Well, breakfast at six thirty in the state dining room. For breakfast we had hash and coffee, and as usual it tasted good; seasoned well with dirt and flies. After breakfast, off to the tent, tidied up, and then some boys came, and they were very glad to see us. We both had a very bad cold, and felt as though we would be better off back home. I wrote some letters and cheered some boys up, and then lunch in the stable. Oh, how I did long for a good meal. In the afternoon we did the same as in the mornings. Then supper.
More Information
The following section provides historical context and is not part of the original diary entry.
Likely location: At sea / Bordeaux / Paris, France
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Margaret Sheldon departed New York in September 1917 with the first contingent of Salvation Army workers bound for France. After crossing the Atlantic in a convoy system designed to evade German U-boats, she arrived in Bordeaux and traveled to Paris before heading to the AEF training area in Lorraine.
Research Links for Further Study
- Library of Congress. (n.d.). The American Expeditionary Forces. Library of Congress Digital Collections.
- Boissoneault, L. (2017, April 12). The women who fried donuts and dodged bombs on the front lines of WWI. Smithsonian Magazine.
- Cantwell, C. (n.d.). Doughboys & doughnut girls: The Salvation Army and WWI. National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Diary of a World War I Donut Girl 