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WWI
124th Machine Gun Battalion
Illinois National Guard
McLean County, Illinois

[McLean County, Illinois, in the World War, 1917-1918; by Edward E. Pierson & Jacob Louis Hasbrouck c 1921]
(Transcribed by: Teri Moncelle Colglazier)

During the months of September and October, 1917, the Thirty-third division was organized at Camp Logan, Texas, from units of the Illinois National Guard which had been drafted into federal service. Several regiments of infantry of the I. N. G. had to be broken up or changed bodily into other arms of the service. Among these were the Fifth and Seventh. The Fifth regiment was composed of companies from Quincy, Peoria, Canton, Pekin, Jacksonville, Bloomington, Decatur, Delavan, Danville, Springfield and Taylorville, and was commanded by Col. Frank S. Woods of Quincy. On October 10, 1917, the reorganization took place, and the 122d, 123d and 124th machine gun battalions were formed. At first the 124th battalion was composed of three companies, L of Decatur, D of Bloomington and C of Springfield, all of the old Fifth regiment. In February, the battalion was increased to four companies, and Co. C of the 122d battalion, formerly the machine gun company of the Seventh regiment, became Co. D of the 124th. On October 13 Major Floyd F. Putman and Lieut. Clarence H. Woods were assigned to the 124th machine gun battalion, and Major Putman immediately began organization of the headquarters. The battalion continued in training at Camp Logan until May 6, 1918. By recruits from Camps Dodge, Grant and Taylor, the battalion was up to its authorized strength by date of its sailing, which occurred on the night of May 15 after transfer from Camp Upton, where the battalion had arrived May 11. The transport used was the Mount Vernon; formerly a German ship, which carried 5,000 troops on this trip. The division commander, Maj. Gen. George Bell, Jr., was aboard, with his staff, headquarters troop, military police, and the 132rd infantry, all of this the Thirty-third division. The convoy arrived at Brest, France, May 24, and landed May 26. The officers of Company B, in which were most of the McLean county boys, at this time were: Captain Burr P. Irwin; 1st Lieut. James A. Fishburne, 1st Lieut. William E. Bourdan, 2d Lieut. Glair F. Schumacher, 2d Lieut. Robert F. Rockhill, 2d Lieut. Chester I. White. The battalion was stationed at Cerisy until June 9, then marched to Grandcourt. On June 22 it marched to Pont Eemy, on the Somme river, to operate in conjunction with British forces. From about the first to the 20th of August, the outfit became the machine gun reserve to the Australian forces, and after the '25th the entire division was transferred to the French area. At Guerpont the battalion was equipped with American guns and continued training preparatory to taking part in the great offensive which was to begin on September 26. On September 6 the battalion was transferred by rail to Bois-des-Sartelles near Balleycourt. The facts here recorded will hereafter be confined mostly to Company B, in which were most of the McLean county men. In operations with the British, on July 17, 18, Companies B and A occupied positions in the Baizieux-Warloy line for twenty-four hours. From July 17 to 23 all officers and men occupied front line positions with British forces for observation; from the 25th to 30th, A and B companies relieved units of the British 47th battalion for four days. From August 6-7, A and B companies relieved units of the British 47th and 50th battalions until relieved by the 123d M. G. battalion. Casualties to battalion on this tour, 2 killed, 6 wounded. Battalion was relieved August 12 from British sector to Querrieu wood with the Australians. On the morning of September 26, all the companies of the battalion, together with the 122d machine gun battalion and the machine gun companies of the 131st and 132d infantry, participated in the attack on Forges Wood. The initial advance of the battalions was covered by machine gun barrage on the enemy trenches and strong points along the entire brigade front. The barrage consisted of forty guns, which was a complete success. The advance was over rough and ascending ground, mostly wooded, but all guns except three which were knocked out by shell fire were taken forward and reached the objective with the infantry and covered the consolidation. After crossing the Forges river, Company B formed up and moved forward under barrage of machine guns, artillery and smoke screen. Beached objective by 11 or 11:30 and took position to cover consolidation on left bank of Meuse valley. The 3rd platoon covered left flank, as 319th infantry did not reach objective until the following evening. Casualties, 3 killed, 7 wounded. Company remained in position until October 8, when it was withdrawn for operations on east side of Meuse. As the result of hard work the night of October 7, this company placed 12 guns in position about Forges, and on the morning of 8th opened fire on Chaume Wood. On the 9th, moved to trenches southeast of Consenvoye, and at 6:45 on the morning of the 10th moved forward, with, third battalion of the 131st infantry through Consenvoye and Chaume Wood, delivering effective fire from northern edge of latter wood upon enemy machine gun positions and bodies of the enemy fleeing over the edge of the ridge. The next move forward, to the top of the opposite ridge was under extremely heavy gun fire from front and flanks, resulting in heavy casualties and loss of four guns. Nevertheless, one section to the support of the 131st, delivered fire which silenced several enemy snipers and put to flight parties of the enemy assembling on the extreme right for counter attack. The enemy launched a counter attack on the afternoon of the llth, which the guns of this company quickly stopped. Next morning the guns were moved back to a line with the third battalion, and placed to protect the front to the best advantage. On the night of the 13th of October the 131st infantry and machine gun companies received orders to withdraw to Consenvoye. The casualties during this action were: 2 killed, 26 wounded or gassed, Capt. Irwin and Lieut. Fishburne being included in the total. On the night of October 24, the 124th battalion left their rest billets at Les