Raining and the house was far from water tight. Had breakfast and started on our way. Bid goodbye to the ruins and the Cathedral monument of the place.
We went many miles but saw nothing but ruined land and homes. Stopped at a place called Fismes; bought some cards. Saw two old people in an old place, the only room in the place, trying to get a few things together to start life again. Such struggling. God help the poor old people.
Picked up a Frenchman who had been in the fight for four years. He had been with the 1st Div. and others in the Soissons drive. He was on his way to the place where his home had been, two see if he and his wife with two babies could start life anew. He showed us a place where he had worked before the war. It had once been a rich farm, but now it was as all other farms in this country, ruined, one would think beyond all reclaiming. We gave another man a lift who was on his way trying to sell horseshoes so he could get bread. We gave him all that was left of our lunch, and he thanked us with tears of joy.
We stopped at Reims for gas. We girls secured passes to see the old Cathedral and arranged to meet the boys there. It was near dark when we had seen all there was to see and looked for the boys, but they were not near. We walked the streets for a couple of hours till we met a Red Cross nurse who had been working in Red Cross Hospital No. 1 in Paris, had a piece of pie I had made for Carter in Ward 249. The boys appeared and “Little” Willie Fenton had been held up by the French M.P. and they had taken all the souvenirs had gathered from him. They had had trouble getting gas.
The Cathedral was very interesting. It was started in 1112 and completed in 1229. Charles VII was brought here by Joan of Arc and where she crowned him. One of the guards gave a piece of glass from it built in 1400. In the Cathedral there was a 325 dud which had landed there. The Cathedral had been shelled for ten hours. The organ and altar were covered with debris. The walls are still standing.
On leaving Rheims, we saw a Salvation Army sign and followed it, and came to a French Salvation Army hut. We were invited in by Adj. Carey and had chocolate. It was a great pleasure to lunch with this fine brave woman. She has s stayed here during all the heavy fighting and had cared for the wounded and helped in every way she could. The French government have given her the Croix de Guerre. The building in which she works is the home of a wealthy wine merchant who allows her the use of the few rooms not destroyed. The village is famous for its Champagne. Miss Carey took us all around the grounds; they were beautiful. We met the British Vice Counsel. His home has been destroyed, and Miss Carey was the means of helping his two sisters to escape from the cellar of the building; he is very grateful to her. Ever since, he makes his home at The Salvation Army quarters. He is president of some large woolen mills in Rheims.
On leaving, we passed through the trenches where the famous Champagne battle was fought. There are wonderful trenches and dug outs and terrible torn fields that had once been fine vineyards. We lost our way several times and had to turn back on account of bridges having been blown up. We finally took down the obstruction on an old bridge and took a chance on crossing. We girls decided to walk across and bid the boys goodbye and told them we would tell the sad news if they went through, “Safety First” being our motto. They got over all right and were all happy again.
We had some night! There was no room in the inn and we arrived at 12 P.M. in Chalons. We made the best of the situation by getting our rations and were soon feeding our faces. We were all chilled to the bone as the night air was very cold. We had hard bread, sardines, and lemonade. It was raining hard. We headed for Clermont and got there at 4:00 A.M. Mrs. Springer was there and cheerfully came to our aid, and in a few minutes she had our bunks made up and we were in them.
Diary of a World War I Donut Girl 