charles Lindberg, told the story of how the American Red Cross prepared for and answered the challenge of caring for the victims of the Otranto sinking.

otranto-disaster_distributing-supplies

In response to the 1918 sinking of the Otranto off the coast of Islay, Scotland, the “Flyinging Squadron” of the American Red Cross rushed aid and supplies to the Island.

The following exerpts are from Fife’s work, The Passing Legions: How the American Red Cross Met the American Army in
Great Britain, the Gateway to France,     which is available for free online reading.

The destruction of the Otranto was not only the heaviest misfortune to befall the American troops in their hazardous voyaging oversea, but was one of the great catastrophes of the war, occurring at a time when American effort was at its utmost in the task of landing an army in France. As the censors in England withheld transmission of the story for five days it had only an ephemeral appearance in the press of America and many of the details in the foregoing narrative are here published for the first time.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«◊»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The Otranto, a converted British auxiliary cruiser, doing duty as transport, was the flagship of a convoy bringing American troops to England. On this voyage she carried a detachment of 694 officers and men, most of them from the training camp at Fort Screven, near Savannah, Georgia; a crew of approximately 400 and also thirty sailors picked up from the boats of a French bark she had cut down in mid-ocean.

The destination of the convoy was Liverpool, and to reach it by what was considered the least dangerous path, once the vessels were in English waters, the course lay through the North Channel, a narrow, well patrolled passage between Scotland and Ireland.

But it was fated the Otranto should never make it. When at 9 o’clock on the morning of October 9, the squadron of troopships was almost at the Channel entrance and fairly in sight of the northern Irish Coast, a ninety-mile gale came racing out of the west and overwhelmed it. Under the terrific impact of the wind and the sea, the vessels staggered toward the opening, striving with every ounce of steam to gain it and the calmer waters which lay beyond. And all would have passed through in safety if a great wave had not disabled the steering gear of the Kashmir, one of the convoy.

In an instant she was out of control, and a little later the sea lifted her and flung her, bow on, into the Otranto’s side.

The ponderous blow, delivered directly amidships, cut a wide gash in the cruiser from port rail to waterline, …

Through heroic effort, the British destroyer HMS Mounsey was able to come along side and take aboard some 600 men from the decks of the mortally wounded Otranto. Dangerously overburdened with her human cargo,  Mounsey made quickly for the port at Belfast, Ireland. With her signal equipment damaged in the daring ship-to-ship rescue, no word of the disaster could be sent ahead to the authorities at Belfast.

Thus it was that the Mounsey brought in the first news of the disaster and its token in the wretched men crowded upon her decks. And only a few leagues away to the North, their own great ship, the troop-transport Otranto, with nearly five hundred of their comrades left helpless aboard her, had been beaten to pieces on a reef of the Scottish Coast.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«◊»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The survivors, several of them badly injured, and one, a sailor of the Otranto, so hurt that he died a few minutes after rescue, had been dashed upon the rocks beneath Kilchoman, a tiny cliff hamlet on the wildest part of Islay’s western coast. There the neighboring shepherds and the farmer-folk, clustered on the headland to watch the transport’s slow destruction, had gone bravely into the crashing surf and dragged the men to safety.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«◊»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It is quite impossible to say too much of the humanity of all these peasant people, of their readiness to accept any hardship in the name of mercy, of the gentle, steadfast nursing they gave the soldiers, virtually bringing them back to life.

The Passing Legions: How the American Red Cross Met the American Army in Great Britain, the Gateway to France

The Passing Legions: How the American Red Cross Met the American Army in Great Britain, the Gateway to France
By George Buchanan Fife. Click image to read full text online.

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Islay Remembered Otranto Soldiers at Christmas Time

December 24, 2012 at 4:55 am (HMS Otranto)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Just a few short weeks after the tragic sinking of the HMS Otranto, Christmas of 1918 arrived.

The troopship H.M.S. Otranto had departed New York on September 24, 1918 on what was to be her final, tragic voyage. Among the many Georgia soliders on board were contingent of Berrien County men   including Ralph Knight and Shellie Webb, of Ray City, GA; James Marvin  DeLoach who had many Ray City connections; James Grady Wright of Adel, GA; and Early Steward of Nashville, GA.

The Otranto, a converted British auxiliary cruiser, doing duty as transport, was the flagship of a convoy bringing American troops to England. On this voyage she carried a detachment of 694 officers and men, most of them from the training camp at Fort Scriven, near Savannah, Georgia; a crew of approximately 400 and also thirty sailors picked up from the boats of a French bark she had cut down in mid-ocean.

The destination of the convoy was Liverpool, and to reach it by what was considered the least dangerous path, once the vessels were in English waters, the course lay through the North Channel, a narrow, well patrolled passage between Scotland and Ireland.

