100 Year Ago: The Journey Begins... Again

Ships in Halifax Harbor. "Halifax at War". The Halifax Explosion.

The S. S. Karmala proved to be a very slow boat, and the morning after the convoy's departure from New York the ship steadily fell behind the other ships, which were much faster. The convey had to slow down so as to not lose sight of the Karmala. That first day at sea, the Karmala brought up the rear of the convoy. The next morning the Captain received word the Karmala was to proceed to Halifax, Nova Scotia to await another convoy.

On Wednesday morning, July 17, about 11:00 a.m., the Karmala entered Halifax harbor and dropped anchor. There the crew of Base Hospital 50 waited for three days while another convoy was assembled. On Saturday morning, July 20, they set sail again, now part of a convoy of twenty-two ships and a cruiser. It was "a very slow, tiresome journey, and lasted a very long ten days." The route the convoy took was far to the north, and most of the time it was cold and foggy. One highlight of the trip was when several large icebergs were spotted to the north of their route."Life on board ship was none too pleasant, as there was nothing to do to occupy one's time, and also the food was very poor at times. Many were very seasick and had to be put on deck or in sickbay."

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 66.

100 Years Ago: The Journey Begins

"Early on the morning of July 13th, one hundred and ninety-nine men, accompanied by Col. Bryan, Maj. Eagleson, Capt. Plummer, Lieuts. Kantner, Denno, Van Den Bosch and Lybecker, put on their packs and started on one of the hardest hikes that we made. The men had just been issued their woolen uniforms and hob-nail shoes, and the march up over that long hill and down to the boat landing on that hot July day was about all that we could stand.

Pier 29, East River, New York. 
New York Public Library Digital Collections.

At 11:30 we went aboard a small river boat and started down the Hudson River, arriving at Pier 29 at the foot of Brooklyn Bridge at 1:30. We got off the boat and then had to stand in line with our packs on for two hours before our turn came to go aboard the boat. The Red Cross served us with coffee and doughnuts while we waited on the dock. The other fifteen officers were left at Pier 59 to go as casuals on the S. S. Baltic in the same convoy.

We went aboard the Karmala in command of Capt. Flannigan, U. S. A. The ship was formerly a British freighter in the P. & O. service, and had been used to carry cattle, and was not fit for anything else. The quarters were all very crowded and foul smelling, and the men had to spend most of the time up on deck. The rest of the ship's passengers were Base Hospital personnel and anti-aircraft troops.

Red Cross Base Hosptial 50 Photograph Album, 1918-1919.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PH Coll 387.

It was not until the following morning, Sunday, at 11, that we left our moorings at the dock and started down the bay and joined the rest of our convoy, which had assembled there. The convoy consisted of twelve transports and a cruiser. While we steamed down the bay a huge dirigible balloon and two seaplanes flew overhead, and several sub chasers accompanied us until dark, and then turned back."

Like other vessels requisitioned as North Atlantic troop transports, the Karmala was painted with a wartime camouflage pattern known as dazzle. The dazzle pattern was not intended to hide the ship completely, but to make it difficult to estimate a ship's speed, direction, and dimensions. Every ship was painted a unique pattern to prevent them from being recognizable. By breaking up the ship's traditional coloring it served to confuse German U-boat rangefinders.

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 66.

100 Years Ago: Arrival at Camp Merritt, New Jersey

Camp Merritt, N.J., Verne O. Williams, 1919. Library of Congress 2007664148.

"We arrived at Camp Merritt at 11a.m., July 10th, and were immediately marched to barracks. We had been advised that the Unit would probably have a delay here of about one week before sailing, but, owing to the late arrival of another unit scheduled to sail in three days, we were instructed to change our uniform equipment from cotton to overseas wool and heavy shoes (hobnail) at once and take their place.

This necessitated our working day and night in order to get everything in shape to leave. New wool clothing, hob-nailed shoes, and other articles were issued, and at the last moment, orders came in that all men should have their hair cut close, and this was not so popular with most of the men. The tails of the long overcoats were also shortened.

The History of Base Hospital Fifty, pg. 119.

