Bill Dalton
The first World War had raged since 1914, when Mary and Marlborough Churchill moved from Andover to Paris in the spring, 1916. They brought their young daughter, Mollie. Marlborough was an Army lieutenant assigned to the French forces as an observer. A year later, just before America entered the war, Mrs. Churchill was sending weekly "Letters from France" to the Andover Townsman.
Mrs. Churchill's letters became dramatic as the war progressed. The German spring offensive of 1918 drove within 75 miles of Paris. After years of stalemate, this was the moment the Germans had fought for. All Germany celebrated with a holiday, but it was premature. British and French forces dug in, as 10,000 American troops a day arrived in Europe.
During the offensive, German "Paris Guns" (also called "Big Berthas") fired 183 shells into the city. It was a terror weapon aimed at Parisians. Bombs were dropped by Gothas, the German's heavy bomber. The biggest explosion was caused by sabotage that destroyed much of the city's factory district. Many Parisians fled.
In a letter dated March 24, 1918, at the high point of the German offensive, Mrs Churchill wrote: "At dinner time we heard that we had not been visited by enemy Gothas but had been bombarded by guns from the front!!! We had hardly finished our dinner when lo and behold the sirens... If it gets worse, I shall leave Paris. All trains are crowded. I will not let the mob go first. When we are not being bombed we are so comfortable and happy. But if we have to leave we will - if we must, we must."
By April 5, the Germans were stopped, although Mrs. Churchill wasn't certain: "Since the great crises of a week ago, there has been a lull of no more meaning than the calm before a storm." Mollie had to change dentists, because her old dentist was in an area that shells could reach. She told her mother, "If I am going to be killed, I don't want to be killed in a dentist's chair."
Mary and Mollie adapted to the shelling. Mrs. Churchill wrote, "Last night we had a bombardment from the long Bertha's and after a couple of hours I turned over and went back to sleep. Molly did not even hear it." Mary mentioned the Parisians exit of Paris, writing, "Many people who got stampeded three weeks ago are returning to Paris having encountered cold houses, poor food, and frightful expenses, to my mind all more dangerous than a few bombs."
By June 21, 1918, the Churchills had returned to Andover. On that date, Churchill, then a Colonel, attended a Phillips Academy alumni dinner in Andover and gave a rousing speech about the leadership that men from places like Phillips provide to our armed forces. [By war's end, Churchill was a brigadier general. After the war, his work with the "Black Chamber," or Cipher Bureau (a forerunner of the National Security Agency) was so significant that he is in the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.]
While leaders like Churchill were doing their work, many other town men were doing theirs.
Letter from Frank Crockett, May 15, 1918: "Dear Andover Townsman, Sunny France is Muddy France. By the time you get this letter we will have been at the front a little over four months. I have all kinds of homes, first living three feet above the ground and then 60 feet beneath it... Please thank the Andover Comfort Committee for the nice socks they sent... they were dandies. I remain as ever, One of the Boys From Andover." [Frank Crockett fought in most of the battles in which Americans were involved and was in combat for 189 days. Following the war, he moved back to Andover and lived on North Main Street.]
Letter from Frank C. Hughes, who lived on Brechin Terrace before the war: "From Somewhere in the Mud, June 15, 1918. I am in the first line and have not washed for days... I have been through a whole lot, Pop. War is everything Sherman said and a whole lot more." [Frank C. Hughes fought in several major battles and moved back to Andover to live on Baker's Lane. "Sherman" was Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, one of America's greatest combat generals, who said, "I've seen cities and homes in ashes. I've seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up to the skies. I tell you, war is hell!"]
Bill Dalton writes a weekly column for the Andover Townsman and enjoys receiving your email at billdalton@andovertownie.com. His previous two columns on Andover's participation in the First World War are on www.andovertownsman.com.
