The 302nd
ENGINEERS
by,
Gilbert H. Crawford
Thomas H. Ellett
John J. Hyland
CHAPTER XI.
THE ARMISTICE
N THE evening of the 10th runners were sent out by Regimental
Headquarters, announcing that the Armistice had been signed, effective
-at 11 A. M. on the 11th, and that dangerous work would s top forthwith.
This message reached Co. "B" and Co. "D" about midnight of the 10th, and
the working parties out in front of the lines were immediately sent for
and brought back to the comparative safety of the cellars of
Autrecourt. This humane order is mentioned to distinguish
it from the orders received by the division on our right.
Though it was known that the Armistice had been signed,
these troops made an attack during the night of the 10th,
incurring heavy casualties gaining the heights north of
the Meuse, which they would have had anyway by the terms
of the already signed Armistice.
To the troops the news of the cessation of hostilities
came with stunning force. There was none of the
jubilation, which might have been expected. It did not
seem possible that all was over, that never again would
be heard the song of the shell or the twang of the
bullet. As stoically as they had faced danger and
hardship, they now accepted the peace. -
Division Headquarters were located at this time at
Rau-court. At 11 A. M., on the 11th, the Engineer Band,
which had resurrected its long-forgotten instruments from
the baggage train, struck up the Marseillaise, and then
our own grand Star-Spangled Banner. None present will
ever forget the sights and sounds of that ceremony. The
civilians but recently freed from the Boche, the soldiers
of the French and American armies, all joined in the
celebration. To the Americans it meant victory and
peace;-who can describe what it meant to the French!