Recollections of a Buck Private
"Somewhere in France"

The War Diary of Clarence L. Richmond

The observations of a young U.S. Marine in France in 1918, during the final months of World War I and the first few months of the Armistice.

Private Richmond served with the 43rd Company, part of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. He was a member of the American Expeditionary Force that joined the war in the summer of 1918, and helped to bring it to a conclusion that fall. He was promoted to corporal and stationed in Germany for a portion of the occupation. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and the French Croix De Guerre for his heroism on October 3, 1918, in the assault on Blanc Mont Ridge during the Battle of Somme-Py, described in episodes 14, 15, and 15. (See also this photo tour of the Blanc Mont battlefield and this description of the battle.) After the war, he returned home to Cleveland, Tennessee, where he lived until January 25, 1981.

(Note that these 22 "episodes" are not defined in the war diary itself; they simply represent how the diary was serialized when first published in the Cleveland Daily Banner, with Clarence Richmond's cooperation.)

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. University of Tennessee Student Joins Marines	January - June
2. To the Front	Early June
3. Face to Face with the Germans	Mid June
4. German Artillery Fire Begins	Late June
5. Fourth Of July In Paris	July 2-11
6. Long, Tiring March Begins	July 12-18
7. Reunited With 43rd, Under German Fire	July 19-21
8. Villages in Ruins, March Continues	July 23-25
9. Soldiers are Homesick; First Paycheck Arrives	July 26 - August 4th
10. Troops March Toward Lines	August 5-7
11. Night Watch Duty; Planes Soar Overhead	August 8-16
12. Marines Anticipate Front Line Action; Troops March	August 16 - September 11
13. Enemy Firing Lights Up Skies on Battlefront	September 11-18
14. Hiking And Firing Continues	September 18 - October 1
15. In the Midst of a Fierce Battle, at Blanc Mont Ridge	October 1-6
16. Blanc Mont after the Battle	October 6-12
17. Troops March into Argonne Forest	October 13-30
18. Fighting Continues: German Shells Fly Overhead	October 30 - November 3
19. Moving the Front Forward	November 3-7
20. Crossing the Meuse in the Fog	November 7-10
21. The Shooting Stops	November 11-16
22. The Watch on the Rhine	November 17 - June 1919