But it was fated the Otranto should never make it. When at 9 o’clock on the morning of October 9, the squadron of troopships was almost at the Channel entrance and fairly in sight of the northern Irish Coast, a ninety-mile gale came racing out of the west and overwhelmed it. Under the terrific impact of the wind and the sea, the vessels staggered toward the opening, striving with every ounce of steam to gain it and the calmer waters which lay beyond. And all would have passed through in safety if a great wave had not disabled the steering gear of the Kashmir, one of the convoy.

In an instant she was out of control, and a little later the sea lifted her and flung her, bow on, into the Otranto’s side.

The ponderous blow, delivered directly amidships, cut a wide gash in the cruiser from port rail to waterline, …

Through heroic effort, the British destroyer HMS Mounsey was able to come along side and take aboard some 600 men from the decks of the mortally wounded Otranto. Dangerously overburdened with her human cargo, The Mounsey made quickly for the port at Belfast, Ireland. With her signal equipment damaged in the daring ship-to-ship rescue, no word of the disaster could be sent ahead to the authorities at Belfast.

Thus it was that the Mounsey brought in the first news of the disaster and its token in the wretched men crowded upon her decks. And only a few leagues away to the North, their own great ship, the troop-transport Otranto, with nearly five hundred of their comrades left helpless aboard her, had been beaten to pieces on a reef of the Scottish Coast.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«◊»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The survivors, several of them badly injured, and one, a sailor of the Otranto, so hurt that he died a few minutes after rescue, had been dashed upon the rocks beneath Kilchoman, a tiny cliff hamlet on the wildest part of Islay’s western coast. There the neighboring shepherds and the farmer-folk, clustered on the headland to watch the transport’s slow destruction, had gone bravely into the crashing surf and dragged the men to safety.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦«◊»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It is quite impossible to say too much of the humanity of all these peasant people, of their readiness to accept any hardship in the name of mercy, of the gentle, steadfast nursing they gave the soldiers, virtually bringing them back to life.

Lt. James Jeffres of the Red Cross, who was active in the rescue work on Islay after both the Tuscania and Otranto disasters, returned to Kilchoman on Christmas Day, 1918 to honor the American dead and to thank the people of Islay.  In the sinking of the Otranto, no county suffered a greater loss of young men than Berrien county, GA.  (see HMS Otranto Sank Ninety-four Years Ago).

Lieutenant Jeffres, of the Red Cross, with McIntyre and McPhee.

Lieutenant Jeffres, of the Red Cross, with McIntyre and McPhee.

At Christmas, the Red Cross and  Islay islanders took time to place flags and flowers on the graves of the American soldiers who lost their lives off the coast of the Scottish isle.

Graves of Otranto men at Kilchoman, Islay

Graves of Otranto men at Kilchoman, Islay

Thomasville Times Enterprise
Feb  6, 1919

Scotch Islanders Remembered Soldiers At Christmas Time

      Kilchoman, Island of Islay, Dec. 25.  -(By Mail).- This lonely little wind-swept island off the west coast of Scotland, scarcely more than  a dot in the North Atlantic, today observed Christmas for the first time since its young men went off to war more than four years ago.  And in the observance, it did not forget to place flags and flowers on the graves of the American soldiers who lost their lives when the transport Tuscania was torpedoed early in 1917 and the transport Otranto went down after a collision last October.
       The island people did not expect much of a Christmas, but Santa Clause went to them through the “Flying Squadron” of the American Red Cross in London, and his personal representative was Lieutenant James Jeffres, a New York businessman who lives at Summit, N. J.  The Christmas party brought to Islay half a dozen big packing cases.  There were candy and toys for the children, pipes and tobacco for the old men, cigarettes for the soldier ones who were home for the holidays , and comfortable things for the women.  Pajamas, night shirts, underwear and bed linen found their way into the boxes.  Besides, there were bundles of American and British silk flags to decorate the soldier graves and a plentiful supply for Memorial Day next May.  The distribution of gifts was made from the schools on the island.
      Little Maggie McPhee, scarce 16, saw a soldier struggling in the water, and dashing into the surf, pulled him ashore unmindful of the fact that she wore her best Sunday dress and that her heroism reduced it to a shapeless ruin.  Lieutenant Jeffres learned of her plight, and today she was given a wonderful creation of green which had been selected with the utmost care by the women of the Red Cross.
 Two dozen American safety razors with blades enough to last a year or two for each razor were given to the constabulary, who helped the stricken Americans.  The pipes and tobacco, they were for the old men who brought all their knowledge of the sea into the work of rescue.  The candy and toys were for the children who, forming in procession, placed the flowers and flags on the soldiers’ graves, and who, because of their admiration for the Americans, may be trusted, Lieutenant Jeffres felt, to carry out the same mission on next Memorial Day.

Thomasville Times Enterprise, Feb 6, 1919

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Hod Clements ~ Doughboy

November 11, 2012 at 11:00 am (Clements Family, WWI)
Tags: , , , , ,

Hod P. Clements joined the US Army at Milltown, GA and trained at Camp Wheeler in Macon, GA before shipping overseas.