One number of our unit. Jack Mullane, had to be left behind in the hospital at Camp Merritt on account of sickness. On arriving at Camp Merritt, Major Eagleson found that several of the officers assigned to the unit had not received orders to meet us there. He went to the Surgeon General's office in Washington, D. C, in an endeavor to have the orders changed, but was only partially successful, with the result that Capt. Karshner and Lieuts. Swift, Mattson and Cornet were not able to follow us, and other men were assigned by the Surgeon General's office to fill the vacancies. Lieuts. Schmidt and Hulett joined us here and the others came over on a later boat. Capts. Allen and Helton and Lieuts. Thompson and Buckner, of our own staff, were waiting here. Lieut. Mattice was ordered to join us, but failed to arrive before the unit sailed, and came over on a later ship."

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65-66.

100 Years Ago: Married at the Depot

Altered image. McCall's Magazine, June 1918.

"At Detroit, Mich., one member of the Unit met his best girl and took advantage of the delay caused by replacing a broken truck, to get married at the depot."¹

The journey east by train was recalled as being "very pleasant" by the men of Base Hospital 50 "with a few incidents of special note to be remembered." No doubt the marriage of Private First Class Leigh Thompson and Thelma Wellington was one of those incidents. Thelma and her family planned to meet Leigh's train as it passed through Detroit, but an unexpected delay provided the opportunity for an impromptu wedding. Their marriage was the culmination of a romance begun in Seattle five years before.²

Thelma Grace Wellington was born on January 16, 1895, the second of Albert Lincoln Wellington and his wife Jessie Victoria Eddy's three daughters. Like her sisters, Marguerite and Frances, Thelma was born in Chicago.³ Together with her parents, Thelma moved to New Orleans where the family was enumerated in the 1910 census.⁴ Shortly thereafter her family moved to Washington, first to the Everett area and then Seattle, where she entered Broadway High School in September of 1911.⁵ Thelma graduated in 1915 and Broadway's yearbook, the Sealth, described her as "studious and quiet, actions sweet and kind." How Thelma and Leigh met is unknown, but they must have become acquainted shortly after the Wellington family arrived in Seattle.

Leigh Oliver Thompson was the older of two children born to Robert Oliver Thompson, a native of Scotland, and Jane "Jennie" Smaling. Leigh was born in Havelock, Nebraska, on December 28, 1893, and lived in Kewaunee, Illinois, before moving to Seattle about 1910.⁶ Leigh seems to have left school at an early age as he is working as a clothing salesman at sixteen. At the time Leigh registered for the draft he was employed as a clerk at the Dexter Horton Bank.⁷

Thelma and Leigh became engaged in August of 1917. At the time of their announcement, Thelma's parents had recently moved to Detroit.⁸ In April 1918, Thelma traveled from Detroit to Seattle to see Leigh off as he, and the other members of Base Hospital 50, made their way to Camp Fremont for training.⁹

Once Base Hospital 50 was eastbound for New York in early July, Leigh telegraphed his fiancée when he learned the unit would have a 45-minute stopover in Detroit on Tuesday, July 9, 1918. At the appointed time, Thelma and her family arrived at Detroit's landmark Michigan Central Depot, expecting only to have a short visit with her fiancé. When the departure was delayed, Leigh "used such persuasive powers" as to convince Thelma to marry him at once. "A hurried trip was made by automobile for the marriage license and the clergyman. The wedding took place in the lobby of the station witnessed by the bride's family and all the officers of the unit."

"An atmosphere of much romance" surrounded the couple, when after a delay procuring a license at city hall, the train was held while they were married in the Depot lobby by Rev. W. L. Torrance of the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, who was hastily summoned to serve as the officiating clergyman. Thelma's father Albert and sister Marguerite served as witnesses. "There was no wedding ring so the bride drew off her grandmother's wedding ring, which she wore on the other hand and it did duty for a second ceremony."¹⁰

Detroit Times, July 10, 1918, pg. 2.

