WWI Wartime Memories: The Diary of Harry F. Mahon

By Teresa M. Mahon

Harry F. Mahon from Streator, Illinois, takes us on a journey through his World War I diary entries dated April 27, 1918 to June 13, 1919, as a soldier in France covering the march to St. Mihiel and the battle at the Meuse-Argonne Forest.

His faith, fortitude, and longing to return home to his family and Louise, the love of his life, motivate him to endure battlefield conflicts, and adversity in the face of death and destruction. Sharing Harry's stories through letters, newspaper articles, and pictures brings to life a man from a prior generation whose story remained a mystery until now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9781953294494

Book preview

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WWI Wartime Memories

The Diary of Harry F. Mahon

© 2024 by Teresa Mahon. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Please contact publisher for permission to make copies of any part of this work.

Windy City Publishers

www.windycitypublishers.com

Printed in the United States of America

eBook ISBN:

978-1-953294-49-4

Paperback ISBN:

978-1-953294-48-7

Library of Congress Control Number:

2024900257

Windy City Publishers

Chicago

For my grandnephews, Austin, Tyler, and Hunter ~

Have faith, never give up, achieve your goals.

Live and love with all your heart.

Be Alive!

Mom and Dad,

My Siblings: Marian, Michael, Jane, Jean, Paul,

My Niece, Suzanne ~

Love you all.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Prologue

Chapter 1

April 27, 1918—The Post Office, Streator, Illinois

Chapter 2

April 28 – June 14, 1918—Camp Dodge to Camp Travis

Chapter 3

June 15 – July 15, 1918—Camp Mills to Liverpool, England

Chapter 4

July 15 – September 10, 1918—The March to St. Mihiel, France

Chapter 5

September 11–13, 1918—Battle of St. Mihiel, France

Chapter 6

September 23 – November 11, 1918—Meuse-Argonne Forest, France

Chapter 7

November 1918—Streator, Illinois

Chapter 8

November 12 – December 31, 1918—March to Germany, the Army of Occupation

Chapter 9

January 1 – May 19, 1919—A New Year

Chapter 10

May 22 – June 18, 1919—Harry’s Journey Home

Chapter 11

After the War

Epilogue

Bibliography

About the Author

Preface

Shortly after retiring in 2018, I began cleaning out some old boxes in the garage. One box had family photos, letters and newspaper clippings. A little black pocket booklet caught my eye. Written in pencil, the words faded, was a World War I diary dating back to 1918. Stunned, my cleaning abruptly ended, and I took the booklet into the house. The diary belonged to Harry Francis Mahon, my grandfather. Amazingly, the diary stayed in good condition. Holding the actual diary Grandpa Harry carried with him throughout his travels and battles over one hundred years ago gave me chills. I knew right then what I had to do with this treasure. My grandpa’s diary is a historic document placing him directly on the battlefields in France providing his perspective about his day-to-day life. By sharing this diary my hope is for you the reader to discover new insights into the life of a soldier who served our country in WWI.

Thank you to my sister Jane for her collaboration of ideas and assistance throughout this journey. Providing me with a second point of view gave me the insight I needed to complete this project. Your love, support and encouragement made this endeavor possible.

~Teresa Mahon

2023

Introduction

Diaries in wartime were common but forbidden. If a soldier were to be captured or killed his diary would fall into enemy hands, possibly providing information about military operations which likely would be used against the Allied forces. Soldiers kept them anyway. If we did not have soldiers’ documentation of their war experiences, we would never learn about their individual travels.

This is the story of Harry Francis Mahon’s struggles and triumphs as he fights to survive the Battle of St. Mihiel, France, and the Meuse-Argonne offensive through trench warfare, constant shellfire, adverse conditions, and the threat of disease in World War I told in his diary. Harry gives a personal account of his life on the battlefield, his pursuit for survival, living conditions, scenic beauty amid adversity, death, and destruction. Family, faith, and friendships motivate him to survive.

This story is not a textbook classroom history lesson about World War I, rather a history lesson from Harry’s own war experiences and personal memories of moments and places in time. Harry’s diary includes some fiction in the areas which I have learned about information from my research, and as his granddaughter, I reflect on thoughts he may have had based on my research.

I include personal letters, newspaper articles, and pictures that have been in my family. Genealogy research contributed to the discovery of more interesting facts and stories about my family. Ancestry.com, historical newspapers from Newspapers.com, and military records from Fold3.com were all valuable research aids.

Prologue

My Great-Great-Grandfather Ambrose Mahon was born in Ireland in 1823. He and his wife Elizabeth had two sons born in Ireland: James and Samuel. The last known residence I found for them was a leased house and garden in County Armagh, Parish Shankill, Northern Ireland in 1847. Genealogy records show them leaving County Down, Ireland in 1851, escaping the Potato Famine searching for a better life in the United States. Boarding the ship Trumbull in Liverpool, England, they arrived at the port of New York on May 23, 1851. Ambrose’s occupation was listed as a Tessitore, or weaver. Their destination was listed as New Jersey. Unable to trace them to New Jersey, I found them in the borough of Exeter of Luzerne County, in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, where they found success in farming and coal mining. Five daughters were born while living here.

In the early 1860s, Ambrose (Harry’s grandfather), along with his son, Samuel (Harry’s father), migrated west seeking better employment opportunities, while the rest of the family (Ambrose’s wife, Elizabeth and their six other children) stayed behind in West Pittston.

Ambrose and Samuel found themselves in Illinois as one of the earliest settlers in Streator, a settlement in 1861 and an incorporated city in 1868. Located in LaSalle County along the Vermilion River, the city is approximately 100 miles southwest of Chicago.

In 1866, Colonel Ralph Plumb came to town with the Vermillion Coal Company and its president, Dr. W.L. Streator, from whom the town received its name. Streator, Illinois—rich in natural resources—produced coal and manufactured glass bottles and containers from the silica sand deposits. Other natural resources of clay and shale made it possible to manufacture bricks.

Harry’s father, Samuel (from Streator) and his mother, Alice (from Peoria, Illinois) raised nine children. Harry Francis was the seventh child, born