Josea Peeples "Hod" Clements, 1918, , dressed in his World War I uniform and holding his rifle.

Hosea Peeples “Hod” Clements, 1918, , dressed in his World War I uniform and holding his rifle. Vanishing Georgia, Georgia Archives, Office of Secretary of State. http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/u?/vg2,3978

Hod served overseas from September 17, 1918 to July 5, 1919. He was assigned to Company F, 106th Engineers, a unit of the 31st  Division. Known as the Dixie Division it was made up of men from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The 31st was at Brest when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

Thomasville Times Enterprise, Armistice Day, Nov 11, 1918

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

J.M. DeLoach Jumped from the HMS OTRANTO

October 10, 2012 at 12:50 am (HMS Otranto)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While many soldiers were taken by the sea in the sinking of HMS Otranto, at least three Berrien county men survived the disaster. Among the survivors, James Marvin DeLoach, a son of James Philip Polk DeLoach and Fannie Durham. DeLoach was never quite a resident of Ray City,GA but had connections with the town. In 1910, J. M. DeLoach purchased a lot on Jones Street in the newly platted city, but owned the property only a few weeks before selling out to Levi J. Clements.

James Marvin DeLoach came from a large family of Lowndes pioneers. Among his elder brothers was Edmund Thomas DeLoach, thirty years his senior, who watched many younger relatives march off to war and, thankfully, come marching home again. A Tifton Gazette article from August 22, 1919 tells of the WWI service of the DeLoach family:

W.L. DeLOACH RETURNS.

William Lindsey DeLoach, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. T. DeLoach, who live near Cycloneta, returned home Saturday from overseas service. He was with the Second Division, in the infantry, and took part in the big parade in New York. He received his honorable discharge at Camp Gordon Saturday. He went across in the summer of 1918.
Mr. DeLoach had two sons, two nephews and a brother [J.M. DeLoach] in foreign service, all escaping without a scratch except his brother who was injured when he jumped from the sinking Otranto.
Mr. DeLoach will give a homecoming picnic to the boys and their friends at his home Saturday.

Tifton Gazette, Aug. 22, 1919 — page 8

WWI Registration for Selective Service

James M. DeLoach, at age 27, registered for the draft in the 1144th Georgia Militia District, the Ray’s Mill District, on June 15, 1917. Following President Woodrow Wilson’s declaration of war on Germany, the Selective Service Act had been passed authorizing the registration and drafting of men into the U.S. armed forces. The first registration began on June 5, 1917, and included all men between the ages of 21 and 31.

Thomasville Times Enterprise announces declaration of war, April 6, 1917.

Thomasville Times Enterprise headlines declaration of war, April 6, 1917.

Military records show that Deloach was fair-haired with blue eyes, tall at six feet – one inches, with a medium build, and single. His draft card was processed by Charles Oscar Terry, who served as Registrar in addition to his regular pursuits as druggist and merchant of Ray City, GA.

At the time of registration, Deloach was working a farm at Milltown, GA (now Lakeland) under the employment of Ray City businessman Hod. P. Clements. James M. DeLoach continued to work for another year as the war dragged on, but the following summer he volunteered for service and enlisted as a private about July 16, 1918 at Nashville, GA. He was assigned to the Coast Artillery and probably trained at Camp Gordon, GA.

Recruits' open air instruction, Camp Gordon, Atlanta, GA 1918

Recruits’ open air instruction, Camp Gordon, Atlanta, GA 1918

After training DeLoach and hundreds of other Georgia men were sent to New York, where they boarded the troopship H.M.S. Otranto. The ship departed New York on September 24, 1918 on what was to be her final, tragic voyage. Among the contingent of Berrien County men sailing along with DeLoach on Otranto were Ralph Knight and Shellie Webb, of Ray City, GA; James Grady Wright of Adel, GA; and Early Steward of Nashville, GA.

Final Voyage of the Otranto

On the 6.10.1918, the Auxiliary Cruiser Otranto, bound from New York to Glasgow, with a crew of 360 men and some 660 American Troops, collided with the P. & O. Liner Kashmir off the North Coast of Islay. Both ships had acted as Column Leaders in Convoy HX50 and arrived in the North Channel in the midst of a violent gale and poor visibility. When land was sighted, the Officer of the Watch aboard the Kashmir correctly identified it as Islay, but his counterpart in the Otranto mistook the ground for that of Inishtrahull. As a consequence, both ships were turned in toward each other and at 8.45 a.m. the Kashmir struck the Otranto with a fatal blow amidships on her port side. As the damaged vessels drifted apart, water poured into the huge hole in Otranto’s side and she drifted towards the rocky coast of Islay. First to answer the stricken vessel’s S.O.S. calls was the Torpedo Boat Destroyer H.M.S. Mounsey, commanded by Lieutenant F.W. Craven and crewed by such men as Stoker Petty Officer Shillabeer, shortly to be a D.S.M. The Mounsey reached the stricken Liner at around 10 a.m. and, dwarfed by her rearing and plunging 12,000 ton frame, very gallantly closed her to take off survivors. On no less than four occasions the plucky little Destroyer crashed against the Liner’s side, each time hundreds of American servicemen jumping from the latter’s decks in an effort to reach those of the Destroyer. In what must have been horrific circumstances, many of them met their death between the pitching sides of the two vessels, while many others sustained serious injuries on hitting the Mounsey’s deck. At length, however, with her decks perilously overladen, the Mounsey set sail for Belfast with an astonishing 596 survivors. Tragically at least another 400 souls remained trapped aboard the Otranto, and when she hit the bottom less than half a mile from shore, near Machir Bay, Captain Davidson gave the order to abandon ship – only 16 of these men ever reached land (Argyll Shipwrecks, P. Moir and I. Crawford refers).

