Excerpts from William Pommerening’s WW I Diary
(Editor’s Note: As Veterans’ Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I approached, I was at a bit of a loss of how I could honor my grandfather, Capt. Joseph L. Bachus, and the millions of men and women who put an end to one of the deadliest wars in history. I had already said most of what I had to say about WW I in my novel INTO NO MAN’S LAND, and I fell far short of telling the full story of the 126th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Division here on the “Trench Commander” blog. Then it hit me. Let the WW I vets speak for themselves. The following is from “The Diary of a Doughboy” by William Pommerening, a Platoon Sergeant from Co. E of the 126th Infantry. “Bill” Pommerening was the kind of hands-on non-commissioned officer that made up the backbone of the American Expeditionary Force. He appears to have been a right-hand man for my grandfather, Joe Bachus, when Joe was commander of Co. E in the summer of 1918, and they remained friends for decades as fellow citizens of Ann Arbor, Michigan. While Joe was sent back to the States to fill the need for experienced, combat-tested instructors in late July 1918, Pommerening and the rest of his company went on to the Second Battle of the Marne and some of the hottest fighting that the Americans would experience in the Great War. He was wounded by a slug to his little finger on August 4th, and spent a couple of months in hospital recuperating. He returned to his unit in late October as they arrived in the Argonne Forest. Pommerening elided the names of his comrades in the version of his diary published by the Washtenaw County Veteran’s Council. Warning: the following excerpt contains graphic battlefield descriptions.)
ARGONNE, FRANCE (October 21, 1918) — Joined Co. E, 126th Inf. 32nd Division this A.M. in Argonne. Learn that Sgt. C___ was killed a few days ago. Also that G___ has been killed. Romagne is only a short ways from here. German planes dropped bombs tonight. No one injured. F___ is laid up with rheumatism.
October 22 — Lieut. P___ S___ in command of E. Co. 1st Lieut., J___ S___; P___ W___, 1st Sgt. B___ O___ came in today. Troops of 89th Division passed us on the way to front.
October 23 — Wednesday. We have several southerners in the Co. now. Some of them have only been in the army a few weeks.
October 24 — Thursday. Had extended order drill today.
October 25 — Friday. Went with E Co. today to Avocourt and received a complete new outfit of clothes and a good hot water bath with gasoline soap. It was tough on the cooties.
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Learn more about the novel behind the blog — Into No Man’s Land — by clicking on the book cover.