June 29, 1918 – Full diary entry:

“Left [Fellering] on foot in Rain. Marched over the Alps foot hills.

Reached Saulxures Fr. and are billeted.”

Chaplain Edwards, in From Doniphan to Verdun, covers the 35th Division’s stay in Saulxures with some of the funniest entries so far – and he has already set a high bar. Don’t miss the upcoming July 4 entry.

We reached Saulxures the 29th of June. It is a splendid little manufacturing town, the cleanest village we saw in France, the people were hospitable and kind, and the mayor anxious to do all he could for the American forces.

When we first landed in Saulxures, tired from the long march over the mountain, and hungry as a matter of course, a husky doughboy from the First Battalion started out on the usual hunt after eggs. He pounded on the door of a house, which happened to be Colonel Murphy’s billet. Colonel Murphy had made himself comfortable in a dressing gown, and tall, very slender, and new to the regiment, [Colonel Murphy had been assigned on June 18] was taken for a Frenchman when he opened the door in person.

“Avez voo dezzuf? [Avez-vous des oeufs?]” queried the eager soldier. The answer may be imagined! Indeed those who know Colonel Murphy need not use their imagination — they know it. But it can not be printed. 

The Colonel began an investigation into the lack of rations in the First Battalion.

Where was Robert today? See the timeline.