- Christie’s Auction House synopsis of the Otranto Disaster written for the auction of a Distinguished Service Medal and other service items that had been awarded to crewman Sidney William Shillabeer of the rescue ship HMS Mounsey. The medal lot sold for £897 ($1,492).

Shellie Webb and Ralph Knight, along with some two dozen other Berrien men were among those who perished that stormy Sunday morning off the island of Isley. Captain Ernest George William Davidson, master of Otranto, also went down with his ship. Early Steward, of Nashville, GA was one of the very few who went into the sea and made it to the shore of Islay still alive.

Lieutenant Francis Worthington Craven, commander of HMS Mounsey, made it to Belfast with his rescue-laden ship, and was later presented with the Distinguished Service Medal by President Woodrow Wilson and the Distinguished Service Order by the United Kingdom. Craven was killed in an Irish Republican Army ambush in 1921.

Deloach and Wright were two of the fortunate American soldiers who were able to jump from the heaving deck of the doomed Otranto to the deck of the destroyer HMS Mounsey. In 1919, DeLoach recounted his experience:

Tifton Gazette
June 20, 1919

JUMPED FROM OTRANTO

Private Deloach, From Berrien, Had a Close Call When Troop Ship Sank

Private J. M. DeLoach, who went into service from Berrien County, but whose home is now in Lowndes, was up a few days ago to visit his brother, Mr. E. T. DeLoach near Tifton.
Private DeLoach was on the Otranto when that ill-fated ship was rammed by the Kashmir and sank early on Sunday morning in October, 1918. He escaped, as did Sergeant? [James G.] Wright, by jumping to the deck of a destroyer below.
He was knocked partially unconscious by the landing but he had enough presence of mind to catch another man’s leg to avoid being washed overboard. His –[text obscured]—- and he was unconscious –[text obscured]– before reaching port. –[text obscured]– he was sick and his temperature was 104 before he took the –[text obscured]–debated awhile because he was so ill.
DeLoach said the toughest part of the rescue was when the destroyer –[text obscured]– for the last time and the men –[text obscured]– were lined up at the –[text obscured]–it was not until then that they —danger. It was heartbreaking to see the men in the water begging to be taken on board, when nothing could be done for them. One man was washed off the destroyer by a big wave and then washed back on again.

DeLoach was discharged from Army service on May 6, 1919 at Camp Gordon, GA. Afterwards, he made his way back to Hahira, GA , the place of his birth, where he returned to farming.

Related Posts:

1 Comment

HMS Otranto Sank Ninety-four Years Ago

October 6, 2012 at 12:30 am (HMS Otranto)
Tags: , , , ,

A day to remember Berrien County men and all those who were lost in the sinking of HMS Otranto.

On October 6, 1918, on a stormy North Atlantic Sunday morning, the WWI troopship HMS Otranto went down with the loss of 351 American troops and 80 British crew members. Among the dead were 25 soldiers from Berrien County, GA.

The Otranto was lost after a collision with HMS Kashmir, another liner turned troopship. In poor visibility in the rough seas between the Northeast coast of Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland, Otranto was rammed by the Kashmir after a steering malfunction. She was holed on the port side forward and, in the heavy swell, began to list. Many men were rescued by the heroic effort of the destroyer Mounsey before the stricken ship hit rocks and became grounded. With the heavy seas pounding her continually against the rocks the ship eventually broke up and sank off the coast of the island of Isley.

News of the disaster was slow in coming to the states. The following story appeared in the New York Sun one week after the sinking. (transcript provided below)

THE NEW YORK SUN,
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1918.
364 MEN CHURNED TO DEATH IN SEA

Otranto Splits in Half on Rocks and Soldiers Die in Wreckage.

HELPLESS CROWDS WATCH

Terrific Storm Prevents Any Attempt at Rescue on Steep Coast.

