World War One Diary Tells of Duty, Terror, and Survival

As one who has done a fair amount of research on World War One and whose great uncle died in that war, I was especially eager to read Bill Welch’s book, Duty, Terror and Survival: The World War One Diary and Art of Doughboy Cp. Harold W. Pierce. Bill and I were part of the Erie County World War One Centennial Committee, which raised funds for a memorial and produced a book called Answering the Call: Erie County, Pennsylvania in World War One.

I thought I had a pretty good idea of the horrors experienced by the doughboys, but Pierce’s diary, written in the moment, offers a completely different perspective than history books or memoirs like James A Murrin’s With the 112th in France or Hervey Allen’s Toward the Flame.

Pennsylvania’s Harold W. Pierce, Company A, 112th Infantry, 28th Division, kept a diary from April 1917 to November 1918. Most likely when he typed his diary, he did some editing and probably added some memories prompted by reviewing his miniscule letters in the leather journal. Still, it is as if the reader is in the cold, muddy, rat-filled trenches looking over Pierce’s shoulder.

Hunger and lack of sleep were constant throughout Pierce’s time in France. More than once he went 48-hours without eating, and sleep was often stolen while marching or standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a transport vehicle. His clothes were often soaked with rain, and his sleeping accommodations were usually depressions in the ground, caves, or hay in a barn (a special treat). “Cooties” were unwelcome companions in his uniform, and they multiplied faster than he could kill them. 

Pierce never got used to news of friends being killed and or being an eye-witness to the same. The sights, sounds, and smells of death—human and animal—surrounded him. Even those charged with casualty cleanup sometimes ran screaming at what they saw before they could return and finish their duty.

Pierce’s descriptions are often graphic, and rightfully so. One unsettling observation juxtaposes massacre with the mundane. “We have prunes. A French artilleryman, caught by the barrage on the road, is carried by on a stretcher with the top of his head blown off and his brains dripping out. He is unconscious and cannot live long. The prunes are very dry.”

In addition to the horrors of war, confusion about who was to be where seemed common. Following orders that often didn’t make sense was a frustration for the doughboys and sometimes deadly. Suspense taxed the boys, as they waited for the next bullet or shell to find them.

Throughout his time as a doughboy, Pierce had an understanding of what the “enemy” was experiencing along with him. He wrote, “In the heat of battle, men do not realize that the enemy is only a scared, frightened boy like we are, killing for self preservation and because he has to and hating it as bad as we do. . . . I wish I could have met these fellows as friends instead of this.” 

In August of 1918, after more than a year in France, Pierce reached his breaking point. “I pray to God for help but the prayer seems to do no good, the bottom has dropped out of everything and even God may have abandoned us.” In the end, it was probably Pierce’s faith, along with his intellect and ability to stay out of unnecessary harm, that kept him alive.

After the war, Pierce married and became a father. Perhaps it was the uncertainty of another day that impelled him toward a wide variety of pursuits. Editor Welch lists the following: “He was an artist, policeman, judo instructor, pistol marksman, trick horse rider, Sunday school teacher, Gettysburg battlefield guide, model railroad hobbyist, and an author on police procedures.”

Perhaps the most interesting of Pierce’s roles was as an artist. Four paintings of World War I battle scenes housed at the Hagen History Center in Erie, PA, caught Welch’s eye and inspired him to learn more about Pierce. Vivid copies of the artwork can be found throughout Welch’s book. 

As painful as it is, after reading Duty, Terror and Survival, I now I have a visceral understanding of what my great-uncle, Russell Worth Silverthorn, experienced. He was in Company G of the 112th Division and sailed to England on the Aquitania with Pierce. Both Pierce’s Company A and Russell’s Company G fought in Fismette, France. That is where Russell lost his life. 

William J. Welch was a longtime newspaper city editor and taught at Mercyhurst University. His book is available at Werner Books, Pressed Books and Coffee, and the Hagen History Center in Erie, PA. Soon, it will be available at the Blasco branch of the Erie County Public Library and the Warren County Historical Society. It can also be purchased directly from Bill Welch (billw917@hotmail.com).