Tamaris and marched to Longeau Farm in the Troyon sector, covering 18 miles in 12 hours by night. By 10 a. m. the battalion had taken over positions of the 312th M. G. B. of the 79th division. The reorganization of the whole sector was completed by October 30, with B, C, and D companies in positions and A company in reserve. Here these units remained until the operations of November 10 and 11. Sixteen gas casualties in B company at Avillers. At midnight of November 9-10, B company got orders to join the 131st infantry at Doncourt, being assigned to the second battalion and moved forward into Haute Epines and Harville wood. The company was given the task of protecting the flank of the 3rd battalion while it attacked and held a part of Harville wood. The 3rd battalion went right ahead to its objective on the afternoon of the 10th. The second battalion moved forward into the wood under heavy artillery and machine gun fire. Lieut. Rockhill with the 1st platoon supported the front line, Lieut. White with the 2d platoon taking up positions along the right flank. While reconnoitering some of these positions, Sergt. Ely of Company B met and captured 11 prisoners single-handed. The heavy fire of all guns and the gas from exploding shells made the woods untenable and at 7 p. m. the troops withdrew to the edge of Haute Epines. The morning of the 11th orders came to attack again, and the 131st infantry was being assembled to carry out the order, when word came of the truce, and operations ceased. That afternoon Co. B moved back to Longeau farm when Co. D took over its former position. Casualties: 4 wounded, 1 missing. Company B, composed largely of McLean county men, had the distinction of having the greatest number of casualties of any company of the 124th Machine Gun battalion during its service in France, its total being 85, with 46 for A company being its next closest rival. The summary of casualties for the battalion in France is as follows: Headquarters Company, 1 killed in action, 1 accidentally killed, 1 wounded; total 3; A company, 4 killed in action, 21 wounded, 2 gassed, 19 missing; total 46 B company, 5 killed, 35 wounded, 44 gassed, 1 missing; total 85; C company, 7 killed, 9 wounded, 1 gassed, total 17 D company, 1 killed, 1 accidentally killed, 11 wounded, 1 gassed; total 14. Altho machine gunners are not often in a position to capture prisoners, yet this 124th battalion captured a total of 112 prisoners, including 5 non-commissioned officers and 107 privates. The armistice came at 11 o'clock on the morning of November 11 when all units of the 66th brigade, including all companies of the 124th M. G. battalion were making an assault on the enemy positions in front of the Troyon sector. As firing ceased, a general shout went up along the line, on both sides. The 124th withdrew to their billets at Longeau farm. On December 7 the battalion began its long hike into Germany, going by way of Moineville, Avril, Serrouville, Rumelange, Luxemburg, Aspelt, Kreuzweiler, Trintingen and Heffingen. B company was billeted in the village of Waldbillig. While in Luxemburg the monotony of long evenings was varied by various forms of entertainment designed by soldiers, in which the 124th M. G. battalion took prominent part. "Krigbaum's Circus" from A company and Lieut. Gene Hopkins' splendid show troupe made much merriment both in and outside of the 33rd division. One of the red letter days of the service was April 22, 1919, when the entire 33rd division was reviewed by Gen. Pershing at Ettelbruck. On April 26-27 the division entrained on the start on the long journey home. The arrival at Brest was on April 30. After nine days of impatient waiting, the division embarked on the U. S. S. Mt. Vernon, which weighed anchor at 4:30, May 9. The 124th machine gun battalion was a part of the 66th brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. Paul A. Wolfe. Its strength was 30 officers, 750 men and 48 heavy type machine guns. The 66th brigade led all the principal assaults of the 33rd division, and the division ranked among the first of the A. E. F. in efficiency, gallantry and battle record. The machine gun barrage in the attack of September 26, with forty guns, was pronounced by critics the first occasion when machine guns properly supported an American division in attack. While in active operations, the battalion received some excellent service from the Y. M. C. A., the Bed Cross and K. of C. welfare organizations. Chaplain C. M. Finnell was deserving of special credit for his work for the comfort and well being of the battalion. Through his efforts, every grave of a man from this battalion has been properly marked. Sergt. Russell W. Bringham of Bloomington, of Company B. had successfully passed his examination for a commission when the end of the war came. Two members of B company from McLean county were killed in battle: Sergt. Leslie G. Pfiffner of Normal and Corp. Lyle Fike of Bloomington, the latter dying of wounds. The following were wounded in action: Henry M. Hartley, Howard E. Campbell, Thomas Ivan Costigan, Herbert C. Rediger, all of Bloomington; Paul E. Draper of Heyworth, Carl S. Martin of Normal, William B. Mattoon of Bloomington, Joseph Million of Bloomington, George G. Sprouse of Saybrook. The following were gassed: Earl Potts of Bloomington, Leslie Rankin of Normal, and Louis C. Sears of Bloomington. The McLean county boys, members of this company and battalion, in addition to those already mentioned were as follows: Sergeant Lee F. Lishka of Bloomington, Sergt. Chester Hull of Bloomington, Sergt. Joseph F. Ranney of Normal, Sergt. Oliver P. Ely of Bellflower, Sergt. George A. Kraus of Danvers, Corp. Lewis Hardman of Lexington, Corp. Samuel W. Ashworth of Bellflower, Corp. Emery B. Quinn of Bloomington, Horseshoer Henry E. Batson of Bloomington, Privates Cecil D. Collins of Holder, Edward C. Albee of Bloomington, Paul V. Poole of Bloomington, William A. Albee of Bloomington, Homer A. Bowers of Normal, James G. Dennis of Normal, Lee H. Ellis of Bloomington, Harold J. Hartley of Bloomington, Clarence F. Miller of Bloomington, Charles V. Riley of Normal, James H. Sears of Bloomington, William Price Smith of Normal, Sylvester Thorpe of Bloomington, Vernon Wieting of Bloomington.

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