An Irish Port, Oct. 12. – American soldiers to the number of 364 or 366 perished when the British armed mercantile cruiser Otranto and the transport Kashmir crashed in the North Channel, between Scotland and Ireland, last Sunday.
Three hundred American soldiers and thirty French sailors and 266 members of the crew of the Otranto have been landed at a port in Northern Ireland. Sixteen other survivors have been picked up at Islay. More than 300 bodies had been recovered this morning and many of them have been buried.
The Otranto is a total wreck on the island of Islay. The Kashmir landed its troops at a Scottish port without loss of life.
The troopships came in collision while a heavy storm was raging and the Otranto with a gaping hole in her side drifted helplessly toward the rocky coast.

“Swim for it” shouted Captain.

A number of the troops on board were from the interior of the United States and were without experience at sea. They had preferred to remain on the bigger ship rather than risk jumping to the small destroyer Mounsey and they seemed to be cheered by the sight of land.
The hopes of the men that they would able to make a safe landing-, however, were dispelled by the Otranto’s captain when he shouted from the bridge:
“Well, boys, we will have to swim for It!”
About that time the troopship slid with hardly a jar on to a shelving; rock, which, as a wave receded, bit its teeth into the chip’s timber and held her in a viselike grip. After that the tragedy moved quickly to its climax.
The fury of the storm seemed vented on the pinioned and helpless vessel and in league with the vicious sea which began to rend and tear the ship to pieces. The steel deck house was wrenched bodily from its fastenings by the enormous waves and was hurled into the breakers, sweeping many men away with it.

On Rocks Mile From Shore.

The ship had struck about a mile from shore and on the cliffs, stood groups of Islanders eager to send aid, but which it was impossible even to attempt. Owing to the terrible wind there was no chance of getting a line to the ship, which was now fast breaking up.
Scores of men began to Jump and many immediately were seized by the waves and hurled against the sides of the ship. About noon the Otranto was lifted, on the crest of a high comber and dashed back to the rock so violently that the vessel broke squarely in two. The mast flipped short, killing men as it fell.
One section of the hulk turned side wise, emptying all hands still clinging to the deck into the boiling surf. The other section proved a plaything of the waves and speedily was ground to pieces on the rocks.
The ship’s remaining company were now struggling In the water. The slim chance they might have had of getting ashore, was virtually dissipated by the wreckage from the whip, through which the best swimmers were unable to win their way.
The experience related by William Richards typifies that of the others but perhaps is a bit more sensational. He said:
“The fellows were fine. We knew that when the ship went fast on the rocks so far out we would not have much chance to save our skins. But we all seemed determined to make a good try.

Captain Hurled Into Sea.

‘A wave washed me off and I managed to get clear of the ship. The first man I recognized In the water was the captain, who was thrown overboard when the mast broke away. He was standing straight up, treading water and looking about for something to grasp
“There were three men on a mattress riding in to shore as though they were enjoying life, but while I watched them and wishing I were on it too a big roller swept them all off and banged them against the rocks.
“I saw five or six others hanging on a bench. Some managed to climb on the tin rafts lowered from the ship, but every raft I saw was smashed to pieces against the vessel or on the rocks.
The noise of the wreckage grinding on the rocks was fierce, and any fellow who got into the wreckage was as good as gone. There were dozens of the boys floating around me, all dead, with nothing but their blue faces out of the water.
“A big roller carried me into a kind of a cleft in the rocks and I was thrown upon the side. I must have passed out. When I came to I saw two British soldiers on the other side of the ravine. They threw me a rope, which I made fast and crossed hand over hand.”
Joseph Pollock said he believed many more of the soldiers would have been saved but for the steep banks of the cliffs.” In one little cove twenty-eight bodies were counted.

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Hod P. Clements and the Dixie Division

September 25, 2012 at 12:11 am (Clements Family, WWI)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Hosea P. “Hod” Clements was born December 27, 1890 in Milltown, GA, a son of Ann Eliza Swindle and John Miles Clements. Hod grew up on his father’s farm, situated on one of the ‘settlement’ roads outside of Ray City.

Hod P. Clements of Ray City, GA, 1911.

Hod P. Clements of Ray City, GA, 1911.

On June 15, 1917 Hod Clements registered for the  WWI draft at Milltown, GA . At the time he was working as a self employed farmer. He was 26 years old, medium height and build, with gray eyes and light hair.  His draft card was processed by C. O. Terry, registrar for Berrien County and also the druggist at Ray City, GA.

Three months later on September 21, 1917, and less than a week after marrying Alma Florence May,  Hosea Peoples Clements was inducted into the US Army at Milltown. His military service records show he was first assigned to Company A, 307th Engineers and trained at Camp Wheeler in Macon, GA.

Artillery Hill, Camp Wheeler, Macon, GA. October 2, 1917

Artillery Hill, Camp Wheeler, Macon, GA. October 2, 1917. Image courtesy of Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007664196/

Late in the summer of 1918 Hod shipped overseas where he served from September 17, 1918 to July 5, 1919. There on Oct. 14, 1918, he joined Company F, 106th Engineers. This unit was part of the 31st (old 10) Division  which encompassed units from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.  The 31st Division was known as the Dixie Division, under the command of Major General Leroy S. Lyon.

