Logging With the A. E. F. 



BY SHIRLEY C. BRAYTON 



The 20th Engineers as originally organized consist- 

 ed of ten battalions of about nine hundred men each. 

 fn connection with these were to he organized about 

 the same number of colored troops to act as labor 

 units. Later three battalions of troops for the purpose 

 of building roads were organized. These were known 

 as the 41st, 42nd. and 43rd Engineers. When these 

 three auxiliary battalions as they were called, arrived 

 in France there was great need for them in the lum- 

 bering work of the 20th, and apparently there were 

 plenty of road men available, for they were at once 

 split up and apportioned among the companies of the 

 20th for training in forest work. Tn most cases the 

 men were put in charge of officers in the companies 

 of the 20th and their own officers released for other 

 work. Two of these companies were attached to Com- 

 pany C. of the 5th battalion, to whose operations this 

 paper is entirely confined. These two companies. Co. 

 A. of the 41st and Co. A. of the 43rd swelled the ranks 

 of our company organizations to about 750 men. At 

 times large numbers of these men were detached to 

 <>ther companies operating in our district (The Epinal 

 district), but after our company was attached to the 

 Is tArmy all of the men were recalled, and about one 

 hundred men of the 10th battalion were also attached 

 to our outfit to bring us up to our normal strength of 

 about seven hundred and fifty men. Because of cas- 

 ualties and detachment of specially skilled men to 



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