303rd Ammunition Train, United States Army, World War I

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Ammunition Train- The train including all vehicles , animals , and personnel employed in transporting the divisional artillery and infantry ammunition reserve , or in bringing up the same from the refilling point to the combat trains of organizations.^[1]

" TRANSFER TO MEUSE-ARGONNE FRONT This was to be the last offensive action of the division because on the same day orders were received from the Corps relieving the division the following night. The 89th Division was to extend eastward to relieve the 155th Brigade, the 90th was to extend west-ward and relieve the 156th Brigade, while our own 153rd Artillery Brigade and 303rd Ammunition Train were to rejoin the division. The rumor spread fast outside of division headquarters that we were going out of the line for a "rest," but headquarters was not laboring under any such delusion. They knew we were headed for the Argonne and without delay, for somebody higher up had ordered the division to do an almost impossible feat of marching. The attention of Corps Headquarters was called to the fact that the foot troops in the front line were called upon to make a front line relief and march thirty-five kilometers into the Foret de la Reine between dark and six in the morning, only to follow this up at once by two more long night marches. Corps could not change the orders, so the division set out, as one staff officer said, "to do the impossible and damn near succeeded." The withdrawal began on the night of the 3rd with the relief of machine gun units, the replacement of infantry reserve units.

See F. O. No. 17, P. C. 78th Division, October 3, 1918."^[2]

"Deployed to Europe during the Great War, the 78th Division was in France during the summer and fall of 1918. There it was said to be " point of the wedge" of the final offensive, which knocked out Germany. The 78th Division participated in 3 major campaigns during World War I: Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Lorraine. After the war, the 78th Division was demobilized on 9 July 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey."^[3]

Websites related to the 78th "Lightening Division"

• https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/div/078d.htm
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/78th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
• https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=American_Expeditionary_Forces,_Infantry,_78th_Division&section=3
• These papers are comprised chiefly of letters Roy Elston sent to his family in regards to his experiences of military service. Most of the letters were written at various place near the frontline in France. Other papers include a typescript history of the 303rd Ammunition Train (https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/?q=person_sort:%22Elston%2C+Roy+T.%22)

Sources

1. ↑ A dictionary of military terms by Farrow, Edward S. (Edward Samuel) published 1918, by Thomas Y. Crowell Company; digitized Dec 2, 2005; (https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Dictionary_of_Military_Terms.html?id=l6KS-r3yP3AC).
2. ↑ [HISTORY OF THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION IN THE WORLD WAR 1917-18-19 https://weekendhistorian.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/78th-division-history.pdf] by Compiled and Edited by THOMAS F. MEEHAN; Secretary-Treasurer, Association of the 78th Division; Copyrighted 1921 by Association of the 78th Division.; PRINTED BY MERCANTILE PRINTING COMPANY WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY.; There are several photographs in this digital book.
3. ↑ https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/78d.htm