WWI Dixie Division arm patches.

WWI Dixie Division arm patches.

Upon arrival in France the 31st was designated as a replacement division. The personnel of most of the units were withdrawn and sent to other organizations. The 31st was at Brest when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

Hosea P. Clements was honorably discharged from the Army on July 13, 1919. Records show he had 0 percent disability at discharge.

After the War, Hod Clements returned to Berrien County, GA and took up farming.

Related articles

Leave a Comment

John R. Wood Goes to Paris

June 29, 2012 at 12:24 am (Uncategorized, WWI)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ray City, GA was the boyhood home of John Rhoden Wood, a son of Milledge Dewey Wood and Nancy Caroline Rhoden. He went on to a long career as a diplomat with the US State Department, serving primarily in France, from WWI to WWII.

John R. Wood, 1920 passport photo.

John R. Wood, 1920 passport photo.

John Rhoden Wood was born in Dupont, GA on February 7, 1894. Some time before 1910, the Wood family moved from Dupont to the 1329 Georgia Militia District, near Ray City, GA where John R. Wood spent his teenage years.

At the time of the draft for WWI John R. Wood was living in Jacksonville, FL and working for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. He was 23 years old, of medium height and build, with blue eyes and brown hair. Wood entered the Army and was sent to France. He achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant before receiving an honorable discharge.

About 1920 John R. Wood married a French girl, Jeanne Victorine Brissaud.

Jeanne Victorine Brissaud, 1920 passport photo.

Jeanne Victorine Brissaud, 1920 passport photo.

That year Wood applied for a passport  to return to France, giving his permanent residence as Ray City, GA.

John R. Wood 1920 Passport Application

John R. Wood 1920 Passport Application

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Washington, DC

I, John R Wood, a native and loyal citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport for myself and my wife, Mrs. Jeane B. Wood.

I solemnly swear that I was born at Dupont Ga in the State of Ga, on or about the 7 day of Feb, 1894, that my father, M D Wood, was born in Coffee County Ga, and is now residing at Ray City Ga. that I have resided outside the United Stats at the following places for the following periods:

Paris, France. from Dec 1, 1918 to July 1, 1920 and that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at Ray City in the state of Ga.

I am about to go abroad temporarily, and I intend to return to the United States within -{months/years} with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein; and I desire a passport for use in visiting the countries hereafter named for the following purpose:

France  – Returning to present employment

I intend to leave the United States from the port of New York sailing on board the  (name of vessel) on September 15, 1920.

Further, I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

J. R. Wood

Sworn to before me this 14th day of July, 1920
D F Smith
Agent, Department of State

In the margins the notation was added, “Honorable discharge from Army dated August 11, 1919 and giving rank as 2nd Lieut  seen and returned 7/14/20.”

The description of applicant gave his age as 26 years and height as 5 foot 11 inches.  He was fair in complexion with a full face, light hair,  high forehead, hazel eyes, straight nose, small mouth and square chin.

John Rhodes Wood's 1920 passport application gave his permanent residence as Ray City, GA.

John R. Wood’s 1920 passport application gave his permanent residence as Ray City, GA.

After some time in France,  John Wood made the return passage on the SS Rochambeau.

Over the next decades John R. Wood made several transatlantic voyages.  In May of 1926 he made the return crossing aboard the SS France.  At the time it was one of the fastest liners afloat.

SS France

SS France

In 1929 he sailed from Le Havre, France to New York aboard the SS Ile de France. The census of 1930 shows that John R. Wood and family were living in Paris, France where he was employed as Vice Consul.

SS Ile de France, photographed circa 1935

SS Ile de France, photographed circa 1935

On April 18, 1934 John R. Wood again departed from France, sailing from Le Havre aboard the SS Paris and arriving at the port of New York on April 24.  He gave his address in the U.S. as the Department of State, Washington, DC.

S.S. Paris, once the most luxurious ocean liner in the world.

In 1934 John R. Wood sailed aboard the S.S. Paris, once billed as the most luxurious ocean liner in the world.

In 1939, Wood made the Atlantic crossing on the SS Normandie.

SS Normandie at sea in the 1930s.

SS Normandie at sea in the 1930s.

More than a year after Germany invaded France during WWII,  John Wood departed Europe from Lisbon, Portugal on August 1, 1941, on the USS West Point.

USS West Point, August 1, 1941

USS West Point, August 1, 1941

Jeanne Brissaud Wood died on June 14, 1974 in Nice, France.

Later, John R. Wood made his residence in Colquitt County, GA.  He died in Savannah, GA on June 30, 1996 at 102 years of age.

In death he returned to his boyhood home of Ray City, GA where he was interred at Beaver Dam Cemetery, with his parents and others of the Wood family connection.

