ID: 33573810
Closed
This item is no longer available for sale.
1918 American Expeditionary Force "Addressee Returned to U.S.A. With Casualty"
$133.25
Seller:
abctoo (12)
October 4, 1918 Toledo, Ohio letter to 327th Infantry Soldier fighting in France. In France, forwarded to Base Hospital as soldier had been injured. In transit, Soldier had returned to duty with Company F. By time the letter was routed back to Company F, ... Read More
Item Specifics
- Country
- United States
- Stamp Type
- Military
- Condition
- Cover (Postal History)
- Stamp Format
- Multiple
- Year of Issue
- 1954
Item Description
October 4, 1918 Toledo, Ohio letter to 327th Infantry Soldier fighting in France. In France, forwarded to Base Hospital as soldier had been injured. In transit, Soldier had returned to duty with Company F. By time the letter was routed back to Company F, the Soldier was injured again and back at Base Hospital. The envelope was sent again to the Base Hospital, but Soldier was no longer there, now on his way to return to the United States as a casualty.Most of the cover markings are crossed out along the way, but show the complex handling of a letter in the war zone and afterwards. Those markings include:
(1) " TOLEDO, OHIO / OCT 4 / 10:30 PM / 1918 " [black circle cancel with waving lines] addressed to "Co F 327 Regt. Infantry / American E.F." [Company F of the 327th Infantry Regiment, American Expeditionary Forces in France]
(2) " BH #8 " [handwritten in pencil for Base Hospital #8]
(3) " NOT AT BASE HOSP. 8 " [stamped in blue rectangle]
(4) " July " [handwritten in pencil to indicate July injury]
(5) " Co. F. 327 Inf " [handwritten in red]
(6) " BH #8 " [handwritten in red]
(7) " NOT AT BASE HOSP. 8 " [stamped in black rectangle]
(8) " USA / C.P.O. " [ U.S. Command Post Office, handwritten in red]
(9) " ADDRESSEE RETURNED TO U.S.A / WITH Casualty / OFFICE Central PO 1/19/19 / 1290 " [backstamp in black]
(10) " U.S. [ARMY] / [] / POSTAL SERV[ICE] " [backstamp in black]
(11) " RETURN TO WRITER / Directory Service given; / Defies delivery as addressed. / Central Directory division, / Plec. No. 86, N.R. New York City. / Date 1/18/19 215 "
The complexity of delivering a cover to a soldier at war. In WWI, the 327th Infantry Regiment served as part of the 164th Infantry Brigade in the 82nd Infantry division. The 327th Infantry was organized on 15 September 1917 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. After training, the regiment embarked to northern France, arriving in early spring 1918. Elements of the 327th Infantry moved up to the front lines by the end of spring. On 9 June 1918, Cpt Jewett Williams became the first man in the regiment killed in combat.
The 82nd Infantry division's first exposure to combat, as a division, occurred on 25 June when it was assigned to the Lagney sector. While this was earmarked as a quiet sector, the 327th actively patrolled and executed raids for several weeks.
Saint-Mihiel: The 82nd division occupied the Marbache sector in the Moselle Valley with orders to protect the flank of attacking U.S. forces. But as the Germans were reinforcing this sector in anticipation of a coming Allied offensive, the division ordered a series of raids to mislead the Germans on the exact location of attacking units. The 327th Infantry, conducted a raid on a German strongpoint known as the Bel Air Farm on 13 September with 2 companies, E and K, as the assault force. After initial success the assault group was pushed back to the original U.S. lines. E & K companies suffered 6 dead, 11 severely wounded, 69 wounded and 10 missing. The 82nd continued operations in Saint-Mihiel until it was relieved on 17 September 1918 by troops of the 90th Infantry division just west of the Moselle River. The 82nd division went into reserve to prepare for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, but the 327th was attached to the 28th division and remained on the front until early October.
Meuse-Argonne: The 82nd division was given a new axis of advance early in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to attack and fill a gap to the left flank of the 28th Infantry division which was advancing to capture Hill 223 as part of operations to rescue the 77th Infantry division's Lost Battalion. On the night of 6/7 October 1918, the 327regiment relieved troops on the left of the 28th division on the Aire River. On 7 October, it attacked toward the Argonne Forest, making some progress toward Cornay. On 8 October rescuers reached the Lost Battalion. The next day the 327th continued to attack towards the high ground northwest of Châtel-Chéhéry. The 327th then continued to fight in the Ardennes region, capturing Conray and Hill 180. On 4 November the regiment was pulled from the line and moved into training area; it was there when it learned of the 11 November Armistice.
The 327th Infantry suffered 331 killed in action, 73 died of wounds and 1959 wounded in the First World War. Members of the 327th were awarded 7 Distinguished Services Crosses (DSC), including one for the 2-327th Commander-Lt Col Harold W. Blanchard.
Copyright 2021, by Michael Fried, P.O. Box 27521, Oakland, California 94602-0521
Seller Information
- Seller
- abctoo (12)
- Registered Since
- 02/25/2020
- Feedback
- 100%
Offers History
There are no offers posted on this listing.
Sales History
The listing has not been sold.
- Item Location
- California, United States
- Ships To
- Worldwide
Postage Calculator
- Select Country
- Zip/Post Code
- Quantity
- Item Weight
- 0 Lbs 4 oz
- Returns Accepted
- No
You need to be logged in to ask the seller a question.
Click here to login
Click here to login
Listing viewed 45 times
Listing watched by 0 users