PANDEMIC Influenza 1918 Dunfermline 1SThand account soldier Carnegie House
CLEARLY DATED Tuesday Oct 22ND 1918
This is a unique three page letter on stationery provided by the Glasgow Rotary Club to visiting soldiers .. He may have been an American PERHAPS from the 16th Inf Div see text and footnote .
My Dear Leonora , Here I am in Glasgow staying at the Grand Hotel .
IN A CLEAR HAND HE THEN GOES ON TO WRITE ABOUT A VISIT TO DUNFERMLINE
We saw the little house which he ( Carnegie ) was born but unable to go in as they had influenza in the house .
THEN THE PARTY TOURED THE BATHS , LIBRARY , PARK ALL IN A SORT OF CARNEGIE HOMAGE!
Page 2 We went through a linen mill ---saw how it was made – girls embroidering etc . am sending you a tablecloth .
THEN WENT TO THE ABBEY DINNER AND THE TRAIN TO STIRLING
Stirling - Nice little town ..
Page three
VISITED STIRLING CATHEDRAL AND CASTLE LEFT THERE GETTING INTO GLASGOW FOR 8 PM
MUSIC AND DANCING IN THE BALLROOM
You should have seen me dancing
SIGNS OFF Lovingly Yours
NO NAME AS LEONORA WOULD HAVE KNOWN IT - SO PERHAPS THIS SOLDIERS IDENTITY WILL REMAIN A MYSTERY - WAS HE BOUND FOR A SHIP HOME OR DUTIES ON THE RHINE . DID HE MISS THE INFUENZA . CERTAINLY THESE AMERICANS MUST HAVE CUT AN INTERESTING SIGHT IN DUNFERMLINE AND STIRLING NOT TO MENTION AT THE DANCING ..
LETTERS ARE 13 X 20 CM FOLDED A SNAPSHOT OF SCOTTISH AND WW1 SOCIAL HISTORY CLEAR AND EASY TO READ HANDWRITING . AND WELL EDUCATED WRITER ..
FOOTNOTE
As part of the new 1st Expeditionary Division, soon to become known as the "Big Red One," the 16th Infantry sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, and landed at St. Nazaire, France, near the end of June 1917. As such, it was among the first four American regiments to arrive on French soil in World War I. Soon after the regiment's arrival, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry was selected to show the flag and parade through Paris on the 4th of July 1917. The battalion conducted a five-mile march through the streets of the city to Picpus Cemetery where General John J. Pershing and the other Americans in attendance paid homage at the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution, and declare, "Lafayette, we are here!" Prior to being committed to battle, the 16th Infantry Regiment, began training in July 1917 in the Gondrecourt area with the French 47th Division, Chasseaurs d'Alpines, nicknamed the "Blue Devils." Throughout the summer and fall the training went apace and soon it was time for exposure to actual combat. On 3 November 1917, while occupying a section of trenches near Bathlémont, the 16th Infantry became the first U.S. regiment to fight and suffer casualties in the trenches during World War I when it repelled a German night raid. In the months that followed, the 16th Infantry would sustain even more casualties in defensive battles at Ansauville, Cantigny, and Coullemelle. The regiment's first major attack was made during the bloody three-day drive near Soissons in late July 1918. Along with the rest of the Big Red One, it relentlessly attacked until a key German rail line was severed forcing a major withdrawal of the enemy's forces. The regiment also participated in the First U.S. Army's huge offensive to reduce the St. Mihiel salient in September. Arguably the regiment's most gallant action was the grueling drive that liberated the little village of Fléville in the Argonne forest region on 4 October 1918. This feat was significant in that the 16th Infantry was the only regiment in the entire First Army to seize its main objective on the first day of the Meuse-Argonne Campaign. To this day that action is celebrated annually during the 16th Infantry Regiment's Organization Day. The 16th Infantry also participated in the 1st Division's final drive of the war when the division attacked to seize the city of Sedan. The verve and vigor of that drive demonstrated the regiment lived up to the division's new motto, "No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great—Duty First!" During the Great War, the 16th Infantry suffered its greatest number of wartime casualties to date, all in a single year of combat. It sustained 1,037 soldiers killed in action or mortally wounded, and 3,389 wounded. In addition to the 7 campaign streamers earned by the regiment and the 2 Croix de Guerre granted by the French government, its soldiers were awarded at least 97 Distinguished Service Crosses. The 16th Infantry, along with the rest of the 1st Division, marched into the Coblenz Bridgehead in late 1918 to perform occupation duty there for the next 9 months. In August 1919, the division received orders to come home and boarded ships at Brest, France, later that month.