Following the ceremony, Thelma returned home with her parents and remained in Detroit for the duration of the war. After Base Hospital 50 returned from France in May of 1919, the young couple was finally able to begin their married life together. They welcomed a son, Donald Eddy Thompson, in 1926. Leigh returned to work as a bank clerk and later worked as a bookkeeper for the Continental Baking Company in Seattle.

Leigh died of a heart attack at his home, 3233 Hunter Boulevard, on December 11, 1958 at the age of 64.¹¹ He had been active in organizing Base Hospital 50 reunions, serving as the organizing committee's treasurer, in addition to Commander of the Lake Washington Post 124 of the American Legion and a member of Posts 8 and 40. Thelma also worked in the office of the Continental Bakery from 1945-1959. She died at the at age of 68 on November 11, 1963.¹²

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References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65.
2. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, July 17, 1918, pg. 6.
3. Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q239-NVR2 : 6 July 2018), Thelma Grace Wellington, 16 Jan 1895; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 291650, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm.
4. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPYL-PGG : accessed 7 July 2018), Thelma G Wellington in household of Albert L Wellington, New Orleans Ward 14, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 223, sheet 6B, family 106, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 524; FHL microfilm 1,374,537.
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Thelma G. Wellington, Broadway High School (Seattle, WA), 1915.
6. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGVD-VFX : accessed 7 July 2018), Lee Oliver Thompson in household of Robert O Thompson, Seattle Ward 3, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 94, sheet 9B, family 197, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1659; FHL microfilm 1,375,672.
7. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:29JH-4QW : 7 July 2018), Leigh Oliver Thompson, 1917-1918; citing Seattle City no 12, Skagit County, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,992,013.
8. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, August 20, 1917, pg. 11.
9. "Society." Seattle Daily Times, April 11, 1918, pg. 6.. 
10. "Persuades Her to Wed Him as Train Halts at Station on Way." Seattle Daily Times, July 21, 1918, pg. 4.
11. "Leigh O. Thompson." Seattle Times, December 12, 1958, pg. 45. 
12. "Mrs. Leigh O. Thompson." Seattle Times, November 13, 1963, pg. 17. 

100 Years Ago: Departure Orders Received

"Packing Up" July 2, 1918
Red Cross Base Hospital 50 Photograph Album, 1918-1919, pg 18.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PH Coll 387.

During the month of June, the Unit received several tips from the War Department to be in readiness for orders to depart. On July 1st,  Brigadier General Joseph Leitch, Commanding Officer of Camp Fremont, inspected the Unit and gave a farewell address to the officers and wished them "Godspeed." Finally, on Tuesday, July 2, 1918, orders were received to pack up and prepare for their long-awaited overseas deployment.

Their departure set was for July 4th, which proved to be a very busy day. Camp was broken and tents and camp equipment were packed up and turned over to the Camp Quartermaster. At noon the Unit marched to a special train at the Remount Station. The train consisted of a combination observation and sleeping car, several sleeping cars, a baggage car outfitted as a commissary, a cook car, and freight cars for baggage. In addition, there were flat cars for ambulances and an automobile, crated and ready for overseas shipment, which had been donated by the people of the Seattle.

Goodbyes were said to families and friends, many of whom had followed the Unit to Palo Alto while they were in training. The schedule called for the Unit to be on board and ready to leave at 1:00 p.m, however, one of the wheels on the cook car was discovered to be badly cracked, requiring another to be sent over from a nearby train yard. Finally, about 5:00 p.m. the train steamed across the head of San Francisco Bay and proceeded through Oakland. Six months after their initial training meeting in Seattle, the Unit's eastern journey had begun. As noted in the Unit's history the train traveled over "the Central Pacific Railway to Ogden, thence over the Union Pacific Railway to Chicago, thence over the Michigan Central to Buffalo, thence over the Erie & Western to Camp Merritt, New Jersey."

Railroad in the United States, 1910
Maps ETC, etc.usf.edu/maps [map #02089]

References:

1. United States. Army. Base Hospital No. 50. The History of Base Hospital Fifty: A Portrayal of the Work Done by This Unit While Serving in the United States and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Seattle, Wash. : The Committee, 1922. Page 65.