Alfred Tennyson Worrell
Private
E Company - 15th U.S. Engineers Regiment
The Pittsburgh Pioneers
Despite the consistent promises of neutrality, the U.S. would enter the First World War in May of 1917 under the pretexts of the Zimmerman Telegraph and unrestricted submarine warfare. Seemingly overnight the apprehension to a European War was forgotten and patriotic youth streamed to the recruitment centers. 23-year-old Alfred Worrell from the rural town of Ellwood City was among a mass of Pennsylvanians who rushed to volunteer that May with the 15th Regiment U.S. Engineers, unofficially known as the “Pittsburg Pioneers” (1). The home-state unit had so many eager applicants that only the best were selected with Alfed being among those to march into their camp in the Allegheny Valley, forming the nucleus of E Company (1). In short order the former rural football player & student was transformed into a U.S. soldier, with E Company being put on the move for overseas service (1).Their excitement about their selection as the first volunteer unit bound for France had to remain internal with all telephone lines being cutoff and writing letters restricted in camp (1).
Despite the hot weather and mass of equipment, the Pennsylvanians marched on eagerly, boarding their ship the “Baltic” bound for the United Kingdom. With no real military experience, it wasn’t apparent to them that they were woefully unprepared for modern war. Besides the lack of veteran officers, the men carried Krag Jorgensen rifles, vestiges of previous years which would be totally useless on the Western Front (1). Their naivety to conflict was put on full display to the veteran sailors when some of the lads exclaimed that they hoped to see a German submarine on the way over (1). It was to their fortune that they did not with Alfred and E Company arriving in Liverpool safely (1). |
Loud complaints turned to shouting as the Pennsylvanian troopers attempted to push their way out onto the deck of their transport vessel (1). The accommodations were packed with Alfred hardly being able to move around given the entire 15th Regiment had been stuffed onboard (1). The angry men were only cowed when officers threatened court martial, the vessel soon being on it’s way (1). The scene which greeted them in France was no better, the 15th Regiment bearing witness to a hospital train full of British wounded bound homeward, it was a dose of reality for the many men among them who still held romanticized views of conflict (1). Fortunately for the fresh engineers, they were bound for Central France to help prepare the way for the many men who would follow (1).
War & Souvenirs
Alfred's first detail would be an assignment to Issedum, France where E Company was put to work building railway line to connect in the first American aviation field (2). The new pilots were eager to get their planes into the sky, but an inability to transport planes and material by rail was preventing that, the engineers working to quickly get the 9 miles of rail up and running (3). This was accomplished through intensive labor and sweat, made even more taxing given most had never worked on such a task before (2). When the last portion of rail was finally complete in September, Alfred and his exhausted comrades were moved to Gievres to build yet more of it (2).
The rail and facilities E Company built at Gievres were far more interesting to the lads than those at Issedum and the excitment about the job along with their now ample experience helped it to progress rapidly (2). Before long Alfred was off to the next job at Mehun where they erected Ordnance Depot No.4, which involved the heavy use of dynamite due to the lack of construction equipment (2). Again the hardy American engineers proved their skill, managing to put up huge warehouses, with each only taking them 4 days total (2). These facilities and railways created the backbone of American logistics and would help the boys at the front push the Germans to surrender.
During Alfred's time in France he stumbled upon an intriquing object well in the town of Mouzon, a German Picklehaube (1). The stunning spike helmet was a great war trophy in which he proudly inscribed his name, unit, and the date on which he picked it up, November 8th. A few days later, the war ended and the veteran Engineer packed up his belongings, including his souvenir, heading home for Pennsylvania after nearly two years away.
After a further long trip across the Atlantic, the 15th Engineers Regiment pulled into New York harbor to a tremendous welcome home (1). They were the first major decorated unit to return home, an honor presented to them given they were among the first to go over (1). The resounding welcome received by Alfred and his fellow doughboys in New York & Pittsburg reminded them of why they had spent so much time away from home and made all their hard work well worth it. Such mementos as the pickelhaube Alfred brought home elicited memories which long outlasted his discharge in 1919. |
Sources:
(1) C Company, Fifteenth United States Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1919. http://15thengineer.50megs.com/
(2) Headquarters Company E 15th U.S. Engineers, NARA 649608, https://www.fold3.com/image/271932609
(3) Company C 15th U.S. Engineers Abainville, Meuse, NARA 649608, https://www.fold3.com/image/271940821
(1) C Company, Fifteenth United States Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1919. http://15thengineer.50megs.com/
(2) Headquarters Company E 15th U.S. Engineers, NARA 649608, https://www.fold3.com/image/271932609
(3) Company C 15th U.S. Engineers Abainville, Meuse, NARA 649608, https://www.fold3.com/image/271940821