-30-

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

WWI Registration Certificate of James Isaac Lee

February 26, 2012 at 12:55 am (Lee Family, WWI)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

James Isaac Lee (1876 – 1953)

James Isaac Lee was born in Berrien, Georgia, USA on 4 Feb 1876,  a son of Mary Eleanor Parrish (1849-1909) and John Lee (1842-1902).

His father, John Lee, was a Confederate veteran, having served with Company K, 5th Georgia Regiment and with Company E, 54th Georgia Regiment. His mother, Mary Eleanor Parrish, was a daughter of Molcy Knight and the Primitive Baptist minister, Elder Ansel Parrish.

James grew up on his father’s farm, located ” in the forks of Five Mile Creek and  Ten Mile Creek in what was then Berrien Co, GA (since 1920 in Lanier),”  about six or seven miles northeast of present day Ray City, GA.

James I Lee married Valeria Sirmans on November 19, 1902.  She was a daughter of Hardeman Sirmans and Elizabeth Knight, and a granddaughter of General Levi J. Knight.  In fact, James I Lee and Valorie Sirmans were cousins, both being great-grandchildren of William Anderson Knight. In 1910, James and Valeria were working the farm they owned in the 1144th Georgia Militia District, the Rays Mill district. In 1920 Valeria Sirmans and James I Lee were living at Ray City, GA. They owned a farm next to Martha Sirmans. 

At the time of the 1918 draft registration for WWI, James I Lee gave the address of their farm as located on the RFD #2 mail route out of Milltown, GA.  (this was prior to the formation of Lanier County). James was 42 years old at the time of registration.  While he had been too old for the earlier registrations which sought men between the ages of 21 and 31, the third registration, conducted on September 12, 1918, required men up to age 45 to appear before the draft board.  James’ draft card shows that he was a self-employed farmer of medium height and build, with grey eyes and dark hair. He was physically disqualified for the draft as a result of “heart failure.”  However, James was issued a registration certificate. All men who registered were given bluish green certificates to prove they had registered. The certificate was embossed with an eagle at the top and merely stated the name of the registrant, date, and location of draft board. The Thomasville Daily Times-Enterprise admonished, “If you have reached the age of 18 years and not yet 46, you must register on September 12…you will be given a Registration Certificate to show you have complied with the law.  This certificate should always be carried.”

1918 Registration Certificate of James Isaac Lee. Image courtesy of Edith Mayo.

1918 Registration Certificate of James Isaac Lee. Image courtesy of Edith Mayo.

 Draft Registration

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

J. H. Gaskins and the Draft Board Scandal

December 16, 2011 at 12:24 am (Gaskins Family, Uncategorized, WWI)
Tags: , , , ,

James Henry Gaskins

James Henry Gaskins

On this date 96 years ago today, December 16, 1917, a World War I draft board scandal blazed across the front page headlines of  The Atlanta Constitution.  Draft Board members in Fulton county and one in Berrien County, J. H. Gaskins, were summarily dismissed.

James Henry Gaskins, a former resident of the Ray City, GA area, was a clerk of the Superior Court of Berrien County, GA (see Clerk).  He  had been appointed as clerk of the Berrien County Exemption Board with the implementation of the WWI Selective Service Act in 1917.  The local exemption boards, composed of leading civilians in each community, were responsible for the administration of the selective draft. These boards issued draft calls in order of numbers drawn in a national lottery and determined exemptions based on the draftees’ dependents, essential occupations, or conscientious objection.

Gaskins was dismissed from the Exemption Board in December, 1917 after he became embroiled in a scandal over reward money for capture of a man who had failed to report for the draft. He continued, however, to hold his position in the clerk’s office of the Superior Court.

The following material, excerpted from the headline article, describes Gaskins case:

The Atlanta Constitution
December 16, 1917 
PRESIDENT FIRES FULTON EXEMPTION BOARD: Fulton Board Members Discharged by President.

MANY DISCHARGES GRANTED BY BOARD WITHOUT WARRANT, STATE COMPLAINS

44 Per Cent of Whites Examined Were Excused on Physical Grounds, While Very Few Negroes Were Exempted From Service According to Statistics.

President Wilson has summarily discharged the entire exemption board of Fulton county, on the ground that the board has granted a large number of unwarranted exemptions and discharges.
    Statistics compiled from an investigation in the action of the Fulton county exemption board shows that out of 618 white men called in Fulton county, 526 were exempted, and that the number of men exempted on physical grounds amounted to 44 per cent of the total white men called.  On the other hand, the statistics show that 202 negroes were called in Fulton county, and only six negroes were exempted on any ground whatsoever.
    Major Joel B. Mallet, in charge of the administration of the selective service law in Georgia, on Saturday transmitted to the Fulton exemption board the order of the provost marshal general, from the president, discharging the board…

    Major Mallet has also received, through Provost Marshal General Crowder, an order discharging J. H. Gaskins, clerk of the Berrien county exemption board, for an alleged attempt to graft a part of a reward for the capture of a deserter.  T. J. Griffin, Sr., of Nashville, Ga., has been appointed to succeed Mr. Gaskins.
    The cases of both Mr. Gaskins and the Fulton county exemption board are still in the hands of the department of justice for whatever disposition the department may see fit to make of the cases.
    Gaskins is alleged to have written a letter to the chief of police of Detroit, stating that he held the name and Detroit address of a Berrien county negro who was classed as a deserter for failure to report, and that he would furnish the chief with information for the arrest of the negro on condition the chief would send him $25 of the $50 reward which the chief would receive upon presenting his prisoner at the nearest training camp.  The chief forwarded the letter to the provost marshal general.

