CHAPTER I
The 344th Field Artillery Battalion, an organic unit of the 90th Division, having been
demobilized after World War I, was reactivated on March 25, 1942, at Camp Barkeley, Texas, by a
cadre of already trained men from the Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
From this point on an intensive training schedule was carried out through the summer and fall with
numerous recruits and also some depletions. By Christmas the Battalion was up to fighting strength.
After the Christmas celebration was over there followed a month of field problems out on a range
around Barkeley, and then we shoved off for Louisiana maneuvers, which were against the 77th
Division. These maneuvers lasted all of February and March, and gave us a taste of what we were
supposed to do in the real thing. We returned to Barkeley on April 4th and started polishing up the rough
spots uncovered by those "games".
During the training period, when furloughs were also given, we went out on several service practices
and also more field. In May we went to Brownwood, Texas, for our artillery GHQ test. This outfit did a
grand job, and along with the other units of the 90th Division Artillery, we put a record down, that as
yet, has been second to none.
Returning again to Barkeley we sweated through-out the summer months and then headed for Indio,
California, where we spent four months of hard training in the desert. The desert taught us to respect the
supply problem and also gave us our first acquaintance with Army field rations. During the time spent
out there we maneuvered against the 93rd Division, a colored outfit.
Word came down to us in late December that we would shortly head east, where we would all get
furloughs right away. The place that we were to go to was Fort Dix, N. J. then the rumors started “Boys
this is it! We are heading out!” And many other such remarks. We left for Dix on the 2nd of January,
arriving there on the 7th. Furloughs started at once and were completed by the end of February.
Now that furloughs were over with we were well on the way to being prepared for a POE. Many
inspections and the big job of having everything in tip top shape was at hand, plus special classes in
applying the finishing touches to our two years of training. We set out for camp Kilmer, N.J., on the
17th of March. Spent five days there and then boarded the S. S. John Erickson, formally known as the
Swedish American liner Kungsholm, sister ship of the Gripsholm on the evening of March 22.
After much delay and confusion we finally set sale for the European Theater of Operations, landing in
Liverpool, England, on the 9th of April, Easter Sunday, after an extremely quiet crossing.
At the docks we got our first taste of English friendliness, what with their band playing their welcoming
themes and all the shouting back and forth. While embarking on the train for our new camp the Red
Cross handed out coffee and doughnuts and gum to all the boys. When they were through the train gave
a mighty shrill blast and off we lurched for our new camp, Davenport, near Wolverhampton.
While we were at Davenport we received all of our sectional equipment and everything that was not
given to us at our POE. We went through a good physical conditioning. And after a month of this sort
of training we headed for Sennybridge, South Wales, where we did some firing on the artillery range.
During our stay we were in contact with many "Tommies" and learned a little more about them. At the
end of the week of firing, out in that typical wet, raw weather that the United Kingdom is so well-known
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