The History of Engineer Wagon Company 5, 23rd Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces, and Army Life At Home and In France

The History of Engineer Wagon Company 5

69 Members

1 Photo of 69 Company Members facing p. 106

1 Photo of 15 Company Sergeants facing p. 107

1 Photo of mess Sergeant and Staff (11 total) facing p. 122

1 Photo of Major Boles and Staff (22 total) facing p. 123

Photo of Charlie Chaplin (horse) with Killourhy & Lynch facing p. 138

Photo of Bobby (horse) with unnamed rider facing p. 139

Photographed Individual Members:

Anderson, Maury; Major

Campbell, Donald G.; Corporal

Carr, Frank L.; Sergeant

Grim, Iris W.

June, Harry F.; Lieutenant

Killourhy, Joseph H.; Lieutenant

Knight, Leonard G.; Sergeant

Lynch, Martin

Morrison, Laughlin P.; Captain

Nesmith; Linn W.; Sergeant-Major

Roberts, Edward P.; Lieutenant

Spencer, Edward W.; Corporal

Tabor, W.E.; Lieutenant

Taylor, Arthur; Captain

Tournier, Edward P.; Sergeant

Members Mentioned (102):

· Anderson, Maury; Major

· Morrison, Laughlin P.; Captain

· Tabor, William E. Lieutenant

· Taylor, Arthur; Captain

· Killourhy, Joseph H.; Lieutenant

· June, Harry F. Lieutenant

· Roberts, Edward P.; Second Lieutenant

· Ferguson; Sergeant

· Burns

· Mills

· Piper

· Racker

· Scott

· Fox

· Shanks

· Hansen

· Harlow

· Lindblade

· Rusch

· Burkman

· Carr, Milton J.; Corporal

· Chastain

· Muckey

· Granquist; Mechanic

· Howard; Mechanic

· MacNabb

· Alexander

· Benoit

· Buckley

· Christensen

· Dawes

· Eastman

· Greenen

· Gorge,Steve

· Hadaman

· Hoover

· Jones, Dick

· Lavin, Red

· Lewis

· Mace

· Monson

· Peel

· Phillips, C.L.

· Phipps

· Prince, LeRoy

· Rambo

· Sogge

· Thomas, Charley

· Vosier

· Walker

· Walters, Johnny

· Wright, Charles Arthur

· Wilder

· Alpers, Abbie

· Dempsey, Patrick

· Frank

· Grimm, Iris Wallingford

· Greenan

· Maguy

· Fraser

· Hamilton, David Gunn

· Hardenstein

· Hicks, Clarence Henry; Private

· Johnson

· Knapp

· Ledward

· Marley

· Kiernan

· Meyers, Aloysius Lawrence

· Molby

· Waldrip

· Wittkop, Otto

· Williams, Dale "Poor Sight"

· Achenbach

· Bentley

· Beville, Tom

· Hart

· Horton

· Cotter

· Hamer

· Miller, Joe

· Swanson

· Schneider, John

· Koehler

· Larson

· Lewandowski

· McDonald, Dabney

· Schneider, L.G.

· Smith, I.M.D.

· Smith, Cyril Augustus

· Stensland, Halvor

· Thompson, W.L.

· Ulm

· Van Oflen

· Wind, Max P.

· Wilson, C.

· Wilson, Lewis Edward

· Downing, Wilbur

· Holohean, James D.

· Hughbaert

· Garrity, George P.

· Tolleson; Corporal

"The History of Engineer Wagon Company 5: 23rd Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces, and Army Life at Home and in France"

This book details the history of Engineer Wagon Company 5, a First World War United States Army Company, from their organization at Fort Meade, Maryland through their deployment in France until the end of World War One and their return home. It was authored by two members of Engineer Wagon Company 5 – Corporal Donald Gwynne Campbell and Corporal Edward W. Spencer. It was written while the Company was still together in France and published in 1920, shortly after the war ended, by The Rumford Press of Concord, New Hampshire. No publishing history is stated, but this would almost certainly have been one small, single printing for the Company members and their families, with no retail market anticipated to justify further printings. There are only three other existing copies listed in the OCLC/World Cat. It is bound in red cloth with gold lettering on the cover and spine, and measures 6 inches in width by 9 ¼ inches in height by 1 inch in thickness. It contains 206 pages of text as well as 20 black and white photographs of company members, both individually and in groups. The front flyleaf of the book contains an inscription written in ink. It is from the estate of the family of one of the members of the Wagon Company. The book is in Good Condition. The binding is tight. The gold lettering is clean and crisp. The red covers are not faded or sunned, with only very slight rubbing at the corners.

The authors, Corporals Campbell and Spencer, possessed unique foresight in recognizing the historical value of recording the experiences of one small group of men in an overwhelmingly vast field of battle which engulfed all of Europe. They therefore set out to record the wartime experiences of the Company as a whole as well as provide brief biographies of each of the members. The members are all listed by name – the officers with full name and rank, while the Privates forming the bulk of the Company are sometimes given full names and others only last names. Each of the company members mentioned (102) is given a brief, one paragraph biography, describing their background and duties in the Company. These are written in a very friendly and sometimes humorous way, a manner which reveals the close comradeship which was obviously felt within the group.

The authors, Corporals Campbell and Spencer, in their introduction speak with eerie prescience to soldiers of the future when they talk of their intent in writing this book:

"The great adventure of our lives will [soon] be over. Our story may not interest others, it is not written for them. But it is of interest to us, and will be valued beyond its worth as literature, by our parents, wives, and children."

And later:

"We have prepared this little book under difficulties . . ."

An understatement which speaks volumes for the hope they had of surviving the carnage surrounding them; of the hope they held for the future. This is a very unique book in the field of Military History, one remarkable for portraying the hopes and fears of one small group of soldiers who otherwise would have been lost in the history of a bloody war which raged over a century ago.

This is one of the very few copies of this book which remain in existence, and the only copy which may ever appear available for public acquisition. It will form a truly unique addition to the library of the dedicated military historian as a first hand account of life and death in the Great War.