A Review of the First Year's work
This article will give insight into the daily work of the 17th Engineers.
Extracted
from the "Oo La La" Times Vol. I, No.II
It is needless to repeat the story of how we crossed
the ocean, and how we marched the street of London. We finally
came to St. Nazaire, and there our work awaited us. Upon first
landing in the town the responsible officers of the regiment commenced
an investigation of the port and its possibilities. It was speedily
seen that the French system of switching cars by turntables would not do
for the longer American equipment. And it was also seen even if
all the facilities of the port were turned over to the American Government,
they would not be adequate to take care of the materials that would have
to pass thru this port for the great American army to come. So shortly
after reaching here the work commenced.
Around the basins buildings were torn down, some were removed
and tracks were built to take care of our incoming rolling stock.
No two parts of the job were alike, and yet always when called upon
there was some man or men in the regiment whose previous experience enabled
him to lead and show others how the works should be done. Although
there was 7 miles of track laid and 64 switches and frogs put in, 11 crossings
put in, 84,834 sq. ft. of warehouse built, 131,741 ft. of concrete and
Belgian block paving were laid. These quantities do not show in
any sense the difficulties that were encountered upon this job, as many
French warehouses had to be remodeled and traffic maintained under trying
condition.
The big idea of this dream of a great American war port was
Montori Yards, situated on the broad flats along the Loire river, just
east of St. Nazaire. It presented no special engineering difficulty,
but rather awed one by its magnitude. The total flat, one mile wide
by two miles long was so low that it had to be raised by filling eighteen
to two feet. A barrow pit was started at La Baule, nine miles away.
This sand was hauled over the La Crosic branch of the P. & O.
Railroad and through the busy yards of St. Nazaire. Engineers will
readily understand the good work that was done by these crews when is said
they were getting 50,000 yards per shovel per month. The final project
would have included 269.7 miles of track with 1,167 switches. Added
to this were five and one half million square feet of warehouses, and eleven
million square feet of open storage. At the time the armistice was
signed there had been laid 126.8 miles of track and 602 switches of the permanent
yard. Also there were 3,463,000 square feet of warehouses erected.
This was the result of probably eight month's work and in the face of innumerable
difficulties caused by the shortage of ties and other material.
At the same time we were working upon the plans for an eight-berth
pier, just off Montori Yards. Owing to the large amount of investigation
that had to be done, this work did not start until late in the summer,
but the first of February should see about 2,000 feet of this dock completed
along with the five-eighths of mile of double track approach.
Some camps have been taken over from the French but there was
much new work to be done. At the present time the American army
can house 100,000 troops in the camps of St. Nazaire and vicinity.
To take care of these camps and needs of the port, the water and sewerage
systems of the town were entirely inadequate. Investigation showed
that the way for a quick development of water supply was the Brivit River.
Along this river and its tributaries reservoirs were built, which enabled
the water to be caught and held during the rainy seasons and be turned
loose down the channel of the river as needed. At Trignac, near
its mouth, a dam was built, and the water was pumped just above the string
of reservoirs that supplied the present system of St. Nazaire. New
additions were made to the filtration plant of the town, and a new filtration
plant put in for the Montori Yard and camps. All this was done under
great difficulties of supplies and labor, and several times the water supply
was low. In fact upon one occasion there was just two days' supply
left in the city reservoir when the pumps were started.
The town of Nantes was also not neglected. Upon the Isle
St. Ann the Americans took over a great part of the present trackage
and rearranged it so it could be operated with American equipment.
There were also built additional tracks and warehouses. Just
outside Nantes, the American forces took over and started building a
project long contemplated by the French. This was the St. Luce yards.
This project included about 20 miles of track and 89 switches and at the
time the work was stopped about 9 miles of track had been built and 57
switches installed. There was also about 300,000 square feet of
warehouses to be built, and of this quantity about 40,000 square feet
had been completed.
East of Nantes was the railroad yard at the town of Saumur.
This was an interchange yard between the Etat Railroad and the P &
O Railroad, this was also a large engine terminal yard. There
was in the yard about 16 miles of track and 85 switches and of these about
13 miles had been built and 75 switches put in. The machine shop
and other engine facilities were completed.
While taking care of the men's daily needs, the needs of those
who had been wounded in action, or who had become sick were not overlooked.
At Nantes, Angers and St. Nazaire large hospitals were built.
But the greatest of all was started at the town of Savenay. Here
an old school building was taken over and remodeled for the main administration
building, and around this the hospital grew. The plan
continued to increase as the work went on, and from the first idea of
a 5,000 bed hospital it became at the finish a hospital that would have
had 20,000 beds and an additional 5,000 bed convalescent camp, and facilities
to take care of the personnel to handle the same. The enormity of
this job may be best conceived when it is considered that every thing had
to be built, as there were neither houses, water system or sewerage plant.
There was completed of this job facilities for taking care of 10,000 beds
and about 2,000 convalescents. Also the materials and force was
on the ground for completion of the job.
These projects mentioned were the more important of the many
jobs handled. As the work progressed the men of the 17th Engineers
were pulled off of jobs that were purely labor and were placed in positions
requiring great technical ability and the ability to handle men.
Upon the date of the armistice there were 32,500 men working under the direction
of this regiment in this base. Frequently there would be large gangs
of men working under the guidance of men who only held the rank of Private.
Be it said to the ever-lasting credit of these men that they were able
to lead and secure results by the sheer force of their personality, and
by their knowledge of the work.
We will not be able to go to the States and tell of the battles
that we have been in; we will not be able to tell of the dangers we have
experienced; but as we look back and see what we have done there will
be no reason to why we should hang our heads and feel ashamed of our
part in this great conflict.