Case of Mr. Gaskins.

    The discharge of Mr. Gaskins from the Berrien county board came when the provost marshal general, upon receipt of Gaskins’ letter to the Detroit chief of police, asked Major Mallet to make an investigation.   Major Mallet wrote to Mr. Gaskins and asked him for the name, serial and order number of the deserter he had written to the Detroit chief about.  Mr. Gaskins came forward with the information. A copy of his letter was sent to Washington, and his removal followed.
    Mr. Gaskins letter to the Detroit chief of police was as follows:
“Chief of Police, Detroit, Mich.
    “Dear Sir:  I have a negro who is in your city and he is a deserter, and if you will give me $25 out of the  $50 reward I will give you his name and street number, together with copies of his registration and medical examination blanks that are required under the rules.  You understand, under the rules, you only have to deliver him to the nearest training camp.  Kindly wire or write me by return mail that you will do this.  I will forward the necessary papers above mentioned.
     “Yours truly,
(signed)           “J. H. GASKINS”

    This letter was forwarded by the Detroit chief to Provost Marshall General Crowder.  General Crowder kept the original and sent a copy to Major Mallet, asking an investigation, commenting that “such action is entirely improper on the part of any member of any board.
    “The seriousness of the character of the offense,” continued General Crowder, “prompts me to request an immediate investigation and report to this office by you.”
    Major Mallet wrote to Mr. Gaskins:
    “Will you kindly forward to this office your letter to the chief of police of Detroit, Mich., along with the name of the deserter referred to.”

    Mr. Gaskins replied to Major Mallet:
    “I have your letter and beg to advise that the negro, LeRoy Whittaker, order No. 126, serial No. 1456, was delivered to proper authorities at Camp Wheeler, November 6.”
     This letter was forwarded to the provost marshal general, together with a copy of the letter which Major Mallet wrote to Mr. Gaskins.

Leave a Comment

Joseph Burton Calhoun ~ WWI Soldier

October 21, 2011 at 12:39 am (Calhoun Family, Uncategorized, WWI)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Joseph Burton Calhoun, 1918, in WWI army uniform, probably taken in Atlanta, GA. Image courtesy of I. Mitchell Calhoun.

Joseph Burton Calhoun, 1918, in WWI army uniform, probably taken in Atlanta, GA. Image courtesy of I. Mitchell Calhoun.

Joseph Burton Calhoun was a son of  Samuel Augustus “Gus” Calhoun and Rachel B. Bullard, born December 10, 1918 and raised in Rays Mill, GA (nka Ray City).  In WWI he served in the U.S. Army.

Prior to WWI Joseph Burton Calhoun had been living in Moultrie, GA where in 1917, he was employed by J.M. Bryan as a mechanic. On June 5, 1917 he registered for the draft for WWI in Colquitt County. His draft card gave his physical description as medium in height and build, with light hair and blue eyes.

Nine months later, Joseph Burton Calhoun was back in Berrien County, GA where he married Louannie Boyette on March 4, 1918.

In 1918 Joseph Burton Calhoun was in the army. He was photographed in uniform along with a fellow soldier, in what appears to be a souvenir post card print. According to family history, Joseph Burton Calhoun served in the Military Police during WWI and apparently served overseas. A family heirloom is a bolt action .41 caliber Swiss rifle that Calhoun brought back from the war.

Swiss .41 WAFFENFABRIK-BERN-M78, serial # 187500. This rifle, pictured above, was acquired by Joseph Burton Calhoun during his service in WWI. The gun was manufactured circa 1885, one of a total of 228,000 ordered by the Swiss government. At the time of introduction, this rifle was one of the most advanced military rifles in Europe, but by WWI it was completely out-dated. (Image and information courtesy of Mitchell Calhoun)

Swiss .41 WAFFENFABRIK-BERN-M78, serial # 187500. This rifle, pictured above, was acquired by Joseph Burton Calhoun during his service in WWI. The gun was manufactured circa 1885, one of a total of 228,000 ordered by the Swiss government. At the time of introduction, this rifle was one of the most advanced military rifles in Europe, but by WWI it was completely out-dated. (Image and information courtesy of Mitchell Calhoun)

After the war Joseph Burton Calhoun returned to his wife and family in Ray City, GA.

(Special thanks to I. Mitchell Calhoun for contributions to this post.)

Related articles

Leave a Comment

« Older entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 112 other followers