The First battalion, the story of the 406th telegraph battalion, Signal corps . seemed to sense thatit was a troop ship. They blew their whistles and the band of an excursionboat stopped playing its ragtime and struck up Good-Bye, Good Luck, GodBless You. A short trip brought theAntilles to the rendezvous, Gravesend Bay, andthe troops were then allowed on deck. Other ships were gathering to formthe convoy. The afternoon was spent in shifting the men around and makingthem as comfortable as their cramped quarters would permit. It was decided that the Artillery troops would furnish the ships guar
The First battalion, the story of the 406th telegraph battalion, Signal corps . seemed to sense thatit was a troop ship. They blew their whistles and the band of an excursionboat stopped playing its ragtime and struck up Good-Bye, Good Luck, GodBless You. A short trip brought theAntilles to the rendezvous, Gravesend Bay, andthe troops were then allowed on deck. Other ships were gathering to formthe convoy. The afternoon was spent in shifting the men around and makingthem as comfortable as their cramped quarters would permit. It was decided that the Artillery troops would furnish the ships guard andthe Signal troops the watch, this latter being the lookout and under the super- THE FIRST BATTALION vision of the Navy. Captain Bill Wattles was made commanding officerof the watch, but before he had completed his schedule for the first night,darkness had settled on the bay and, as no lights were allowed, it was impos-sible to locate the stateroom list of officers whom he could put on duty. As aresult, he had to spend most of the night acting as officer on all Plowing Steadily Eastward Daylight brought a surprise to most of the men on board. At 10 oclockon the previous evening anchor had been lifted, and the convoy had stolennoiselessly out of the harbor. So quietly had the departure been managed,that the troops on board were unaware of it until daylight showed them thesea on all sides, as the ships plowed their way steadily eastward. Morning gave the officer of the watch an opportunity to organize hisforces. The horizon was divided into sixteen parts and sixteen men wereassigned, each to keep his eyes on his particular sector. Four men were as-signed to each of the two crows nests. These eight men divided the sea intoeight sectors—each man to keep his eyes on the part assigned to him. By thismeans every visible portion of the sea was covered by two pairs of eyes. The convoy, steaming quietly ahead, was impressively calm and business-like. The big ships were in
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectworldwar19141918
