I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in

In 1984, when my Dad was 84 years old, I interviewed him with a lot of questions about his experiences. One of the experiences he recounted to me was his life while serving in WWI.

Dad “Mac” McLeland joined the army in 1916, took his training and was sent overseas with the Rainbow Division. Their destination was the war with Germany in France (WWI). He had to lie about his age because he was only 16, but ended up in the field artillery and was trained on the 155-howitzer. In those days these field pieces were called caissons and were drawn by horses.

He arrived and was soon pressed into service shelling the Germans. He described this as a dirty war. Everywhere they went was mud, sticky, deep mud that bogged everything down. Let’s step into a typical day with him as he works on the gun crew.

“We started our day off with a thin gruel that was a cross between cereal and soup. It was almost tasteless. There were biscuits but they were often stale and full of weevils. Then we got ready to fire at the enemy. Sometimes this was day firing, like today. Other times we were called on to fire through the night. Getting ready required the guys who fed the shells into the gun to stockpile a bunch of shells near the gun for quick loading.

There were a variety of shells. Some were anti-personnel, some explosive for the German guns, and some were mustard gas. We were told which shells to fire and when and where to fire them. After firing a number of rounds the barrel of the gun became hot and the smell of cordite hung around us like a cloud. On one particular day we took some incoming rounds from the enemy artillery and several of our crew were killed. Since I was good at math, I took the dead gunner’s place and my job was to aim the gun at the proper elevation and distance. I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in a

trained on the 155-howitzer. In those days these field pieces were called caissons and were drawn by horses.

He arrived and was soon pressed into service shelling the Germans. He described this as a dirty war. Everywhere they went was mud, sticky, deep mud that bogged everything down. Let’s step into a typical day with him as he works on the gun crew.

“We started our day off with a thin gruel that was a cross between cereal and soup. It was almost tasteless. There were biscuits but they were often stale and full of weevils. Then we got ready to fire at the enemy. Sometimes this was day firing, like today. Other times we were called on to fire through the night. Getting ready required the guys who fed the shells into the gun to stockpile a bunch of shells near the gun for quick loading.

There were a variety of shells. Some were anti-personnel, some explosive for the German guns, and some were mustard gas. We were told which shells to fire and when and where to fire them. After firing a number of rounds the barrel of the gun became hot and the smell of cordite hung around us like a cloud. On one particular day we took some incoming rounds from the enemy artillery and several of our crew were killed. Since I was good at math, I took the dead gunner’s place and my job was to aim the gun at the proper elevation and distance. I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in

was almost tasteless. There were biscuits but they were often stale and full of weevils. Then we got ready to fire at the enemy. Sometimes this was day firing, like today. Other times we were called on to fire through the night. Getting ready required the guys who fed the shells into the gun to stockpile a bunch of shells near the gun for quick loading.

There were a variety of shells. Some were anti-personnel, some explosive for the German guns, and some were mustard gas. We were told which shells to fire and when and where to fire them. After firing a number of rounds the barrel of the gun became hot and the smell of cordite hung around us like a cloud. On one particular day we took some incoming rounds from the enemy artillery and several of our crew were killed. Since I was good at math, I took the dead gunner’s place and my job was to aim the gun at the proper elevation and distance. I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in

ns, and some were mustard gas. We were told which shells to fire and when and where to fire them. After firing a number of rounds the barrel of the gun became hot and the smell of cordite hung around us like a cloud. On one particular day we took some incoming rounds from the enemy artillery and several of our crew were killed. Since I was good at math, I took the dead gunner’s place and my job was to aim the gun at the proper elevation and distance. I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in

I had to be careful because I did not want to drop shells on our own men.

The mustard gas was the worse. We knew the results of this gas on people. If the gas were inhaled blisters would form on the inside of the throat, on the eyes, and lungs. It might take four or five weeks to die and all of that time the person was in agony. It was horrible, and was first used by the Germans, so we had to use it too. This gas was almost odorless but in an impure form smelled like new mown hay. It was delivered by artillery shells and would hang around in the dirt and trenches for a long time. We had to fight in gas masks but they did not always keep the gas out. I got a whiff of it but suffered no ill effects.

The smell of trench warfare was noxious. There was the smell of dead and bloated horses and men, the smell of mud, the smell of manure, and the smell of fear.”

After two years in France my Dad’s unit was sent home and that was a happy day. It took several weeks by boat and then a week by train to get back to Minnesota. The Rainbow Division was used in some ticker tape parades, but most of the men were discharged and got on with life. My Dad went to college and became an Electrical Engineer. He worked for the power company in Minnesota until he retired. For years after he got out of the army my Dad was a member of the “Last Man’s Club” and when he died at age 97 he was one of the few remaining members.

It was good to interview him and hear and record a lot of Oral History. Refer to Studs Terkel on line and listen to a lot of soldiers with their first person accounts.