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{
    "localId": "17343226",
    "label": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
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{
    "id": "17343226",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "collections": [
        "Verne E. Chaney Papers",
        "Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972",
        "Spina, Frank E., 1887-1972",
        "Klemm, Karl D., 1880-",
        "Wooldridge, Glenwood F., 1893-1977",
        "Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948",
        "Thacher, John H., 1872-1960",
        "Miles, John L., 1878-1961",
        "Soldiers",
        "World War, 1914-1918",
        "Artillery"
    ],
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    "seq": 43,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "43\ninformation on those French positions but all the shots went over us with\nthere usual whine. That didn't worry us as much as the klaxon that sounded\nthe gas warning. There is awful feeling when one is awakened in the early\nmorning hours, by the gas alarm. There is a thot of \"where's my mask?\" but\nthey are usually , with special care, layed, right by one's head with satchel\nunfastened. A second thot is \"How long has the alarm been going and is\nthere gas in the dugout?\" I always made it a point to arouse each man to\nsee that his mask was on. All day long, at almost regular intervals, long\nrange guns would shell Verdun and the shell passed directly over us. We\ncalled them \"rolling kitchens\".123\nThe Captain made daily trips to the forward O.P. I obtained his\nconsent to take me with him, sometime. Two Captains, the Major and\nmyself along with another Sergeant made the trip one afternoon. We\nentered a railway tunnel (Verdun-Metz Ry) and traveled perhaps two kilos,\nthru what had once been used as quarters for French troops during the\nsiege of Verdun in 1916.124 This tunnel, at this time, was also used by 16 inch\nTRUMAN\nARC\nI\nK\nCOVER\n123\nA \"rolling kitchen\" was the shell from either a German 21cm or 24cm howitzer. They were called\nthat because of the peculiar sound the shell made when wobbling or turning end over end in flight. This\ncharacteristic was caused by worn tubes in the howitzers. At this time in the war Germany needed every gun on\nthe line and could not spare either the time or material for relining.\n124\nThe Travanne Tunnel is a single track railroad tunnel on the main Verdun to Metz railroad line.\nThe tunnel ran about 400 yards beneath the Meuse hills. It was a critical position to the French. If the Germans\ntook it, it would lead the Germans beneath the fortress and trench systems and directly to Verdun. During the\nfight for Verdun, the Germans got within five yards of the Northeast opening. The French held and the Germans\ncould advance no further. During the fight for Verdun the French used it as a command center, staging area,\nsupply dump, hospital and rest area. In the resultant chaos, French housekeeping, never a French strong point,\nfailed. A gasoline fuel leak resulted in a gigantic explosion that killed over 500 men and practically destroyed the\ntunnel."
}