Training: Forged in France

From its landing at St. Nazaire, to its first taste of battle in the Sommerviller Sector, the First Division had entered the war with much pomp and demonstrated the eagerness of American troops to prove themselves in battle. During their first year in Europe, the men of the Division experienced nearly every aspect of war. Artillery duels, vicious close quarters trench raids, and excursions across no-man’s land were but some of the ordeals faced by U.S. soldiers. In order to deal with these new challenges, the Doughboys underwent  extensive training in all aspects of trench warfare.

Once in France, the First Division assembled in the area of Gondecourt, 60 miles south of Verdun, near what was being considered a possible area of operations for the A.E.F.

The training to turn U.S. troops in to front-line combat ready soldiers was a long process due to the relative lack of experience of many American soldiers. As a show of support to America’s allies (mainly the British and French), the first troops had been sent over without adequate stateside training. Prior to being sent to France, units of the First Division had served separately on the Mexican border. Though they did have training for that mission, it was for a different type of warfare. After their return from the border, many were transferred to other units or discharged from service. In addition, the new recruits needed to form the First Division for the fight in France nearly tripled the size of these older units. This meant that the vast majority of soldiers were starting with little or no experience with the weapons they would fight with or how to operate as a Division on the battlefield.

British and French officers assisted in training the First Division in all aspects of this new type of warfare including trench work, artillery, mortars, grenades, marksmanship, bayonet, machine guns, communications, and close combat tactics as well as the horrors of gas warfare.

The Division’s plan started with one month for acclimatization and small unit instruction from the battalion level down, this included many of the basics of trench warfare with Allied assistance. The British officers helped teach individual subjects such as bayonet and rifle, gas, mortar, and physical training and the French officers assisted with artillery, fortifications, liaison, and minor tactics. Next the battalion spent a month in the trenches with French units in contact with the enemy to apply newly learned skills and tactics.

After spending a month in the trenches, a third month was dedicated to training the whole Division to operate in the tactics of open warfare.

In October 1917, as part of the division’s now advanced training, one battalion of each of the four infantry regiments was sent to the front under the command of the French 18th Division. This was the first combat experience for America and the First Division. It also marked the first Americans killed in action when three soldiers from the 16th Infantry were killed in a German trench raid on November 3.