All Aboard for War
Diary of a Railroad Man in France 1917 – 1919
EP Dudley
In May of 1917 American railroads supplied six companies of railroad men to be attached to the 2nd French Army and help operate the lines in and around Verdun, France.
13th Engineers (Rwy)
The number 13 appears over and over the regiment’s history. Got their name on a Friday the 13th. Left Chicago in a troop train of 13 wagons. Thirteen deaths in the regiment.
Verdun
Verdun had been beseiged for over a year and a half when the 13th Engineers arrived at Fleury-sur-Meuse, near the front lines of Verdun, in September of 1917.
About Me
EP Dudley was my grandfather. His WWI experiences were left for his family in a daily diary he kept from June 1917 to November 1918.